In The Beginning, Chapter 64

“White if you have it, but you are not getting out of this that easy!” Elaina teased, as she followed me, a few people trailed behind her while some stayed and began chatting. I started pulling down wine glasses out of the cupboard to give myself something to do, while Elaina began her interrogation. “So, he was in there, the whole time, listening to everything we’ve said?” She pressed.
“You make it sound nefarious!” I gasped, flustered.
“So, he was...?” She asked.
“Not exactly!”
“Well how then?” She asked, the hint of a smirk on her lips.
“He is just a little worried I’m going to be kidnapped or something.” I blurted, and froze.
“Fuck, I was only teasing, is that like a legit concern?” Elaina asked and I would swear under oath I heard Daniel’s groan of frustration.
“A little, kinda.” I shrugged, unsure myself, it suddenly hit me, if Apollo does get his hands on me, I couldn’t look forward to a quick or easy death. I shuddered as the words breeder hissed at me from the darkest recesses of my memories. Seeing the sudden shift in my mood, Elaina grabbed a couple of bottles of white wine from the refrigerator, and ran her hand along my back sympathetically, as she searched for a corkscrew, instead also finding red wine to add to her haul, before retrieving the elusive item.
“White if memory serves?” She asked, and I smiled a little relieved to talk and think about anything else.
“Please.” I nodded, as she poured me a large serving, before calling out to ask people their preference.
“There’s a small fridge in the pantry, I keep Rosé in there for Maria, there’s a few more White too.” Daniel muttered almost forlornly through the link, he had felt my pain, and my uncertainty.
“Daniel says there’s Rosé in a refrigerator in the pantry, and more white.” I informed Elaina, who jumped down from the island stool she had been perched on to snoop.
“Hey! There’s two!” Elaina called. “One is full of champagne! Celebrating something Alpha?”
“Our first Luna’s day together.” Daniel’s voice whispered like a promise, that made me shiver.
“He said our first Luna’s Day?” I relayed her message with a frown, but everyone in the kitchen looked around knowingly with wide smiles and nods of appreciation. “This is silly, just come out here, it’s not like people don’t know you’re here anymore!” I called through the office door. A few seconds later a sheepish looking Daniel joined us, and after tutting at the still rather large serving I was sipping at, accepted his own large glass of red.
“Luna’s Day, is the winter Equinox, the day when the night is longest, and our Moon Goddess blesses us with her presence the longest. Its our Christmas, Sabbath, and high holy day.” He clearly ran out of comparisons but I just smiled, glad that everyone was listening and seeing a softer side to their big bad Alpha. “All work has to be completed before dark, we stay up until sunrise, have large gatherings under the moonlight, see family, give gifts, and are thankful for another year under the love and protection of our Goddess. Even guards are given the night off, no one has attacked another pack on Luna’s Day since it was named Luna’s Day...” he trailed off suddenly, and looked around uncomfortably.
“What? What happened on the first Luna’s Day?” I asked, confused.
“Err, well a pack attacked another while they were celebrating together in a feast. Caught unaware and without any weapons, those that could turned. The Luna of the pack saw a group of children trapped by the fighting, and died getting them to safety. The Alpha, mad with sorrow disembowelled the invading Alpha, and with his dying breath, prayed that every member of the pack that acted so cowardly, be stripped of their wolves. Having witnessed the entire battle, the goddess answered his prayer, and the first humans were created.” Daniel finished, clearing his throat awkwardly, and taking a large gulp of his wine.
“But we know that’s not true. Theia had already created humans when Diana made Lycans to fight Zeus’s children.” I blurted, and a ripple of small gasps escaped the mouths around us.
“You can’t expect a religion thousands of years old to get everything right.” Daniel shrugged. “The point behind the story is to honour the goddess, and the Luna who sacrificed herself by appreciating each other. And as it is our first as a mated couple, after the feast and thanks, I wanted to come back here, open some champagne, and watch the sunrise together.” He murmured, low and close to my ear, but Elaina, and another woman, whose name escaped me, heard and began whispering it to the others, all of whom were making groans of appreciation.
“That’s hot!” Elaina moaned, and I heard Daniel breath out a silent chuckle, his nose still in my hair, and at the same time I heard Evy slap Elaina, before reprimanding her.
“It’s disrespectful to talk about the Alpha and Luna like that... but they are not making it easy, goddess I wished your father looked me like that.” She gasped at Daniel’s refusal to be shamed into stopping. I flushed red, my cheeks heating rapidly, as I tried to pull away. His hand snaked around my waist pulling me back, while his free hand lifted my chin to look at him. The moment our eyes met he inhaled slightly, before I could ask if he was alright, he put a quick soft peck on my nose.
“I do not care who is present, I will never stop basking in the beauty of my mate.” Daniel, informed the ladies, looking at them over my shoulder before coming back to my eyes. A stray hair fell in front of my eyes, his hand tucked it behind my ear with care before I could lift my hand. I blushed again, but rubbed my cheek along his fingers, before freezing and remembering we had an audience, the way he had looked at me had me momentarily spellbound. The chorus of awws behind me had the flush spread over my whole body.
“Fuck baby if you keep blushing and looking at me like that, I’m not going to be able to move due to lack of blood circulating. My cock is already throbbing, I think I might actually break out of my pants if you bite your lip right now.” He growled through the link, I tried to think of something else, anything else, but with flashes from Daniel’s very active imagination, it wasn’t easy.
“So, you gonna tell us why you just happened to have six Etas close enough to come take Natalie and Darryl away?” Someone asked while I was trying not to react to Daniel’s thought of having me on the dining table, ripping my clothes off me, and running his tongue...
“Just increased patrols since the attack, once Charlie is Luna she will have her Luna Guard, until then a rotation of increased patrols will do, and Bailey has agreed to be Charlie’s bodyguard until he steps up to challenge the Delta in the spring Equinox.” Daniel answered, his whole demeanour changing, the arm around me became protective, rather than a lovers embrace.
“But there won’t be any here for at least twenty minutes I would guess?” The same voice asked, I turned to see a pretty young woman, but her smile was twisted, there was no humour or warmth to it. It was filled with hate, and anger. Daniel flung me behind him as the air behind her shifted, and I got a glimpse of a tall dark man behind her. His skin looked like gold dust sprinkled through coal, his eyes were a dead black that seemed endless.
“You did well my love.” His deep voice rumbled, and it was the perfect representative of his appearance. His arms where bigger than my thighs, and he was at least as tall as Daniel’s 6’4” frame. Everyone froze for a second, the guests unsure of what to do, until the girl opened her eyes, and like a veil was lifted, spreading out from her black lifeless eyes, her skin whitening, the colour seeping out of her skin and hair like she was being drained. Until she resembled some mythical creature of air or ice, the difference made all the more obvious next to her lover's dark skin. “My master wants the girl, hand her over,” He shook himself and he morphed into a minotaur, “or I will destroy you all.” The incredibly deep rumble that erupted from the Minotaur was terrifying, people started scrambling for the doors, as Daniel launched himself at the gigantic beast. Theia appeared next to me and trapped the woman in a bubble of magic. We turned to Daniel and the Minotaur, but the beast left his battle to charge at the dome around his female, with a howl of outrage, he turned on us, gave Theia a look of loathing, and vanished, the air shimmering around him. The female, still trapped by Theia, let out a cry of sorrow as her lover abandoned her, before turning her furious expression on us.
“Why did you expose yourself then?” I asked her slightly exasperated, as I stepped closer to the bubble. “What could you have gained?” I asked her, dumbfounded by her actions.
“Its not like the daughter of Ares could ever understand!” She spat, her words dripping in acid.
“Try me!” I challenged, and I heard Theia stifle a giggle while Daniel shot me a death glare.
“He promised us our freedom, if we delivered you, that’s the price.” She spat again, only this time she fixed her gaze to the wall, unwilling to look at me any longer.
“There was nothing else you could do?” I asked sceptically, raising an eyebrow, she scoffed, rounding on me aggressively.
“I was born into service to him, three hundred years I have existed, on scraps, barely existing, let alone living! For eight decades I would look at Tau, and dream of being able to talk to him. It took him that long to climb the ranks, and get rewarded with a favour, he asked for me. Apollo has never given us the chance to leave before, but he wants you more than the rest of us put together. I regret nothing.” She spat turning her back on me once again, folding her arms over her chest.
“What does that mean?” I asked Theia, slightly terrified of Apollo putting out a hit on me... essentially.
“That there is more to this than the threat you pose, there must be. I will go to Athena. Alpha, can I send her somewhere for you before I go?” She asked Daniel cordially, and I had to cover my face to muffle to sound of me snorting out a giggle.
“One of the prison cells be too much trouble?” He asked coming over to me after checking out the ground floor for any more attackers.
“Do not insult me when I was just beginning to like you.” She smiled sweetly and I caught him chuckling at her response. There was a short back and forth between them, while I watched the female, she looked heartbroken.
“Why didn’t you just run?” I accidentally pondered aloud, she gave me a scathing look, before exposing her shoulder. It looked like a tattoo of gold, an ancient hieroglyph or symbol from a long-forgotten language.
“He would have found me.” Was all she said. I couldn’t help but feel for her. Tau, the minotaur I was guessing, seemed to care about her before he fled. I had recognised the pain in his eyes. My power seeped out of me so slowly I almost missed it, it permeated Theia’s bubble before swarming over the mark.
“Charlie?” Theia called the moment I felt my power break through hers, but I couldn’t drag my eyes away from the strange substance that was slowly covering the tattoo. I felt Daniel and Theia approach, but they remained silent as a light just like I had produced on my birthday, burst out of the bubble, blinding us all momentarily. When we were all able to see again, we froze, the bubble, and the tattoo were gone. The female was just staring at her shoulder, like she couldn’t understand. I didn’t think she was aware the bubble trapping her had gone, as she just began crying, sinking to the floor and curling in on herself she sobbed. Theia quickly recast the bubble, and dragged me into the kitchen by the hand.
“What was that?” she demanded, furious.
“She had a mark, and she said Apollo can track it, and I was thinking I wish I could take it away and it disappeared!” I tried to argue, I really hadn’t meant any harm. Theia sighed loudly and said something that sounded like a cuss in another language I didn’t recognise.
“Your senses were heightened by the adrenaline, so your power became linked to your instincts. It happens as we learn control.” She finally sighed, exasperated.
“It’s not like we could’ve let her keep the mark, give Apollo a way to know exactly where she was.” Daniel added, which seemed to annoy Theia more.
“No, but I had no idea he was using that kind of magic, and have never removed anything like that before, so unless he just felt the connection die, and assumed she was dead, he now knows, or suspects Charlie can, making her more of a threat.” Theia snapped ominously. “I am going to see Athena, apologies Alpha if you want her moved it needs to be now.”