Chapter Eight - Let's go hunting

Mason Hart

I’d been cooped up in my room for days. I’d only left my bed to use the bathroom, then headed straight back and hid under the covers. The guy that called himself Evan kept trying to get me to remember things. He told me stories of his childhood, jam-packed full of details about this Mason guy. It didn’t mean anything to me. Sure, he was probably telling the truth but what did that matter? I couldn’t connect with any of it. In some ways, I wished I wasn’t Mason, because at least then I wouldn’t feel like I’d lost everything.
I was so lost. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t remember a damn thing. It made no sense to me, I knew what objects were called and what they were for, but I couldn’t remember my name, what my favorite color was, food or drink. Hell, I didn’t even know what hobbies I liked, or what I did for work. Evan had been helpful, but it was mainly childhood stories, he hadn’t told me anything of substance. That was about to change. I dragged myself out of bed and headed towards the bathroom. I used the toilet then washed my hands, being careful to avoid looking in the mirror.
I was tempted to see who stared back at me, but I wasn’t sure I’d recognize him, and I felt lost enough as it was. I dried my hands and walked back into the bedroom. I opened the bedroom door and peeked out into the hallway. I assumed the house wasn’t mine, because by the way it was decorated. It looked like an old lady’s house, and that was one thing I was sure of, I wasn’t an old lady. I tiptoed down the hall and tried to be inconspicuous as I made my way down the steps, but it was impossible. Every damn step creaked and squeaked under my bare feet. With a low sigh I continued down the stairs normally. As I neared the bottom, Evan popped his head around the doorway and stepped into view when he saw me. I froze on the spot, not knowing what to do or say to the guy. His face looked worn with worry but he tried to hide it with a slight smile.
“Hey, Mace. I’m doing some breakfast if you’d like some?” He asked while pointing back into the room behind him. I couldn’t find my words and just nodded my head at him. He pressed his lips together into a bigger smile. “Come on then.”
He headed back into the kitchen and I followed in after him. He pulled out a chair for me, then went back over to the stove. He busied himself for a bit, then brought over a full cooked breakfast and a cup of coffee. I picked up the cup and took a deep sniff. I couldn’t help the groan that came out of my mouth, the smell was divine. Evan placed his food and cup onto the table then sat there staring at me. I tentatively placed the cup to my lips and let the hot liquid sweep its way over my bottom lip, then swim around in my mouth. The liquid velvet flowed through my taste buds exciting every single one of them before sliding down my throat, warming it to a perfect temperature. I closed my eyes as a low satisfied sigh left my body.
“I made it just the way you like it, anemic and sweet, just like Freya…” My eyes shot open and zeroed in on him. He gasped in shock when the cup fell from my hand and smashed onto the floor.
My body began to shake violently and a searing heat started taking over my body. My eyes rolled into the back of my head and I fell sideways. I heard Evans chair scrape along the floor then within a split second I was in his embrace. I was aware of my surroundings, but I couldn’t see, and I couldn’t speak. The heat became unbearable, culminated at my shoulder, then made its way up my neck. Evan held me as my body shook, and I just prayed for it all to stop. I didn’t know how much more I could take.
“Mom!” Evan screamed out.
I heard her footsteps run into the room, before she yelled back,
“Evan, what the fuck did you do?”
“I’m so sorry mom, her name just slipped out.”
I felt her grab a hold of my t-shirt, and in seconds the room filled with the sound of fabric ripping apart. The cool air soothed my fevered skin for a few seconds, before returning to the searing heat once again.
“Crap, his mark is activating, we need to knock him out before the heat liquefies his brain.”
Liquefies my brain? Who the fuck are these people?
“Quickly, pick him up and get him to Morgana's, I’ll meet you there. And hurry, we don’t have much time.”
The next thing I knew, I was lifted into the air, and before long, it felt like I was flying. For some strange reason the idea of that felt so freeing to me, but it should have petrified me. The feeling didn’t last, only a few seconds later and I was gone.
The world was still. The pain was gone. My thoughts were silent, and I was finally at peace.



Freya Rose

“She’s been asleep for days now, when will she wake up?” Lorena asked.
“She’s waking up now, fetch the twins. I’m sure she’ll have a lot of questions,” Savanah replied.
I heard Lorena sprint out of the room, and then the door close softly behind her. Savanah’s footsteps sounded on the wooden floor as she approached me. I stretched into the air and groaned when my neck and shoulder cracked. After pulling my arms back down I held onto my head and cracked my neck again.
“Ugh, why do I feel like I’ve been hit by a train?’
Savanah chuckled, “Here drink this. Apparently, it will help.”
She waited for me to open my eyes and drag myself up the bed, before handing me the mug. I held it up to my lips then gagged when a rancid smell invaded my nostrils. Savanah laughed and I guessed it had something to do with the disgusted face I was pulling. I poked my tongue out and shook my head as I placed the revolting goo filled mug on the bedside table. It didn’t stay there long before Savanah picked it up and headed to the bathroom.
“What’s in that thing? It smells worse than a rotting corpse that’s been buried in horse crap.”
I heard her chuckle, then what sounded like water being poured down the toilet, then a flush.
“Lorena felt awful about what Draco did, so she’s been trying everything to make up for it. That was supposed to heal you faster. I tried to tell her that you heal fast anyway, but she just wanted to help, so I let her,” Savanah said as she washed out the cup in the sink, occasionally popping her head out to look at me. She dried her hands on a towel and continued, “we can just tell her that you drank it, and you feel much better, can’t we?”
I couldn’t resist the pleading face that was approaching me. I nodded in agreement but added in an exaggerated eye roll so she knew I was only doing it for her. She sat on the bed and said, “thank you.”
“Never mind that, tell me what Draco did. What happened to Gideon? And Selene?” I rambled off at her as the visions of what had happened flooded my mind.
Her soft expression changed to one of panic. I furrowed my brows at her as I watched her eyes flit from place to another, looking everywhere she could to avoid my glare.
“Savanah, what? What’s happened?” She didn’t bother to answer me, she just stood up from the bed and scurried towards the door. “Savanah, answer me!” I boomed.
Her head shot back to look at me, and her face was begging me not to make her tell me. My furrowed brow knitted even tighter into a scowl and I was about ready to blast a fireball at her. I could feel my rage building, and my eyes illuminating. I threw the covers off of me and placed my feet onto the ground before standing up and screeching into my ascension. Savanah was petrified, I could see her shaking as her eyes scanned over my enormous ashen gray wings. I slowly walked towards her as I spoke in a slow and deep voice,
“Savanah, I don’t like secrets, and I hate being left in the dark. I swear to God if you don’t tell me right now, I’ll…”
An arm reached around Savanah and yanked her out of the room, I dashed forward to grab her but I wasn’t quick enough. By the time I got there, the door had been slammed in my face. I hissed into the air in frustration before putting my fist straight through the wall. With a scream of annoyance, I dragged my arm out of the wall and stormed over to the other side of the room.
“Don’t be mad at her, little wolf, we asked her not to tell you,” Marik called out.
“Well, you had no right to do that. And stop calling me little wolf. I’m a fucking Luna!” As soon as I heard my words out loud, I cringed. I sounded just like a brat teenager.
I rolled my eyes and sighed heavily as I turned around to look at the door expecting him to be there. I raised an eyebrow in confusion when I saw that the door was still closed. Marik cleared his throat and my eyes shot to the left, following his noise. I burst out laughing when I saw his eyes peering through the hole in the wall where my fist had gone through. I shook my head and turned away from him while I tried my best to compose myself.
The bedroom door opened behind me as I looked out of my window. The pack looked as if they were training, some were in hunter form, some in wolf. I spotted Tana's Auburn wolf and wondered why she was jumping up and snapping at the air. As my eyes scanned up to where she was aiming her howls, I gasped. I turned around very slowly and held my hand up, pointing my thumb behind me.
“Can someone please tell me why there is a gigantic dragon in my backyard?”
“Um, yeah. About that…” Marik stuttered.
“It’s Draco,” Traian added while strolling into the room carrying three mugs.
“Huh, Okay. So, I guess Gideon had enough flame power to turn Draco into a dragon then?”
I took a cup from Traian and cautiously sniffed at it.
“Um, not exactly. And don’t panic it’s just coffee.” I sighed with relief before taking a sip. Traian placed the other two cups on the bedside table, then sat on the bed and continued, “So, where do you want me to start?”
“Well, you can start at the beginning. But can we go outside to do it? I want to look at Draco, he looks incredible,” I replied while peering out of the window at the enormous pale gray dragon in the sky.
Traian and Marik exchanged glances, then Marik shrugged and Traian nodded. They both then silently walked out of the room. Confusion swept over me. Are they coming back? Or do they want me to follow them? Just as I thought it, Marik came running back into the room. I stayed silent expecting him to address me, but he didn’t. He ran over to the coffees on the bedside table, picked them up, then sprinted back out of the room.
“Are you coming, little wolf?” He shouted back through.
I growled at being called little wolf, and all I heard in response was a low chuckle. I stomped my foot on the ground, descended, and then stormed after them. I made my way down the stairs and out into the back yard, where my usual lounger was waiting for me, with a fresh cup of coffee beside it. I spotted Savanah walking over to join the pack. She glanced back at me and I mind linked her to thank her for the coffee. She nodded her head then shifted into her beautiful blonde wolf.
The twins were already sat on the loungers either side of my empty one, clearly worried about what they had to tell me, by the expressions on their faces. I wanted to enjoy the pack training and check out Draco in his dragon form, but I knew that what they had to say was more important. I sat down and prepared myself for what they were about to tell me. They sat silent, just exchanging awkward looks with each other. I guessed neither of them wanted to go first.
“Just spit it out, I’m already tired of this crap.”
Traian glanced over at Marik, who in turn just shrugged.
“Ugh, fine,” Traian said with a huff. He moved forward and took my hands in his, “Freya, you have to promise not to get mad. We will fix this, I promise.”
I snatched my hands from his and folded them across my chest.
“I’m not promising you shit. Just tell me what the fuck happened.”
He took in a deep breath, then began,
“Well, we took mother along with us. We didn’t trust leaving her in the basement with you upstairs. The sleepers weren’t working anymore, and you know how sneaky she is. Anyway, as soon as we entered the building, Gideon began taking power from her, building up his own. Mom shifted and attacked us, while Gideon began attacking the pack,” He tried to look at Marik, I guess wanting him to continue the story, but Marik stayed silent.
“Marik managed to get mom into the cage, while Draco tried to fight against his dad, but his magic wasn’t strong enough. Lorena got caught in the crossfire and was held captive in Gideon’s flames.”
“Right let me stop you there. I know most of that, I was there, remember? Cut to the bit where Gideon stopped taking my flame and then someone else took over.”
“Well, while Gideon was focused on you, Draco attacked his father with a knife, slicing his throat open. When the power transferred over to him, he couldn’t control it and as soon as he spotted you, he took over where his father left off.”
I glanced up into the sky and watched the stunning dragon dance around clouds. He looked so magnificent. A part of me was angry and wanted to hurl a fireball at the gigantic lizard, but the other part of me knew that he was a kid. A kid that had just been filled with more power than he could handle. The fact that he didn’t drain me completely, and I was still alive, and had my Phoenix powers, was enough for me. I’d let it slide this time.
“So how did he stop?”
“I punched him in the face, knocked him out cold, and carried him out,” Marik spoke out behind me.
I didn’t even bother to look at him, the kid would have been easy to knock out, I wasn’t going to praise him for saving me, at least not until I knew how they’d fuck up.
“So, Gideon’s dead?”
“Yes,” Traian replied.
“Great, so what’s the problem?”
“Mother escaped.”
I calmly stood up, but inside I was fuming. I took deep breaths in through my nose, but I couldn’t calm down or stop my nostrils from flaring. Train shifted back on his lounger a little, clearly uneasy. I closed my eyes and tried to take in a few more deep breaths, but with each one, my rage built.
“How the fuck did this happen? Where is she? I want her found!” I screamed at him, no longer able to keep control of myself.
I could feel my eyes pulsating as they lit up in their illumination. Traian's expression was one of genuine fear, I’d never seen that from him before. He glanced over to Marik for help and I followed his gaze. Marik was just as petrified as Traian.
“Don’t look at him for help. I asked you!” I yelled at him.
When he didn’t answer me, I lost control completely.
“Marik, run!” Traian screamed out while diving into the pool beside us.
I screeched into the air sending birds flying in all directions to get away from the noise. My wings ripped through my skin and as soon as they fanned out, I squatted down then jumped back up, propelling myself into the sky. I flew directly for Draco. He spotted me and I thought I’d have to fight him, but to my surprise he spoke to me through a link.
“Freya, are we going to find her?”
I flew around Draco and positioned myself onto his back. I rested my legs either side of his enormous body and squeezed them together slightly, so I had a good grip. Running my hand over his rough armored skin felt incredible, he was built like a demon, and his ashen gray scales had the same petrol like sheen to them like my wings. He was truly made for me, and I suspected that he was actually made from me. The connection I felt towards him was one of a son, but stronger than what I had with my pack children. I sat up and gazed off into the sky, then replied through our link,
“Draco, let’s go hunting.”