Chapter 74 - The Puppet

LUNA ASTERBELLE'S POV

"I heard you loud and clear, Luna." Jerome's voice echoed inside the room, which was soon followed by the sound of explosives outside the mansion. "Stand up; don't show your weak side to that type of man, Luna. You should only shiver and cry when I'm the reason," he said as he made his entrance.

Jerome broke through the walls and all of the barricades that Brian set up a while ago. It was the first time after all those past months that I've seen Jerome shift with his wolf. My heart throbbed as I met his gaze; those red eyes of his never ceased to ignite the spark within me. All the wolves I previously met had similar black eyes, and Jerome was the only one different, excluding myself.

"You're persistent. How did you even break free from my prison realm?" Brian questioned Jerome, but he didn't bother to respond.

I instantly felt lighter in the next few seconds, as if I hadn't gone through all those gunshots and even gotten stabbed by the dagger—I felt stronger. "Play time's over, Brian," I muttered, full of confidence now that I have Jerome right behind Mr. Asterbelle to corner him.

I dragged my feet towards Brian's position. He stared at me without any intention to move away and try to defend himself, so I immediately raised my left leg in the attempt to kick him straight in the face, but my foot was frozen in the air as if there was some sort of barrier that prevented me from totally hitting him.

"What's the matter?" Brian smirked as he turned the tides for another round.

As soon as he held my leg, he flipped it, which led me to turn my whole body around just to land on the ground without losing my balance.

'Retaliate, Luna. If you don't, I'll force myself out to devour that man after destroying him into tiny bits,' warned my wolf, who was eager to let her take over my consciousness.

I bit my lower lip until I tasted my bitter blood, trying to connect with Jerome's mind-link. "Hey, where's Jazpher?" I asked him.

Jerome's wolf howled, which sounded like he was pretty annoyed. "Why are you trying to look for someone else when I'm right here in front of you already?" he replied.

I thought that we would have the chance to have a peaceful conversation, but Brian ruined it for me as he resumed trying to chase me down. Jerome followed him around as well until we reached the outside of that dim room.

"Your mother is in the security room," Jerome said.

I nodded my head to imply that I already knew. "She's been watching everything from afar."

"That's not what I wanted to hear. Are you sure that you're going to let Belle die too?" he asked.

With a confused mind, I stopped running out of nowhere, which led Brian to catch up to us. "Are you finally giving up?"

Heaving out a frustrated sigh, I turned to face my damn father. He didn't give me the opportunity to speak; he smashed my whole body to the ceiling. And when I was about to fall, Jerome caught me in his back, filled with gray fur, disappearing from Brian's vicinity.

"We'll at least spare your adoptive mother. No matter how much you loathed Brian, you can never have the same amount of hate towards Belle. She didn't do anything disgraceful to you, and besides, I also have a question for her," Jerome muttered before our mind-link got disconnected.

A query for Mrs. Asterbelle?

***

Half an hour passed by in the blink of an eye. Jerome and I traveled on top of the mansion, an attic, where the security room was hidden. His wolf let him return to his human form, so I smiled at him and gestured to him to open the door.

"Mrs. Asterbelle?" I called my mother.

Fear instilled in my system the second that I saw her, crouching on the corner of the attic, both her arms covering her face as her hands were placed above her head.

"Mrs. Asterbelle, your daughter is here; she's safe and sound," Jerome calmly told her after silently entering the place and pulling the door closed.

"Mom… It's me, Luna. What's wrong? Why are you cramped up in this secluded area?" I asked her, my voice almost cracking. "Did Brian harm you or something?" I added.

I kneeled on the wooden floor as I leaned closer in an attempt to pat her head, then steer her arms away from covering her, but she suddenly slapped my hand away.

"You're the source of our misfortune, Luna Asterbelle! You should just die; in fact, you should have never been born in this world," Mrs. Asterbelle burst in anger, rising from her position.

Jerome pulled me just in time. Mrs. Asterbelle failed to attack me.

"Her eyes seem different," Jerome mumbled to himself, which made me look at her eyes, and like he mentioned, I confirmed those sets of eyes weren't hers. "She's probably being manipulated by Brian; there's no doubt about it. Only he has the power granted by Althea to turn anyone ranking lower than him into puppets of his own," he explained.

Puppets?

"No, wait. I don't recall Brian with that ability." I dismissed his assumptions.

I glared at Mrs. Asterbelle, who wasn't blinking—her eyes were entirely black, and it felt like I was staring into a void.

"Mom, do you even remember who I am, or do you only know my name?" I tried to distract her with my query. "You swore that we'd rebuild the Blood Moon Pack and be the strongest pack amongst all the existing ones. Do you think you would be able to do that on your own?"

Mrs. Asterbelle gritted her teeth. "As long as I have the Alpha with me, we would be invincible. No one can defeat us!" she replied, which led me to realize that she was no longer the same woman who adopted me from that filthy orphanage.

Mrs. Asterbelle was killed by Brian before we even arrived here.