XXIV. Leon Tayson

Raine’s POV:

I’m scared.

Why?

Why is this happening to me again?

My eyes crack open to see a gas pump. They must be stopping for gas. Harvey looks up from the ground, and his eyes widen. He opens the driver’s door, “Luna Raine is awake.”

“How?” I assume that’s Miguel. He turns around, and his eyes widen as much as Harvey. “I mean, I gave her enough until we make it to the Pack House.”

“Shit. What should we do? Should we give her another pump?”

“Are you fucking crazy?”

Harvey put away the pump and jumped inside. Instantly, he turned on the engine and drove away. “Me?” Harvey shouted. “I wasn’t the one who suggested the kidnapping!”

“Another injection can overdose her. We don’t want a dead Luna!”

Harvey looks at me and his brows inches together. “Hey. I think we should stop by a hospi-” I couldn’t hear what Harvey was saying.

It was too hard.

My vision went black.

When I opened my eyes, I didn’t see anything; only emptiness. I look down to see myself floating in the air.

Then, I heard it.

Someone is crying.

I grunt and grab my chest. I feel like my ribcage is about to snap at any second.

“Be gentler! I swear if you break anything, I’ll kill you!” That sounds like Helen’s voice.

I turned around, but there was only darkness.

Something massive is pressed on top of me. I can’t see it, but I feel it.

“Shit. Shit. Shit!” The familiar voice continuously repeats.

“The paramedics are on their way! Just keep giving her CPR!”

“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. We are in so much deep shit!”

Then, I heard it...sirens.

Wheels.

Something is being rolled.

“Defibrillator,” an unknown voice said. “We need someone to go in the ambulance with the patient.”

“Me!” Multiple voices scream.

“Someone who is well-aware of the patient’s medical history.”

“That would be me.” I’m certain I heard Helen’s voice. I look around again. But I can’t see her. Where am I?

“Helen!” I scream.

“So, you guys can run? I don’t think so! I’ll go.”

“Oh, yes. Because you know her medical history so well, drive behind us!”

“Fuck,” I scream, pressing my hand further into my chest. There was a quick electrical sensation that drifts throughout my body. It came, and it left. Then, the heavy pressure resumes.

I shook my head, “There must be a way out. There is no way I am going to be stuck here!” I close my eyes and rush towards a random direction.

The sound of wheels. My heavy lids crack open only to see bright lights.

“She’s conscious!” A man who sat above me screamed. Suddenly, the light got brighter.

I can hear the sound of movements around me, but I couldn’t see anything; only blurriness.

“Mom,” I grumbled, “Mom.”

Then, it’s light out again.

With a few blinks, I met dimmed lights. I lay there quietly on a hard mattress and close my eyes. There’s a beeping sound evading my senses that matches my breathing. My legs feel numb, and steadily I open my eyes once more.

My head drops to the left to see Helen asleep on the side of the bed.

A dream.

It was all a dream.

Heavy footsteps troll outside, and the door creak open to allow the heavy lights to enter. I automatically close my eyes. With each step that echoes inside the room, my body tense more and more.

“She is my son’s mate?” A profound voice question.

Not a dream.

“Yes, sir.” That voice sounds much too familiar to be pleasant.

“What happened?”

“She had a cardiac attack,” Miguel replied.

“How?”

“The doctor said it may be stress.”

“I see.” There’s a long pause. “Anything else I should know?”

“We may have injected something into her to make the ride more enjoyable.”

“What do you mean?”

“She ran away, so we had to apprehend her.”

Another long pause. I’m surprised my heartbeat is somehow steady. Then again, I’m a bit too tired to be stressed.

“Leon...Was he there?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And he allowed her to leave?”

“He chased her for a few blocks, but then she stepped into a portal and transported into the forest. That’s what she claimed.”

“Where is Leon?”

“Alpha Leon is at the Pack House.”

“Where in the Pack House?”

“As usual. His bedroom.”

“And I assume he does not know his Luna is here?”

“No, sir.”

Another long pause. “Don’t look so stressed out, or you may end up in a hospital bed too. You did the right thing, Beta Miguel. I will make sure you don’t get punished.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Who’s the girl beside her?”

“A friend of hers.”

“I see.” I didn’t like the voice of the man in front of me. It was arrogant and controlling. “You may leave. Take the friend with you.”

“Yes, sir.”

I can feel a shift on the bed. I want to scream at them not to take Helen away, but I need to think first. Figure everything out instead of lashing out.

The door closes, and I can still feel his presence in the room.

“How long are you going to fringe sleep?”

Shoot.

I crack a lid open to see a heavily chiseled man settled at the chair beside me. He had a large black coat that seemingly covered his whole body and half of his face. He leaned in closer, and I hurried away. As much as I can without falling off the bed.

“You.” He sniffs the air. “You’re human.”

“Last-” I stop talking and clear my throat. “Last time I checked. Yeah. I’m human.”

The edge of his lip twerks upward momentarily before he leans back. He crosses one leg above the other. “Quite the attitude you have.”

“Thanks?”

“Good.”

“Good?”

“My son needs a woman with an attitude.”

“Pardon?”

“He lacks it.”

“I’m sorry to say this.” I slowly sat upward. My eyes pin towards handcuffs on the bed bar. They really don’t trust me. “But, I don’t want to be your son’s mate. Please, understand.”

He puckers his lips and nods. “You remind me of my wife.”

“What?”

“She also didn’t want me as her mate.”

I wonder why. “No way. You seem like such a nice man.”

He laughs; it was a strange deep sound. Even with the image of the man laughing in front of me. Once he stops, I can’t imagine him laughing. “No. No. I was quite an asshole when I was younger.”

I can see how time hardly changes him. “Hard to believe.”

He smiles, “My name is Preston Tayson. I am Leon Tayson, current Alpha of Crescent Moon, father.”