Chapter 19: Chapter Nineteen

My ceremonial attire was not the best for a rescue mission. More specifically, the lack of footwear was a problem. The dress, though flimsy and itchy, was manageable.

If I wanted to cross the state in order to save Ben, I was going to need a decent pair of sneakers.

Thankfully, I wasn’t the only one who noticed.

“Wait here,” Eve instructed, “I’ll slip back into your house and grab you something better to wear.” Without waiting for approval, Eve took off, disappearing into a side window.

Grant and I huddled together, crouched behind my neighbor’s fence as we waited for Eve to return.

He didn’t say anything, but I could feel his eyes on me, roaming my body and taking in my new features. Most notably, the arrow-shaped scar above my left breast.

“No more training wheels,” I whispered, casting him a smile from the side of my mouth. I was testing out the waters, baiting him to see if he’d react to the inside joke. He didn’t.

Guilt and shame rolled through me, leaving a bitter taste in my mouth. I didn’t want to feel that way so close to my ceremony. I felt powerful and new—I didn’t have room for negative emotions.

“I have to warn you about where we’re going,” Grant rumbled. “This pack in Astoria—they have a…history.”

I tried to shake off my nerves. “What sort of history?”

“The pack has two alphas at the moment, which alone would make it prone to conflict,” Grant explained, “but this pack has a darker past.

“The alpha females are known in my world as Black Lunas, powerful she-wolves with…otherworldly abilities. Stories of them are told to our young, usually to scare them into behaving.”

Yesterday I might have felt a tremor of fear, today I was charged with fire.

“Do you think they’ll hurt Ben?” I asked.

Grant shrugged. “I don’t think so. That sort of thing is frowned upon typically. But the alphas are bound by law to return a fugitive to the Royals. They’ll have no choice but to report Ben’s capture.”

I shivered. “So we hope to catch Cerberus before they get there?”

Grant didn’t answer.

Eve returned with my clothes and shoes and ushered me behind the neighbor’s garden shed. For a long moment I wasn’t sure if I had the nerve to change out in the open.

I shivered every time I imagined Mr. and Mrs. Walton coming out to their backyard and seeing me less than decent.

After a pause and a rather horrifying daydream, I tugged off my mother’s ceremonial dress and grabbed the clothes Eve had selected for me. Now, I wasn’t sure where exactly Eve had found the combo she chose.

She had chosen a midriff-bearing shirt I was pretty sure belonged to my aunt. The shirt was black and just touched my belly button. The chest was exposed save for the string that laced up the front.

The pants weren’t much better. They were my fault. I didn’t own a large selection of pants as I mostly wore skirts, so Eve had grabbed a pair that I had been hanging on to for years.

Low-rise acid-washed skinny jeans that were cut below my hip bones and were known to expose my backside if I bent over without a belt.

The holes ripped at the knees were less of a fashion statement and more a sign of severe overuse.

My cheeks flamed as I looked down at myself. I eyed my house, tempted to sacrifice precious time in favor of correcting this fashion mistake.

The only part of the outfit I didn’t mind was the black lace-up boots Eve had selected. They were great for running through trees but not great for the summer’s heat.

I removed my aunt’s anklet before pulling the boots on and fastened it around my wrist, pushing the band up my arm so it wouldn’t be so loose.

I grabbed the dress in my hand and emerged from the shed, keeping my eyes away from Grant’s face.

I cleared my throat as I neared, resisting the urge to tug my shirt down. “Just give me a minute, I’m going to leave the dress near my house.” I excused myself and hurried toward my house.

The witches were still in the backyard, some gossiping maliciously about my post-ceremony choice and the others partying regardless of my departure.

I hurried back to Eve and Grant who, thankfully, didn’t comment on my outfit. We started moving through the town. Eve led us to her home, leaving Grant and I to take up the rear.

We walked next to each other. Every once in a while our shoulders would bump, and we would jump apart.

“Wait here,” Eve instructed. She disappeared again, this time running up to her apartment. She lived in a quaint area of the town, close to the southern woods.

She returned with a pair of keys and led us to the back of the apartment building where a small parking lot stood.

She waved us over to a Volvo, and we jumped in, Grant taking the backseat while I sat up front with Eve.

It took her a few tries to get the engine going, but soon the car rumbled to life, igniting nerves in my stomach.

Eve frowned, looking for the button to roll down the windows. “Where…” she mumbled to herself. When she found the button, she grinned and didn’t hesitate to let the night’s air in.

“This is your car, right?” I asked hesitantly.

Eve shrugged. “Yes. Kind of. Not really. No.”

“Who is this girl?” Grant asked, leaning toward me.

Eve shot us both a look. “Oh please, I borrow cars all the time.”

“Great,” Grant muttered.

I waved her on, pushing aside my personal thoughts on auto theft for the night. We had to get Ben. We had to beat Cerberus to the pack in Astoria.

Eve sensed my urgency and broke the speed limit, shooting us outside the town limits of Roseburg and onto a major highway.

The ride was mostly silent on account of me. The longer we drove, the worse I began to feel, and without me to facilitate the conversation, Grant and Eve lapsed into silence.

I rested my forehead against the window, closing my eyes as a headache sparked at the base of my skull.

“Morda?”

I jerked awake, suddenly aware that I had fallen asleep. My door was open, and Grant was leaning in the doorway, one arm resting above his head.

His pale eyes were watching me closely, reading my face as I woke up.

“Yes?”

“Are you all right?” he asked, trying to stamp the worry from his voice. He didn’t want to make it obvious how much he cared. Not after our last conversation.

I nodded and sat up in my seat, blinking again and looking around for some sort of sign to mark where we were. There wasn’t one.

Eve had vacated the driver’s seat, and the car itself was parked on a side road. Thick forest was on either side of the two-lane dirt road, and there were no other cars passing.

“We’re as close as we can get by car,” Grant said, “unless we want to walk in their front door.”

“And why wouldn’t we?” I challenged.

It seemed a lot safer to ring a doorbell than it was to sneak up on a pack of werewolves. Especially if Grant was right about the Black Lunas and extra alphas hanging around.

“Because if we’re too late, then Cerberus will be in their front hall, and we’d rather avoid them.” Grant paused. “Especially since I have sort of left their pack.”

I raised an eyebrow in surprise. “You left?” The moment I asked I knew I was foolish for doing so. It was obvious he had left.

If he had tried to defend Ben, and they had seen through it, then they knew he was no longer working with them. It was far less likely he left and more likely he was no longer wanted.

Grant nodded. “The hunt wasn’t simple anymore.”

“We should get on our way,” Eve said.

“I can make the trees hide the car while we’re gone. I have a feeling that the longer we’re away, the more restless the witches will become, and trust me, we don’t want a Clan versus Pack showdown.”

I nodded and hopped out of the car, Grant reaching out to steady me when I swayed. His fingers lingered on my hand, touching the labradorite ring my aunt had placed there.

His eyes traveled to the anklet pushed up around my arm, to the heavy carnelian necklace and the elaborate headband I should have removed earlier.

“Your ceremony,” he asked, “did everything go all right?”

I felt my throat close. ~High Matron. ~“I got a little more than expected.”

“We should talk about—”

I nodded but held up my hand. “Not now.”

He nodded in agreement and crossed the road. I followed, close on his heels as Eve stayed behind and worked her magic.

When the car had been concealed, Eve caught up to us and led the way, using her powers to clear branches out of our path. Say what you wanted about tree magic, but it was extremely useful in a forest.

When we were close to the territory, Grant slowed our pace and traded places with Eve, using his sense to take as close to the border as we could without trespassing.

When Grant was satisfied with our location, he motioned for us all to sit, so we did.

An hour passed and nothing happened. The moon was still hanging above us, as comforting as it was unsettling.

I used to love watching the moon when I was a kid. It didn’t matter how far we drove, it always followed.

“Why can’t we just walk in there?” Eve asked.

She was lying flat on her back, one hand twisting in the air as she manipulated the branches far above us. She sat up, her caramel hair pooling around her shoulders.

“Packs are very sensitive about territory lines,” Grant explained for the umpteenth time. His voice was growing taut as his patience grew thinner.

Eve rolled her eyes and pushed herself to her feet. “I’m very sensitive about wasting my time.” She took a few steps forward, ignoring Grant’s warning as she crossed some invisible line.

Immediately, wolves stalked out of the trees, hackles raised and teeth bared. Growls rumbled all around us, forcing Grant and me to our feet.

I was breathing hard, my heart racing as I looked from Grant to the wolves, trying to assess how much trouble we were in.

I looked to the wolves and almost heard their thoughts. ~Intruders.~

I held my hands up. “We were waiting here for an escort!” I explained hastily. “We were waiting for one of your…” I trailed off as I forgot the terminology Grant had used earlier.

He picked up where I left off. “We were waiting for one of your lookouts or enforcers. We figured someone would be patrolling this wing. We wish to speak to Alpha Evers.”

Immediately, one of the wolves stepped out, isolating itself from the others. The wolf was huge. Its shoulders were wide and stocky, its hind legs roped with muscle, its head large and eyes narrowed.

The wolf’s fur was a dark brown, lightening at the tips and fading to a sandy brown at his paws. Like he was wearing socks.

The wolf communicated one word to me. ~Distrust.~

I blinked as the word came to me. Either I was going insane or I had inherited more than fire magic during my Power Ceremony.

“Alpha?” Grant asked, unsure.

The wolf snapped his teeth and shook his head sharply. So this wasn’t Alpha Evers. I shivered at the thought. How much bigger could werewolves get?

The other wolves whined lowly and swished their tails, unsure how to proceed and waiting for the wolf with socks to give instructions.

The massive, sock-wearing wolf seemed to inspect as he paced, dark-blue eyes assessing us.

Finally, he motioned his massive head toward Grant and invited us onto the property line. I let loose a long breath and moved closer to Grant. He didn’t hesitate as he grabbed my hand.

“Who is that?” I whispered, knowing the wolf could hear me but needing the answer.

Grant shook his head. “I’m not familiar with this pack enough to know. I’ve only ever met one of its members… the peacemaker, J—”

We walked through the forest for a solid fifteen minutes. Eve kept her magic to herself, not wanting to unsettle the wolves.

From how tightly some of them were wound, I would say that she made the right choice.

I gripped Grant’s hand tightly. He pulled me along, his shoulder sliding just in front of mine. I was thankful for his support.

Whatever the ceremony had done to me, I was certainly beginning to feel the effects of it.

Soon, the trees began to thin, and the back of a house could be seen. The home was massive, with multiple stories and sprawling square footage. The house could have easily held a hundred people.

Two wolves stayed with us at the edge of the property as the other wolves left, including Socks. Grant explained that they were most likely going to shift and change.

I switched from foot to foot, wondering how the alphas would react to two witches and a White Wolf arriving unannounced in the middle of the night.

The sky was starting to lighten as a large man approached us. I assumed the man was the wolf with the socks. He was tall with dark hair that went lighter around the edges.

His face was harsh, all angles and no curve. Crooked nose, stubble, and dark-blue eyes that were anything but welcoming. He wasn’t an attractive man, he was only intimidating to me.

“What do you want?” he asked as he neared us, arms crossed across his broad chest.

Grant was calm. “To speak to Alpha Evers.”

“Which one?” the man demanded, staring Grant down.

Grant quirked a smile. “Whichever one is available.” Silence hung in the air, answering for the man. Neither alpha would see us.

“I’m a White Wolf,” Grant tried. “I have business to discuss with this pack.”

The man didn’t seem to particularly care about Grant’s reveal. The thought chilled me. Either this man didn’t understand Grant’s position or he thought himself to be a better fighter.

I had a feeling from the scars along his neck and arms that it was the latter.

“No.”

“No?” Grant echoed, for the first time sounding unsettled.

“No.”

I squeezed Grant’s hand. Fury simmered just under his skin. “You can’t refuse my request to speak to an alpha,” Grant spat, “it’s against our laws.”

The man shrugged. “I don’t particularly care about—”

“Axel,” a man’s voice called. I turned to watch him approach. This man wasn’t nearly as tall or as built as Axel, but he had an air of power about him.

Though his blond curls and brown eyes didn’t mark him as a threat, I could tell by the way he walked that he held influence.

“Jude,” Grant greeted, his voice still tight.

The man—Jude—balked in surprise. “Grant,” he said, “I didn’t expect—”

“Your alphas,” Grant interrupted, “are they available to speak to us?”

“Logan is in a meeting,” Jude answered, eyes finally leaving Grant to look over me and Eve. Whatever he thought of us, he didn’t pass comment. “I can see if Ebony is—”

“No,” Axel repeated, “they can wait for Alpha Evers.”

“I am Alpha Evers,” a light voice called out, shutting down any argument. From behind Axel emerged a tiny woman with a mass of curls, all blond save for one dark streak in her bangs.

She had a dark, spindly tattoo crawling up her arm. Thorns and roses, from what I could make out, sprawled down her arm until the vines twisted into the open jaws of a wolf at her wrist.

“How can I help you?”

Grant didn’t seem surprised by this female alpha, but he did seem wary of her. His eyes lingered on her tattoo long enough to tell me that it meant something.

“I’m a White Wolf,” Grant said. “I’m here to inquire after the Cerberus pack.”

Ebony lifted a delicate eyebrow. “A White Wolf?” she repeated, looking to Jude. “Do you know him?”

Jude nodded. “He was with Livy for a time. Left a few months ago, I believe.”

Ebony seemed interested. “What do you want to know about Cerberus?”

“I know they’re here,” Grant said, “or on their way.”

Axel growled. “And why would they be coming here?”

“They’ve caught a large bounty and will be asking you to contact the Royals.”

Ebony frowned. In that moment, I could see past her bravado. She might be an alpha, but she was new to this game. Clearly, she had never encountered this particular problem.

“And why are you getting involved, White Wolf?”

“I have…personal stakes in the matter.”

Ebony turned her gaze to Eve and me. “And you are?”

“Not important,” Grant said politely but with authority.

Ebony smiled. “The unimportant are always the most interesting.” She drew in a long breath and then sighed.

“Alpha Olivia Emmerson is a friend to this pack. I don’t know why you left the White Wolves, but I am afraid to trust you because of it.”

Grant pressed his lips into a firm line. I knew his thoughts on the Alpha of the White Wolves—Livy.

I knew he didn’t think her fit to lead the pack, knew he thought she had closer ties to her pack of origin.

I tore my eyes away from Ebony only to catch Axel staring at me, his eyes darting from the crystals I wore to the mark on my chest, which was visible due to Eve’s poor fashion choice.

The longer he looked, the more unsettled I became, the more he seemed to grow upset.

Ebony noticed Axel’s distraction and turned to look at me once more. “Your name?” she prompted.

Axel growled. “She’s a fanatic.”

I bristled and then went cold.

Axel took a lumbering step toward me, forcing Grant into a deep crouch and provoking a growl to rip itself from his throat. Grant was shaking with tension, ready to shift if Axel came any closer.

“She’s his mate,” Jude said, “I think you should take a step back, Axel.”

Axel still had his teeth bared. “I know the markings of cult fanatics. I know what these people are like.”

He looked to the mark on my chest and then spat on the ground. It was as though the very sight of me made his mouth bitter.

I followed his gaze, cringing when I saw the mark. It was still swollen and angry-looking. Admittedly, it did look like it had been carved into my chest with a rusty pocketknife.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Grant growled.

Axel’s glare was chilling. “I know more than you think.”

Ebony shook off her shock at the altercation and stepped between the men. She laid her hand to Axel’s chest, and he relaxed, tipping me off to the fact that they were most likely mates. Grant straightened as well, Ebony’s presence sobering him up.

Ebony approached slowly, looking me up and down. She looked from my necklace to the marking to the red smudges still left on my forehead and cringed.

Whatever past they had with ceremonial rituals, it wasn’t as pleasant as mine.

“Do you worship the Black Luna?” she asked, her voice leaden as she did.

“Uh, no.”

Ebony smiled. “Great.” She clapped her hands together and sent a glare to her mate. “We’re all good, then. As long as you don’t worship me, you can worship anything you want.”

My suspicions were confirmed then. Ebony was a Black Luna. I looked her up and down once more and wondered, perhaps, if she were ~the~ Black Luna.

“And you?” Axel spat toward Eve.

Eve smiled brightly. “Oh, I’m just a tree witch.”

Silence for a long moment and then Ebony smiled with delight. “Awesome stuff.”

Axel said nothing, just stared.

Jude grimaced. “I feel as though I should have facilitated this a little better.”

“Well,” Ebony said, “I’ll show you inside. You’ll have to meet with my father in the morning. He has more experience than me in this particular field. Until then, I’ll get you set up in a guest room.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but Grant tugged on my hand as a warning to stay silent.

We began walking, trailing after Ebony, Jude, and Axel. The mated pair argued in curt whispers while Jude politely tried to appear as though he wasn’t eavesdropping.

I sent Grant a long look. I couldn’t stay here. Any longer than a few hours and my mother would burn down half of Oregon looking for me. I was sure of it.

The look he sent me back told me everything I needed to know. We didn’t have another option. We couldn’t burst into the house screaming for Alpha Evers. We’d only cause more trouble.

Eve was shown to a room first. She didn’t hesitate at all as she slipped inside, happy for a bed and a bathroom.

Ebony smiled as she stopped in front of the next room, motioning for us both to enter. I looked to Grant and began to protest.

Ebony grinned. “Newly mated?” She elbowed Axel in the ribs, who only grunted in return.

Grant grimaced. “Is it that obvious?”

Ebony laughed. “Don’t worry, the Goddess doesn’t make it easy for anyone.”

Faced with no other option, Grant and I entered the small room. Besides a small dresser, there was only a bed in the room. There wasn’t even enough room for one of us to camp on the floor.

I sat on the edge of the bed and faced the mirror over the dresser, going to work on my hair.

The flowers were still wound into the strands, but instead of looking as though they had gently fallen onto my curls, they appeared as though they had gotten snagged while I ran wild through the woods.

I dropped the flowers onto the floor and sighed as I combed through my hair, trying my best to reach the back. Grant appeared behind me and began removing petals without a word.

He worked quickly and efficiently, his fingers brushing along the base of my neck and line of my shoulders every so often. I tried my best not to shiver.

When my hair was free from flowers, I unclasped all of my jewelry, resting the stones gently on the dresser in front of me.

I hesitated at the carnelian pendant, wondering if it was best to keep the stone close.

“Best thing about werewolves,” Grant said, moving toward the dresser, “there are always spare clothes lying around.”

He opened the drawer and pulled out a T-shirt, which he threw to me before digging around for clothes of his own to wear.

Undressing was an awkward game of turning around and staring at walls.

There was nothing more awkward than listening to someone undress and resisting the urge to turn around and peek and feeling that no matter how much the other person assured you they weren’t, they were looking.

We faced each other when we were both dressed and didn’t say anything. Grant took a step toward the bed and in doing so took a step toward me.

He reached his hand up slowly and then dragged his thumb along my forehead. It came away slightly red.

Blushing, I took the bottom of my shirt and dragged it along my face, removing all the red powder my mother had smeared there.

He smiled as he watched me. A rare gesture that made my stomach flip. And then suddenly the smile was gone, like clouds covering up the sun and sapping away the light.

He had remembered Ben, remembered he was hurt, remembered that he resented me.

Grant climbed onto the far side of the bed and rolled to his side, allowing me a view of his broad back. I slipped in beside him, the tension of the silence making my head hurt more.

Despite the tension, the horizontal angle immediately tempted my tired body into sleep.

I was trapped in a nightmare.

~I was standing in a large room. At one end was a platform with multiple tall chairs lined up to face the open floor. The room was dark and ornate, ancient and powerful.~

It had no windows; the only light provided came from heavy candelabras and torches that lined the walls.

I was standing on the platform before a chair in the middle of the line. To my left was a pale woman with lips painted with blood and eyes darker than a sky without stars.

She smiled at me, revealing the tips of two white fangs.

To my right was a strange-looking man, his eyes inverted so that his pupils were pure white and the rest of his eyes were black. He, too, smiled at me.

I looked down at myself. Adorned in gems and crystals, heavy cuffs at my wrists, a dress of pure white silk.

My hair was in a long braid over my shoulder, strands of silver string had been twined in with my hair.

“High Matron,” someone called.

I looked up and watched as two men pulled on a rope that led into darkness. I waved a hand, and the men heaved, pulling hard on the rope. It quivered and shook, not giving in easily.

I took a step forward, intrigued as I watched. The men heaved again, veins at their necks straining as they attempted to yank the beast from the shadows.

There was a loud whine, and then the men were pulling the rope with ease. At the end was a wolf, bound tightly and lying on its side.

The wolf left a streak of blood on the floor as it was dragged forward. It made no noise, no sound. The men pulled the beast forward until it was lying at my feet.

I looked down at my hands, finding a long dagger in one of them.

The wolf squirmed as I approached it. Tawny eyes met mine and begged for mercy.

I crouched in front of the wolf and wound my fingers in the thick fur at the base of its neck.

The wolf whined as I yanked its head back, exposing its throat. I didn’t hesitate as I drew a line across its throat.

Blood spurted over the marble floor, leaking onto the image of the Goddess that had been carved into the stone.

I smiled as her features were obstructed, as blood covered her face and her hair and her body.

“For you,” I whispered, “always for you.”

I stood, blood dripping down my hand and along the blade of the dagger before dropping to the floor. I turned slowly and returned to my chair.

Sitting proud before Ben’s corpse, watching his blood cover the goddess and grinning in triumph.