Chapter Ninety: Returned

We pack up our stuff in no time and are ready to go. I look to Nuria.

“Are you sure you want to try this with us both at the same time? We can go one-by-one if easier?”

She smirks, shaking her head. “Nope, I need to test the limit now, and what best way to do it than with my two besties?” She laughs.

I chuckle at her good mood. I look to Elijah.

“Hope you’re ready for this. It’s not pleasant the first time.”

He waves his hand. “I’m sure it’s a walk in the park.”

Nuria and I look at each other and smirk. He’ll regret saying that I’m sure.

She opens a portal besides us and reaches her hand out. I go to take it but she pulls away, the smirk on her face still showing.

“No, no. Let Elijah go first. Front seat.”

I smile at her and look to Elijah who still looks adamant he’ll be fine. He grabs her hand and I take his and we go through the portal together.

After a few moments, we pull through the other side and my stomach does a flip, but nowhere near as bad as the first time.

I look up to see Elijah bent over and being sick in a bush just to the left of his feet. Nuria and I both laugh at him.

“Are you ok over there?” I ask, hearing Nuria chuckle beside him.

“A walk in the park, huh?” Nuria asks mockingly causing Elijah to huff.

I hear something behind me snap and I turn round quickly to see Blaine and Albion approaching me.

I see Blaine visibly relax and Albion look at me curiously…..I suspect they recognised me but are unsure about my hair.

“Hello Luna. Nuria, Elijah. How were your travels?” Blaine asks simply.

“Well. We’ve got a lot to tell. Can you set up a meeting with the ranked members and the Elders first thing? I want to tell everyone all we know and have done before we plan to go against Fedori.”

He raises an eyebrow but bows his head without saying anything else. I see him mind-linking and question myself as to why I didn’t just do it myself. But he’s already doing it so I leave it to him.

A few minutes later his eyes return to his hazel brown. “They’re heading to the meeting room now. Do you want to clean up before heading over?” Blain asks.

I shake my head. “We’ve no time to loose. Let’s get over there.” I say willingly.

We head towards the pack house where we’re abruptly stopped by a screech.

“Elijah!” I can tell its Loretta and by the sounds of things, she’s upset. I turn my head to Elijah who is already lowering his gaze, knowing he’s about to get a shouting.

We stop at the door and turn. She runs up towards us and full force jumps onto Elijah, nearly knocking him over. He catches her and they embrace, as if their lives depend on it. They pull away and kiss, causing the rest of us to look away to allow them privacy.

“Elijah, we’re heading in. you stay here, where you’re needed.” I say, and he pulls away from Loretta and smiles at me, mouthing a thank-you.

I nod, and turn to head into the pack house. Nuria and I, along with Blaine and Albion behind us stroll into the main meeting room, where we can see all the ranked pack members, along with the ranked females and the Elders who are patiently waiting for us.

As soon as I enter the door, Melinda jumps up, causing her chair to fall back with a clash, rushes over to me and pulls me into a Motherly hug.

“Aliana darling! We never thought you’d come back!” I can feel the tears roll down her cheek and a small sob escape her lips.

Markus stands and walks over, placing a hand on my shoulder but doesn’t say a thing. I look over to the Elders and the rest of the members in the room who are waiting. They look at me strangely and I assume it’s because of my hair and eyes, which have since changed since I was last here.

I sigh and then take a deep breath. I pull away from Melinda. “I think it’s time to hear why I left and what we’ve done whilst we’ve been away.”

Markus clears his throat which causes Melinda to back away, retreating to her seat. They both sit down at the head of the table. I move to the front of the room and Nuria stands beside me. Blaine and Albion enter and take their seats.

I look around the table at everyone waiting for me. I take a seat and offer Nuria to sit next to me. I suspect this conversation may take a while.

“Firstly, I want to apologise to those who were not aware of me leaving. I knew it would have been more difficult for me to leave and that I have no doubt that some of you would have stopped us going. But I felt it necessary.”

I look among the faces in front of me who are staying silent and I continue confidently.

“I believe you’ve all been briefed about my mission?” I say, looking to Blaine who nods his head.

I nod in response. “Right then, let’s get to it. Nuria, Elijah and I have been travelling to known and unknown locations where others have been. We’ve come across witches, vampires and some elves, among some others. All have agreed to join our fight against the evil one named Fedori, or Erebus, whichever suits you. They are waiting for our word to join us at a place of our choosing, to fight the darkness.”

I see a few of the wolves in the room look around, unsure what I’m proposing. I see Markus watching me intently, but I can tell he’s unsure himself, probably basing his thoughts on his old ways.

I look at Markus directly. “There is no way to avoid this. We need to act first to get Lukas back. I will not stand down or allow this pack to do nothing when this evilness is consuming worlds!”

“We don’t even know if Lukas is still alive.” I hear Elder Wright say out loud, but I can tell he instantly regrets his words when half the room turn to look at him with disdain.
“Lukas is alive.” I say, causing a few gasps to fall.

“How do you know?” Markus asks without hesitation.

“Because I spoke to him yesterday.” Nuria responds straight to the point. All eyes turn to her.

“How? Why is he not with you then?” Markus asks once again, and I can sense he’s starting to become agitated.

I raise my hands, knowing that a river of questions was about to be unleashed. “Nuria is a teleporter, as you all know. She’s recently come into some….uh, power, that now allows her to do certain things she could not before, hence why us three managed to teleport here directly. She was able to locate Lukas in Fedori’s darkness realm and speak to Lukas. But I have to note I can feel my mate bond and I know he’s still alive. He’s weak and has been tortured, but alive nonetheless.”

“Why could she not bring him back here? Why did you not see him if she’s able to move more than just herself around?” Elder Irish asks, irritably. I can tell he’s got other things on his mind.

I can tell Nurias starting to get frustrated about the questions of her power, but they need to understand.

“If she were to move Lukas, Fedori would find him. If she brought him here, he would only just kill more wolves, like he did last time, whilst we’re unprepared. Is that what you want?” I ask sternly, becoming a bit fed up of the questions. “I could not go to the darkness realm as I am a source of power and he would have known if I went there, putting both me, Lukas and Nuria in danger.”

No one else says anything until Melinda speaks to Nuria directly. “Is my son ok?”

I can see she’s pleading with Nuria for any information she can give. Nuria looks at her with a sad expression.

“He’s hanging in there. He’s weak and has been beaten so many times he said he’s lost count. But he’s fighting to stay alive for you all.” She stands and looks to the rest of the room. “The least you can do is fight back to save him.”

She leaves the room and I don’t ask after her as I know she’s already upset as is with the questions.

“What is your plan?” Markus asks me, right to the point.

“My plan would be to decide where to have this battle, draw Fedori out, then have our allies join us fighting whatever he throws at us whilst I go and finish him off whilst saving Lukas and whomever else he’s taken.”

I get a few looks my way where I then elaborate. “It’s not just Lukas he’s taken. He’s taken one of the Elders from Elijah’s community. Nuria mentioned there were some others but no one from here or anywhere I’ve heard of.”

Markus takes a few moments to think it over before he sighs long and hard. “My son is Alpha, and you are Luna, rightly. I will follow you and your plan, I would do anything to get my son back.” He looks to the Elders. “I know we’ve followed the old ways, but there’s no avoiding this. It’s time we start following the new generation.” He looks back to me. “So, where would the best place be to hold this battle that you speak of?”

I place my hand under my chin whilst in thought. “It will be difficult to transport all the wolves who can fight to a different location, outside the pack-lands, so it may be best to have the battle here, preferably closer to the lake.”

“What about the strawberry fields? We can move the strawberry plants elsewhere temporarily and remove the tents. It’s a large area, plus it’s far from the cottages or pack house where the bunker is, so should be a safe distance from any of the old, sick or young to be hurt.” Estelle says, blushing when she notices all eyes are on her.

Markus nods. “That’s a good plan.” He looks to me. “You said that you three had made allies on the way….are they trustworthy?”

“I can’t promise that. A few, yes, however a few others are relying on deals we made with them which rely heavily on Nuria and her abilities.” I think about the vampires we hadn’t met and Troy had scouted them out. What if he had made deals with them on our behalf? “But I can say that this is the only way we have a chance at winning this war, with the least casualties on pack lands.”

Markus rubs his chin with his thumb and forefinger, then nods. “Very well. We can set aside some room on the West perimeter for these allies to rest and recuperate when needed. I will seclude an area of the packs cottages so they don’t mingle…or cause trouble.”

I nod my head in agreement and then see his eyes change to the familiar black, showing that he’s mind-linking someone. After a few minutes, his eyes return to their normal colour and he sits up straight. “It will be done, and ready for new arrivals tomorrow morning, at the earliest.”

“Ok, thank you Markus. A lot of the new allies are vampires, but they will require the blood of animals. Any hunting parties or animals we kill, please can you see to it that the blood is drained and placed into blood bags for them. Any blood will do, and you can mix if necessary.” I look at Estelle who is already taking notes as this is her area.

“It will be done, I’ll have Jorge look into it from the pack house and Larry from the butchers.” She adds.

We go over more little details about our allies joining us and everyone in the room is agreed on how we will accommodate everyone, and some temporary restrictions that will be imposed. Everyone who can fight will do so and those who cannot will be assigned to the bunker, along with rations and work if they are able.

“That’s the locations set up and the roles everyone has leading up to, during, and after the fight. Next, we need to figure out how to summon the son of a bitch.” Markus says more confident in our plan.

I think about what Mandy told me not too long ago and I’m surprised it’s not been mentioned yet. “I’ve got a clue on that. Where are you holding Hugo?”