Moon

20 Chapter 20 – Pure Fury 

Gunner. 

I sat slumped on the floor, the tears rolled freely down my cheeks. Cole, Smith, Nat, Deena, Mum and Dad, all stood in the hallway whispering to each other. 

“Your what?” Nat asked, stunned. 

I didn’t respond, all I could think of was Zee. I couldn’t lose her, not now, not ever. I have only just found her, and I know in my heart what we have together, I know the bond is real, I can feel it.. 

“Did he say True Mate?” Nat whispered again. 

“Just get out” I said dejectedly. They didn’t move. I jumped to my feet, my canines extended and my eyes holding all the fury in the world, 

“LEAVE!” I roared. They all quickly turned and shuffled down the stairs. I fell back to the floor, feeling my insides breaking all over again. My self–control was weaning, I could feel the surge of emotions boiling to the surface. I just can’t lose her. Please Goddess don’t take her away from me. I felt Mums‘ arms slowly wrap around my shoulders as she sat next to me on the floor. I collapsed into her arms and sobbed. She gently patted my head and tried to calm me. 

“It’s okay” she whispered, 

*She’ll be okay“. We sat together like that for what felt like hours, with Mum still stroking my hair. When Artemis came out of the door, closing it slowly behind him, I jumped to my feet, as did Mum. She held on to my arm tightly and we both waited for Artemis to speak. Artemis stood silently before us, his face not giving away to any emotion. 

“Well?” I snapped, 

he 

“She okay now but very weak, hard to tell‘ said Artemis quietly. I dropped my into my hands as the tears started welling up p again. 

“Will she survive?” asked my mum softly, 

“Tonight, I don’t know. If still breathing in morning we look again” 

“What else can we do? You have to try something else I yelled looking at Artemis. 

“No more to do. Up to her now” he grumbled pushing past me and off down the stairs. That’s it? That’s all our great and magical healer has to offer. There has to be more, something more, I’ll try anything. I looked at my mother as my lips trembled. I felt like my legs were about to give out from under me, 

“Mum” I cried as she hugged me tight, 

“Come now dear, it’ll be okay she soothed me. I hunched over, crying into her hair, 

“Come on, you need to rest” she said as she tried to lead me away, 

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20 Chapter 20 – Pure Fury 

“No” I snapped, ripping my hand from her grip, 

“I’m staying here. 

“Gunner, baby there’s nothing more you can do for her now” 

“I can sit with her at least. I can make sure that she isn’t alone“. Mum looked at me with pity. Her eyes were red, and her face looked droopy and sad, not her usual cheerful self. 

“Okay my boy” she said caressing my cheek. She stared at me for a minute, breathed out deeply and left. I watched her walk down the hall and to the stairs until she disappeared from view. I turned and put my hand on the doorknob, then froze. I rested my forehead on the door and took a deep breath. ‘Keep it together Gunner‘ I told myself. I opened the door slowly and walked into the room. The bedroom was dark, apart from the light from the bathroom shining through the partially open door. The roomed smelled of blood, sweat and whatever medicine Artemis had been using. I walked over to the bed and stood next to it and stared down at my broken little wolf. Artemis had cleaned most of the blood from her face, revealing a large swollen eye with a visible slice through the eyebrow. Another slit in her skin sat on her cheekbone, just below the swollen eye. Her lip was busted and swollen, and her face was scattered with quickly bruising 

skin. There were still small remnants of the brown cream that Artemis rubbed over her face, 

some in her hairline and blobs on her cheeks. She had bandages wrapped around her neck and chest. The blood–soaked t–shirt she had been wearing, was discarded on the floor beside the bed. Her arms laid motionless at her sides and her legs were under the blanket. I had never seen her without a hoodie on before. Now that her arms were bare, with only the bandages covering her, I could see the extent of her horrific life. Laid bare across her skin like a painting, showing me that she had endured more than just this one night of torture. No, she’d been living with it 

for years. 

Her pale skin was spotted with bruises and scars. Some still fresh, some aging, and some very old. Her entire arms were covered in the scars, I could barely run my finger down her arm without hitting a mark. How could anyone do this to such a sweet girl. If all this was what her arms held. I feared to think what secrets the rest of her body would tell. My heart wrenched looking at how broken and beaten she looks. That sick fucking bastard. That human scum. I will kill him for this. She looks so small and frail laying in my king size bed. How can I be feeling so strongly for her already? It’s only been two days. This isn’t just the bond, it’s more than that. I know it is. Zelena is special. She may be quiet and a little shy, but there is fire in her soul, I can sense it. Her strength and tenacity is unmatched by any other she–wolf. If… No, when, she lives through what that monster did to her, I will cherish her until my last breath. I swear it to the 

Goddess. 

I took the chair from my desk, pulled it close to the bed and sat down. Gently and carefully, I lifted her hand and held it in mine. As I watched her in the unconscious sleep, I stroked the back of her hand. The sound of her heart beating slowly, and her breaths staggered and weak, filled my ears. It only made me that much more determined. I gripped her hand a little tighter and started to siphon her pain. She moaned a little, turning her head to the side. It was a small movement, but I’ll take what I can get. It was working, that’s all that mattered. I closed my eyes, 

lowered my head and facneed hard tabing more of her min. After a while I lifted my head to 

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20 Chapter 20 – Pure Fury 

look at her, but I felt weak and tired. I rested my head on the edge of the bed and passed out. 

When I started to wake it was still dark, though I could sense the sun was rising. I could still smell blood on Zelena, so I went to the bathroom, got a wet cloth, and filled a bowl with warm water. I sat on the edge of the bed near her head and began to wipe the blood and medicine from her hair. She was so still and so lifeless. I listened to her heart, still slow but beating a little stronger now. I rinsed the cloth in the bowl and gently turned her head to the side to wipe behind her car and the back of her neck, being careful not to touch the burns. As I cleaned her neck, I could see a portion of a very pale pink birthmark at the edge of her hair line. It looks like a crescent moon. Huh, that’s cute. I went to rinse the bowl out in the bathroom and heard a knock on the door. I didn’t want anyone to see her like this, so I ran to the door holding it closed. They knocked again. I opened the door slightly and peered out, it was Artemis with my mother. I nodded at him to come in and opened the door wider. He stepped through and Mum was about to follow, I shook my head at her, 

“Just him, Mum” I said and closed the door before she could argue. He walked to the bed and looked down at her, he then slowly hovered his hands over her body. Starting at her feet and finishing at her head, not touching her, just feeling her energy. He then bent down turning his head to the side and hovered over her chest. He looked at me and frowned, 

“She is strong” he grumbled, 

“You heal her?” he asked me while pointing to her. I didn’t quite know what he meant, werewolves can take pain away, up to a limit, but we can’t heal other Weres. I tilted my head and stared at him without answering his question. He huffed and started rummaging through his bag. He pulled out the brown healing cream and started to unwrap the bandages on her neck. I didn’t want anyone else to touch her, I especially don’t want to watch someone else touching her. I growled at him and he growled back. 

“To heal” he snapped, 

“I’ll do that” I said walking forward and snatching the jar of cream from his hand. He huffed with annoyance at me again, picked up his bag and walked out. Shit. I’m acting like a total dick. I didn’t mean to be rude to Artemis, I just have this need, this urge to protect Zelena. I can’t help it. 

I dipped my fingers in the jar pulling out a dollop of the sticky brown goo. It smelt like moldy tree bark and honey. I carefully smeared it over her eyebrow and cheekbone, being sure not to get it in her eye. After applying it to her face, I then rolled the rest of the bandages from her neck and smeared more there, spreading it over her chest as well. I placed the bandages back into place and then very gently rolled her onto her side, so that I could get to the marks at the back of her neck. I moved her hair out of the way and started to move the bandages covering her neck, but Artemis had placed bandages further down than I thought was necessary. They covered her entire back. I slowly untangled the fabric, and with each piece I removed, I could see more and more of the large slash marks marring her skin. They shared similarities to the marks that Scottish fella from Outlander had on him. Multiple huge red gashes, already closing over, but clearly only days old. The sight made me want to vomit from pure fury. 

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