Her Rebirth For Revenge

Selene's POV

The wine tasted bitter this night.

I set the cup down on the ground and watched the red liquid swirl on the silver lip. Something was not right, but I could not quite put my finger on the problem. Our harvest moon hung full and bloodred in the sky over our revel, illuminated all in bloodshades. Even the laughter of my pack sounded harsher, keener, sharper.

"Luna Selene, would you assist Mrs. Davies?"

Tommy's voice snapped young Tommy out of his daydream. "Her arthritis is playing up again."

I smiled and placed the concern on the back burner. This was why I came. This was why I came here. "Of course."

The aged woman sat slumped on a wooden bench, her contorted hands clasped with pain. I sat down beside her and put my hands on her swollen joints. Heat surrounded me, the typical hum of my ability to cure ringing through my chest to my hands.

"Better?" I asked as Mrs. Davies uncurled her fingers in wonder.

"Much better, dear. You're a blessing to the pack."

They should have warned me with their words, but on this night, they carried an air of farewell. I pushed the odd thought away and fought through the crowd, bandaging scraped knees and calming headaches. My pack grinned up at me with honest love, my Luna who adored them all.

The grounds hummed with activity. Children darted back and forth between the vendors down the booths offering food as the adults sat in cliques, exchanging tales and ale. There was music with traditional musicians who had played for centuries beneath these trees. Everything was right, as it ought to have been.

Then why did my wolf's pacing restlessness burn within my breast?

"Here's my beautiful wife." His hard arms wrapped around my waist from behind. The pine and earth smell that was Corwin closed in on me, and a little of the tension leaked out.

"Your Majesty," I snapped back quickly, dropping down onto his immense chest. "Can't you attend some event or other? Mingle with pack elders, maybe?"

"All arguing over border patrols. Again." His lips kissed my ear. "I prefer it here."

I was standing in front of him in his arms. His gray eyes were their normal warmth, but I saw concern grooves etched around them. Being an Alpha was troubling him these days, and with pressure on our borders growing.

"Dance with me," I said, needing to force both our dark thoughts away.

He brings out the real one he reserved specifically for me. "Always."

We danced out into the center of the clearing where the other couples danced to the music. Corwin's hold was strong but gentle as he took my hand during the dance. With the exuberance of my pack and my husband's love, the unnatural sense of unease dissipated.

But the blood moon watched us as we danced, and I shivered at its chill gaze as ominous.

"Corwin! There you are." Beta Kane entered, always assured. Blonde hair illuminated by firelight gave him an appearance younger than he was at twenty-eight. "The council awaits word on the new accords on trade."

I felt my husband breathe on my temple. "Can't it wait until tomorrow?"

"Watch how Elder Morrison behaves after a couple." Kane's blue eyes snapped to me with an apparent concern. "Perhaps Luna Selene needs to nap. She appears pale."

I glared. "I'm fine

"Well, you are." Kane's smile never falttered, but the edge in his voice prickled shivers on my spine. "Just checking on our Luna to make sure she's all right."

Corwin squeezed my hand. "Enjoy at the festival. I'll hurry along." I watched my husband walk away through the crowd with his second-in-command. Kane and Corwin had grown up together, good men and faithful. But why did I always get the sense that he was checking on me when he did not believe that I saw him?

"Aunt Selene!" Someone young called out. Prince Marcus came striding towards me with his rakish smile, his brown hair disheveled by all the dancing. At twenty-two, Corwin's youngest brother had twice the charm as he did courage.

"Enjoying yourself?" I inquired, jerking my chin towards his reddened face and shining eyes.

"Best! Did I arm wrestle Kane into submission? His face was classic." Marcus laughed and grabbed a new glass of wine from a passing waiter. "Though I think he gave me the victory."

"Marcus." I stopped him at his arm when he raised the glass. "Perhaps you ought to pace the wine."

"It's a celebration! Live a little, sis." He grinned and took the large gulp.

The wine was the same dark red as the moon in the sky above us. The same shade that had tasted so bitter on my own lips. My stomach tightened with instant fear.

"Ack, Marcus

But he had already drunk half the cup, grinning at something one of his companions had called across the meadow. His pack adored Prince Lysandros – he was the best they might have wished for in a future monarch. Fit, courageous, far too free with his money.

The music swirled around us, the voices raised to some ancient battle hymn. Children yelped with joy as they darted between the dancers. Everything was just as it should have been for our most revered festival.

So why did the atmosphere become to have a flavor of death?

Marcus stumbled a little, his laughter dying on his lips. The wine cup was knocked from his hand and clattered to the ground with a sharp crack. Black liquid spread across the crowded ground like spilled blood.

"I don't feel." He touched his stomach, turned pale. "Something's not right."

The music was playing, but all I could hear was the thumping of my heartbeat in my ears. Marcus's gaze met mine, their confusion deepening, their fear increasing.

"Selene," he whispered. "Save me

Then his body jerked and he fell.

Time seemed to stop. Marcus hit the ground, his body convulsing wildly. Foam frothed on his lips, blood-tinged. The pack members closest to us screamed and retreated, their joyous excitement transformed in the blink of an eye to horror.

I got down on my knees beside him, my hands on his chest. My restorative power flowed into him, but it was as if I was flowing water through a bucket with a hole in the bottom. Whatever poison flowed through his veins was stronger than my power.

"Summon the healer!" someone called out. "Call the Alpha!"

But I knew it was too late. I could feel Marcus's life slipping away from me, howsoever tightly I clasped him. His beautiful brown eyes looked upwards at the blood-studded moon, already slipping away from my reach.

"Please," I whispered, giving it all to him. "Please not abandon us."

It shuddered in one last contorted convulsion. And then there was silence.

The music of the festival died away as the word was heard by the crowds and the news was spread through the throngs. Corwin came over to me, his face in disbelief. He fell to his knees and embraced his brother, but Marcus was past bringing back.

"No," Corwin whispered. "No, no, no

I sat back down on my heels, my hands covered in Marcus's blood. There was the pack, circling me with faces white with shock and loss. There was crying. There was shouting at the council.

And in the middle of all this, there were eyes on me. Eyes that blamed me.

Beta Kane elbowed through the crowd, his face set with determination. He dropped down next to the broken wine cup and examined it. When he looked up, his cold blue eyes locked with mine.

"Poison," he shouted for all to hear. "Prince Marcus has been poisoned."

The onlookers gasped and whispered, fear washing over them in waves. Who would dare poison their prince? Who would dare to be so cold-blooded? Slowly, Kane rose to his feet, his gaze never wavering from my face. When he spoke again, his voice echoed through the still clearing in shattering clarity. "And I knew who it was."