Chapter 50
Monday 21st September, 2020 (Continued)
Jessie’s POV
The sky was growing darker. The light was fading as daylight slowly gave way to dusk. Something told me we had to get out of these woods before darkness fell. It felt as if we had been going round in circles. All the trees looked the same and we kept circling back and stumbling upon the clearing where Nina had deserted us. Jamie was not able to magically teleport us out of this woods. It just wasn’t working. At first, I was able to mind-link my Beta and Gamma but the connection was weak. I couldn’t reach them anymore. At least they were on the way. I kept telling myself that.
“Do you think Georgianna’s tomb is even in these woods? Or is that just a rumour?” I asked Jamie.
“I think she’s here,” said Jamie so confidently that I stopped dead in my tracks.
I looked at my mate. She was pensive all of a sudden.
“We’re doing the wrong thing, Jessie! We’re trying to get out!We should try to get in!” She insisted.
“Ok,” I said slowly. “Into what?”
“Into her tomb…and forget about escaping the words,” responded Jamie.
I nodded encouragingly. I trusted Jamie’s hunches. She sat cross-legged in the clearing. I sat with her, facing her.
“You’re not a witch but focus with me because we’re connected,” she said.
I nodded. She took my hands in hers.We closed her eyes.
“Um…what are we focusing on?” I asked sheepishly, trying not to peak.
Jamie chuckled.
“We’re trying to talk to Georgianna again,” she said simply.
This spooky cursed woods was not the safest place to conjure a vengeful witch’s ghost but whatever. I focused on the vision I had shared with Jamie, the one of Alto and Georgianna at their wedding feast, the one that ended with Alto’s accidental death. Sadness consumed me. It was so unfair. Why couldn’t they have left them alone and let them be together? They were just like Jamie and me actually, a Coven Mother Witch and an Alpha Werewolf fated to each other, in love, linked. I tightened my grip on Jamie’s hand. There was a rustling in the trees surrounding the clearing. The temperature seemed to drop. I heard a soft padding sound, like someone walking barefoot slowly towards us. Jamie’s hands trembled in mine a little.
She’s coming! Jamie told me through our link.
I tensed up. I wanted to grab Jamie and run but I knew that was exactly what I should not do. I stayed put. From the displacement of air, I could tell someone was near to us, standing nearby, watching us. I could feel their eyes on me in particular.
Jamie, what now? I asked my little witch.
Wait a bit, instructed Jamie.
We waited with bated breath. The air shifted again and the padding was fading this time. The person was now walking away from us.
Let’s quickly and quietly follow her. No talking at all! Jamie said, her voice a little shaky.
I opened my eyes slowly. My blue eyes met Jamie’s dark hazel ones. I smiled at her instinctively. She glanced over her shoulder. Chills ran through me when I saw what she was looking at: a woman was walking into the woods, her back to us. All I could see of her was her sheet of long dark hair and her glowing white dress dragging along the forest floor as she moved slowly through the trees. I pulled Jamie close to me. We followed the witch in silence.
Dalton’s POV
Fox was adamant on subduing all the geriatric witches before nightfall. They were criminals so they needed to be rounded up. Nina had returned to the dining room and they were eagerly awaiting sun down.
“It’s almost dusk,” hissed one of them excitedly.
“The Weary Wandering Woods will deliver them to us soon,” croaked another.
“These ones are strong, an Alpha and a young Coven Mother. The woods may not be able to subdue them. They may still be conscious when we teleport them back here. Draining them won’t be easy,” muttered Nina.
Fox, Zack and I were standing just outside the dining room, still invisible. I gave Fox a quizzical look. I was worried for Jessie and Jamie.
“They’re using the woods to their advantage I think,” said Fox.
Zack nodded. “Seems like the woods is enchanted, well more liked hexed. Everyone who goes in probably gets lost and wanders around while the woods drain the energy until they weary. Weary Wandering Woods,” said Zack.
“So then they do what? Teleport their victims back from the woods to the house?” I asked.
“Yeah and finish draining them of energy and youth while they’re already too weak to fight back,” concluded Fox.
“Let’s just subdue the witches then, before they try to drain Jessie and Jamie!” I said.
“No!” Said Fox. “I don’t know how to get into and out of the woods without getting trapped. The witches obviously know how to summon Jessie and Jamie back here,” said Fox.
“So let’s wait for them to retrieve Jessie and Jamie for us and then we strike?” I said.
Zack and Fox nodded.
Harper’s POV
Star was terrified. I could feel it through our bond as twins. I was scared for her too. I would rather face the dragon myself but our so-called Great Grandmother had tasked Star with taming Haven the Hellish, the Great Ice Dragon. Our father did not seem the least bit worried. Asriel was also cool as a cucumber as we walked with Star to the courtyard of the castle.
We were bundled up in very elaborate coats, boots and gloves. Everything the Fae wore was bright and conspicuous. There was not a black, brown or grey outfit in sight. I would need to get some dark materials for clothing and import them here. There was no way I was going to adopt this manner of dressing. I felt ridiculous in this green velvet coat with leaves embroidered all over. Star was wearing a similar one but hers had both leaves and flowers embroidered into it.
We got into one of several royal carriages with snow-white and jet-black horses pulling them. I wanted the ride to the arena to be delayed some how. I had no idea how to use my Fae magic to do anything useful though I did feel different. Star didn’t know how to harness her magic either. The horses were unbelievably fast. They must have been enchanted somehow. We crossed the snowy, icy landscape easily. We arrived at the outskirts of the arena. I could see throngs of Fae and werewolves alike filing into the arena, chatting excitedly. I heard the deafening, high-pitched roar of the dragon.
“You will be fine,” said Dad reassuringly to Star.
Star was pale and tremulous. I would jump down onto the arena’s floor if I had to. I grasped her hand and we entered the arena.
The Queen had taken a separate carriage to us. She, her ladies-in-waiting and her personal guards motioned for me, Dad and Asriel to follow them. Star was to go down to the arena escorted by two pack warriors. I hugged Star tightly.
“I’ll come down into the arena if I have to!” I whispered to her as we hugged. “Don’t be scared!”
She nodded fervently but her eyes were glassy and wide with fear. She went with the guards while the rest of us were led to the Queen’s private area, a high platform where the royals sat to watch whatever cruel thing was taking place in the arena. All the chairs on the platform were thrones. I sat in one without being granted permission. I saw the Queen scowl. I smirked at her. She sat in the middle throne with the highest back. Other royals were seated. Dad and Asriel chose to stand in front of us at the balcony. I glanced at the royals and pack leaders wondering if I was related to any of these people.
The dragon was already in the arena. Haven the Hellish was wearing a huge silver collar with thick chains holding him on a short leash. It did not seem uncomfortable though. In fact, it seemed as though he could break those chains quite easily but simply chose not to for the sake of theatrics. The Fae and wolves were a sea of bright colours, sequins and feathers, with everyone dressed in Fae garments. They were blinding me. I searched the floor of the arena for Star.
Suddenly, the roaring crowd fell silent. The Queen had stood to address them.
“Fae of the Winter Kingdom and Wolves of the Ice Moon Pack, this boy you see here,” she announced, pausing and gesturing towards me, “ along with his sister claim to be the children of Hesper, my granddaughter and the former Alpha’s daughter.”
A collective gasp resounded through the arena. I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes.
“Thus, he is here to prove his worthiness in future as your alleged Alpha and his sister shall attempt to prove her worthiness as a Fae Princess right now!” Boomed the Queen.
The crowd cheered in excitement, clapping their hands and stomping their feet, making the arena shake.
“She will now attempt to tame Hesper’s pet, the Great Ice Dragon, Haven the Hellish!” Announced the Queen grandiosely.
The cheering of the crowd reached a crescendo. I felt like the vibration of this noise was enough to cause an avalanche. They quieted down when the gate to the floor of the arena creaked opens. Star walked into the arena slowly. The crowd seemed to be holding their breath as they anticipated the spectacle they were about to witness. Several guards began releasing the chains attached to Haven’s collar until he was completely unencumbered. Dad had a smirk on his face. Asriel wore a smug look. They certainly had a lot of faith in Star. I tried to feel the same way. Before I could collect myself, Haven roared, shooting forth a shower of hail that rained down on the entire arena. Just as the brief hailstorm ended, Haven charged at Hannah.
Noah’s POV
We sped home and scrambled up the stairs to our father’s study at werewolf speed.
“Dad we need your snow globe portal to Marigold!” I yelled at our confused father, interrupting his meeting with a few of our pack leaders.
Rather than waiting for an answer, Jonah spotted the snow globe on a bookshelf nearby and snatched it. He turned it over and scanned the incantation on the bottom while Zaya, Eli and I crowded around him.
“What is the meaning of this, boys?” Demanded our father.
“Star is a Fae Princess and an Alpha’s granddaughter so she and her twin brother went back to the Ice Moon Pack to get reclaim it from the Winter Fae Queen, their great grandmother!” Said Eli extremely quickly.
“What?!” Asked Dad.
The other pack leaders looked just as bewildered.
“Never mind the details, we’ll be back soon, Dad! Thanks!” Said Zaya quickly.
He grabbed the snow globe from Jonah and quickly read the incantation while we put our hands on his shoulders.
“Be caref-,” began our father but the room fell away from view as we hurtled through darkness. It felt like being on a rollercoaster. The trip lasted only a few seconds. We found ourselves in a grand study very similar to our father’s own. It was devoid of people though.
“Where are we?” Asked Zaya.
“In the Marigold Pack House I believe,” I said.
I grinned at the huge study with its chestnut wood shelves and gleaming desks and chairs. There was a huge territory map that resembled a tapestry on the wall nearby. Next to it hung an oil painting of a pretty and petite dark-haired girl sitting between two hulking men, obviously Alphas from their builds. I looked at the dark-haired, grey-eyed man on the left of the painting. Alpha Maze. To the right, the lighter haired, blue-eyed Alpha had to be Thaddeus, the seven foot Alpha. In the middle was undoubtedly Luna Friday, who was once wolf-less before becoming the deadliest she-wolf on any battlefield. I started explaining all of this to my brothers but Zaya was not having it.
“It’s not history hour! We need to find someone and get to Berryndale! Focus, Noah!” Zaya said.
“I really hope we don’t get told no. We would also need to return the snow globes,” said Eli, taking the first snow globe from Zaya.
“We’ll give them our word as alphas to return it,” said Jonah.
Someone came hurtling into the room. He was tall and muscular with olive skin, grey eyes and long dark hair. Alpha Maze?
A wavy-haired woman with golden skin peaked into the room behind him. Luna Friday? She had a toddler grabbing onto her leg. He was the very image of the grey-eyed man in miniature.
“I told you to stay in our room, Baby, and to keep Maurizio with you!” scolded the man.
I looked at them more closely. No. They were older than Alpha Maze and Luna Friday should be. They were probably…
“What is the meaning of this?” Demanded the former alpha, clearly outraged at four random teenagers bursting into his study unannounced. Even though portals existed to show good faith between the packs, most of them were rarely used.
“Former Alpha Malachi,” I said respectfully with a little bow. “I am future Alpha Noah of the Viper Moon Pack and these are my brothers We are sorry for the intrusion but we desperately need to get to Berryndale. It involves the rescue of our dear future Luna!” I said, pleading with my eyes.
Malachi softened a little. The woman who I now recognised as Felicity, the mate of Malachi and mother of Luna Friday, edged closer to us.
“What’s wrong with your Luna?” She asked softly, her eyes concerned.
“She’s gone off to the Ice Moon Pack to take it back from the Winter Fae Queen,” said Eli. “She’s the daughter of Hesper you see. I don’t know if you are familiar with the story-,” Eli was cut off by Malachi.
“You’re Quaid’s kids!” He exclaimed.
We nodded fervently.
“Look at how you’re grown! Last time I saw you, you were in footie pyjamas!” Chuckled Malachi. He then adopted a more sombre expression. “I’m familiar with Hesper’s…misfortune,” he said softly.
Felicity put a hand gently on his shoulder.
A squad of pack warriors suddenly burst into the room, led by a man with similar features to Felicity though hardened and masculine.
“Alpha Malachi, you went to the check out the breach on your own?” Exclaimed the man indignantly.
“I can more than handle a breach!” Said the former alpha.
“Who are you?” asked Zaya, looking at the man leading the squad.
“Who am I? Who am I? Who the f**k are you? You came hurtling into our pack house! We’ll be asking the questions!” Snapped the other pack leader. Beta Fang! He was known to be crass.This had to be him.NôvelDrama.Org owns this text.
“It’s alright, Fang,” said Malachi. “They’re my friend’s kids. He’s the Viper Moon Pack’s Alpha.”
Fang calmed down a little. The squad of warriors seemed a lot less tense.
“About that portal to Berryndale…” said Zaya.
Malachi chuckled.
“We promise to return the snow globe!” Eli said in earnest.
“Snow globe?” Said Malachi.
“The portal to Berryndale is an enchanted elevator,” said Fang condescendingly as though that should be blatantly obvious to everyone.
“A wizard arranged it for us!” Said Felicity with a smile.
I snuggled h
“Is Maze here by chance?” I asked sheepishly.
Malachi and Felicity chuckled. “Maze is in Berryndale actually with Friday and Thaddeus,” Said Malachi.
I grinned from ear to ear.
“Fang, show them to the portal,” said Malachi.
Fang begrudgingly led the way in silence. Two men who resembled Fang stopped us in the hallway. I realised they too were identical.
“Twins!” I exclaimed.
One of the twins snorted with laughter. The other said, “Speak for yourself!”
“Where are you going, Fang?” Asked one of the twins.
“To the elevator,” grumbled Fang.
“So you’re going to Berryndale?” Asked the other twin.
Fang blinked and continued to stare blankly at them.
“Well, I guess you’ve met our delightful brother! I’m Fallon,” said Fallon, the younger brother of Fang.
“And I’m Fargo!” Said Fargo, Fallon’s identical twin brother.
“We’re-,” I began.
“Oh, we’ve heard of you!” Exclaimed Fargo. “The Alpha Triplets!”
Fallon nodded eagerly. “Alex, Felix and Calix!” He added.
Fang snorted with laughter. “Your counting could use some work. There are four of them,” said Fang dryly.
The twins considered this in obvious amazement.
“We’re the future alpha quadruplets,” said Zaya impatiently. “I’m Zaya the youngest, then this is Eli, then Noah and the first born is Jonah,” explained Zaya gesturing to each one of us in turn.
“But we really have to go! It was nice meeting you!” Said Eli.
Eli tried to brush past them but a woman turning the corner of the hallway blocked his path.
“Oh, sorry!” She said. “Fang, Baby, who are these people?” She asked.
She had a toddler in her arms xs.
“Aww, look at him,” cooed Eli, ruffling the toddler’s hair. The little boy greatly resembled Fang if Fang had the ability to produce a smile.
“This is Falcon,” said the woman. “I’m Astrid. I see you’ve already met my mate, Fang. What brings you to-,” Fang cut across her.
“Astrid! They’re in a hurry to rescue their Luna!” Said Fang, clearly annoyed.
I highly doubted Fang was rushing to help us. He was probably rushing to be rid of us but I appreciated the speed nonetheless when he practically ran down the rest of the hallway with us on his heels. We came to an elevator and got on it. The “floors”, if one could call them that, read Marigold, Joint Pack House and Berryndale. I quickly pushed the Berryndale button.
“You’re coming with us?” I asked Fang.
“I’m going to come straight back. This elevator is a fixed portal unlike the snow globes which go with you when used. Anyone can take the elevator back and forth in any direction and the elevator is in all three places simultaneously,” explained Fang.
This was the most he had spoken the entire time so far for which I was a bit grateful. I needed an elevator just like this from the Viper Moon Pack House to the Ice Moon Pack Castle and back. That way our Luna, Star, could come and go freely.
“How do we get one of these?” I asked Fang.
“Ask Maze and Thaddeus,” said Fang curtly.
Back to square one with Fang. The elevator pinged and the Berryndale sign lit up. We scrambled out of the elevator. Fang led the way. The warm-toned colours of the Berryndale pack house were a complete departure from the cool-toned colours of the Marigold Pack House. We bumped into another set of twins. Fang sighed exasperatedly.
“You love us, don’t you, bro-in-law?” Asked one of the twins.
“Yeah, you certainly visit us often,” commented the other.
They both snickered. They were both blonde and blue-eyed. These must be Timothy and Titus, the younger twin brothers of Thaddeus.
Fang did not respond to their teasing and taunts.
“Where’s Thaddeus?” Grumbled Fang.
“In the Luna’s study,” said either Timothy or Titus.
We scurried behind Fang to yet another study, this one was filled with a variety of knick kicks and decorated in pastel colours and floral prints. A pretty girl in a floral sun dress was laughing heartily while she watched two men arm wrestle, their elbows on the desk. The arm wrestling match seemed playful not competitive, The girl watching them had a toddler on each knee. In response to our arrival, the men stopped arm wrestling and the laughing girl frowned. Even the toddlers looked at us with puzzled expressions on their little chubby-cheeked faces.
“Luna Friday, forgive us, we beg your pardon,” I said with a bow. “Alpha Thaddeus, Alpha Maze,” I said. My brothers bowed respectfully also. Since Marigold and Berryndale had combined their packs, they were easily the most respected and fearsome nation among werewolves. Fang was less impressed than my brothers and me.
“Friday, these Alpha Quadruplets want your snow globe thing the wizard the gave you so they can go up north where the Alpha Triplets are,” said Fang.
“Absolutely not,” growled Alpha Maze without a second thought. I flinched. “The audacity!” Exclaimed Maze. Maze had an extremely refined accent and a haughty demeanour.
Alpha Thaddeus roared with laughter. “Maze, brother, you must hear the lads out,” boomed Thaddeus. His voice was so deep, it was like the rumbling of an earthquake. I was awestruck. Zaya was not.
“Look, I need that portal to go rescue my Luna. Friday, surely, you understand!” Zaya pleaded.
Maze hissed at his Luna being addressed casually. Thaddeus growled. They were incredibly intimidating but Zaya seemed unperturbed.
“You had the shittiest life ever before you became such a great Luna. My father told me all about it!” Exclaimed Zaya.
Friday snorted with laughter to my surprise at that comment. Zaya continued undaunted.
“That is exactly how my Star is. She needs me…us. She needs a little rescuing before she can be strong enough to rescue others as Luna. You were the same. I know you will understand. Star had nothing a few days ago and now she has the world of responsibility and she’s been so fearless the whole time. I can’t stand the thought of her facing everything alone. She’s gone to Ice Moon Pack, her original pack, all on her own to try to reclaim it as Hesper’s long-lost daughter,” said Zaya.
Maze’s eyes widened at that. Thaddeus stroked his beard thoughtfully.
“We need to go after her. We will return the portal, you can be sure of that. We intend to have one made eventually. But for right now, we need yours. Please, Friday. I appeal to you not as a future Alpha to a Luna but as a man in love to a girl who was once saved by love!” Said Zaya.
Friday smiled slightly. Her sons on her lap, one miniature Maze and one miniature Thaddeus, looked amused.
Maze and Thaddeus seemed slightly more willing but still unconvinced. They looked at their beloved Luna, prepared to do whatever she wanted.
“Little Luna, what say you?” Purred Thaddeus, his tone of voice incredibly gentle when addressing her.
“What do you think, Baby?” Cooed Maze, also clearly besotted.
Friday stared at us for a few moments, her expression impassive though a small smile played about her lips.
“Give them the portal,” said Friday without hesitation.