His Rogue Luna novel Chapter 44

"I'm not going to stop you from joining the ceremony. As my mate, you have every right to attend," I swallowed.

I had to remain diplomatic so I pushed away my warring emotions to do what was expected of me.

The hurt and and scorned part of me wanted to ban him from ever intruding on such an intimate ceremony where I would be vulnerable under such emotional duress.

The other part of me, albeit small, wanted him to stand beside me and offer me some comfort and the strength to let the old woman go.

I decided to leave the ball in his court, it was his choice to show up or not. I did my part on informing him so I would not be responsible over his actions.

Gosh, being responsible and rational was downright exhausting.

"What time will it be?" I snapped out of my thoughts to answer him.

"It starts just before midnight. Dress code is causal black. It's in the gardens," He nodded thoughtfully at my words. It was the end of our conversation since I wasn't willing to speak anymore with the new tension headache I was sporting.

"Artemis," I looked up at the sound of my name, giving him a questioning look. "Please don't hurt Apollo or Genevieve for my mistakes," my confused face must have prompted him to continue explaining what he meant.

"You have every right to be upset with me, but Apollo and Gen didn't do anything wrong. They miss you and they want to talk to you," I let out a breath I hadn't known I had been holding, admittedly a little surprised at his words.

He was defending his friends which was rather honourable of him.

I shook off my thoughts and answered. "Of course, I already know that," I murmured. He seemed pleased with my answer, nodding to himself before getting up.

"I'll see you later Artemis," he promised before quietly departing, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

The moment I had been dreading arrived all too soon and before I knew it, I was standing with the other spirit wolves and Elders in the gardens, facing a very somber Diana.

We all stood in a perfect line, our mates all waiting behind us. There wasn't a single white cloth today as we wore the traditional mourning colour: black. The moon shone down on us, in all her brilliance in the otherwise pitch black sky.

The First Elder spoke up, breaking the deafening silence.

"Diana, your time with us has come to an end," she began, her voice even and the epitome of controlled. "Letting you go will no doubt be difficult on us, but you deserve your happiness," Diana nodded at the First Elder, standing before her to receive a gentle hug.

"I know this isn't the way you wanted things to go, but I am more certain than ever with my choice," Diana spoke resolutely, stepping back from the embrace to face the next elder.

Slowly, she moved down the line, saying her goodbyes to each elder before continuing on with the spirit wolves. Of course, I was at the end of the line, trying to delay the inevitable and avoid what was surely to come.

She grabbed my hands, giving them a squeeze one last time.

"Until we meet again Artemis," she tilted her head towards me and I blinked back the rest of my tears before doing the same.

"Until we meet again Diana,"

And with that, she let go of my hands, glancing at everyone one last time before turning around and heading towards the forest. She took slow but sure steps into the trees, her long white dress billowing in the gentle breeze.

My legs itched to run after her and pull her back into my arms, but deep down I knew I had to let her go. I looked up at the night sky, my eyes fixating on the bright and brilliant full moon that shone down on us.

A moment later, we heard a long and loud howl in the distance, the sound dragging out in a bittersweet melody. I couldn't help but join in on the howl, pouring out what I couldn't express in my words. Her howl faded and I stopped, knowing that this was it; the moment I had been trying to avoid.

Diana was gone.

I felt lost. I didn't know what to do. I wanted to cry, to scream, to run away. While my head understood that this was what Diana wanted and what the Moon Goddess willed, a part of me still mourned the loss of the most important person in my life.

I vaguely registered people offering me words of comfort. Selene stood by me, her hand running through my hair gently while Aylin had wrapped her arms around my waist and hugged me.