Six

 

 

 

“Damn it, Luna, don’t be stupid. You can’t stay here any longer. You’ll die if you do.”

Wincing, Luna tried to block out both the physical pain and her brother’s harsh words but failed miserably. They were poisoned thorns digging into her soul, continuously reverberating in her head, but she forced back the hot tears that stung her eyes back so no one could see them. “I’m not going to die, Michael, and you can’t tell me what to do.”

“Yes, I can if it means saving your life.”

Sighing, Luna gingerly sat up on the sofa, her muscles informing her that it was the wrong decision. Closing her eyes, she attempted not show how much pain she was in, but her whimpering soon had everyone aware. Michael stood over her, still wearing nothing but a pair of pyjama bottoms, arms crossed over his bare chest, his blue eyes twin storms promising danger to anyone who dared to venture too close. His shoulders drew back, as though ready for the fight he knew she’d be bringing.

Groaning with the pain, Luna looked up. Chase stood to Michael’s right, his dark eyes narrowed in her direction. He continued to stare at her, an unreadable expression covering his perfect features. A shiver of nervousness trailed over her arms as she looked into those eyes. She wasn’t able to see a hint of wolf within his eyes, but she could feel it. Energy sizzled from him, and it was all Luna could do not to gasp as that aura of power he emitted surrounded her.

Spine straight as a new pencil, Luna faced her brother. Fury surged through her as she locked gazes with him. “You forget you are my brother, not my father. Then there is the fact that I’m over eighteen; I am not a child to be sent away.”

“Ah, ma petite, don’t be unreasonable. Your brother is merely looking out for you.” Luna twisted her head towards Pierre’s silky tones and then wished she hadn’t done so. A film briefly covered her eyes before disappearing. Lie back down, a voice inside her suggested, but Luna ignored it.

“He’s trying to order me around like one of his pack but forgets I’m not his to command,” she muttered, the bite of anger colouring her words seeped through the pain.  “I am not a damned werewolf; therefore, you cannot tell me what to do.”

Throwing up his hands in the air, a look of frustration masked his face as he walked away from her.

Chase stepped forward, his mouth a hard line. “Luna,” he said, his voice low. “You were told to stay with us at all times. What were you doing out there on your own?”

Glancing upwards, Luna met those eyes head-on, fire blasting from her own. “Because I’m tired of being treated like a baby, Chase, or worse – a prisoner! Either you, Pierre, or Michael follow me around all day, like a menacing shadow. I cannot take a shower without someone behind the door. Hell, Michael checks in on me every few hours of the night. You’re stifling me, and I can’t stand it! I needed five minutes to myself without someone breathing down my neck and telling me what I can and cannot do.”

“What do you really expect, Luna? We are trying to keep you safe. Safe! You know, the opposite of not being killed. This guy wants you and is prepared to hurt you to get to you or kill anyone that gets in his way. He’ll need you alive, but once he has his heir, you’ll be dead, or do you not understand that?” Michael snarled, his face twisted in anger as he spat out the words.

Luna released an exasperated sigh and closed her eyes briefly before looking at her brother. “Yes, I am all too aware of what safe means, but what good is it to be safe when you are locked away? I’m just changing one prison for another,” she told him, her voice layered in hopelessness and frustration.

Michael’s shoulders slumped, and she watched various emotions dance over his face. “Luna, do you not fucking get it? You can have all the freedom you want after we stop this guy. But right now, I’m afraid you don’t have much choice.”

Fear chased over Luna’s skin like an icy wave. “What do you mean?”

“I mean the choice is now out of your hands. The others agree with me. Everything is arranged.” Michael’s face remained calm as the words slowly fell from his lips, his tone hard.

Luna stilled, her blood growing cold as her brother spoke. “Michael, what have you done?”

Michael stood to his full height, his eyes daring her to cross him. “You’re going back to France. Frenchie here is going to take you back. You’re leaving on the first flight I can arrange.”

“The hell I am!” she cried. Luna tried to stand, but her legs gave way, collapsing onto the sofa. No, she’d heard it wrong, tricked by a fervid, twisted imagination determined to play with her. “I am not going back to Paris. You are not my father, Michael!”

“I am your brother, and you will not disobey me in this!” He roared, his voice a lethal rumble. Suddenly, all the air disappeared into the space around them, and it was hard to breathe.

A crackle of energy rolled around the room, trailing up her skin. “Don’t pull your alpha crap on me, Michael. You’ve forgotten that you cannot order me about. You don’t own me. Don’t tell me what to do,” she spat out, each word plastered in rage.

This time, Luna saw the flash of amber in her brother’s eyes. His wolf was coming to the surface, the energy still rising. This was not good.

“Mon amie, perhaps I should have this discussion with Luna.” Luna’s eyes quickly moved back towards Pierre at the sound of his silky tone. Uttering a muttered curse, Michael stormed off towards the kitchen, the energy following him, but still a trace lingered in the air. Chase remained still, his eyes narrowing as he glanced in his rival’s direction.

Sitting in her favourite chair, wearing grey trousers and a cerulean blue sweater that hugged his muscular chest, one ankle resting on the other knee, he looked over at her with piercing eyes. The contrast between the casual jeans and t-shirts Michael and Chase wore compared to Pierre was striking. “Ma petite, what shall I do with you?”

Luna sighed, rubbing her right temple. “Do not take that tone with me, Pierre. My head hurts too much to deal with your lawyerisms today.”

A pale eyebrow rose upwards, one side of his mouth tugging into a brief smile. “Lawyerisms?”

Luna waved a hand at him in a dismissive motion. “When you go all lawyer on me. It’s like being cross-examined. Sorry to disappoint you, Pierre, but we are not in court.”

“I see,” he told her, his voice taking on an amused tone. “Well, let’s examine what went on today, shall we?”

“Do we really have to? My head is killing me,” Luna asked, the words tumbling out in a moan.

“That’s because you nearly died, ma petite.”

“Urgh. I’m starting to hate that damned nickname,” Luna muttered under her breath, but it merely caused Pierre’s smile to widen.

“Of course you do,” he told her, tilting his head to study her with an amused twinkle in his eyes, like a parent indulging a petulant child. She pushed down the urge to stick out her tongue at him. Revealing pale, creamy flesh as he tugged up his sleeves, Pierre’s eyes roamed over her. “How long were you out there before the witch attacked you?”

Her brows furrowed in confusion. “Witch? Is that what she was?”

Chase nodded. “Michael told us that he felt her magic just before she died.”

Luna felt the crease lining her forehead as she recalled. “She had this red light coming off her skin.”

“Definitely a witch then.” The three men nodded in agreement. 

“Fae, werewolves, witches, oh my,” she muttered sarcastically. “It’s just a barrel of laughs lately.”

“It gets worse before it gets better, ma petite, trust me,” Pierre said matter-of-factly. “How long were you out there and what happened exactly?”

A sigh escaped her lips as she thought back, her hand rubbing the back of her neck. “Only a few minutes. I was just sitting on the porch enjoying the peace and quiet when I heard something. I thought it was just a twig falling off a tree or something. I only went a few steps forward when I saw something.” Her voice faltered.

“What did you see?”

“Chase.”

“Me?” Chase asked, surprised.

Luna nodded, not wanting to meet either of their eyes. “At the top of the driveway, there was a shimmer of light, like a million fireflies had come together but when they disappeared, Chase was there, saying that he’d always protect me. But as he came closer, it felt wrong. Something felt wrong. Just as he came close, he faded, and this strange woman was screaming in my face.”

“Illusion. She used glamour on you.”

“Glamour?”

“It’s a type of magic where you can disguise yourself as someone else. Sometimes you can make your appearance something entirely different, other times you can make small changes, like eye colour. She must have either been strong enough to change her appearance entirely or used a glamour orb to do it. A glamour orb is similar to what you were training with yesterday,” Chase told her.

“Oh.”

“So what happened next?” Pierre prompted her.

“She attacked me. I had my knife but couldn’t get to it. Just when I thought I was going to die, someone knocked her off me. I couldn’t see who it was, but they killed her … didn’t they?”

“Yeah, someone punched a hole right through her throat, damn near decapitated her,” Chase remarked dryly.

“You didn’t see who it was?” Pierre asked, leaning forward, those azure blue eyes staring deep into hers.

Luna shook her head, the frown deepening as she recalled. “No, I thought I heard something though …” Her voice came out breathy, as if it was a struggle to remember.

“What did you hear, ma petite?”

Carefully, Luna rose to her feet, dismissing Chase away when he took a step closer to her. The pain had mostly dissipated, leaving coldness in its wake. Making her way towards the burning fire, she welcomed the heat thawing her frozen legs, but it didn’t do anything to the iciness laced around her heart. “Growling. Like Chase and Michael do when they go all wolfy on me, but it wasn’t them. They sound different.”

“We tried to smell what it was that killed our little friend out there. First, we thought it was a werewolf, but then the scent changed and now we can’t make it out. But we’ll find out soon enough,” Chase snarled.

“How are you feeling now?” Pierre asked.

“Like I’ve been hit with a sledgehammer,” she admitted, rubbing her temples with both hands.

“I can imagine,” he told her before releasing a heavy sigh. “So now what do we do? Your brother intends to send you away to ensure your safety.”

“Michael can think what he wants. I’m not going anywhere but upstairs for a bath,” she remarked, her tone brokered no argument.

“Princess -” Chase started, but Luna cut him off.

She stared him down with a hard look. “Do you want me to go, Chase? Do you honestly think it’s a good idea?”

The first flicker of uncertainty crossed his features. “To be honest, I’m starting to.”

Jaw dropping in disbelief, a new pain lanced through her heart. “You can’t mean to send me away, Chase,” she said, the words coming out strangled.

“It’s not Chase’s decision, and it’s not yours either, Luna.” Looking up, Michael’s towering figure loomed in the doorway, a steaming cup of coffee in his hand. The bitter scent wafted towards her, filling her nose. His face was calm. Too calm. “You were told to stay indoors and not go anywhere without one of us with you at all times. But no, you had to go and sneak out, and it nearly cost you your life.”

“I’m not dead, Michael,” she told him softly.

“Not yet, but if you carry on like this, then you will be.”

The hopelessness and sorrow in Michael’s voice and within those baby blue eyes sent daggers of pain plunging into her heart. Luna lowered her gaze and shook her head. “Sending me away isn’t the answer. Even the seer said so.”

“I don’t care what the seer says. You’re going back to France. I should have sent you back when Lyulf turned up.”

“Then why didn’t you?”

Hair already tousled, Michael ran his hands through the golden locks, and his jaw clenched. “Because I like having you around, Luna. You drive me nuts most of the time, but goddamn it, you’re my sister, and I love you.”

Luna couldn’t help but give him a small smile. “I love you too, mon frere. But I’m still not going anywhere. I promise not to go anywhere on my own from now on until we can deal with this, but you’re going to need to try and not stifle me too much. I’m not swapping one prison for another, understand? Besides, what are you going to do when you get me to the airport, and I start screaming that I’m not getting on the plane? Somehow, I don’t think they will let you frog-march me onto the flight. It’s not as if you can tell them that there are werewolves out to kidnap me, can you?” Luna told him, propping a hand on her hip and meeting his eyes with determination and resolve.

After an interminable amount of silence, Michael closed his eyes and released a heavy sigh. “Damn, you’re stubborn. Fine, but I’m warning you now, if I think we’re in too deep, you’re out of here. As it is, I want you to pack a bag just to be on the safe side. It’s staying in the car at all times. The dagger stays with you as well. There’s no arguing on this. Mom and Dad are gone, and though you aren’t a werewolf, you’re still part of my pack. I will keep you safe even if that means sending you away. You got that?” Darkness clouded his eyes, his nostrils flaring with each inhale, the vein in his neck pulsating against his golden-hued skin.

Luna nodded, relief flooding through her with his words. She wasn’t being sent away again. For the moment. She’d won this round, but she knew there were more to deal with later. But for now, she’d take it. A stream of air rushed from her lungs and a grimace spread over her features. “Got it. Could you get me some painkillers, Michael? I swear this headache is trying to kill me.”