Rejected by Moonlight: Second Moon, Second Chance

The barn burst into a roaring blaze. Flames surged from the hay with a ferocity that swallowed Lila's scream in its deafening crackle. Heat slammed into her face and scorched her lungs as she shielded Kade with her body. Her arms quivered around his blood-drenched frame. The fire's glow bathed the walls in a fiery orange hue while thick black smoke coiled upward, biting at her eyes and strangling her breath. Her heart raced with a wild beat of fear and anger pulsing through her. Jaxon's rage had stripped her of everything, and now he aimed to burn her alive, her unborn child too, a brutal end to blot her out completely. Kade's gray eyes wavered beneath her and dimmed by pain. Blood pooled under him from the silver bolt in his ribs. She gripped him tight as tears streamed down her cheeks. Her voice came out as a shattered sob. "We're not dying here, not like this!"

His hand clutched her arm, faint but determined. His breath came as a jagged wheeze while flames crept closer and the hay bales flared into a solid wall of fire. "Back wall," he croaked. His words were nearly lost in the fire's roar as blood frothed at his lips. "Break it and go." His voice was a fragile thread, a lifeline dangling in the chaos, but it ignited a spark of hope in her chest, a slim chance to escape Jaxon's death trap. She nodded as tears splashed onto his face. She lurched to her feet and hauled him up with her. His weight felt heavy on her battered body. Her thigh oozed blood from Tara's claw mark, and her shoulder pulsed with Jaxon's wound, but she wouldn't release him, not him, not the life stirring within her.

The barn trembled while beams creaked as the fire consumed them. Outside, Jaxon's wolves howled, a cold, victorious chant that knotted her stomach. She staggered through the smoke and coughed hard. Her sight blurred as she dragged Kade to the back wall while straw snapped under her blistered bare feet. The wall rose before her with its planks twisted and decayed, a weak shield against the inferno bearing down. She leaned Kade against a beam. His head dropped and his breaths grew thin. She studied the wood. Cracks zigzagged across it and revealed the misty dawn beyond through small openings. "Hold on," she whispered. Her tone was shaky yet fierce, a pledge carved amid the turmoil as she seized a rusted pitchfork propped by a stall.

Her arms ached and her muscles protested as she swung the pitchfork at the wall. Its prongs dug into the rotting wood with a heavy thud. Splinters scattered while the plank bent under her blow. She swung again as a raw yell ripped from her throat, a mother's fury and a survivor's grit, fueled by every pain she'd faced. Tom's kind smile flickered in her thoughts with his blood staining the ground. Kade's growl echoed in her mind as he battled Tara and his life seeped out under her hands. She wouldn't let Jaxon triumph, not now, not ever. The wood split and a rough gap tore open. She rammed the pitchfork in further as her hands blistered and her tears vanished in the heat.

Flames roared behind her like a surging wave licking at the hay bales. The ceiling groaned as a beam fell while sparks swirled through the smoke. Kade coughed with a harsh, wet noise that pierced her heart. She dropped the pitchfork and spun to him. Her hands cradled his face. "We're getting out," she declared. Her voice stayed firm despite the quiver in her chest as her green eyes locked with his fading gray ones. "You hear me? We're not done." His lips curved faintly into a whisper of a smile. His hand squeezed hers in a silent pact that bolstered her resolve.

She snatched the pitchfork once more and smashed it into the wall with a force that rattled her bones. The plank broke apart while a wide hole spilled cool mist into the barn. Smoke poured out as a suffocating haze drifted, but beyond it stretched freedom, a muddy field reaching toward the dawn with the forest's edge as a shadowy haven in the distance. Her heart jumped as hope flooded her veins, but the fire roared louder. A beam cracked above and tumbled just shy of Kade's legs. She tossed the pitchfork aside since its tines had warped and become useless. She pulled him up and slung his arm over her shoulder. His weight strained her injured body.

"Come on," she grunted. Her voice sounded hoarse as she lurched toward the gap while flames nipped at her heels and the heat seared her skin. His boots scraped the floor and his breathing stayed uneven, but she tugged him forward. Her thigh felt like a pulsing wreck and her shoulder burned with agony. The wolves' howls cut through the smoke from Jaxon's pack circling and waiting. She knew they'd spot the hole and catch their blood scent to pursue them into the morning. But she wouldn't quit or waver. She'd drag Kade to the world's end if it meant survival.

They stumbled through the opening as wood scraped her arms and ripped her shirt while she pulled him into the field. The cold air struck her hard like a jolt that cleared her smoke-filled lungs. She gasped and coughed while her legs shook under her. Kade slumped against her as his head dipped and blood dripped into the mud. She gripped him harder while her tears fell into his hair. "Stay with me," she begged. Her voice broke as a sob burst out while she half-carried and half-dragged him across the field. The barn's roar dimmed behind them as flames cast golden flickers through the mist.

The muddy ground clung to her feet and slowed her steps. Each one felt like a fight against falling since she was bleeding, burning, and cracking, but she wouldn't let go. Her mind churned with Tara's betrayal and Jaxon's words. "Burn with him, Lila," he'd taunted, a jab that stoked her anger and her drive to defy him. She'd lost her pack, her sister, and her mate, but Kade was here bleeding for her. Her baby kicked as a small fighter at her side. She wouldn't lose them too, not to flames, not to wolves, not to Jaxon's hate.

They reached a group of trees at the forest's edge, a dark shelter. She sank to her knees and lowered Kade beside her. His body went slack and his breaths were barely there. Smoke rose from the barn behind them as a towering blaze against the dawn. She pressed her hands to his chest with straw still stuck to her fingers and blood soaking the rags around the bolt. "Kade," she whispered. Her voice trembled as her tears splashed onto his face and streaked the grime and blood. "You're not leaving me, not now."

His eyes fluttered open, gray and foggy, and met hers with a spark of defiance that shattered her heart. "Told you not yet," he rasped. His hand twitched toward hers, weak but steady, a lifeline she grasped tight. She sobbed as a shaky laugh broke free. Relief clashed with the fear still gripping her since he was alive and holding on. She'd pulled him out and beaten Jaxon's fire with a strength she didn't know she had.

The howls grew louder and sharper as they sliced through the mist from Jaxon's wolves. Their snarls vowed pursuit as they were drawn by the smoke, the blood, and the barn's collapse. Lila's head snapped up while her pulse hammered. She scanned the trees and the field to look for a path ahead. They weren't safe yet, not with the pack so near, but then the sky darkened. A sudden gray overtook the dawn and rain fell. Heavy drops hit the mud and hissed against the burning barn. The fire weakened as smoke thickened into a veil. Lila's breath caught since it was a break, a gift from the sky she hadn't dared expect.

She turned to Kade and pressed her hands harder on his wound while the rain washed blood and tears from her face. "We can lose them," she said. Her voice sounded fierce as a vow shaped in the storm. "The rain will hide us." His eyes flickered with a faint nod showing through. She pulled him up again as her arms trembled and her body teetered on collapse. The rain drenched her, cold and unyielding, and plastered her hair to her face, but it dimmed the fire and covered their scent to buy them a moment.

They lurched into the woods while the trees wrapped around them like armor. Mud pulled at her feet and branches snagged her skin. The howls softened and dulled by the rain. Lila's heart thudded with a fragile hope since she'd gotten them out and defied Jaxon's wrath, but the threat wasn't over. She glanced back at the barn as a smoldering wreck in the mist, then looked forward at the forest stretching dark and vast. Kade's weight tugged at her and his breaths stayed faint. She held him closer while her tears blended with the rain.

A sudden flash caught her eye. Two glowing eyes peered from the trees, amber and unblinking, and fixed on them with a hunter's stare. Her stomach sank as a scream caught in her throat while she froze. Kade's limp form felt heavy against her. The rain blurred her sight, but the eyes stayed steady. She couldn't tell if it was a wolf or a hunter, but they were spotted and their escape dangled by a thread. "No," she whispered. Her voice quaked and her heart splintered as she braced herself. Had they escaped the fire only to face the jaws lurking in the shadows?