Chapter 120 An Unexpected Detour

(Jacques POV)

It was a clear sunny day. I felt liberated, at peace, for finally avenging my parents and my uncle's numerous victims, as well as reclaiming what was rightfully mine. I am now Alpha of Lune Brille however, not all of the wolves of the pack were on my side. Well, that will all change soon.

I looked down at the silver case at my feet. Inside it was the head of Jean Luc. His head was necessary to assert my claim onto the pack. With his death, their loyalty will end.

We had decided Yuri, Juliette and I would drive while the others would fly there and we will all meet at the gates of the territory. Bringing Jean Luc's head into the airport was out of the question so I settled for the land commute. The drive was definitely long from Paris, but it would be worth the trip.

I sent a message to Arthur telling him we were near the territory and to meet us at the entrance. He replied almost immediately stating they were already there, eagerly awaiting my return to the territory.

I ran my hands through my hair and smile to myself. I could finally let go of my past and look forward to the future. It has been a long journey to arrive at where I am, but I am thankful to the Moon Goddess for providing me a path full of people who truly love me.

Once my fellow French werebears settle down in their new community and peace has been established, the others will be going back to the United States. Hope wanted to stay longer in France so she could learn more of the culture, but her mom was already threatening to fly to France if she didn't come home soon. Mirasol said too much stress is bad for her grandchild and she doesn't want Hope to feel any stress.

My phone starts ringing and I look at it to see who was calling. It was Arthur. I frown. I just messaged him a while ago saying we were already close by.

"Arthur, we are near. Maybe 20 minutes or so." I was expecting Arthur to answer, but I was surprised to hear a woman laughing.

"Jacques, is it not? The man with silver eyes." She sighs. "I hear you have killed your uncle to claim your birthright. Oh Jacques, it has been a long time. I have also searched for you all these years, however I did not know you went across the ocean to the United States. Well, never mind that. What matters is you are here now."

"Who am I speaking to?" She knew who I was. She could at least introduce herself.

"Where are my manners? I am the shopkeeper of the herbs store you and your friends burned down. Remember Brigitte? Actually I am better known as Alpha Bailey Toussaint of Lune Sacrée. Your uncle and I had an understanding that we would discuss plans before actually going through with them. I was still negotiating non-payment of profits for this week in exchange for a picture of you. However, Jean Luc had plans of his own. Your uncle always thought he was very clever. He was just a means to an end for me." She laughed at her last statement, quite satisfied with the turn of the events.

"I remember you. We let you go." We did. Hope said she was not a threat. Apparently, she had the ability to block Hope's gift of hindsight. "What have you done with my friends?"

"They are safe, but if you do not come to their aid, they will no longer be of use to me and I will kill them. Tell the woman with the golden eyes, I want her here as well." She did not see Hope with them which means Hope was invisible when they ventured into the territory. I needed to find Hope then.

"Where do you want to meet? And do I have your word you will let the others go once you have me? Alpha to another Alpha."

"You have my word. Meet me at the gates of my territory. If you do not know where it is, you can ask your friend, the tramp." She let out a mischievous chuckle. "Time is ticking, Jacques. You know I am very good with poison. You will find the dead bears as proof on your way here. Good day." She hangs up.

"What is happening, Sire?" Yuri asks while looking at the horizon. Dark clouds had suddenly appeared near the area of my territory. Hope was close by.

"The group has been captured by the Alpha of Lune Sacrée except for Hope. She has killed all the bears I had stand guard around the borders of the territory. Follow the bad weather. It means Hope is close by. When we find Hope, Juliette please give us directions to the gates of Lune Sacrée. Alpha Bailey Toussaint wants me and Hope in exchange for the group. We need reinforcements. I need to make the necessary phone calls."

"Alpha Bailey is a dark witch, Jacques. Jean Luc was the face in the mafia, but she controlled him like she controls most of the wolves here. She wants your powers, Jacques. Someone in the dark speaks to her. My friend at the club says she has eyes almost everywhere. She knows things even if they were meant to be hidden."

She speaks to someone? Could it be The Being once again? Impossible. We had killed it.

"Yuri, keep following the clouds." I dial a number. "Meré, we need your help. Bring all the wolves and bears in any way possible. Arthur and the group have been captured by Alpha Bailey Toussaint of Lune Sacrée pack. Juliette says she is a dark witch."

"Toussaint, I know that name. She is a blood relative of Ula." My mother studies bloodlines and has always been fascinated how all the wolves and bears are related to some point.

" As in "The Great Shadow of Ula"? But we had killed him during the battle with the Rogue Lord." It can not be. How could that thing still be alive?

"There are forces beyond our comprehension, mon fils. The spear is at Hope's Mansion. I will tell Alarick to fetch it. I will bring all the reinforcements I can find. Jacques, stay safe. I will be there soon."

Now all I need to do is find Hope.

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(Hope POV)

It was such a beautiful day. The flight to Lune Brille was very relaxing. I looked out of my window enjoying the clear blue sky. Soon, I will be going back home to start a new life as a mother.

I glance around the plane. Alexander was busy looking through some documents on his laptop while Arthur, Maria, Leia, and Oliver were at a table playing poker. The three were all laughing at Oliver who was losing. Poor Oliver, the three were clearly cheating him out of his money.

Mark was at the helm of the plane with Ava. During her three years here in France, Ava took up pilot lessons. She got sick of being the flight attendant on our trips and had decided it was time to be Mark's co-pilot. The three years have paid off and now she is doing just that.

When we arrived at the airport near the territory of Lune Brille, I noticed the bears tasked to guard the airport were missing. Odd. The bears never disobeyed Jacques' wishes. I became worried. The bad feeling I had got worse when we neared the gates of Lune Brille in our limousine.

"Jacques just messaged me. He says he's close by." Arthur had morphed into Maximus again thinking it would be more intimidating if he arrived at the territory as he.

"Guys, there is something clearly wrong. The bears have gone missing," I tell them.

"They must be somewhere. They can't all be missing," Maria says while trying to search for a bear through the window. I try to think. I didn't ask Jacques if he got in touch with any of his men. I just assumed everything would be okay after Jean Luc's death. Think, Hope, think. Is there anything in Jean Luc's past that you didn't see? Or brushed aside? My heart started to race. I remember a portion of Jean Luc's memories being blurry. He was speaking to someone about Jacques' father, but I could not clearly see who.

Suddenly the doors on each side of the limousine were ripped open by two large gray wolves. They were invisible to the others, but I could see their outlines. With a flick of my wrist,  I turned everyone in the limousine invisible, but the wolf sneered and started snatching the people in the car, one by one. I grab Alexander's arm and try to hold on to him.

"No, I won't let them take you." I push the wolf away with my magic. I look up towards the sky and try to conjure lightning as fast as I could. However, more wolves came. They bit into Alexander's other arm, trying to yank him away from me. I tried to strike them with lightning, but I was afraid Alexander would get hurt.

"Let go, Hope. You will find me. They need me alive. When you find whoever is doing this, kill them for me. Now let go, my love." Alexander tells me through mind link.

"I love you, Alexander. I will come for you, I promise!"  I let him go, weeping quietly. The wolves drag him into a van and that was when I saw her...The shopkeeper! She was sneering  obviously pleased with their capture. After Alexander was inside she closed the door of the van.

"I can not see you or smell you, but I know you are in here, poppet. You can not hide from us."

One of the wolves tried to grab me, but I threw him against a light pole. I run out of the limousine and cast the other wolf away too. Then I struck all the wolves around me with lightning as I chased after the van as fast as I could.

I shifted into Opal and we sprinted across the pavement, following the van. I noticed, during out chase, some of the missing bears were seated on the sidewalk benches, unconscious, possibly drugged or worse poisoned. The shopkeeper did say she was good at elixirs and potions and probably was the one who poisoned them.

I try to think back at the time I met her. I did not see much of her past when I touched her. She had the ability to block my gift. Evidently, she only let me see what she wanted me to see. I underestimated her. Well, that will not happen again.

The van went across town into a gated territory with a sign that read Lune Sacrée. This was the neighboring pack which had close ties with Jean Luc. I stopped by a tree and hid. I couldn't kill all the wolves knowing Alexander and the group were in danger. The shopkeeper wanted something from us. She wanted Jacques.

Jacques said he would be at the territory soon. "I should meet him there, Opal." Opal sprints back to Lune Brille which wasn't far from Lune Sacrée. When I arrived at the gates, I shifted back and decided I needed to give Jacques safe passageway. I raised my hands to the sky and brought in dark clouds. Anyone who would try to enter this area who were not Jacques, Yuri or Juliette will be struck by lightning.

Jacques and I had more enemies than we bargained for and this time they took people who were important to us.

"What does that woman want, Opal?"

"She wants Jacques' power of time control."