Ch. 143: Luna Day

CHAPTER 143:
Jake~
It’s the Luna ceremony today. Rachel started getting into the spirit yesterday. She glows around here. And the pack members love her. Even those who were vocally against cross-species interactions. They know what she did out there that day and what she gave up without expecting anything in return. While a few left, including Tiffany’s family - which was expected anyway since Evan’s rejection - things were very different than I had thought they’d ever be.
After she came back we all had made plans to leave and start our own little pack, but everyone surprised me.
Now here we were. A pack pioneering acceptance of all kinds of love. We even had two newly mated couples join us from up north. A witch and a wolf, and a wolf and a vampire. The last one was nuts to me, but Jeanette had a totally clean background and a highly trusted wolf for a mate. If we ever grow to the point of needing a Delta, I have my eye on her mate, Juniper.
A knock comes to the door and I know it’s Evan and Nick.
Come in, I link them.
The door opens and there they stand, my best friends. Evan in a suit and tie, big goofy grin on this face, and Nick with a bowtie - fussing with it for likely the thirtieth time.
“It’s time,” Evan said to me.
I stood and followed them down the steps and to the big tent outside. There I saw the most beautiful sight.
“Hey there, handsome,” this angel says, blushing at the attention she’s receiving from everyone around.
She’s in a simple deep blue dress with little black vine designs on the skirt. Her hair is pulled back on one side, a deep blue comb with topaz gems in it, making her green eyes look a little blue tinted. She’s wearing our pack colors with pride.
“There’s my brave Killer,” I smiled back at her, making her laugh.
“Alpha, we’re ready,” Jeannette cues.
We all move to our places and she opens the tent. Our friends go in first to their places and I grab Rachel’s hand.
But something’s not right.
“What’s wrong?” Aamon and I feel something off.
Rachel looks around, her eyes narrowed. “My mom, and Meg - where are they?”
“I saw them this morning going for a drive, didn’t they come back by now?” Mitchell says from my side.
I link the border guards and they agree - they haven’t seen them since they left.
Ally comes rushing back down the aisle towards us, her amulet glowing and a grim expression on her face. “Something’s wrong.”
Rachel looks at me and I set myself forward into Alpha mode. I link Evan and Nick to to instruct their teams - we need to find the Luna’s family.


Kyle~
I sit straight up suddenly, panting like I came out of a haunted house, alarming El.
“Goddess!” she exclaims.
We had just fallen asleep on the couch a few minutes ago watching some old Golden Girls reruns. My tough, gifted, survivalist, mate could basically quote every episode.
“Rachel’s family. They’ve been taken,” I sputter out.
Her eyes narrow and she starts thinking.
“Come on, let’s go,” she holds a hand out to me.
We immediately rush out, heading towards the pack’s car lot. Elise rifles through a bowl of keys and grabs the keys to a sports car.
“What?” she says to me as I raise my brow. “We need speed, right?”
We rush over to the car and she starts tearing down the road. My mind races trying to grasp everything I just saw. I hadn’t even meant to find anyone while dreaming, but somehow I was in Rachel’s sister’s dream, and it felt all too familiar. I knew it was bad once I saw the place she was apparently locked away in. It was the same cells I had been captive in. How could this be happening? The bad guys were gone, right?
“Kyle, tell me what’s going on? Where am I going?” El says, holding a hand out for me to grab while heading towards the freeway.
“Druer City,” I say, hesitating to grab her hand.
“Ky, talk to me, Evelyn can feel you - you’re not saying something,” she says to me, grabbing my hesitant hand herself and glancing at me furiously.
“I just - I can’t believe this is happening again. I thought this was over,” I said aloud.
“Stop that,” she said, turning sharply off the dirt road onto a paved area.
I look over at her, dumbfounded.
“This isn’t because you were happy, stop thinking that. Bad things aren’t always going to happen. We missed something, that’s all. But we’re going to fix this. Then we’re going to come home and dig into some freaking chocolate cheesecake while we watch our Girls. Okay?” she said quickly.
The mate bond is crazy. How could she hit the core of what I’m feeling before I realize what it is.
“Honey?” she asks, looking over at me. “You need to call Jake.”
The name shakes my rattling head and I nod.

Rachel~
We arrive at a random field and Jake holds a hand out to me to help me from the car. Evan and Amber close behind. We follow Ally and Nick as they retrace their steps from months ago.
“It should be close. When we get in, be silent and follow my lead,” Nick presses the importance of this on everyone.
We nod and follow.
Ally is the first to walk into… nothing - it appears. But we follow in the same direction and that’s when suddenly there is this big building - like a castle - and a whole section of forest that wasn’t there before. Some sort of invisible barrier was keeping this area from being seen from the other side.
We follow, Jake holding onto my hand to keep me at a good pace. We move, stop, move. Stand by a tree, and move again. Nick takes off at one point to scout ahead and I try to focus on the task in front of me and not my thundering heartbeat. If I think too long about what kind of danger my mom and my sister could be in, I could lose it. And right now, that’s just not something I can afford to do.
I assume from our moving forward that they are in fact here. So as we continue getting closer to the front door, I take a big breath for courage.
Once inside we quickly make our way down to a cellar type area. I guess you would have called it a dungeon back when this place was designed. We move along quickly but quietly and I would love to ask any question, but from how quietly we are moving, I have to assume there are bad guys about. I spend some time feeling around but I can’t reach far with my abilities. This place is very strange, I can definitely feel that.
Finally we turn a corner and Nick holds up a hand to stop us. I see flames appear on Jake’s arms. Something must be nearby to make them act like that. Then the door to the dungeon flies open with a bang. I flinch from the sudden loud noise.
“You said that he would come!” a shrill voice screamed.
We moved around a corner to block the view of whoever would come down. I look to the side and see Nick rifling through something. Looking for a key perhaps? Evan and Amber inch around a corner and I can’t see them anymore. I’m frozen in place, wishing I could talk to anyone I was with to figure out a plan or just tell them I’m freaked out over here.
“He will come. Don’t worry. Just get back out there and keep watch! They know where this place is. They will come,” an older female voice says.
Both voices sound familiar and my mind races trying to piece this together. The annoying one sounded more familiar than the other one…
Jake holds up a hand at me and silently indicates that I need to stay where I am. I nod and he heads the same way Evan and Amber went. I stay still, trying to force my eyes to adjust to the darkness down here.
I feel like something is wrong and spin, and that’s when a hand grabs me.
“Scream and I’ll slit your throat,” the voice hisses.
I freeze up. The wording seems to remind me of Vance, but that can’t be right. He’s dead. Very dead.
I go to open my mouth when something sharp pushes against my throat.
“Come out, come out children!” the voice calls darkly from next to me. “I think I’ve got something of yours.”
Flames hit the ceiling, illuminating everything very clearly.
I get a good look at the woman threatening my life. Where do I know her from?
“Come out now or I’ll slit her pretty little throat!” she barks out in venom.
Jake comes into view then. And I feel so dumb. How could I have let this woman get the jump on me? I survive this crazy battle only to get a little lady bringing me down?
“LET. HER. GO,” Aamon growls through Jake.
The rumbling in his voice is in his body as well, and I swear the earth shakes too. His flames are huge, nearly as big as they were that day on the battlefield.
“When I said ‘come out’ I meant all of you,” the woman says, unimpressed.
Nothing happens and she pushes the knife into my flesh. It hurts but I won’t scream or whimper. I won’t give her the satisfaction.
Jake’s eyes flash and then Ally, Nick, Amber and Evan come into view too.
“Great! Now it’s a party,” she says gleefully. “I knew you would come. Now let’s not waste any time. We should get started.” She moves us forward two steps and doesn’t drop the pressure on my throat. “Wolves in that cell to the left. Witches in the cell on the right. Come on, come on, we don’t have all day!”
“Don’t-” I start to say before she pushes the blade further into my skin.
It stings like hll.
Jake sucks in a breath and his flames flicker brightly and resettle before he walks straight into the cell.
A moment later all my family are in cells. And then I’m in one too.
“I really don’t get what Van saw in you. I mean yeah, something there - strength - but you’re really not much to look at,” the woman says, locking my cell door and dropping the knife to her side.
“Van?” Ally asks from the cell next to me.
“Yes, my son. Vance. You know - the one you all brutally murdered,” she seethes. She pulls out her phone and dials someone then turns to grin at me broadly as she says, “Guess what? They came after all. Come downstairs.”
The door slams upstairs again and when I see this crazy btch, I nearly growl. Spending time with werewolves will do that to you I guess.
She sauntered over to me after winking at Jake. My blood boils from her audacity. I can’t believe this.
“And now I’m going to take what’s mine,” Sophie smiles viciously.