Chapter 68

(**Sebastion**) 

Pain is the first thing that registers in my mind as I open my eyes. Gingerly, I reach a hand up to feel the back of my head. I wince when I encounter the knot on my head. Pulling my hand back, the scent of blood hits me before I see it on my fingers.     

The last thing I remember was standing in the meeting room with Irina. Thinking of Irina makes me look around to see if she is here with me. All I see is an empty room. Fear spikes through me as I worry about my mate. Where is she?  

Where am I? 

The room I am in is empty, but clean. A naked lightbulb shines in the middle of the ceiling. I can’t pick up any lingering scents to give me a clue about who took me from my home.  

“How long have I been here?” I whisper. 

“Not long at all.” A voice says from the far corner of the room.  

I jump to my feet as a human male steps into the light. He is an enormous man. Everything about him is pure muscle. The way he moves lets me know he knows how to use all that muscle. The look in his steel-grey eyes gives me the feeling that something terrible is about to happen to me. 

“You are probably wondering why you are here. Where you are isn’t important. The why you are here is.” 

“Then, would you care to explain?” I ask. “Also, can you explain why I couldn’t pick up your scent while you stood in that corner.” 

“In just a moment. We have more people joining us. Once they are here, I will explain briefly.” 

Well, at least this mountain of muscle is polite. 

Thankfully, my captors didn’t keep me waiting for long. Less than five minutes after Muscles made himself known, the door to the room opened and five men filed in. All of them are just as large as Muscles.  

Fantastic. This looks like the Brute Squad. However, unlike Muscles, these five men are not human at all. They are all werewolves. This will not end well for me. I am strong, but there is no way I can go five on one and survive. 

I comb through my memories to think about who would want me dead this bad. Treadstone wants me in a cage, alive and breathing, so this wouldn’t be him. There are no other known enemies I can think of that would be capable of the magic that was used to get me here. 

Who is behind all this? 

My attention is pulled back to Muscles after the door to the room closes. The five werewolves are fanned out behind him. All six men are staring me down. A ball of dread forms in the pit of my stomach as they shift around on their feet like they are ready for a fight. 

“Alright, let’s get down to business,” Muscles says. “Time for you to get the answers to your questions.” 

“Why am I here and who wants me dead?” 

“Dead?” Muscles laughs. “No, you will not die. You may wish for death when they are done, but you will not die by our hands.” 

“That’s comforting.” 

“Hey, we may be hired thugs, but we are honest ones.” 

“Very polite of you.” 

“So, for the why you are here. Someone wants something from you and requested that you be roughed up, quite a bit might I add, before we turn you over to him.” Muscles explains. 

Well, isn’t that just fantastic? I have been yanked from my home, brought to who knows where, for a beating. More than a beating, and from the looks of it these five werewolves, they are going to enjoy it. 

“Who is behind all this?” 

“That, I am not at liberty to say.” 

I crack my neck, roll my shoulders, and prepare for the fight ahead. “Do I get the advantage of my wolf or will this be an unfair fight?” 

“I gave you a drug that suppresses your wolf side. It should wear off in about an hour,” Muscles says. He looks behind him at his companions before he steps away, walking back to the corner of the room.  

A dark vortex opens in the corner as he approaches it. Once he steps through, the five men step forward to surround me. When the vortex closes, the first punch is thrown to my jaw. To say that I saw stars would be an understatement.  

Pain radiates up that side of my face, my head snaps back, and rage fills me at the attack. My instincts scream at me to call to Aries, but I remember what Muscles said about the drug. This will be a test of my fighting skills. How much of a beating I take will depend on how well I can defend myself. 

The next blow I take is to the back of my knee, causing me to falter for a second before I regain my balance. I spin around and throw a punch at the man closest to me. With that, the fight is on. All five jump at me at the same time. 

Soon, blood has been spilled. Not all of it is mine. The last blow I take causes me to fall to my knees, then darkness swallows me whole. 

(**Irina**) 

There is a moment of stunned silence as everyone watches Sebastion vanish into the cloud of black smoke. When it clears and he is nowhere in sight, the crowd erupts into panic. The feeling I had before the black smoke blocked him from my sight fades. 

Pain grips my heart when I reach out through our link, only to find nothing there but silence.  

Frankie, Jodi, and Melissa are behind me in a flash. They surround me and Zasha before I have time to comprehend what has happened. I can vaguely here Flynn barking order to his scouts and the rest of our warriors to fan out and look for intruders.  

“Flynn!” I yell.” 

“Yes, Luna.” 

“Get all the women, children, and anyone who can’t fight into the bunker below the mansion. Send someone to take my family down there as well.” 

“Yes, ma’am.”  

Flynn rushed off to do as directed. I watch for a few moments as warriors escort all the women and children from the crowd. I hold up my arm to get the attention of the remaining pack members.

“Frankie, can you take Zasha to Arianna? Then, when you know they are all down in the bunker, come back here. Zasha, baby, I need you to go with Frankie and find Jace. Stay with him and Arianna until I come for you.” 

Zasha gives me a brief nod before Frankie picks her up. Once they leave, I turn my attention back to the rest of the room. I can see fear, anger, and worry on many faces as they all look at me for guidance.  

Here goes my first crisis as Luna. 

“I need all of you that are able to fight to pair off, spread out, and start helping the warriors search the pack lands. The rest of you that can’t help in that, I need you to go grab food, water, and blankets for the bunker.” 

After I finished giving orders, all the remaining crowd immediately dispersed. I turned to Jodi and Melissa to make give them orders but stopped when Monroe stepped towards us with his Beta and Gamma behind him.

“The magic I felt has faded from this area, but I can still feel it in your territory. If you will allow me and my pack to help, we will track it down.” 

“I will take all the help available to find out what happened to Sebastion.” 

“Can you link with him?” 

I close my eyes and try to break through whatever is blocking Sebastion from me. All I find is emptiness. I know he isn’t dead. THAT I would feel. “I can’t feel him or his wolf. When I try to mind link him, all I feel is emptiness.” 

“Then whoever took him is using magic to block him from you. This could be the same Witch or Warlock that Treadstone used to put the spell on Fiona.” 

“Treadstone wouldn’t take Sebastion like that. He would wait until we are relaxed and our guard is down. Then he would come in for the takedown.” 

“Unless he knows you are both behind his recent losses.” 

That I hadn’t thought of. This could be Vicktor. Now to figure out where he would take Sebastion, now that his base of operations is known to us. 

“He wouldn’t take Sebastion to his office building where he had all the others. Nor would he take him to the house where he kept Zasha. We need to call Gabe to check for other properties in the files he stole from the compound.” 

“I will send one of my men to do that. You should go to the bunker to check in things there.” 

“I want to be with the search parties, but I believe you are right.”  

With a nod to Monroe, I turn to make my way to the mansion. If Jace knows his father is missing, then I need to be there to help soothe him. Jodi and Melissa fall in line with me, with one of them in front of me while the other brings up the rear. 

My mind is racing with worry, fear, and all the possibilities of what will happen if Sebastion dies. 

Please, Moon Goddess, keep him safe.