by Bianca Griso
I start to get up off the couch, and Alpha Jack runs over to help me sit up. “I need to see her,” I tell them. Alpha Jack nods, and Tyler comes over to help me too. I am still weak and tired from everything happening. “We will take you there, just relax. Your body still needs rest,” Alpha Jack said, trying to reason with me. I’m not having it right now; I did what Alpha Ethan said. Now I am going to see her. “I don’t care, Jack, I am going to see my mate, with or without your help,” I warn him. Alpha Jack sighs and starts to help me up along with Tyler.
We start to walk to the medical wing, which is on the other side of the house—taking it slow because I am still in pain. My body aches, and is wanting more rest, but I can rest later. Once we get there, the whole medical wing is cleared out for lunch. Tyler and Alpha Jack let go, and I lean up against the doorway holding myself up. I look at the most beautiful person. Her dark brown hair flows past her chest. Her small frame and skin white as snow. Esme lays there peacefully in bed. I slowly start to walk towards her.
I sit on her bed next to where she sleeps—not taking my eyes off of my mate with every step. Her beauty captivities me. I gently trace her jawline with hands and move a few strains of hair off her face. “Esme, your more beautiful than I pictured. I’m sorry this has happened to you. I will make them pay myself,” I whisper.
My eyes stray away from her face and down to her side. I move the thin piece of fabric to see the wound. Her bandages are covered in her blood. I sigh through my nose as I get up off the bed. I kiss my mate’s forehead, and sparks run through my body from the mate bond we have. I leave her room and head to the basement. Alpha Crimson can’t have this one because this one is mine.
I walk down the basement stairs pretty quickly in my condition. At this point, I don’t care what I look like or how my body feels currently. Not when I see red. I swing open the interrogation room, with the rogue chained up against the desk. Alpha Crimson is sitting across from him; at first, he looks at me, shocked. Then he gives me a smirk when he sees the look on my face. I look over at the rogue, not a scratch on him; Crimson hoped I wanted to be the one. Crimson knows I would see red, and wanted to be with the rogue to wait, patiently.
“Well, Alpha Mason, I am happy you’re here to do this. I knew you wanted to be the one to do this,” Alpha Crimson starts to say, looking at me. He turns towards the rogue that’s chained up, and he says, “have fun.” Alpha Crimson stands up and whispers in the rogue’s ear, and not something I can hear. Before Crimson leaves, he pats me on the back and leans in, and whispers in my ear, “Mason, give him Hell.”
After Crimson leaves, he closes the door, and I sit down where he was sitting. I look at the rogue in the eyes and ask, “Do you know who you attacked?” The rogue smirks at me say, “I’m betting it was your little hot ass mate.” I stood up and slammed his head on the cold metal desk that’s in-between us. The rogue groans in pain and being uncomfortable. “You think your lucky that I’m not Alpha Crimson, but you’re wrong. I am going to make you suffer for what you did to my mate,” I whisper in his ear. I still hold his head against the metal desk when he says, “Just kill me, Alpha.” I smirk at him and say, “If I were to kill you, it would be slow and painful. Before I do that, I am going to make you suffer; you’re going to wish you were six feet under.” I let go of the rogue. “If you want information, you could just ask me,” he comments. I look down at him and say, “you think I want information, your wrong.” I lean down close to his ear and whisper, “I want revenge.”
Chapter Six
Esme
I try and move my fingers and toes. I can’t move anything. My body is unconscious, but my mind isn’t. I focus on my surroundings. “When will she wake? It’s been a month?” I hear Alpha Mason’s voice. I hear someone sigh, “Mason, I don’t know. Esme will live. She was attacked badly; she’s still recovering,” I hear a woman’s voice. She sounds familiar; I can’t place where I heard that voice. “I know it’s hard to see your mate like this. She’s my Luna; I don’t want to see her like this either. She needs you, and you need to be there for her. She will wake up soon,” the female voice continues. Alpha Mason sighs through his nose out of frustration. I don’t hear them talking anymore. After some time passing by, I feel the sparks. Sparks indicting Mason is holding my hand.
I wish I can squeeze his hand in return, but I still can’t move anything. I still feel so far away from everyone else. There isn’t any kind of sound. The only thing I can hear is the beeping noise coming from the machines. I can still feel the sparks run through my entire body; that’s the only thing that’s nice about this. I am only here with my thoughts, and I can only think about what I didn’t do. I didn’t listen to the Moon Goddess’s warning, and this is my punishment. I guess forcing me to shift wasn’t enough. Let’s add this to the list.
“Esme, I am truly sorry I had to put you through the pain you endured. It had to be done; I hope you can forgive me,” I hear a voice in my head. It’s a woman’s voice that’s soft and elegant. Then I realize it’s the Moon Goddess talking to me. Not many can say they spoke to her before, let alone twice, now three times. “I had to do things I am not proud of, for the sake of our kind. Tell Ethan I am truly sorry for the things I had done,” I hear her voice again. What did our Moon Goddess do to hurt us?
“Esme! Can you hear me?” Mason asked, breaking me from the voice in my head. I focus on my mate. I hadn’t realized I been squeezing Mason’s hand. I still feel tired, and my eyelids still feel heavy. I can open them, and I do.
I turn my head, so I’m facing my mate. My mate stares back in awe and shock. “Alpha Mason,” I manage to say. Mason smiles at me and says, “Esme, you’re so beautiful.” I smile at him and squeeze my hand. “And your so handsome,” I tell him. He let go of my hand and runs it through my hair.
I had gotten lost in Mason’s light green eyes; I haven’t realized how close he was. Inches away from our lips touching. The sound of someone clearing their throat interrupts the moment. I never wanted to kiss someone that badly before. I want to hit the person who interrupted us.
We look over at the doorway, and Anna, Mason’s sister, was standing there. “Mason, don’t be charming her now; Esme needs rest,” Anna comments. I wanted to step in and say no, but my body is exhausted. Before Mason or Anna say anything else, my stomach does the talking. Mason looks at me and smiles. I couldn’t help but to smile at him back. “Someone is hungry,” Mason said. He looks over at Anna, and she’s smiling. “I’ll get you some food, Luna,” Anna said, then she leave.
“She will be back with some food for you, Esme; then you’re going back to sleep. It’s late,” Alpha Mason said. I look back over to him and say, “Okay, Alpha-“ Mason interrupts me, saying, “Please don’t call me Alpha; I’m your mate, and you’re my mate.” I smile at him and grab his hand. He kisses me on the forehead and looks like he’s leaving.
Right one cue, Anna walks in with some food. It looks to be some pizza. “Sorry, Luna, our head Omega Daniel was sick, and it was a hectic day, so we ordered pizza. I hope that’s okay,” Anna says as she walks in with it. “It’s okay, I’m fine with pizza,” I reply to Anna. Mason steps away and sits on the couch. Once I finished eating my very late dinner, Anna leaves.
“Can you stay?” I find myself asking. For a moment there, Mason was surprised. Then Mason smiled wide and crawled in bed as I made room for him. Mason lays on his back, and I lay on my head on his chest. I smile as I hear his heart beating. I don’t know where I found the confidence came from when I said, “I think I’m falling for you.” Mason’s reaction surprised me; he smiles, then he says, “I think I’m falling for you too, Esme.”
My stomach is filled with butterflies, and this warm feeling at the bottom of my stomach. The next thing Mason does surprise me the most when, the moment I blink my eyes, his lips find mine. Our lips move nicely together. Mason’s lips are soft and are a perfect fit for mine. Mason nips my lips, causing me to gasp, giving him an entrance. My fingers intert
wined with his hair, my other hand on his chest. Mason slowly moves on top of me, making sure he doesn’t hurt me. His mouth trails down my jawline, leaving little love bites behind as he kisses. Sparks are all throughout my body as he touches me. My hand finds his hair, gently pulling on it. My other hand is on the middle of his back, pulling him closer. I didn’t want to stop; I want all of Mason.
That’s doesn’t happen tonight, sadly. Someone clears their throat and says, “Sir, we need you.” He breaks apart, and he looks annoyed. He looks over to who spoke and said, “leave us.” He turns towards me and smiles sadly, says, “I’m sorry Esme, I have to go and take care of things. You need to get some rest.” Mason gets up, adjusts himself, and kisses my head. “Goodnight, Esme; I’ll see you in the morning,” Mason said as he left.
I find myself not able to fall back asleep, with my body being hot and bothered. My brain doesn’t want to shut off. I can’t stop thinking about that kiss we shared. Thinking about Mason’s soft lips and in sync with each other. I wanted more; I wanted all of him. I still do.
As I lay here, I realize that I have to use the restroom. I sigh through my nose, not wanting to get up. I give in to my bladder and start to get up. Big mistake, I ripped my stitches out. I begin to bleed through the bandages. I start to walk out of my room to look for help. I don’t see anyone out in the hall or offices. I guess they were really counting me sleeping all night. I’m walking down the aisle using the walls to keep myself up. The pain is worse as I continue to bleed. “Esme!” I hear someone shout. I turn around to see who did that come from. It’s Mason, jogging towards me. “What are you doing? What happened?” Mason asked me. My knees start to buckle, and I begin to fall. Mason catches me before I hit the floor. He helps me to my room, and he notices the blood that’s all over me. “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up,” Mason says as we walk back to my room and to the attached bathroom. “I’m sorry I should have stayed in bed. I had to go to the bathroom, I still do, and when I ripped my stitches, I went to go find someone,” I finally explain what happened.
Before Mason has anything, Anna comes running in to help stitch me back up. “Luna, I told you to go to bed,” Anna said as she stitches me up. “I’m sorry I had to go to the bathroom, and as I got up, I ripped the stitches. I went to go get help,” I explain, leaving out the whole with Mason. I don’t want to get him yelled at by the doctor. Anna just looks at me, like she knows I left some information out. “Fine, that’s good enough excuse. Do you want me to help you get to the bed after going to the bathroom,” Anna comments, brushing it off. I’m shocked that she would offer that to me. “No, I’m okay, and if I need help, I have Mason here,” I reply to her.
After Anna patches me back up, she leaves, and now it’s mason and me. Before Mason says anything, I get the first word, “If I need help, I’ll let you know.” He just smiles and nods. Once he leaves, I’ll go and do my business. Once I open the bathroom door, Mason helps me to the bed.
“What if I don’t want you to go,” I tell him before he leaves. I get anxious, waiting for him to say something. He looks like he’s having a battle within himself. After a little while, he finally said, “Alright.” He walks back over to the bed, and I make room for him. Once he’s in, I go and lay on his chest, listening to his heartbeat.
The next morning was nice, waking up to your sleeping mate. Poke his face lightly and opens his eyes slowly. “Morning,” I tell him. His smile is bright and warm, and I can just get lost in his eyes. “Good morning Esme,” Mason greets me. I give him a light kiss, and he started to deepen the kiss. It was nice sleeping next to my mate, but I do have to tell him that the Moon Goddess spoke to me. I hate that I have to ruin this nice moment between us. “Mason, I have to tell you something important; I should have told you last night,” I start to say. He looks confused at first, and then he does get serious.
“The Moon Goddess talked to me when I was in the coma. She asked me to forgive her for the things she’s done,” I tell him. Mason gets really quiet and for a while. I want him to say something it’s making me anxious. “Please say something,” I tell him. He looks at me; he looks worried. This makes me worried because Mason usually is a really calm and collected person. He finally says something, “We need to tell the others.”
Because I am not discharged from the hospital, the other Alphas are coming here into my room. Before they come, I asked Anna for some clothes to wear. I had to beg her since I have machines I was attached to. She gave sweat pants and a baggy t-shirt, anything is better than what I was wearing.
The alphas are in the doorway, waiting for us to invite them in. Mason waves in them, and they sit on the couch and chairs. “Okay, so what’s going on Mason,” Alpha Jack asked. Jack look at the two of us. A few moments pass by before I blurt out everything. They just look at us, not saying anything. They all look worried and a little scared, but silence was their answer.
Chapter Seven
Mason
After Esme told us word for word yesterday, with all of her encounters with the Moon Goddess, not just including last night, but described her nightmares and everything. We know how dangerous this threat is. The nightmares showed her extinction and all the trouble the Moon Goddess did to protect us. This war started back from when Alpha Ethan lost it all; that’s when the Moon Goddess began planting seeds for the war ahead. The Moon Goddess possibly planted seeds before that to stop this threat, but we don’t know for sure. The Moon Goddess apologized to Alpha Ethan for everything. That’s what made us think she was trying to stop this back then.
The Alphas and I sit in the conference room. I have Tyler and Elder William. William has been digging up some information, and so has the other Elders from the other packs. They don’t have much on the situation. So we are having a meeting to discuss what our plan is and what the Elders know. I start the conference. “Alphas, I know I had found my mate, but the rest of my pack hasn’t. Some of you haven’t met your mates; we need all the strength we can get. I am going forward with the party and mating ceremonies.” No one responds, so I continue, “We need all the strength we can get. We may not survive this war that’s coming, but will have a chance. This is a risk, but one worth taking. We need to be stronger to win against this unknown enemy.”
Alpha Crimson stays silent as we wait for his response. “I understand where you come from, but do you realize how long that takes,” Alpha Crimson states. All eyes are on Crimson as he spoke, and now all eyes are on me. I sigh and say, “I understand your concern with time. I am having Anna plan the ceremonies for a month’s time. In a month, I will officially announce war. I am doing this with or without your blessing, but I prefer to have it. I am trying to play this smart; we need to wait. My pack won’t survive. I am doing this to protect my people. I understand Crimson if you want to start now, but understand I am waiting,” I tell Alpha Crimson. There wasn’t much of a reaction, just a head nod.
Right on time, William walks through the open doorway. “Elder William, I’m happy you can make it,” I said as I stand from my chair. William smiles and looks at all of us and says, “I am happy to be here to help in these troubling times, Alpha Mason. I am not sure what use I am.”
Before I say anything, Alpha Jack stands and says, “I’m sure you and our elders will be able to help. You said you have some information.” William looks grim as he sits down at the table with us. “It’s very little information. I was the last class to be taught this in school. When learning it in school, we didn’t go into many details as to what happened or what they are,” William states.
“Elder William, what do you have on them?” Alpha Ethan asked. All eyes are going back and forth between them. William sighs and is stressed out is all over his face. “It didn’t have a name for them, except for the Cold Ones. They are described powerful, cold, and predators. Our people had some conflict with them in the past, before the four packs were formed. It had happened thousands of years ago before the Four Brother War when that happened about four hundred y
ears ago. It has been buried, trying to hide. Someone went to great lengths to hide this little information,” Elder William explained.
No one says anything for a little while. Until I break the silence, “Well, whatever is hidden, will come to light soon. We will find them and get answers.” I want to know why our people hid this information from us. It doesn’t make sense. Something must have had to happen back then.
Something in my gut tells me that they aren’t the enemy. Something else more evil is doing this, and I want to know what. “I don’t think the Cold Ones are behind this; it doesn’t make sense,” I tell everyone. They all look confused, except Jack. He just smiles at me. “Mason, I agree, the Cold Ones seem the kind to want to stay out of things and to be left alone. Someone else is behind the disappearance of the smaller packs. They have been out of sight and out of mind for over a thousand years. Someone else is behind this,” Alpha Jack comments.
I look over at Crimson, and he doesn’t look like he agrees at all with what’s happening. “Elder William, can you try and find out what happened all those years ago with the Cold Ones?” Ethan asked, breaking the tension. “You think someone else was involved all those years ago?” Alpha Crimson questions. It’s a good possibility that someone else was involved in that conflict.
