The Luna Trials by Marissa Gilbert

63. True Mates 

Savannah charged at him, and this time she was too fast for Bjorn to detect. That’s when she gave him another sla.sh of the divine 

dagger over his chest, making a clean cut. 

“We are mates!” He said bitterly, covering the new wound with his fingers. 

“No. We’re not!” She replied without hesitation. “I’d rather die than be your mate!” 

The words hurt him more than the dagger did, but it wasn’t enough for her. He could see it in her eyes as she lifted her hand to try to 

kill him again. He’d had enough of this. She had to be contained! 

He caught her wrist this time and overpowered her easily, bringing her closer. 

“It’s over!” he roared, shaking her roughly, hoping that she’d return to her senses. 

However, it only made the princess sneer. 

“Bjorn, Bjorn, Bjorn,” she whispered and clicked her tongue. “I am just getting started!” 

Savannah’s bones started snapping before his eyes at unnatural angles, and in a few moments, she was able to free her hand from 

his grasp. Bjorn stepped away, panting, and watching her turn into something else completely. He’d already seen this when he and Joran 

went to observe the battle with Castiel’s men a few months ago and also when Kai did it so effortlessly many times in the past. 

It was harder for Savannah, he could see it, but she was determined to go through with this. 

“Savvy, no!” Darius‘ voice broke. He knew what it meant to her. Other royals rarely used their feral third forms because they were 

next to impossible to control. If they didn’t shift back soon enough, they risked never being able to revert back to their human form again. 

The realisation that she was ready to die or stay a beast for the rest of her life just to kill him, hurt him more deeply than the divine weapon ever could. 

But the monster with glowing golden eyes already stood in front of him. Tall, mighty and deadly. And she was out for blood.  blood. 

His 

Savannah tried to keep control just like Kai had taught her. Lycans were primal beasts who were born at the beginning of times, but her Lycan wasn’t a separate entity; It was a part of her. The part she was taught to suppress, the part she was taught to hide. 

Today she was going to embrace it. 

Bjorn looked like he was suffocating, but she decided just to end him immediately. However, when she took the first step, something invisible stopped her. 

“Enough!” The Serpent said, looking as calm as if people weren’t killing each other left and right around them. He didn’t even spare the Lycaness a glance. He didn’t take part in the fighting. He just defended Bjorn once and that was it. 

Wolves that came with Ash were dying. One of the bears almost grabbed Petra, who was still in her human form. From the corner of her eye, Savvy saw how Chloe shifted into a golden–coloured wolf, and Claude was quickly tying something around her neck. 

She wanted so badly to kill Bjorn… but… her friends were more important. If the Serpent didn’t plan to act, and it looked like he had something else in mind, then they had a chance to survive. If she would help them, of course. 

Growling angrily, Savvy flipped the table and was down next to Petra and Ash in seconds, leaving Bjorn behind. 

“Shift!” she commanded in the beast’s voice, and, luckily, they understood her instantly, following her lead. Petra’s wolf was the smallest, but even in the middle of the chaos, Savvy paused, seeing her unusual colour. The wolf was black with soft pink waves of fur all over her in a beautiful pattern. No wonder everyone wanted her! Someone like her was rare indeed! 

Chloe was next to the group already and Claude shifted in one jump, joining them as well. 

Now all they had to do was get out of that castle. 

If only it was that easy… 

1/5 

The bears were shifting too and Savvy let out a roar so loud that the ground underneath their feet shook. 

the path for her friends. Thanks to that, they

now they were struggling to get through the

mindlink and everyone they met tried to attack them, slow them down… Yet, Savvy knew she only had minutes left of sanity, feeling how she was starting to enjoy the scent of blood

place

of the decoration for the marking ceremony, and there were plenty around the castle. She

few wolves from Ash’s team were already missing, either killed or sacrificing themselves to delay the bears behind them.

passage and then paused by an old wooden bear statue. One movement and the

in their wolf forms,

one thing left to

that she would come back for the Gamma. He was one of Kai’s closest friends. She couldn’t simply leave him behind.

“There is something I need to tell you-”

pushed the door that led to the

was right as there was a thick circle of bears

have

tearing, snapping, breaking, destroying… At some point, she felt like she had found a

stop. She had to do it.

his gaze was unfocused. There were cuts and bruises all over him, and Savvy almost threw up when the smell coming from him hit her nostrils. What

chains with ease, although they were soaked in something that burned her fingers. Claude was surprisingly the nearest to

the golden wolf. She couldn’t do anything gently in this form. But it was better than the people beating Aspen up. He was practically unconscious, and the princess was worried that he’d fall off during their escape. She wanted

she regretted it. They needed a beast now. They

that helped Aspen to come back to

was probably blurry so it wasn’t surprising he took her for a white bear in this form. Just

Aspen repeated his mate’s name. “I knew you’d

were more and more bears in the square, and Savvy was starting to worry about how they were going to leave this place. She

all those necks. There were more of them than she could handle, but at least she would die trying. She didn’t mind. If she died, maybe the Moon Goddess would be so kind as to

bears halted, probably preparing themselves mentally for the m**** “e that was to follow, and Sawy closed her eyes just for a second, feeling how her mind

silently, “but if there is at least the tiniest chance of me saving them and reuniting with

of the castle towers exploded. Pieces of the ancient stone were landing around them, hitting some

time because it was so much closer. Ash growled excitedly, knowing

it, but the bears believed that she did. Moreover, they didn’t know what

flesh off and ending as many of their lives as she could. She pounced, and she dodged. She

created a safe corridor for them through one of the broken castle walls. She knew that

every move, and this was when she realised

to miss that wonderful opportunity and stood on all fours, charging into the darkness outside Bjorn’s home. She knew where her friends went; she could feel it. Thanks to that, she chose to run in the

bears followed her and that none of them got lost on the way. Slowly,

she ignored it. Birds did not interest her anymore. She wanted to be killing bears. Her instincts were telling her to kill them all, and each roar she heard from them excited her. A fight. A hunt. Only they weren’t the ones

stopped in the middle of a clearing and waited. The annoying bird was still circling over her head, and she was ready to kill her if that hawk

thoughts left her soon because the bears finally

primal lycan inside of her couldn’t wait anymore. She pounced at the closest one, tearing him to pieces on the spot and enjoying it. Then

was killing them all, feeling only pure rage running through

started to overpower her, cornering her to a rocky hill. She wanted to kill them even more now, to taste their blood and to see life leave their eyes,

were multiplying by the minute, and it didn’t look like there were fewer bears around her. She roared in frustration, realising that this could be her end. She would die here today,

This time it was a sound of a dying, desperate animal, and she put

into snowy mist, and for the first time, she felt cold. The ground under her feet was icy, the darkness was replaced by clouds of snow. Everything happened so fast that

Something she couldn’t explain, some kind of strange pull that made her think that she

knowing that the enemies would finish her off now. However, each bear that was getting close to

that none of them couldn’t detect it. Yet  there was

Or something else. 

pieces of ice flew in the air. Only that the trajectory seemed off. Unnatural.

against all odds, and she didn’t know what the reason  for it could

she felt a

way to sanity until she was panting on the cold ground

back. She was alive and she didn’t

only one question on her mind now. Why? How?

dress still hanging over her frame. Some parts of the gown

kind of coverage.

the pain, but she already knew there was nothing lethal. She would heal if no new