“How do you know Logan?” I growled. Lunas came through the crowd to watch the exchange. A hurtful expression on their faces told me V’s association with Logan didn’t go well with them.
“You killed him!” V came toward me but Jackson was there to hold her back.
A grin stretched from ear to ear as I said, “You’re damn right I did.”
Sebastian’s glare snapped to me but I didn’t care. The cat was out of the bag, and whatever happened next would just have to be. I’d take the consequences like a champ because Logan got what he deserved.
“What’s it to you?” I asked. “Logan your side piece?”
She blanched. “You disgusting mutt! He was my brother!”
This time I couldn’t hold back my shocked expression. I hadn’t seen that coming or their resemblance. How the hell were they related? Well…okay maybe I saw it in their mutual cruelness but Logan was worse. He was demented; Vivian was just a mean girl.
“If only he’d had the chance to do what he had planned. You wouldn’t be walking around here like the bastard princess you are! King Alexander is going to take one look at you and throw you out like the trash you are!” The mention of my supposed father stirred buried emotions within me and I could no longer control my fury.
With unnatural speed, I climbed on the table I had been seated, and sprinted down to the end. I hopped over to the next table that was behind V and jumped, landing a blow to the back of her head before anyone could stop me. The Pack rustled toward me as I attacked one of their own but the Lunas stood in their way. They growled at anyone who tried to come near me. Their canines snapped as they crouched in defensive positions, stunning everyone to silence. My chest swelled with pride. This is what women were—warriors. It was time they started acting like them, they just needed a little nudge. They’re stronger than they know.
“Stand down!” Sebastian ordered the Lunas but none of them wavered. Their growls only grew louder, more aggressive.
I bypassed Jackson who was the only one close enough to reach me. I ducked under his arms and kicked him in the back. I didn’t want to hurt him, but if he stood in my way…
My clawed hand went straight to V’s neck and I lifted her a few inches above ground.
“Why!” I demanded. “Why would you do that to me? What have I ever done to deserve your hate?” I implored.
Her red manicured nails scratched at my hand and wrist for release. She gasped for air but I wasn’t letting her go. This was one tally mark I didn’t mind adding to the list. I wouldn’t lose sleep over her death.
Jackson wrapped an arm around my waist to pull me away but I dragged her with me. My claws punctured skin and holding on to Vivian was like trying to take a bone away from a dog.
Jonah appeared in my line of sight, a needle in hand.
“Let me goooo,” I slurred just as he stabbed me in the neck. My fingers relaxed, and my body sagged into Jackson. The last I heard were the howls of the Lunas as I succumbed to the darkness. Not again…
Chapter Twenty One
Multiple slaps in the face stirred me awake. I had been dreaming of riding a unicorn over a rainbow with a bowl of Lucky Charms cereal waiting for me at the end. Don’t ask.
“What…” I garbled as I tried to go back to sleep. “I’m hungry, let me just grab—”
“Mackenzie!” a deep voice whisper-screamed. “Stop thinking about food for once and wake the hell up!”
“But the leprechauns…?”
“Fuck the leprechauns, you have to go,” he said as he pulled at my wrists.
My eyes began to flutter open and I was met with a fuzzy vision of Jackson. The beard gave him away. We were in a dark room and I felt too weak to turn on my night vision. My eyelids felt heavy.
“W-What’s going on?” I stuttered, my mouth parched. My head flopped to the side where Jackson pulled at my wrist. I could see it wrapped in chains. “Are you trying to get kinky?” I said out of breath. “I don’t think Amy would like it.”
He growled. “Shut the hell up, Mackenzie.”
“I can’t shut up,” I said. “That would be a miracle if I did.”
Jackson grunted. “For once we agree.” He yanked the chains that held me and I was free.
Now that nothing kept me upright, I started to sag to the floor when Jackson caught me.
“Whoops,” I giggled.
“You should go on a diet,” he grumbled as he stabilized me and attempted to free my other wrist. My heavy head fell onto his shoulder, I was too tired to hold myself up.
“That was sort of mean,” I whispered. “It kinda makes me like you more.”
“You’re in desperate need of a psychologist if that makes you like me,” he released my other wrist and scooped me up.
“I totally agree with the shrink. I’ve got daddy issues, for sure.”
Jackson took a few steps when he halted at the sound of a metal door sliding open. “Shit,” he sighed.
“Is it the shrink?” I asked.
“Shut up, Mackenzie.”
Heavy footsteps resonated toward us but I didn’t have enough strength to lift my head and check who it was. I must have been drugged because I was out of commission. If my life depended on me doing anything but sleeping, I was fucked.
“Jackson, what the hell are you doing?” I recognized Jonah’s voice. “Put her back!”
“I can’t, Brother,” Jackson said. His chest vibrating against my ear as he spoke. “How can you stand there and do nothing? You know what The Summit will do to her.”
“They won’t! She is the King’s daughter, leniency will be given. What she did was wrong, Jack, no matter how much I wanted to be the one to kill the bastard,” Jonah growled.
“Leniency? How naïve are you? You’re throwing her to the wolves!”
I chuckled but couldn’t move further than that. This was some heavy drugs they doped me up with.
“We will be there to protect her. She won’t be alone to face them. Bash won’t allow it.”
Jackson scoffed. “You think Sebastian will have a say? Dad is full of empty promises Jo, wake the hell up already!”
“Why do you even care? I thought you hated her,” Jonah asked. “Is it because of the human? Does she have your balls so secure that she’s making you do this?”
“Amy doesn’t make me do anything,” he growled.
“Except that thing with your tongue,” I mumbled.
“I swear I’ll drop you, Mackenzie,” Jackson said, his voice laced with irritation.
“Put her back in the cage or I’ll turn you in as well, Brother. Don’t make me do that.”
It didn’t take a genius to figure out we were in a stand-still. Putting the clues together, Jackson was performing a failed jail break. If he was caught, then no one would be with Amy during the full moon and I had way too many enemies to keep her unprotected. The easiest way to get to me was through her and if V was able to relay that to Logan, who knows who he’s shared that with. I couldn’t risk it. Even with my fuzzy, drug-ridden mind, I knew what had to be done.
“Put me back,” I whispered, all jokes forgotten. “Do as he says, Jackson.”
“What?” he said as he pulled me away a little to see my face. My eyes opened and I saw those soft chocolate browns that I missed seeing in Jonah. “You can’t be serious…”
“As a heart attack.”
“They’ll torture you—force you into a Pack,” Jackson said.
“What I did…comes with consequences.” I patted his bulky chest, and squeezed one of his boobs. “These things are bigger than mine.”
“Mackenzie, focus!”
“Sorry,” I shook my head. “I need to face them.”
“But—”
“I know you feel like you owe me for saving you from the Skinwalker, but you don’t. The best way to repay that debt is by taking care of our girl.”
His eyes hardened as he nodded. Jackson handed me over to Jonah, and with one last reluctant look, he left the room.
My head flopped onto the other Cadwell brother and I gripped his flannel shirt. I breathed in his scent and drowned myself in its familiarity. Even if things between us was a bit different from before. I think secretly, I believed if I ever wanted to settle down, Jonah was the one I’d do it with. But things weren’t that simple—I don’t think they ever were.
“You know I won’t let anything happen to you, right?”
“Yes,” I sighed.
“But for me to do that, we have to make sure we do things right. It’s the only way to keep you alive.”
I started to play with one of the buttons of his shirt. “And what’s the right way?”
“The Summit. You have to go before them and they will rule out your punishment.”
“What am I getting punished for?” There was a laundry list, I had to make sure they were getting it right and I wasn’t taking the fall for someone else.
Jonah walked me back to where I had been, and he rested me on the ground. The sound of rattling chains perked me up as he started to wrap them around my wrist again.
“The murder of the Alpha of the Chicago Pack, Logan St. James—”
“Oh. That was his last name? I guess he didn’t live up to that, am I right?” I chuckled at my corny joke, but Jonah stayed quiet.
“Also for the uprising of the Lunas in the Brooklyn Pack,” he said quietly. His voice was a mixture of hurt and confusion. Like he didn’t understand why they would want to change the way things were. Was it that hard to believe in equality?
“Guilty as charged,” I grinned lazily. “What about the Lunas? Are they okay?” I straightened as I thought of Blu and Rachel. I prayed they weren’t getting punished. I hadn’t asked them to defend me with Vivian. Our plan was simpler than that. Before taking any action, they were to reach out to other Lunas in different Packs and regions. Start spreading the upcoming revolution and the need to stand together. The Lunas of the Brooklyn Pack wasn’t going to be enough. This needed to be worldwide. I hoped that whatever happened next, didn’t deter them from wanting change and seeking it.
“They’re fine. My father gave Sebastian the option to let them off with a warning if he brought you to The Summit.”
I sighed in relief. “That’s great to hear. He did the right thing.” And it was true. Bash knows I would be furious if I let them go down for my decisions. I talked a big game, but my subconscious was alive and kicking, and the guilt would have drove me mad.
“That’s how he said you would react,” Jonah said as he tied my other wrist. “I guess he knows you better than I do.”
“Jonah, this isn’t a competition,” I murmured. “Sometimes you’re so blinded by your need to protect me that you don’t think about what I would want.”
When he was done, he squatted in front of me and tipped my chin. The pad of his thumb caressed my bottom lip as his eyes stared into mine.
“I’ll always put your well-being before anything else. Even what you want. I care too much.”
I shook my head and he let go. The drugs were wearing off and I could see much clearer. We were in what looked like a basement, maybe? The smell of pine assaulted my senses. We were near, if not in the woods.
“I don’t like what you’re becoming, Jonah. You’re not who I met over a year ago.”
His face fell, and his lips parted as he sucked in a breath. I knew how he felt about me, but he needed to hear the truth. His obsession with me was becoming a scary thing. Now more than ever, I understood the amount of danger I was in by being the bastard child of a King. And his obsession stemmed from that wolf need to protect the ones you love—but goddamn, I couldn’t live in fear behind him and Bash for the rest of my life. It’s what drove me to go after Logan, I refused to be a victim.
“One day you’ll understand. I can wait.” Jonah stood and walked out of the cage. He shut the door and clipped the lock. “Tomorrow night is the first full moon. Someone will be back to unchain you so you can shift.”
“We’re at the Estate?”
He nodded. Then turned and disappeared.
***
I fell asleep shortly after Jonah left. The drugs had worn off, but the hang over crept in and I needed to sleep it off. It was impossible to tell the time, so when I awoke, I didn’t bother trying to figure it out. My stomach grumbled with hunger, but my pride kept me from calling out for something to eat. They were locking me up like a prisoner for going after my attacker. I knew that was what they were pissed about, but not a single part of me regretted it. If I had to go back in time, I would have done it all over again, except I wouldn’t have gotten caught.
I was playing with the shoelace of my boots and singing “Bad Habit” by The Kooks—badly might I add—when someone flipped the light switch on and revealed a staircase, proving that I was in fact, in a basement.
Blu’s curvy frame came into view as she carried a tray with food and if my muzzle was any good, it smell like honey-glazed ham. My tummy grumbled again. I patted my belly in comfort, and I attempted to stand. My legs were still wobbly, and my arms felt heavy from the chains. I made my way to the front of the cage and hung my arms through the bars, the chains rattling against the metal.
“Is it visiting hours already?” I joked as I pretended to check my watch.
“Oh, Kenzie,” Blu cried. “I’m so sorry!”
I waved her off. “What do you have to be sorry for? This isn’t your fault.”
“I know. I just wish there was something I could do.”
“Well you could feed me…” I shrugged as I zeroed in on the tray of food.
‘Oh! Of course!” she jolted and started to pass me each item through the bars. A nice meaty foot-long sandwich, a bag of potato chips, an apple, and two bottles of water. I wasted no time in plopping down on the ground and tearing it apart. My wolf was cranky and starved. We weren’t used to this kind of diet: the “no eating” kind.
“The girls have started contacting other Lunas. They’re many who are interested in following the Freedom Princess,” Blu whispered as she popped a squat in front of me.
“Freedom Princess?” I garbled with a full mouth.
“Yes. That’s what they’re calling you. Many are excited after hearing what you did to Logan. He hurt many Lunas during his reign.”
I nodded. “They’re still others out there like him. He isn’t the last.”
“True,” Blu said, “but it’s a start.”
I smiled. “Are you finally joining the Luna Revolution?”
She rolled her eyes. “Of course, Kenz. I’m still scared, but I’ll be by your side one hundred percent.”
“Cool,” I said as I took a hearty bite of the apple. “So…what has you so scarred that you’re hesitant to go against The Summit?”
She exhaled and looked behind her to the staircase—making sure no one was coming down.
“Next month will be six years since I ran away from the Pack,” she started. “I was the Luna in charge of going out to buy groceries for the kitchen. During my many trips outside the warehouse, I would always stop by Starbucks and have one of those caramel frappuccinos. You know what I’m talking about, with the whip cream?”
I laughed. “Yes, I know what they are.”
“Okay, so when I checked out at the grocery store, I would ask for five dollars cash back and then stop by the coffee shop on the way back to the warehouse.”
“You sneaky girl. That’s genius.”
She gave a sad laugh. “Yeah. They never checked my receipts so I was able to get away with it. Whenever I stopped at the coffee shop, there was this human barista who would always take her break when I came in and we would sit and talk. Her name was Miranda. She was this fiery, passionate Hispanic girl with long curly hair and almond shaped eyes that closed anytime she laughed. And her laugh…gosh Kenzie, her laugh was beautiful. Whimsical, sincere, and contagious.”
I stopped eating as I watched Blu’s eyes twinkle in the dim light of the basement. They glassed over with unshed tears, and the sm
ile that stretched over her face made my heart hurt.
“You loved her,” I stated.
She nodded as a single tear fell down her cheek. “But we’re not allowed to mate with humans, much less ones of the same sex.”
“What?” I gasped. I figured falling in love with a human was a no-no, but the same-sex? I don’t know why I was taken aback, their rules were ancient, this shouldn’t have surprised me.
“I didn’t tell her about me—what I was. I made it sound like I was part of a cult. I started to go on more errands and sneak out in the middle of the night to meet her. After months of our secret meetings, she couldn’t handle it any longer. She wanted more from our relationship and I couldn’t give her what she wanted unless I left the Pack. So that’s what I did.”
“Blu,” I whispered as I reached for her clenched hands and held on.
“It didn’t take long for them to find me. I was stupid and sloppy. And overall just a naïve girl who didn’t know much about the world. In a few weeks, the Pack tracked me down and brought me back. After having a small taste of freedom, I no longer wanted to be a Luna. I refused to work and do as I was told. And when I told them I was a lesbian,” she whistled, “that started a whole shit storm.”
“Well I’ll be damned, did I hear you curse, Blu?” I giggled.
“Oh hush, you aren’t the only one who has a potty mouth,” she rolled her eyes.
“What did they do?” I asked, redirecting the conversation.
She gulped. “I was sent to the European Summit for reeducation. I don’t want to talk about what happened, Kenz, I’ve tried to block it out.”
“You don’t have to tell me. I understand,” I squeezed her hand. “What about Miranda? Did you ever see her again?”
Blu shook her head. “I’m no longer allowed to leave the warehouse unless it’s during a full moon.”
“Are you fuckin’ serious?”
“It’s okay, Kenz,” she said and my eyes widened. “I mean it’s not okay, but it is,” she corrected. “I’ve spoken to Bash on many occasions and he’s been trying to get my privileges back from The Summit. It just takes a while. And no one wants to mate with me after that whole incident, so I’m sort of stuck.”
CAGED (Mackenzie Grey #2) Page 20
