The Perfect Luna by Marissa Gilbert

  Chapter 80.

Riannon was locked in her room and the feeling was not new to her. Now that she had time to think about it, she had been trapped before. In her first marriage with Brayden. She was a hostage to that relationship and her own reputation. Trying to be perfect all the time was exhausting. It was funny that only death helped her to see the vicious cycle. Gideon helped her to get free from it. And just like that time, soon he would help her to her freedom once again. She knew it.

But by the time he came to get her, she was sure that she would destroy this place. And when she heard a knock on the door, a smirk formed on her lips.

“Onyx, help me out to scan this place,” she asked her wolf, and now she could sense that there was only one person behind the door. A female. Two guards were standing at a distance that would make it hard for a regular shifter to know what they were talking about. Those two were new. The Paddington and the fox she knew were replaced by Castiel and now no one was fulfilling her every request like before. The fox king learned his lesson.

“Riannon,” Bridgit whispered, “Do you hear me?”

“Yes,” she smiled, knowing that the presence of the werebear was the proof of her plan working.“ How did you manage to get here? I thought that everyone would be punished…”

“Everyone was punished,” Bridgit confirmed with a sigh, “But I am not everyone. I have some privileges around here and Castiel either trusted me or forgot to strip me of them yesterday.”

“Good for you,” Ria chuckled, “He didn’t forget to strip me of my privileges, as you can see.”

“Oh, Riannon, you are still the most privileged woman here. Just the fact that you are locked in the room that’s right opposite to his own is proof of that.”

Ria swallowed. She did not want to think of Castiel sleeping this close to her.

“Anyway, he is not here now,” Bridgit assured her, “and I want to speak to you again. Do you have any kind of a plan?”

She did have a plan. A few actually. But this right now was her number one plan. She wasn’t sure though that sharing the details with the werebear was a good idea though. All they had was two conversations and during the first one, Bridgit tried to kill her. This wasn’t a friendship built on trust just

yet.

She was probably silent for too long and the girl on the other side of the door got that right. “Listen,” Bridgit sighed,”you probably don’t get how it feels to be betrayed by a man you loved.” Oh, the irony of that statement was not lost on Ria, but she did not say a word.

“When we joined the harem one by one, we knew that he wasn’t exclusive with either of us. But each of us believed that there was a possibility of that. Castiel could make you feel like you are the only one for him. While he is with you… but over time, I think all of us realised that this would never be the case. However, it was too late because each of us had feelings for him.”

“Bridgit,” Riannon couldn’t stop herself from saying, “he is hot as hell, yes. But there is no way that every single woman could fall in love with him. Have you seen his lab? Have you seen what he is doing there? He learned to create scents that give you a similar response that you would have if you met your mate. I hate to be the one telling you that, but he is so good because he was experimenting a lot. And I think that he was experimenting on you. All of you.”

The werebear girl on the other end of the door was silent but then started speaking again with

“We all came here willingly, and we agreed to be with him willingly too. The rest is history.”

For a moment there Riannon was worried that she had lost her new ally. Was it too late for those girls? Was there some kind of addiction to those scents? After all, Brayden was an Alpha and he had fallen to the charm pretty fast. She always thought that it was because of Roxy’s siren abilities, but what if those artificial scents were to blame too?

“But,” Bridgit chose to continue her speech, giving her hope, “When we entered the Eden there was an

it on both ends. Each girl agreed to be with him and not to be the only one. Each of us had a

different reason for that. Some had no choice, like me, some already liked Castiel, some were seeking, political gains and some were so poor that living in the harem of the fox king did not seem like a bad thing at all. The list goes on and on. But there was one condition that he himself set for all of us. He was always saying that it’s important to him that each of us lived here willingly. He made it a big point and this was one of the reasons we all trusted him so much. He said that we could leave whenever we wanted.”

“And?” Ria leaned over the cold door.

“And when after the revelations of yesterday, a few girls expressed the desire to leave, he did not let them,” the she-bear’s voice trembled. “Everyone is locked in the Eden now. Now we know why there is only one door and no windows except for the ceiling that we can’t get to.”

“The Eden is locked yet you are here,” Riannon pointed out. She still wasn’t convinced she could trust the woman she was talking to.

“I know how it looks,” Bridgit replied to that calmly, “but I was here for years. I earned his trust. And he doesn’t know yet that he lost mine. I was thinking about what you told me. As long as I stay here, I will never meet my mate. And I want to try that, to experience that. I want to be the only one for someone. I don’t think I want to share anymore. I want to love and be loved in return. I want a mate who would never lock me up or lessen me. I want what you described to me. I want all of it if that makes sense.”

“It does.” Ria could feel that the girl was telling her the truth. “So? Do you have a plan?” she asked once again. “I do,” Ria finally admitted, “Do you think you can fight and open the door of the harem on your

Own?”

“We can, but there are more guards here than usual. We wouldn’t be able to tackle them on our own.”

“You won’t have to,” the Alpha smirked, “All you have to do is wait for my signal to act.”

“What will the signal be?” Bridgit asked.

“Oh, don’t worry,” Riannon chuckled, “You will recognise it when you hear it.”

understand that we entrust our lives to

promise. Because I will be fighting for my own freedom and the freedom of my people. I have already been fighting for it for a while. I know that we deserve it and I know that this is what the Moon Goddess always wanted for her daughters. I changed the laws for women, and I want to live in the kingdom that I am building with my mate to see the

what the werebear wanted to hear.

she said, “I can’t speak for them now. But I am willing to fight by your side,

she smiled to

now,” Bridgit whispered, “The ones willing to fight will be waiting for your signal whatever

have already told you – it would be hard to miss,”

the place where, according to the little fox, his mate was kept. They took mostly lycans and some of the very best werewolves since Maya insisted on it. A huge force was left slightly behind them in case things got really bad. He couldn’t march

noticed the glimmering of the distant lights. The palace of the fox king was well hidden deep inside the woods. This kind was used to not being together all the time and hiding in small

better cell now. Purely because she

feel that she was agitated and not happy. He

immediately felt

he had been worried. He had been worried that Castiel would do something to her, trick her, bewitch her or whatever. He had been worried that he could hurt her even though he knew that his mate was strong. Waiting and not knowing had been an agony for him and he was so happy to hear her voice. Just one word of

okay?”

he could tell that she was smiling through tears. He could feel her sharing his emotions through their bond. “And you?”

I am coming for you,” he chuckled, “Just give me a moment or two.” “I will wait for you for the eternity if

love,” he gave her a promise that he intended to keep. But then suddenly he felt her worried and distressed. “Riannon, are you all

to take me somewhere,” she informed him quickly. “He knows that you are here.

to calm her down and give her strength, “I

his mate

said into the emptiness

then he shifted his men following

even see them, digging their sharp teeth into the werebears, leaving the foxes to the werewolves to

and guts out, each kill bringing him closer to his

the building – a very tall mansion with a glass dome towering over its centre when he received a

is wrong?” He asked him via the link while

They were expecting a backup from this side I guess,” his Beta notified him, growling. Reid was probably fighting

Lycan king asked. “Yes,

are done there, come here. Since they know already, there is

take his mate and his friends away from him. This made him and Mars

entrance when he heard the loudest and most piercing howl, recognising

are coming with me!” Castiel burst into Riannon’s room,

she struggled against him, not making it easy for him. Onyx inside of

to get

rather believe that you are trying to cover yourself

at the back of her head, tugging it to

was forcing itself inside and trying to dominate her. The two guards were still holding her hands and

her veins and

blood and blood she got because she bit him as hard as she could, spilling the warm ruby liquid from his

stepped away, looking at her with wide eyes and covering his mouth with one hand. It took him a few seconds to process what she had done, but then a smirk appeared on his face, which annoyed her

each word was punctuated with the growls from the outside which were getting closer and

Castiel spat the blood onto the immaculate marble floor of the passage they used, “Bring her to the dungeons and lock her in the best cell until it’s over. Tripple the men guarding her. I want them to never get to her until I am

Riannon burst out laughing. She couldn’t stop for a while and now the three men

tilted her head slightly, “this is exactly your problem! You recognised me as this special, perfect Luna but even now you are not taking me into consideration. And this is exactly why a man like

smirked, “but I know that you haven’t been able to shift since your wolf

feeling of overpowering her finally. “And who told you that? By any chance was that your spy

but it was too

think I am a powerless female who can’t shift?” Riannon snarled, her eyes glowing with pure light, “The Moon Goddess

just like the last time. She could feel how power was streaming through her and she knew that she could destroy anyone in her way now. She had been brought back for a reason. And this fight that was ahead of her today

head up to the moon and let out the deepest and longest howl of her life. In that howl, the Moon Goddess herself

heard that howl and Bridgit’s mouth opened when she recognised the sign they all had been waiting for. They felt the ancient goddess’

one by one they were turning into their beasts – wolves, bears, lionesses, panthers,

the guards outside of it. But the rest joined her

all craved freedom

a fox being thrown out of the window. He was finishing off yet another bear when he finally could have

him, but he dealt with them at ease, amazed by the sight of a huge eagle pecking out one of the foxes’ eyes. When the bird was done, they looked at each other and he wasn’t sure if it would attack him

men bursting inside through windows at the very same moment.