by Amanda Carol
“Did I do the right thing back there?” I ask, a little harsher than I intended.
She gives me a confused look. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, don’t you think it’s a little odd that my father put me in charge of Luna? It’s like he wants to see me crash and burn. He doesn’t believe that I can do this.” I scrub a hand down my face.
“I believe you can do this, and so does everyone else here. We need to question Luna. Throwing her out of the Compound won’t give us the answers we need.” She starts to walk toward me.
I stalk past her to close us in the garage. I love her, and I’d walk through fire if it meant forever with her, but the pack is my family too, and I need to keep them safe. She may see an Alpha in me, but I don’t. I feel like I’m drowning, and I don’t know which way is up.
“We need to talk,” I say as the door finally closes. “Are you sure that Isabella was telling you the truth?”
She furrows her brows. “Yes. Why do you think I didn’t say anything when I got back?”
I run a hand down my face. This is what my father does. This is what he’s always done, ever since I was a kid. He plants seeds of doubt and makes me question every decision I make, even though I know I'm right.
“Hunter, look at me.” She says walking over and standing in front of me. When I don’t look at her, she places her palms on my cheeks and pulls my face down. “I needed to figure it out on my own. I didn’t want to burden you with that knowledge if it turned out that Isabella was lying. If she was only trying to shake me up and I accused Luna of treachery, I would have ruined their lives. You heard Declan in the car. Luna has always been a second mother figure to us. I needed to be sure.” She drops her hands and takes a breath.
“You saw the Alpha’s reaction, Luna and Abby would be out of here and unprotected. I couldn’t do that to my best friend, even though in the process of figuring things out, I ended up pushing her away anyway.” She glances down at her feet.
“Burden me? Aria, I love you. You can come to me about anything. We could have figured it out together. Promise me, no more secrets,” I say grabbing her hands. Any anger that I had left evaporates when I touch her skin.
Her pale green eyes meet mine. “I promise.”
“Good,” I reply and lean up against my car. “So, how did you come to the conclusion that Isabella wasn’t lying?”
“Luna is the only one who had access to the wards protecting the Compound, and whenever they were broken, she was nowhere to be found. She always came back after the attacks,” she explains.
“Abby was with her too. How do you know she’s innocent?” I ask.
“Like I told you in the car, her reaction to Sloane and the attacks. Abby may be good at a lot of things, but acting is not one of them,” Aria says, walking over to my work bench and sitting down. “I think we should use your plan and lock Luna up when she gets back. We need to find out what more she knows.”
“How do you know she will talk?” I ask, crossing my ankles.
“I don’t. But what other options do we have?” She looks up at me, eyes going wide, and jumps off the bench.
“What? What is it?” I grab her shoulders and search her face.
Her brows pull together. “I’m not sure.” She looks up at me. “But something very powerful is on the grounds.”
Whatever is here, it’s powerful, and I’m drawn to its power like a moth to a flame. I quickly turn and open the garage door, impatiently waiting for it to open. Once it’s open, I step outside. The feeling is drawing me toward the woods, so that’s where I start to run.
“Aria!” Hunter yells, but I don’t stop.
I run past our cabin, not surprised to see that Declan is rushing outside.
“Baby, please stop.” Hunter grabs my arm and pulls me to a stop just as Declan catches up to us.
I can’t take my eyes off the woods. They’re calling to me. Or whatever is in them is calling to me.
“You feel that too?” Declan asks.
I nod. “Yeah.”
“What is it?” Hunter glances at us.
“I’m not sure, but it’s not a threat,” I say just as the white wolf with violet eyes from my dream emerges from the trees. She’s the one who helped me embrace who I really was.
A demigod.
Hello, little one. It’s good to see you again. Don’t worry, I will do you no harm. I hear the familiar feminine voice in my head.
“It’s okay. It’s the white wolf from my dream,” I tell them.
I step closer to her as the air around us grows heavy with power, and a figure forms next to the wolf. I stop and watch as a woman stands before us. Her long brown hair is in a tight braid that rests over her shoulder. She’s wearing a long white gown with slits going all the way up to her hips and a gold rope intertwines around her waist and wraps around her torso, stopping at her shoulders where it holds her dress up. She gracefully walks forward, the white wolf following her.
“Please do not be frightened. I am Artemis, daughter of Zeus and Leto. I am here to give you a gift from the gods.” Her voice has a melodic tone.
It’s no wonder that I’m drawn to her. I am a descendent of this goddess.
“Holy—” Declan starts.
“Shit,” Hunter finishes for him.
Both of them are staring at her with the same wide-eyed expression.
“Do you know what’s going on?” I ask, ignoring them.
Artemis nods. “I do. Which is why I am here. Apollo has foreseen the future, but Zeus will not listen and has forbidden us from helping our young warriors.” She glances over at Hunter. “But some of us know that sometimes we need to disobey our orders. Am I wrong, young wolf?” She quirks a brow, and her lips turn up.
I look over at Hunter, who shakes his head.
“No,” he chokes out.
She chuckles. “Aria, please come and take this.”
I slowly walk toward her and when I reach her, she hands me a silver bow, with a case of silver tipped arrows in a royal blue case. Gold vines are embroidered on the front.
“This has been forged from my bow, and the arrows come from my arsenal. These will stun any vampire, no matter the age,” she explains as I take them from her.
“Declan.” Artemis beckons him over and I step off to the side as he stands in front of her. “This is yours.”
She pulls out a dagger, the hilt covered in yellow diamonds with a giant ruby in the center.
“This is Apollo’s dagger. It’s the one that was used in the spell that turned Isabella immortal. This is the only weapon that can kill her,” she tells us.
He takes it from her as I step closer to get a better look.
“But, in order for it to be useful, it needs to be coated in a mixture of your and Aria’s blood.”
Of course. More blood.
“Hunter, my young wolf warrior, I have something for you as well.” She pulls out a silver chain with a small half-moon charm. The gem inside has a light blue shine to it.
Hunter steps forward and bows his head as Artemis hangs the stone around his neck.
“This is a moonstone. It was forged by the same witches that created the wolf gene. The stone draws power from the moon, no matter if it’s day or night. The wearer will be stronger and faster, and wounds will heal much quicker.” Artemis quickly looks at me then back to Hunter. “You will also be safe from Wolfsbane.”
A sense of relief washes over me as my eyes fill up with tears. I don’t know if I can form words, so I try and open the link to her, surprised to find that she is already open to me.
Thank you.
Artemis looks at me and smiles. “Of course, little one. My apologies, but I must go now. I trust that you three will keep this to yourselves. War is on the horizon, and we need to prepare for all outcomes. I just hope that we can stop her in time. We choose our own destiny; however, we must choose wisely.” She bows her head. “Until we meet again.”
With that, she’s gone, and with
her, the white wolf disappears too.
“Someone, pinch me, please. I have to be dreaming.” Declan stares at the spot where Artemis was just standing.
Well, he did say please.
“Ow! Fuck! Aria, that hurt!” Declan rubs his arm where I pinched him. “Glad to see you’re back to your old self again.”
I laugh. “It feels good to feel normal again.”
A silence falls between us for a few minutes. We just totally freaking met a Greek god. Well, goddess. I never would have thought that they would step in and help us.
Unless…
Dread replaces the relief as realization sinks in.
“You guys know this is bad, right?” I say as turn to face Hunter and Declan. “I don’t think she would have gone behind Zeus’s back to give us these gifts if what Isabella was planning wasn’t serious.”
“You’re right.” Hunter looks at the woods behind me.
His necklace sparkles in the moonlight, and I reach out and touch it, drawing his attention.
“We need to talk to Luna,” he decides.
Hunter hid the dagger and my new bow and arrows in his garage. The Compound knows that when his Impala is in there, not to go in. Even Bennett knows not to enter unless it’s an absolute emergency.
Hunter and I tried to formulate a plan last night about how to capture Luna, but we decided it would be best to talk to our trusted friends and see what they think. After all, this affects them too. It’s why we called everyone over to my cabin today.
“Alright, what’s the dealio?” Bennett asks, flopping down on my couch next to Kat.
He puts his booted feet up on my coffee table, and I walk over and kick them off. He shoots me a look, and I shrug.
Grace and Knox are sitting on chairs Declan had brought in the from the kitchen. Declan and Ciera have chosen to sit on the steps.
“Thank you for meeting us here. For those of you who don’t know, Luna has betrayed us,” Hunter starts to explain.
There are collective gasps from Grace, Kat, and Ciera.
“What?!” Kat shouts. “Well, she can fuck the whole way off, then!”
“Whoa, Kat, why don’t you tell us how you really feel?” Bennett says, shrinking away from her as she glares at him.
“What do you mean, she’s betrayed us?” Grace asks, ignoring Kat and Bennett.
Knox grabs her hand and brings it to his lips; she flushes and gives him a small smile.
“Luna is working with Isabella,” I answer her, and my eyes travel over to my brother on the steps.
I proceed to explain everything I know and what I've told Hunter. Everyone just seems to be at a loss for words, which is understandable. Luna was trusted and loved by so many.
“Aria and I talked about it, and we’d like your help to come up with a plan to keep her detained. We need to talk to her and find out what she knows. If you don’t want to, I totally understand,” Hunter says after I finish, looking around the room.
“As much as I would rather staple my fingers than be in the same zip code as Luna, I'll help in any way I can.” Kat crosses her legs on the couch and props her head in her hands.
Declan laughs. “Kat, don’t ever change.”
Kat looks over at him, clicks her tongue, and points her finger at him. The mood in the room is suddenly lighter as everyone laughs.
“What would you like us to do?” Grace asks after everyone quiets down.
“We need to be sure she can’t escape. She is a witch, after all. The wolves will agree to take turns standing guard. I don’t think that, with the wolves guarding, she would try to escape, but the extra protection wouldn’t hurt. We were thinking about putting her in that old cellar by the woods. It used to be used as a jail cell back in the thirties, but now it’s just a cellar,” Hunter explains.
“We can charm the bars with heat magic, but we would need a fire witch for that,” Kat suggests. “Would Zayne or Tessa be willing to help? They are the only two fire witches on the Compound, besides Declan and Aria.” She looks at me and Declan. “Do you think you guys can charm something yet?”
I look to my brother, and we both shake our heads.
“We can try, but we haven’t gotten that far with our training yet, so I think it would be best to ask,” I tell her.
“I texted Zayne to call me as soon as possible. He will help if we ask. He cares about Abby and will be loyal to her, and to the pack. But I think asking Tessa to help would be a good idea just in case,” Hunter replies.
“I can ask her. After we’re finished here, I’m going to go help her with Micah,” Ciera offers.
Hunter nods.
“What about adding an acid rain?” Grace offers. “Kat, you and I would have to combine our elemental magic to make it work.”
“Acid rain?” I ask, quirking a brow.
“Acid is technically an earth element. So, if Grace and I can get it to work, we can conjure an acid rain in front of the heated bars,” Kat answers.
I nod in understanding.
“We can use the air element by the door. But you’d need an air witch to stand guard with the wolves. There are plenty here. I’m sure we can round up a few for shifts,” Ciera says.
“And you have us.” Declan looks at her. “Aria and I will help guard too.”
After thirty minutes of discussing, we finally have a solid plan. Everyone leaves to go prepare what they have to, because Luna is coming back.
Tonight.
We still have plenty of time to kill before the big play against Luna tonight, and I’m starting to feel anxious. My father is so adamant on throwing Luna and Abby out. I get why, but we need information that only Luna can give us.
If it were him doing this and he wasn’t planning on throwing them out, he would have come up with a plan all on his own and then recruited people to do the dirty work. I can’t honestly remember my father ever going out on a scouting mission.
I don’t even have to use the link to know where my girl went. Walking up the steps, I head toward her studio room. I lean up against the frame, watching her as she runs her paint brush up and down the canvas. She bites her bottom lip in concentration, something she always does, and it always goes straight to my dick.
I feel like we haven’t had much time together since we went to her old house, and once we finally get tonight over with, I plan on spending as much time with Aria as I can. She still hasn’t looked up from her easel; a lock of hair falls down into her face and she uses the back end of the brush to push it away.
She’s always been beautiful to me, but looking at her now, the sunlight hitting her hair and the look of contentment on her face, she’s the most beautiful woman that I have ever laid eyes on. The girl I fell in love with is back, and I will love her for the rest of my life. Even through the darkest of times, she is still the moon to my wolf, and that will never change. She brings out the best in me, and she makes me believe that one day, I will make a good Alpha.
“Penny for your thoughts?” She smirks at me from behind the easel. God, she’s sexy.
“I was just thinking about how beautiful you look when you paint.” I stride over to her and grab her ass, pulling her to me.
Her breath hitches as I bring my face close to hers, and her eyes flick down to my lips before they slowly come back up. As I get lost in her gaze, I make a split-second decision.
“I would love to watch you paint every moment of every day. Move in with me?” I ask.
When a wolf falls in love, that’s it. Game over.
She takes a minute to consider my offer, then a smile grows on those pretty lips of hers. “Kiss me.”
I don’t even think twice as I crash my lips onto hers, forcing her mouth open so I can taste her. My hands drop low on her waist, and I hook my fingers in her belt loops, pulling her closer to me so she can feel how much her kiss affects me. How much she affects me.
I reluctantly pull back and rest my forehead against hers. “Is that a yes?”
“Let’s get t
onight over with,” she whispers, pulling back and placing her hands on my cheeks. “And then once everything is safe for all of us…”
She closes her eyes and takes in a breath. When her eyes open, they are my favorite shade of pale green, the color that captured my wolf’s attention back at the cemetery, and a color I’ve been trying to get back.
“Yes. I’ll move in with you.” She smiles up at me.
I lean down and claim her lips once more. I’d take her right here, bent over that paint table, if I thought she’d let me. But this is her space, and when she’s in here…let’s just say I'm glad she’s kissing me right now. We’ve hung out in here before, but touching her while she’s painting is off limits.
She pulls back and gives me a slight shove. “Okay, get out of here. I want to finish this.”
Walking to the training room is going to be a bitch with this hard-on.
“Alright, baby. I’m going to work out for a bit. I’ll see you later.” I kiss her temple and start to walk out of the room, but before I even get to the doorway, I feel someone trying to reach me using the link.
I love you. Aria’s voice fills my head.
I smile and turn around. I love you more.
I’m out of the room before she can protest. When I get outside, I reach into my pocket and call Zayne. I don’t think we can wait any longer to talk.
“What’s up, man?” Zayne answers. I hear some rustling in the background, then silence.
“Not much, Z. How’s the beach?” I ask.
“The beach was good. We’re just packing up now. Getting ready to leave soon,” he explains. “But you’re not calling me for some small talk bullshit. What’s going on?”
I take in a breath and look around, lowering my voice. “You alone?”
“Yeah, I’m outside,” he replies.
I explain everything to him. He curses under his breath a few times while I’m talking, but lets me tell him everything.
“You mean I’ve got to ride home with this person and act like I don’t know shit?” he asks.
