Chapter 47
Monday 21st September, 2020 (Continued)
Jonah’s POV
I couldn’t wait for class to be over. I practically ran outside once it was done.
“You’re walking too fast! We’re in heels!” Snapped Angie, strutting towards me with her sycophants in tow. I didn’t even know their names to be honest but Angie always had two to five girls dressed similarly to her, flanking her as she walked the hallways. Today, there were four of them, two on either side. All five girls wore five inch heels if my estimates were correct. I struggled not to roll my eyes. I needed to mind-link Noah and I wanted some privacy.
“Bathroom break, Babe,” I said with a small fake smile.
Angie folded her arms.
“The last time I let you go to the bathroom, you ended up in the girls’ one with Star!” She hissed under her breath, eyes black.
Oh, now she knew her name was Star and not Cloud or Moon or whatever.
“So…should I never pee again then?” I asked innocently.
She shot me a warning glance because of my normal volume but her bobble-headed friends were preoccupied. They were discussing a recent music video instead of eavesdropping on us. Angie let out a high-pitched tinkling sort of laugh, tossing her head back dramatically. I sighed inwardly. She took a menacing step towards me, eyes narrowed. We were almost nose to nose as Angie was tall enough to reach my height in those heels. I smirked to myself, thinking that they were not heels tall enough to allow Star to reach my height. I felt a pang as though a band was constricting around my heart.
“There was a break-in at my house in the wee hours of the morning! Did you know that?” Snarled Angie.
Why would I know that?
“No,” I said blankly.
Angie sneered.
“What did they take? Are your parents ok?” I asked. The Plastique family was still a part of my pack. I didn’t want harm coming to them.Belongs to (N)ôvel/Drama.Org.
Angie shrugged, avoiding the first question. “There were no signs of forced entry as though someone just let them in! My parents are fine!” She said.
I nodded.
“Girls! Go get me a skinny French vanilla latte!” Ordered Angie.
All four of them scurried off. Apparently, it took four people to procure one latte from the school’s coffee shop. Once they were well out of sight and earshot, Angie rolled her eyes in their direction as though fed up with them. She turned back to me.
“Does this look familiar to you?” Asked Angie.
I looked down at her open palm and my stomach did backflips. It was Star’s ring! The one Zaya had given her. The one with protection charms on it to safeguard her from the curse. The one she had promised me she would always wear and never take off. The memory of her comforting me when I had gotten into a shouting match with my brothers flitted through my mind. I had made sure she was wearing it. Now it was in Angie’s hand. We had gone to Angie’s house the other day to question her mom about Star’s parents. I saw it all in my mind’s eye. Star had definitely still been wearing her ring when I said goodbye to her outside in front of Harper’s car. So how had it ended up back at Angie’s? Star wouldn’t go back there. Had Angie done something to Star?
“How did you get that?” I asked, unable to hide my annoyance any longer.
Angie raised her brows at my tone, not liking the change. She wanted to be the one interrogating me and not the other way around.
“It was found at the scene of the crime!” Retorted Angie.
“What? If you found it at the scene of the crime, why do you have it? Why didn’t the pack police take it?” I asked.
Angie fidgeted uncomfortably.
“We didn’t bother reporting the break-in. There’s no need. Only one thing went missing,” hissed Angie.
“What was the one thing?” I asked, confused.
Angie shrugged. “One of my Mom’s belongings. Why does it matter? Star broke into my house and you’re questioning me?” Asked Angie incredulously.
My b***d boiled.
“Star did not break into your house. You’re lying,” I growled. “How did you get that ring?” I practically roared. I snatched the ring from her. “Where’s Star? What have you done with her?”
Everyone in the hallway was frozen, looking at us.
“What the hell has gotten into you?” She screamed.
People were whispering around us. Angie loved to make a scene and she wouldn’t be out done though I had started it.
“YOU’RE f*****g MY COUSIN BEHIND MY BACK!” She snarled.
There was a collective gasp from the onlookers. They were not even related technically.
“Bullshit,” I said softly, my tone deadly. “You could care less about that.”
I glanced at the hickey on her neck she was failing to conceal with a ruffled turtleneck under her school blazer. She saw me look at it. She hastily adjusted her outfit, tugging at the neckline of her blouse. I rolled my eyes.
“And you don’t even care that I have to go elsewhere for affection! That’s your fault-,” she began.
“Shut up!” I hissed.
She paled.
“Shut the f**k the up!” I said softly. I was seething. She seemed more unnerved now that I was whispering.
“Don’t change the topic! I don’t want to hear about your escapades. I’m not your doctor. Where is Star?” I asked through gritted teeth.
“I don’t know,” she snarled.
I looked at her. Carefully. We stood there a full minute staring at each other in silence. My wolf told me she was telling the truth.
“Call your mother and ask her if she knows where Star is!” I demanded.
“She doesn’t-,” Angie began.
“Now,” I said.
She sighed. She called her mother, tapping her heel on the ground while she pressed the cellphone to her ear. I heard her mother’s voice on the other end.
“Did she admit to it?” Her mother asked eagerly.
Huh.
“No, Mom! Um, actually, Jonah wants to know where cousin Star is,” Angie said.
“How should I know?” Asked her mother. I could hear a male’s voice laughing in the background. That voice certainly didn’t belong to her father. Like mother, like daughter.
Angie gave me a pointed look.
“She’s not at school?!” Asked her mother, her voice panicked all of a sudden. “You need to find her! She’s going to-,” Angie cut her mother off.
“Ok, Mom, thanks!” Said Angie. She hung up on her mother.
I sighed deeply, my temper cooling.
“Sorry,” I said. I didn’t like acting this way even if Angie was no delicate flower.
“I need the ring back! It’s evidence!” Said Angie.
I practically snorted with laughter. She wasn’t getting this back. I was going to put this back on Star’s finger myself and have a stern chat with her about how it came off in the first place. Maybe, Star had broken in. My wolf told me Angie and her mother didn’t have Star in a basement or something. He would know if his mate was imprisoned so close by. He would feel the helplessness, the fear. He told me Star was safe but very far away. The band around my heart constricted again. I wished I could have marked Star. That would make finding her easy. That was the whole point of an Alpha marking his Luna, in my opinion, a biologically built-in tracking device. However, marking Star would leave her totally vulnerable to the curse.
“Zaya would kill me if I didn’t return this,” I told Angie.
“Is it an engagement ring?” Asked Angie, narrowing her eyes.
“No,” I said simply.
“What happens if Zaya and Eli want to be with Star and you and Noah don’t?” Asked Angie impatiently, tapping her foot on the floor.
She was still convinced she would be Luna whilst knowing I had a mate and she had a lover. Noah wasn’t even here. It was pretty much just me keeping up the charade.
“It’s Noah I need to talk to privately right now but you don’t want me to go to the bathroom so…” I began.
“I was kidding!” Squealed Angie in a sickly sweet tone.
Her stupid friends returned with the latte. She took one sip of it and literally spat it out.
“What?” I asked, alarmed.
“This is full fat milk!” She screeched. “I can tell!” She insisted.
Good grief. I didn’t have time for this. I walked away while she was distracted. She clearly didn’t have any information on Star’s whereabouts outside of finding the ring. Star was up to something after all. My wolf told me so. I heard another collective gasp and glanced behind me to see Angie pouring the contents of her coffee cup on the girl responsible for the full fat milk. The girl ran away crying. Was Angie possessed by the devil or something? She had never been that nice but she had not been this bad either. She was getting meaner every minute.
I hurried to the bathroom. Finally, some peace. I decided to call Noah instead of mind-linking because I had a headache already from my argument with Angie.
“Hey,” said Noah in his usual deadpan manner.
Silence.
“Hey?” Repeated Noah, confused.
“Ugh! Noah! It’s me! I know you have caller ID! What do you think I want?” I snapped.
“Um,” began Noah.
I knew I was being a jerk but I was a bundle of raw nerves.
“An update on Star!” I demanded.
Noah sighed.
“She’s gone,” said Noah, sounding like he was fighting back tears which was very unlike Noah.
My heart constricted painfully.
“What do you mean gone?” I asked quickly.
Gone…like dead? My knees shook. I felt like I couldn’t breathe.
“She went to the Ice Moon Castle to talk to the Winter Fae Queen who is apparently her grandmother!” Explained Noah.
I could hear Zaya arguing with someone in the background whilst Eli tried to calm him down.
I relaxed. Relief spread through me. She was alive. I could breathe again. My brain began analysing what my little brother had just said.
“Wait. What?!” I asked.