"Crystal?"
At first I was paralysed for a second.
Seeing him.
Seeing his face, hearing his voice.
It felt like a dream.
A dream come true.
"Tristan." I breathed out as I sprinted over to him.
He caught me right as I jumped into his hands. I opened my eyes alarmed.
His arms were clearly around me but I couldn't feel anything.
I pulled back and stared around at the black walls around us.
It sent shock waves through me reminding me of what this was.
"Mind spaces are crappy like that." Tristan explained when he saw my reaction.
"I - I can't feel you." I spoke, my voice cracked as I tried to hold his hand but once again, the contact was made but otherwise... nothing.
Tristan rubbed his thumb over my hand.
"Physically, no. Mentally, yes. Otherwise we wouldn't be here." He looked at me as if he couldn't believe I was here.
Heck, I couldn't believe I was here.
"I should have known you would find a way to reach me." He spoke with a proud smile.
My heart was heavy and I was overwhelmed with emotions.
I was relieved that I had finally succeeded. This proved that he wasn't dead.
But was he on the brink of it?
He looked horrible. His eyes were sunken, his skin looked grey. He looked... weak.
A far comparison to the strong Tristan I was used to.
"Believe it or not, it was a team effort."
Tristan rose his brows at me.
"It's a long story, Josh, Mikey and I... we uhm formed like a mind link and bonded and now... I'm here."
Tristan shook his head like he didn't understand any of this.
"Well." He let out a humourless laugh. "It took this long but you finally followed that rule."
"Rule?" I asked.
"Crystal needs to try to get along with my brothers." He reminded me.
I frowned.
The conditions we had come up with.
It all seemed like a lifetime ago when we sat on that porch swing. Things were so different to what they were now.
"Tristan, where are you? We're gonna save you." I spoke as I moved closer and took his hands in mine holding them to my chest.
There was no feeling behind the action but with the way he looked at me, you'd think I had offered him all the warmth in the world.
"How are my brothers?"
I shook my head in confusion. "Mikey and Joshua are okay. But we want - we need to know where you are Tristan."
Tristan sighed.
He looked around the darkness that surrounded us.
"My mind isn't as strong as it should be. Otherwise, I promise you, we would be having this 'meeting' in a better setting." He gave me a small smile.
I frowned and walked towards him.
Didn't he know just seeing him was enough for me.
"Tell me where you are Tristan. We'll come get you."
Tristan looked at me. He placed a hand on my cheek and smiled.
It hurt so much that I couldn't feel him.
"I don't know, Crystal. And I've had a lot of time to think, I don't know if sending people in to retrieve me is a good idea. Your focus right now should be on taking down Ornyx. That's where the Union's efforts should be going. Not on a rescue mission."
I stared at Tristan. At first I just shook my head then I stood back, his hand dropping.
"Excuse me?"
"Crys-"
"Are you really asking me to give up on you?"
He sighed. "This is not about me, it's bigger than me."
"It is about you!" I yelled.
"Don't be upset." Tristan spoke, his voice surprisingly calm.
"You're not gonna start this martyr nonsense with me Tristan. Not now. Not when everyone needs you back, not when I need you back." I looked at him desperately, hoping he would see that I wasn't playing one bit about this.
The place we were in suddenly felt shakey.
I looked around frantically.
"What's going on?"
Tristan sighed. "The mindlink is breaking."
"Wait, what?" I asked, my voice panicky.
Tristan frowned as he looked around as well. "Mind links aren't easy to keep up at long distances. The fact that we've carried on this long is probably because you, Josh and Mikey are doing this together."
I gripped Tristan. "I don't want to go. I don't want to leave you."
Tristan frowned. He placed his hand on my cheek.
"Who's the acting alpha?" He asked.
"Bridget." I responded.
Tristan looked shocked. "Bridge?"
It didn't occur to me that the last time he saw her, she had been unconscious.
Tristan shook himself out of it.
"Tell her to focus on taking Ornyx down." He spoke quickly as everything became even more shakey. "Tell her she needs to cut off the head and everything will follow. Tell her to follow my father's plan. Not my mother's."
"Tristan," I spoke desperately. "I don't even know where you are or if you're okay. I mean - have they hurt you?"
I didn't know if the Tristan I was seeing was the real him or just a subconscious form he had conjured up.
I couldn't tell if he was bloody and beaten up or if he had any scars.
"Crystal, I need you to focus." He demanded, his 'alpha voice' coming out. "This is important."
I felt my eyes water. I knew that. I knew people's lives were on the line.
And I was hearing Tristan for the first time in a long time and looking past my selfish thoughts for once.
I wanted to save him so badly. But he wanted to save everyone else.
And I couldn't be so blind by my love for him that I didn't see the logic behind his words.
"I'll tell Bridget." I spoke hurriedly. "But Tristan -"
Slowly, everything around us started disappearing.
I looked at him as he started to fade away too.
"I'm not giving up on you." I whispered - and then, he was gone.
I opened her eyes. I was on the floor in Tristan's room.
I heard a groan and turned to see Mikey clutching his head.
"Does anyone else feel like they've been hit across the head with a frying pan?"
I looked at Josh and saw that he was also wincing in pain as he sat up.
They both looked the way I felt. My head was killing me. It felt like a throbbing and aching pain was consuming me.
"It's the bond." Joshua spoke. "It took a lot out of us." He explained.
"But why didn't anything happen?" Mikey asked, confused.
Joshua looked at the ground just as perplexed.
It hurt for me to think.
But my hand went to my cheek.
"Something did." I spoke.
Both brothers looked up at me.
"What?" Joshua asked.
I knew that her conversation with Tristan had felt more like a dream than anything else. But i knew for a fact it hadn't been one. It had all been real.
I looked at Mikey and Josh.
"I saw him, I spoke to him. It worked."
Mikey looked shocked. Joshua looked deep in thought.
"A-are you sure?" He asked.
"Certain." I nodded firmly.
This isn't something I would ever make up.
Joshua got to his feet, a hand on his head.
"She must have been the only one he let in." He spoke.
He looked at me. I was sure he looked offended even though he tried hard not to show it.
"What did he say?" He asked gruffly.
I thought back to my conversation with Tristan.
"He said..." To not make him a priority. To not try to save him. How was I supposed to tell his brothers that. "H-he uhm, he told me I have to get a message to Bridget."
"What message?" Mike asked.
I swallowed before pushing myself to my feet.
"I - uhm, I'll tell you on the way, come on!"
Tristan
"What did you just do?"
When I came to I found Meggy staring right at me. The rock she kept scraping the ground with gripped in her hand.
My hand found my head and I groaned slightly.
I knew my mental state was probably on its way to deteriorating but I'm quite sure Crystal just formed a mind link with me.
"Tristan!" Meggy hissed at me.
"Could you not yell for a second?" I groaned agin as I leaned my head back.
She narrowed her eyes at me. "I'm right, aren't I? You just formed a mind link." She spoke impatiently.
I shut my eyes as I tried to think of Crystal. It might have just been in my mind but I still wanted the memory of her to linger forever.
I heard footsteps. My eyes opened.
I was expecting Roman again but this time it was Theresa. Two guards flanked her.
She walked right up to me, only sparing a glance at Meggy who looked away from her and at the ground.
Theresa cocked her head to the side as she studied me.
"Ready to surrender, alpha?" She asked.
I looked up at her, hoping she could see the pure hatred in my eyes.
How someone like her had given birth to someone like Crystal was beyond me.
I spat at her feet.
It narrowly reached her shoe but she didn't flinch.
She simply placed a hand on her hip.
"Very well then." She stepped back and gestured to the guards.
They both advanced on me.
I tensed up and clenched the chains around my hands.
The first one stopped right in front on me
I clenched my jaw.
He was wearing the Van Cliffe uniform and had a mask on.
Weird Van Cliffe soldiers called, 'the punisher's' dressed like this. They were usually responsible for torturing whoever Ornyx wanted to feel pain.
Just hearing about them had caused me numerous nightmares when I was younger.
So now looking up at one in the flesh, I wondered what Ornyx had in store for me.
For some reason I knew he wouldn't kill me.
Not this easily. Not this soon.
Urgh!
The sensation of the first guards fist hitting me in the jaw sent my head slamming into the stone wall behind me.
I barely had time to recover before the other stepped up and kicked me hard in the stomach.
I felt like all the air had been knocked out of me as I hunched over and coughed out.
I breathed heavily even though the slightest movement hurt like hell.
When I looked up, I was seeing double.
I saw Theresa crouch down in front of me.
"That's... that's all you got?" I spat out as I continued heaving.
She shook her head and smirked.
"Oh baby, this was just a warm up. We're gonna let Alpha Ornyx take care of the rest."
I felt like my ability to process and keep up was lagging when she mentioned Ornyx.
The minute it registered, I felt my chains being undone and I felt myself being hoisted up by either guard.
Having been chained to the ground for so long, I almost forgot what it felt like to walk and not to mention having nothing to eat the past few days I had no energy to really use my legs so for the most part, I was being dragged.
Theresa paused. She turned but not to look at me. She stared at Meggy.
Her hard look melted into a slightly soft one.
She sucked in a deep breath.
"If you don't reconsider your actions and prepare an apology for Ornyx, you're next."
I couldn't see Meggy but I definitely heard the spite in her voice.
"Don't act like you care now. You might have Roman fooled but the rest of us know what a crap 'mother' you were. Nathan's dead because of you and this stupid regime you follow!"
Theresa stood stiff for a few seconds.
She then walked towards Meggy. This time I forced myself to turn my head despite the pain.
She stopped in front of her and crouched down.
I don't know what I had been expecting but the defeating sound that followed the slap Theresa gave Meggy was not it.
I flinched subconsciously.
Meggy remained with her head turned for a few seconds.
Theresa grabbed her by the side of her face and forced her to turn and look her in the eyes.
"Don't you ever say I did nothing for you, you ungrateful child." She spoke in a low and threatening voice.
She then stood up straight and straightened the vest she wore before turning and walking away.
I heard the click of her boots as she walked ahead of us.
I looked away from Meggy right before I thought I saw a tear slip out of her eye as the guards dragged me after her.
"Don't mind our security measures, alpha." Theresa started as she continued leading the way. "They might be simple but they're way more effective than yours."
My confirmations were right about us being in a cave.
I just hadn't been expecting it to be this long.
It felt like we had been walking for at least five minutes, with a bunch of elaborate twists and turns before we got to what looked like an entrance.
A large stone rock which was rolled away the minute Theresa got close enough.
I squinted immediately as a huge gush of sunlight hit me in the face.
When my eyes adjusted, I saw activity.
Lots of it.
People all around, tents, firewood, children...
A whole civilisation we thought we separated.
People stopped what they were doing immediately to watch as we passed.
That's when the chants started.
The 'boos' were the loud.
The insults even louder but the death wishes, those were deafening.
I saw what looked like normal werewolves on the surface. Give or take some things we didn't consider normal in Woodfell.
You see, Ornyx and the Shadow pack were people set in the old ways.
So it showed in the simple way they dressed - made it easier to shift.
As well as their way of life.
They believed in going by their primal urges. They still hunted in the wild and built fires.
They knew about civilisation and the modern way of doing things, sure, they just preferred the ways of their forefathers.
The ways that - according to them - made them 'stronger'.
I felt the first impact on my forehead and flinched.
A throbbing pain remained and I knew it must have been a rock that had hit me.
Next was something wet on my leg.
And from there, it escalated as more and more stuff got chucked my way.
Most of them were aimed at my face.
I felt blood seep down my forehead into my eyes.
The chanting got louder and I became aware that more and more people were following.
It suddenly occurred to me that I might be being dragged to my execution.
It wasn't surprising, I guess but I hadn't been expecting it so soon.
I thought about everyone back home but then I forced the thoughts away.
I didn't want my mind to go to anything negative.
I didn't want to know that I might have failed in the one thing my mother had been training me for, destroying Ornyx and keeping the pack safe. Keeping our family safe.
Suddenly silence fell upon us.
Nothing was hitting my body anymore and the guards had stopped.
I felt my breathing slightly ease up and I forced myself to lift my head up.
I saw a great oak tree before me.
Mounted up and carved into it was something no one would ever mistake - a throne.
And atop it, sat the one and only -
Ornyx Van Cliffe.
"What are you guys doing here?" Bridget asked as Mike, Joshua and I walked into Tristan's office at HQ.
"Sorry alpha," the secretary who had let us in spoke. "They said it was urgent."
Bridget sighed before getting to her feet wincing slightly. "It's okay Natalia. Leave us."
The woman nodded and retreated.
Bridget turned her eyes on us.
My eyes settled on something that wasn't too far from her desk - the wheel chair.
I couldn't help but stare. If she had finally accepted the use of the chair then things must be really bad.
"I told all three of you to stay at the manor." Bridget snapped as she made her way around the table, flinching In obvious pain all the while.
"Yeah well, we didn't listen. Shocker." Mike spoke as he walked up to her and pushed her chair behind her so that she could seat.
I'm sure, like me, he could tell how much energy she was using just to remain upright.
At first I thought Bridget wouldn't accept the aid. And it looked like she wouldn't for a few seconds too. But eventually she settled down.
Bridget's eyes fixed on me.
"Why do I feel like this is your doing?" She asked.
"It's all our doing." Mike spoke quickly as he sat on the desk in front of her.
"Trust us, Bridge, you're gonna wanna hear us out." Joshua spoke as he stepped forward.
Bridget sighed.
"I have eight of the most powerful alphas about to commence a meeting right here in a few minutes. This better be good."
"The alphas of the union are here?" Joshua asked sounding hopeful. "Why weren't we invited to the meeting?"
Bridget shifted in her seat. "You're not part of the war efforts. I already told you that, Joshua."
Joshua clenched his fists obviously not happy about the decision.
"Why not?" He argued. "We're as much of heirs to the throne. And T was way younger than both of us before he started taking responsibility in an actual war."
Bridget looked like she wanted to be angry but it looked to me like she didn't have the energy for even that.
"Joshua, I'm not having this discussion with you again. Now if you don't have anything helpful to tell me, I'm going to ask Raphael to escort you all to the manor and maybe this time, I'll throw in a lock and key, how about that?"
"Roman wasn't under lock and key, he has been training his whole life for this crap and your idea of protecting us is sheltering us?" Joshua yelled.
I flinched at his sharp voice.
Okay, Joshua Melrose was definitely spiralling.
Mikey got up and put his hands on Joshua's chest pushing him back.
"Okay, man, maybe you need a little time out - and some glucose - maybe you need a cookie or -"
Joshua pushed his brother away. "You know I'm right." He told Bridget looking her in the eye.
I frowned, suddenly regretting telling the twins about Tristan's message.
Joshua had been an impulsive mess before, don't get me wrong, but he was more than erratic now.
He was unstable.
For what felt like minutes, Joshua and Bridget just stared at each other.
Bridget then clenched her jaw.
"You might not like it, Joshua, but I'm your acting alpha. And I will not be disrespected." She spoke harshly.
I looked at Joshua who was still, breathing heavily.
"Leave my office."
"What?"
"Now!"
"But -"
"Now, Joshua."
The air grew tense. I had heard Tristan speak authoritatively before. This tone was much like that and something told me the last thing Joshua would want was for Bridget to repeat herself.
"Josh, just go." Mikey spoke softly.
I looked at Joshua.
He was tense, his fists still clenched.
"Fine." He spat before turning to storm out the door, slamming it on the way.
The minute he left, it felt like I could breathe again.
But it seemed I was the only relieved one.
Mikey looked at the closed door with a frown on his face while Bridget was silent, staring at it hard.
She then snapped her head to me.
"Whatever you have to say, say it now, I do not have time to be wasted." She spoke as she turned the wheel chair and started rolling herself towards the desk.
I opened my mouth at the same time as Mikey.
We looked at each other as if having a mental debate on who should talk.
Mikey just nodded at me.
I nodded back.
"We talked to him." I sputtered out.
Okay, maybe Mikey should have done the talking.
I cleared my throat and turned to Bridget.
"Tristan." I clarified. "We spoke to Tristan."
I saw Bridget freeze.
She then spun the chair around faster than I thought she was still capable of doing.
"What?"
Mikey stepped forward. "We contacted T." He repeated, his words obviously carrying more weight than mine because Bridget's face softened.
"What?" Her voice was doubtful now... hopeful, even? "H-how?"
"Mindlink." Mikey spoke. "It was the most brilliant idea that Crystal had. We really should have thought about it sooner."
Bridget looked like she was still trying to process everything.
She lifted her hand. "Wait, wait, wait. What do you mean you contacted him via mind link? How is that even possible?"
I let out a breath.
"I figured the reason I wasn't able to communicate with Tristan initially was because... our bond wasn't strong enough."
Admitting it to myself had been hard enough. Admitting it to Bridget was a whole other level of humiliation.
"So I figured maybe we needed to strengthen the bond." I explained.
"By putting together three people who are already connected to T in an intimate way." Mikey spoke. "His brothers and his mate. There was no reason for this not to work."
Bridget seemed dumbfounded by all this information. Like we had slapped her in the face with it all.
She then seemed to shake herself out of it.
"And? You spoke to him? What did he say?" She asked urgently.
Mikey and I shared a look.
I couldn't say it. I wouldn't.
"He said not to save him." Mikey spoke in a quiet voice.
Bridget didn't respond.
No, 'are you kidding me?'
No, 'are you sure that's what he said?'
She was just still.
So still she looked like a statue for a second with her pale skin, lifeless hair and dry lips.
When she moved I thought I would get more emotion.
Heck, I was hoping for it.
God knows Bridget wasn't my favourite person in this world but I had always imagined her fire and fearlessness.
So I don't know - I thought, she of all people would be the one person to stand against Tristan's instructions.
But no. She was silent for a while.
I saw her gulp.
Bridget - I would gladly die for my alpha - Thompson gulped.
As if she she could read my mind, she straightened.
"Okay, then."
"What?" I hadn't realised how loud I was until the words left my mouth.
She turned to me as if daring me to say something else.
Well, unluckily for her, I had the time today.
I stepped towards her.
"You're gonna listen to him?"
She blinked at me. "Are you expecting me not to listen to direct orders from our alpha?"
"Yes!" I yelled. "This is Tristan, of course his gonna tell us not to save him."
I know Joshua and I were far from seeing eye to eye but if he were still in here, he would have agreed 100%.
I looked at Bridget and could easily see that this could easily end with me getting kicked out of here like Joshua.
I bit hard on the inside of my cheek and wondered how Tristan would have handled this situation.
But then again, Tristan never really had to handle anything with Bridget. She always listened to him and respected him.
That was far from her regard for me.
I cleared my throat and stepped forward.
"I don't agree with you."
Bridget's head snapped up.
Her eyes fixed on me and narrowed. "Well that's too damn bad. I'm the alpha and I am choosing to respect Tristan's views. Now if that's it, I'll have you three escorted back to the manor."
She rolled herself to the table and picked up a file.
I looked at Mikey who seemed dejected.
He simply shrugged at me but his face was clearly crestfallen.
I could tell he had a lot on his chest too. But Joshua had already yelled enough for the both of them.
I clenched my fists hard and tried to muster up my courage before marching up to the desk.
Bridget slowly looked up at me.
I held my ground, fighting the urge to back off.
"You are the alpha." I paused. "But I'm the Luna. You get your say but I get mine too, don't I?"
Bridget hated me. That I knew all too well.
But the disgust on her face right now was unmatched.
"Now you want to be Luna?"
"Now I want to save the man who has always gone far and beyond for me." I didn't waver. Didn't show any uncertainty because there wasn't any.
"Look, Tristan once told me the elders were in charge of defining every Luna's role. Tristan and I were mates before he left. Meaning I'm officially the Luna. And I'm ready to have my duties put upon me."
Bridget just stared at me.
She placed her hands on the desk.
"You want to be Luna, huh?" She let out a scoff of a laugh. "Okay. Okay Crystal, be the freaking Luna. All I've been trying to do is protect you like Tristan would have wanted but go ahead, shove your face and title to a pack that hates you. All the freaking best with that."
I fought to keep my chin up.
Anything it takes, right?
"Uhm guys?" Mikey spoke up.
I turned around and saw him holding his phone, staring at something on it.
"Ornyx just sent another video."