Mera got up from the couch as she heard the elevator come back again.
After their talk, everyone went down until it was just Killian, Aksel, Edvin, Ken, and Mera in the living room, waiting for the elevator to return.
“You okay?” Killian asked as he walked up to her and stroked her arm, taking away the trembling of her body.
She looked at him and nodded. “This will be the first time I’ve seen an execution, and I can’t say I’m excited.”
Killian hummed and wrapped one arm around her waist as he placed a kiss on her forehead.
“I would be surprised if you were. Just hold on to me, and if you can’t look, look at me,” he said as he met her eyes.
Mera gave him a small smile and nodded before she looked back at the other three, who all looked at them with big smiles on their faces.
“What?” Mera asked.
“You’ve accepted the bond, haven’t you?” Ken said in a teasing voice.
Mera rolled her eyes at him.
“You think him holding me like this”—she pointed to the arm around her waist—“and the kiss on my forehead confirms that?” she said as she gave him a look.
Ken snorted as he shook his head. “It does.”
He looked at Edvin as he held up his hand. “But I just wanted to check so Edvin can’t say that he didn’t see or hear it.”
Edvin growled as he took out his wallet, grabbed a fifty, and gave it to Ken.
“Thank you very much, my dear brother,” Ken said as he placed the money in his pocket.
“You guys actually made a bet on them?” Aksel asked.
“It was Edvin’s idea,” Ken said as he held up his hands.
“Like hell it was!” Edvin said.
Mera snorted as she shook her head before she looked at Killian, who sighed and looked at them like he didn’t know what to do with the kids.
She caught his eye, and he’d clearly seen the smirk she had on her face.
He snorted as he rolled his eyes before he beckoned for her to walk to the elevator.
“You two are really just very large kids, you know that?” Mera said as she walked into the elevator with the guys following her.
“That’s why you love us, Luna.”
“Dude,” Killian said as Ken stopped talking.
Even though she’d accepted the bond, they still had a road to walk before she would truly be the luna, and she didn’t need to rush toward anything.
Ken immediately gulped and dropped his head. “Sorry, Alpha. Force of habit.”
Mera gulped as she leaned against the wall and thought about what Ken had said.
She would become luna if Killian became alpha, but they would have to complete the bond for that.
Her stomach clenched, and she didn’t know if it was because she was excited or scared about both things.
Sure, she couldn’t deny the effect he’d had on her and what he did to her body, but still, it was not something she’d ever really given much thought to.
“Mera?”
She was pulled out of her thoughts by Killian’s voice, and she saw Aksel, Edvin, and Ken walking out of the elevator while Killian was still standing next to her.
She looked at him and gave him a small smile. “I’m fine.”
Killian clenched his jaw but nodded anyway. “Remember what I said. Hold on to me if it becomes too much.”
Mera nodded before they both walked out of the elevator.
They walked out of the pack house. It was already dark, and she could see that the moon was close to its peak. She followed Killian toward the forest.
They walked through the forest, and she saw more and more people standing in a clearing, all wearing white.
Killian moved to walk close behind her.
“The white clothes are to mirror the light of the moon in honor of Máni,” Killian said quietly.
She gulped as she continued walking, and people turned around to look at her.
Some even fell to their knees as they saw her.
Killian laid a hand on her lower back for support. “Are you okay?” he whispered.
She looked up at him and nodded a little.
“I’m here, Mera,” he said.
She gave him a small smile and nodded again. “I know you are,” she whispered back.
He gave her a small smile before he looked in front of him again.
She took a deep breath and looked ahead. She saw Tore with his wrists tied to a pole that was standing in a lake.
“Why is he tied up in the middle of a lake?” she whispered as she looked at Killian.
“The water will be filled with the moonlight as the execution takes place. Through the water, Máni will guide the executed soul to a place he deems worthy,” Killian whispered.
They reached the others who were standing at the edge of the shore.
Synne and Adrien stood in front, Viggo and Aksel stood on either side of them but farther behind, and Ken and Edvin stood on either side of Viggo and Aksel, farther behind still, making a large triangle.
The rest of the pack stood in a half circle around them and Tore.
One male stood apart from the pack and had a scowl on his face as he looked at Adrien.
Mera gulped as she looked at Synne and Adrien.
“Please don’t tell me I have to be in the front,” she whispered.
“If you don’t want to, you don’t have to, but I do have to,” Killian answered as he met her eyes.
Mera gulped as she looked ahead and knew she really was going to need him for support.
She grabbed his hand, and that made her choice clear.
He nodded and led her to the front.
Tore looked up, and she could see the shock on his face as he saw her.
Mera stood next to Synne, who gave her a small smile and gently grabbed her hand. From the trembling of her hand, Mera knew that Synne hated this as well.
Killian stood next to her and nodded at his father, who stepped forward a little.
“I følge loven vil Tore Rasmussen bli utført for angripe Måneverdener-pakke med intensjoner om å drepe meg, Alpha Adrien Måneskinn, Alpha-blooded Killian Måneskinn, og Luna Synne Måneskinn og overta kommandomakten.
“For dette ble du fanget, og nå blir du dømt til døden foran øynene til Máni,” Adrien said.
A power fell over the clearing and the lake.
Mera and Tore both groaned as they felt it.
Synne and Killian looked at each other.
Because she was a Wolvensoul, Mera’s connection to the moon was even stronger than theirs. That’s why she was feeling what Tore felt.
Mera dropped her head briefly; she was breathing a little heavier and trying to remain calm.
Killian moved his arm and snaked it around her waist, pulling her into him a little.
The sparks that erupted allowed her to breathe a little more, and she couldn’t be more thankful for that right now.
She looked back up at Tore, who was starting to gasp for air.
“Máni, vi står foran deg for å se rettferdighet oppnå.
“Tore Rasmussen er skyldig og har skrevet sin egen skjebne på Midgard,” Adrien said as he was handed a bow and a weird-looking arrow by one of the warriors of the pack.
Mera gulped as she looked at Tore and saw the pure horror on his face as he also saw the bow Adrien was holding.
Adrien drew the arrow and aimed.
Mera clenched her hand around Synne’s and her other hand that was holding Killian’s arm. She knew she must be hurting both of them right now, but she had to keep herself steady.
She glanced at Dag, who was clearly holding himself back.
“Må Máni veilede din sjel til din evige skjebne,” Adrien said as he released the arrow as soon as the water got a white glow.
Tore screamed at the top of his lungs as the arrow hit the middle of his chest; his veins started to become purple, starting from the wound.
The only sound was Tore’s screams, and Mera knew she would never forget it.
His skin started to become gray, and soon blood started to stream out of his mouth, ears, nose, and eyes.
She felt her stomach flip over, but she couldn’t look away.
She needed to keep watching as the pressure that was around the clearing intensified and caused her breathing to become harder again.
Tore’s screams stopped as he gasped for breath—like a plastic bag had been tied around his neck—and he started to thrash.
He was choking.
“No!” Dag suddenly screamed and wanted to go to him.
“Tore!” he yelled.
He tried to jump into the water but was thrown back by a force as soon as he was about to land.
Mera saw him land against a tree and look at his son.
“No!” he screamed again.
Mera looked back at Tore, who had somehow turned his head toward his dad, and she heard one last whimper leave his mouth before he stopped breathing altogether.
The blood that had come from his body fell into the lake and glowed white before disappearing.
The pressure disappeared with the white glow on the water, and Mera’s breathing suddenly came back in full force.
She gasped for air before her breathing became rapid.
Killian pulled her against him even more and wrapped his other arm around her as well; she was still holding Synne’s hand.
A stray tear rolled down her cheek as she kept looking at Tore’s body and heard the broken screams of loss from his father.
She didn’t cry for him; she cried because of the impact of everything she’d seen.
She never expected it to be anything like this.
“Rettferdighet er gjort; farvel, Tore Rasmussen,” Adrien said as he dropped his head.
“Farvel, Tore Rasmussen,” Killian, Synne, Aksel, Edvin, Ken, Viggo, and the rest of the pack said as they also dropped their heads.
“Goodbye, Tore,” she whispered as another tear rolled down her cheek.
