Eighth-Born Luna (Emily and Nathan) novel Chapter 60

Nathan’s POV

“Emily’s friend? That Tessa?” I asked.

“Yes, her,” Stella replied.

I didn’t understand. I needed to process this information. I stood up and was about to leave when Stella called

out to me.

“Am I free to go now? You found out what you wanted.” Her voice was sharp and mean again.

“You will stay here until I decide otherwise,” I said coldly and walked out.

Blake followed me.

Once we were far enough away from Stella’s cell, I stopped and turned to look at Blake. My hands were still rembling with lingering rage.

“What the hell is going on?” I asked my Beta.

“I’m just as shocked as you are,” he replied.

“Do you believe her?”

“I don’t know. It all seems too confusing. Maybe Stella is just trying to mess with us to protect the witch and buy

ime to come up with a new lie.”

“Maybe,” I agreed. “But either way, take some guards/and these.” I handed him a second pair of silver handcuffs. ‘Be careful, they burn. These will cut off Tessa’s mind–link. Bring her here immediately. I’m going to go talk to the

vitch.”

I walked down the hallway and entered the last cell at the very end.

“Zynair,” I said, greeting her.

Marcus stood directly behind her, his arms crossed over his chest.

“Nathan,” she replied, her voice just as cold as mine.

The witch was also in handcuffs, but hers were different, covered in ancient runes. My great–grandfather had ound them long ago. Who knew we would actually need them today?

“Zynair, please forgive us,” Marcus started to apologize. “We have an emergency.”

I knew he felt like he owed her; they had known each other for a long time. But I never liked witches.

“Let’s make this easy for everyone.” I grabbed a chair, placed it in front of her, and sat down.

“Tell us where Emily is, and I won’t have to use force,” I started, rolling up my sleeves to show my tattoos.

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“Ooh, you think you’re the big bad wolf,” she mocked. “Are you trying to impress me with your muscles?”

Zynair, I’m tired. We’ve been up all night, and you are walking on very thin ice. My people told me you were talking to Emily in secret, I still feel like you were involved in what happened at the dungeon.”

She watched me in silence.

“As Alpha, I want to handle this reasonably Just tell me what I want to know.” I lowered my voice dangerously.

She stayed quiet, but I could see the struggle in her eyes.

“Zynair…” Marcus began, but she cut him off.

“I lied,” she said, looking me straight in the eyes.

“Okay,” I thought, at least she’s talking now. “About what?”

“I found out what the rogue was hiding. I found out exactly who the Rogue King is hunting.”

“And… who is it?”

I felt a knot in my stomach. It was like my body didn’t want to hear the answer.

“He is hunting a White Wolf. A pure white wolf without a single flaw. Her hair is the color of moonlight.”

My heart went cold. I had never seen Emily’s wolf, but her hair was exactly that color.

“What makes you think it’s Emily?” I asked.

She looked at me like I was an idiot.

“Look at her hair. It’s obvious.”

“Hair doesn’t mean that’s her wolf,” I snapped.

“I saw her wolf when she was running,” she said.

“On the cliff?” I snapped. “So it was you? You’re the one who pushed her off?”

“No. It wasn’t me, Nathan,” she countered, shaking her head. “In fact, I saw her in the forest, nowhere near the liff. She was running with the other wolves from the pack.”

I went quiet. If she wasn’t the one at the cliff, then who was?

“I went to her and warned her. I told her she deserved to know she was in danger from the Rogue King who is aunting her, and from the priestesses who would lock her up to keep her away from him. And danger from you,” her sharp eyes slowly scanning my face,

“Why from me?”

“Because if you had known, you would have locked her up too, just to keep her safe. The girl needed to be

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prepared. She needed to decide for herself, for once, what she wanted.”

lence filled the room.

“And clearly, she decided to get away from all of this. I don’t blame her.” She looked down at her hands.

I felt like I was ready to tear the witch’s throat out. All of my previous calmness vanished.

“How dare you!” I growled. “Behind my back, without my permission… do you even realize what you’ve done?”

“I did the right thing.” There wasn’t a hint of regret in her eyes. “And if I had to, I would do it again.”

I lunged at her, but Marcus was faster. He stepped in front of me.

“Nathan, please, calm down!”

I grabbed his jacket and balled my fists. “Get out of my way,” I spat.

“I know you’re furious, but please, get a grip on yourself,” he insisted.

I let go of him abruptly and stormed out of the room.

“So, our mate really just chose to run away?” Asher asked, sounding heartbroken.

“No, I don’t believe it,” I stated.

“Alpha, we caught Tessa. There were some minor complications, but we’re bringing her to the cells now,” Blake’s Voice suddenly sliced through my head over the mind–link,

Finally, things might become clear, I thought.

I watched as the guards dragged Tessa into the interrogation room. Jessie and Poppy came running in right

ehind her.

“Blake, if you don’t let her go right now, I swear I will never speak to you again! What is going on here? Jessie

velled, glaring at her brother with pure fury.

“Blake, are you listening to me?!” Jessie yelled, hitting him in the back with her palms over and over.

“Jessie, stop it!” he hissed, forcing Tessa down and chaining her to the table.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm down, and entered the cell.

“Alpha, what is going on here?” Jessie demanded.

“Jess, if you don’t show me proper respect, I don’t care if you’re the Beta’s sister–I will punish you,” I said coldly,

pushing past her.

“Jessie, Poppy–get out,” I commanded. Strangely, even under the Alpha’s command, they were trembling but didn’t move.

“Fine. Have it your way,” I muttered and sat down.

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Where is Emily, Tessa?”

“I… I don’t know,” she said, looking like she was about to burst into tears.

“What happened to Emily?” Tessie asked in horror.

“She’s gone,” I snapped, warning her not to interfere anymore.

“So she really did it… she ran away,” Jessie whispered, covering her mouth with her hand.

“What do you mean, really?” I barked.

“Well, she warned us, but she made us promise not to tell you.”

“But we didn’t think it would be tonight,” Poppy added.

“We thought we still had time and that she would say goodbye to us,” Jessie said, her eyes filling with tears.

I gave them a dark look; I would deal with them later. My gaze moved back to Tessa.

“I don’t believe she ran,” I said slowly.

The room went still.

“I think she was taken.”

For a fraction of a second, Tessa froze. Then she lowered her eyes again.

“You should check the letter,” she said softly.

“What letter?” I growled.

She blinked, looking confused. “The one she wrote… before she left.”

A pause. Jessie frowned, looking confused. “What letter?”

Good. So they didn’t know either.

“Tessa,” I said, my voice dropping to a low, dangerous whisper.

Her shoulders shook. She looked like she was about to snap.

“She… she wanted to say goodbye,” Tessa whispered, her voice trembling. “She told me she couldn’t just lisappear. She had to write it down.”

I didn’t break eye contact.

“Kane,” I said through the mindlink.

“Yes, Alpha.”

Go to Emily’s room. Search it. Find anything she wrote.”

A few seconds passed It felt like hours.

“…Alpha, I found it,” Kane’s voice came through, sounding hesitant.

“What is it?”

“A note.”

My chest tightened.

“Read it to me,” I commanded:

There was hesitation. “…Are you sure?”

“Read it. Now!”

I heard him take a breath.

“Dear Alpha…” Kane paused. “Actually, the word ‘Dear‘ is crossed out. Hard.”

My jaw tightened so much it hurt.

“Continue.” “I’m leaving. I hope you and Stella are very happy together. This is all your fault.”

“The scent?” I asked, my heart hammering against my ribs.

“It’s hers, Alpha. It smells exactly like Emily.”

The link cut off.

The words echoed in my head. This is your fault.

My gaze slowly lifted to Tessa. She was shaking. But something about it… didn’t sit right. I still couldn’t Inderstand what exactly was wrong, but things weren’t adding up.

The scent on the paper was right, the story was right… but it felt too perfect. Like a trap.

“Stella said you made the bracelets,” I said quietly.

Tessa blinked. “I… I didn’t give her any bracelets-

“And what about the potion?” I cut in.

She swallowed hard.

“Oh… that… it’s just… herbs,” she said quickly. “Nothing serious. She said it was for Marcus, I thought-

I almost smiled. Almost.

Do you know what your mistake was?” I asked.

She froze. Just for a second.

“I might have believed you, continued calmly. “I might have believed that you didn’t know what Stella was

planning.”

I leaned back slightly. Relaxed. Dangerous.

“I might have believed you… if I were stupid. But I’m not stupid, and Emily definitely isn’t either. And here is the

roblem: Emily outplayed you.”

I looked at her with a smirk, leaning back in my chair. I was waiting for her mask to crack. I could have used my Alpha force on her right away, but I enjoyed watching her start to twitch, and wonder. I saw her eyes darting around is her brain tried to check every detail.

Ha ha. Got you, you little bitch.

I moved slowly, getting closer to her. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the other girls shrink back, terrified.

“You planned it all so perfectly,” I said, my voice low and steady. “You just didn’t expect one thing.”

I let a cold smirk play on my lips.

“You see, Emily wasn’t going to run alone. She was going with Owen. And when she didn’t show up at their neeting spot, your.whole story fell apart.”

A collective gasp filled the room. The girls looked at each other in shock–they clearly had no idea about Owen.

“We didn’t know about Owen,” Tessa started, and I could see her beginning to get nervous.

“Tell me the truth,” I commanded, letting my full Alpha power crash down on her.

She covered her face with her hands and began to shake. But it was strange–it didn’t look like pain. It looked

ike… laughter?

She started laughing loudly and hysterically, pure madness ringing in her voice. Suddenly, she snapped her head

ip to look at me, wearing the most insane smile I had ever seen.

“Fine! I confess,” she said, waving her chained hands in the air as if she were taking a bow. “It was all me. And my

ather will be so happy to finally get his hands on her.”

“I don’t understand,” I growled, my chest tightening. “Who is your father?”

“Oh, you know him,” she sneered, her eyes gleaming with malice. “He is the Rogue King.”

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