Chapter 34: Chapter 34

Unedited

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The room lifted up in uproar, every creature turning to shout at us, to shout at Carrick, to attack him. He was narrowing his eyes at everyone, like he didn't recognise anyone he was seeing. His eyes caught sight of myself and Kaden and he snarled, flashing his incisors at the pair of us. I felt Kaden tense under my touch, his body angling itself in front of mine as if to protect me, his hand underneath the table coming to rest on my stomach.

"That is not Carrick anymore." Kaden growls under his breath, his eyes flashing crimson as his wolf begins to surface. "I'm glad that we decided to keep him tied up."

I nod my head and lean into his body, watching as the room continues to shout over the top of each other as they beg for their voice to be heard above all else.

"Why is he here?"

"Why did you keep him alive?!"

"This soldier needs to be killed before he kills us!"

"Quiet!" Kaden snaps, his voice carrying around the room like a harsh wind, biting at the voices of all those shouting, snuffing out the unpleasant cries for attention like a gust would a flame. The council room became quiet, too quiet, as the arguing stopped, and people began to take their seats and glare at the man that was once a friend, now bound and treated like an enemy. "If you want answers you'll let me speak."

Kaden undoes the first button of his suit, releasing a breath before narrowing his gaze onto Carrick. "This supernatural mistake, is, as far as we're aware his first success." Carrick narrows his eyes with hatred at the word mistake. Kaden sends him a malicious grin, turning his attention back to the crowd. "The first being to survive the attempts at the transplants. However, we don't know if he escaped, or was let go. We cannot kill him until we find evidence of what's going on."

"I can help with extracting information." Urgnot Azul grins wickedly, cracking one knuckle with his opposite hand. "I've heard that my fists can be very persuasive."

Boisterous laughter breaks out amongst the orcs, hell I even see some of the vampires across the table crack a smile. Alaric continues to sneer at Carrick like he's the devil reincarnate, before turning to the orc with a grin on his face. "As much as I would love to see him eat your fist Azul, I believe the elves may be better at getting what we want than you."

I see him make eye contact with the elf with bronze eyes, his fangs bared in a grin. "You can still comb through the minds of the broken, can you not, Cassaleia?"

Cassaleia nods slowly, the smile in her eyes coming to rest on her full lips, her hooded eyes darkening as she takes a long, torturous look at Carrick. I can see that his narrowed gaze has widened slightly, his adam's apple bobbing as he swallows almost nervously. "It won't take me long to find out what he knows."

She stands up from her chair, her skirts flowing like silken water. It's effortless, the way she glides across the floor like she's floating, her dress moving around her like it has a mind of its own, bunching then straightening around her delicate ankles, the sound of her heels clicking against the floor the only noise in the room.

I can feel myself holding my breath like everyone else in the room, unable to take my eyes from the elf in front of me. She circles Carrick like a lion would its prey, her smile predatory as she stalks around the mind she sets to break open, letting the secrets leak onto the floor of the room.

"I won't tell you anything bîtch!" Carrick Spurs rabidly as he begins to thrash wildly against his restraints, the look in his blood red orbs manic as he attempts to break free. "You're wasting your time!"

"I could say the same to you." Cassaleia hisses to him, her voice raspy and thick. "I don't need to ask you questions in order to see inside your mine foolish little wolf."

I let my gaze break from the scenes in front of me to gauge the reactions of everyone else. Alpha Nevrakis, a close ally of Kaden, is watching with morbid curiosity, his eyes showing intrigue whilst his face looks almost mortified. Alpha Jax is glaring at Carrick like there is a personal issue between them, whilst both Azul and the Orc sat next to him are grinning wickedly at the sight of Carrick struggling under Cassaleia's watchful eyes.

"Stop...searching...my mind..." Carrick's face is contorted in pain as he grits his teeth and barely lets the words slip from his lips. He falls to his knees, every vein on his neck bulging against the skin as he struggles to keep the elf from his mind.

"Your efforts of blocking your mind off like your master taught you are in vain." Cassaleia laughs hollowly. "As were your attempts of diverting me to false memories. I'm not an amateur at this, wolf, like your master believes I am. Frankly I'm insulated at your pathetic attempts at keeping me out..."

Her face falls slack, I see it, as her eyes shifts through images like they're on a screen in front of her, darting left and right as she tries to keep up. When it stops, Carrick collapses in a heap on the floor, blood dripping from his nostrils like a broken tap, and Cassaleia's eyes widen in horror.

"He was a distraction. His army is already here."

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It turns out, the deeper Cassaleia went into Carrick's mind, the worse it got. This attack had been planned meticulously, hidden underneath false memories implanted in his head, that Carrick had been allowed to see because he was a successful transplant. Turns out, Carrick had been helping him for a long time, he was the one that planted the spell in my head that made me collapse a few months back, he was feeding information to Allivander.

Turns out the moment I arrived, something in Carrick snapped that made him an easy target for Allivander, and when Kaden beat him up for what he said to me, he figured that what Allivander promised was better than his frienship.

Some asshole.

I saw the light leave Kaden's eyes as our resident mind reading elf spoke more and more about what Carrick had done, his face fall blank, his features harden like stone. I've never seen him look so murderously hurt before, not even when I've said things that I have instantly regretted before, not even the time he got so druk he cried. (We don't remind him of that, he gets very annoyed.)

"Jax, Theo, I want you two to liason with my warriors." Kaden says slowly, making direct eye contact with both of the alphas. "I know this isn't your fight, but.."

"Of course this is our fight." Nevrakis growls out, slamming his fist down on the table. "So many of our wolves have lost their wolves, their brothers and sisters that this fight is everyone's fight."

"My orcs are camped out just outside of the border." Azul speaks out, his voice backed up with the thunderous agreement of the orcs at his back, hitting their fists against their chests. "They are yours for whatever you need them."

I feel sick. Sick to the pits of my stomach where I don't usually find feelings. I'm sat around a council room table planning a war strategy with wolves, orcs, elves, vampires and faeries. We are planning on killing our friends and families because we don't know what else to do. We don't know if we can break the mind control, we don't know if we can knock them out and they be normal when they wake up.

There are so many variables that we don't know the answers to and don't want to pass on a whim that killing people we know has become an option.

"Cassaleia." I say suddenly, watching as every pair of eyes lands on me. "Can you look through Carrick's mind to answer one more question."

The elf bows her head in a yes, her bronze eyes looking at me with burning aggression. "What do you want me to find out?"

"I want you to find out if there are soldiers that aren't just wolves, if he has vampires and orcs and faeries fighting for him. I want to know where he's placing each supernatural creature. I want to beat him at his own game."

She raises a pale blonde eyebrow my way, a smirk on her face. Her resemblance to Cate Blanchett is now starting to freak me out a little bit, almost like she's the supernatural doppelgänger. "And how do you suppose we do that, Luna Thorne?"

I feel my cheeks heat up at the sound of her using Kaden's last name to address me. His hand tightens around my stomach, and I look to him to see his handsome face twisted into a smug grin. He knows exactly what I'm thinking, which only makes me blush more.

"He thinks this is going to be difficult for us, killing our own." I cough to allow the strength behind my voice to return, to hide away the childish schoolgirl that blushes when she uses her crushes last name. "It will be, and for that reason we won't be killing members of own species'."

"I don't want to sound rude, Luna." Alaric says slowly, his face squinted as he appears hurt to say his words. "But your plan sucks."

"You haven't even heard all of it yet." I roll my eyes, watching as he looks to me as if to carry on. "What I meant was, wolves won't be killing wolves, and vampires won't be killing vampires etcetera etcetera. We see the battle plans, and we find out where he's concentrating the species' and then make sure we don't copy him."

"I see what you're trying to do." One of the faeries at the table says, one I don't recognise. "Allivander was hoping that Carrick would spy for him, not be used as a tool to spy against him."

"Exactly." I nod my head, letting a cruel smile twist on my face as the panicked look on Carrick's face. "And he always liked to stick his nose in places where it didn't belong, I'm hoping he's seen something Allivander didn't want him to."

Carrick starts struggling violently against the twisted metal binding his wrists, tugging until the cool, poisoned steel starts cutting into his skin. "You won't win, Lattimore. It's inevitable, the destruction of supernatural. There isn't a way that he can be stopped."

I look to Cassaleia and give her a tight lipped nod, and stand up from my chair. I walk over to Carrick, and bend down so that I'm eye level with him. I can see it in his eyes, the fear, but whether it's of me or of Allivander, the emotions are blurred together. Cassaleia stretches her fingers over the wolf's head, his face contorted in struggle as he tries to hide his memories. "Watch me find a way Carrick, and then you'll burn alive for what you've done."

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"Are you sure you don't want me with you, I can still fight even without Shiva..."

"No, my little mate." Kaden says to me with a set conviction. "You're carrying my pup, and you would put my mind at ease knowing that you're here, supporting the rest of the pack than on the battlefield."

I sigh stubbornly through my nose as he kisses me tenderly on the forehead, his large hand resting comfortably against my stomach. Even though it's been over two months, which is far along when it comes to werewolves, where pregnancy lasts four and a half months, there are no physical signs thanks to Viola's spell. It's one of the reasons why I never showed morning sickness over the last few weeks when I should've.

To everyone looking and listening, you can only hear my heartbeat and see my muscular figure caused by years of working out. Nobody in the pack, nobody in the supernatural council, knows about it, and it's best to keep it that way.

"Please do this for me Lola, I'm begging you to stay in here." Kaden looks at me warningly, his forehead resting on mine. "He wants you, and if he gets hold of you and my pup and something happens to you I'll go out of my frogging mind."

I look into the depths of his eyes, and see that he's scared. Terrified even. I know what's at stake, I know what could happen today. But I can't help but feel that separating me from him will make me an easier target, make me less safe. "Okay, but I don't like this."

"Thank you." He breathes against my lips before kissing them firmly, raising his hand to cup my face roughly. He tastes like coffee and mint, his lips soft and familiar. I melt into him, like I always do, and let him take the drivers seat. The kiss is desperate, passionate, emotional, like he's saying goodbye in case something happens to him.

Tears heat the back of my eyes at the though of him leaving me, and I pull away from him, whispering so quietly I fear he may not hear me. "Please come back to me Kaden. I beg you."

He smiles against my lips, kissing me one more time. "I could never leave you even if I wanted to."

And then he turns away from the steps to the bunker and climbs them, his thick scent still clinging to my nostrils like he's still in front of me. I breathe in an out slowly, trying to block out the fact that all of my friends, my family, are fighting against an enemy that wants me, and I'm not allowed to help them.

I turn towards the bunker door to see the last of the packs children and parents that aren't fighter are trickling in, watching me with terrified expressions, and I realise that I do still have a role, an important one. I pull on my cool mask, plaster on a smile, and walk through, closing the door behind me, and muttering the spell that Viola taught me to lock the door with magic, masking our scents and making the bunker invisible, just like Kaden's old log cabin.

The bunker is well kitted out, with warm lighting and hundreds of bunk beds. There are multiple seating areas with various sofas and arm chairs, scattered a fair distance away from one another so the TV's aren't heard in the other sections. There is a large projector screen set up against one wall, a laptop connected to the screen where we can watch films if necessary.

It's cozy, nothing like the bomb shelters you imagine where they're built of concrete, with the bunks carved out of the surrounding stone. If the situation wasn't so severe, it would be quite enjoyable down here.

I see faces are tense, scared, children clutching to their parents as they try to fight back tears. I know my responsibility, some of these wolves from Nevrakis' and Jax's packs, where they don't yet have their motherly Luna figure. I know I don't quite look old enough to provide comfort but I know it's in my best interest to try.

"Did anyone bring any games, films, we can't just sit here." I smile confidently, performing my act perfectly, shoulders relaxing, children digging into their bags to find their fun stuff. "If anyone has Tangled on DVD that's immediately going on the projector."

Hushed chatter starts to begin, as people start to find bunks and make themselves at home. I'm hoping with the information we found in Carrick's mind, this fight won't last very long, that Allivander will be stopped and we can be out of here in no time.

There are enough rations here to last all seven hundred of us for a week, but with nerves and lost appetites, we could last down here for much longer.

A feeling in my stomach lets me know I'd give up my food for someone else without a second thought, especially a child stuck down here. They need their energy to keep up their morale, they need the calories more than I do.

I take a seat on the long sofa right in front of the projector screen, many children coming to sit around me as Tangled is out on the projector.

I feel a small tug on the sleeve of my hoodie, and look as a boy no older than three years old looks at me with wide green eyes, an adorable look on his face. "Can I sit here?"

He points at my lap and I laugh, watching as a startled mother comes running across the room to collect her son. I raise a hand her way and open my arms, letting the little dark haired beauty crawl into my lap and curl up in my arms, his head resting against my chest. "And who are you, little pup?"

"My name is Dane, Luna." The little boy bows his head before grabbing the pullies of my hoodie with his pudgy hands. "Do you know what is happening?"

I try to smile softly at him, his innocence heartwarming to see. I flip him so that he can see the screen, my arms resting across his small legs. "Alpha Thorne is going to have a talk with a wizard, it shouldn't take long."

"Okay." He mumbles, his childlike curiosity satisfied, and his attention diverted to the film. I swallow my verves and mimic Dane, letting my eyes rest on the projector screen, where Flynn Ryder is currently running away from the castle, and I let the sound of Zachary Levi's calm and collected voice lull me into a light sleep.

I wake up suddenly at the feeling of pain in my stomach. The room is dark, the lights off, my now poor, wolfless vision taking a few minutes to adjust to the dim setting. Dane is still sat on my lap, his limp head resting against my arm, his eyes closed, and I try desperately not to wake him as spasms of pain rack my body.

I stand quickly, locating Dane's mother in a bunk not very far away, and place him down beside her, watching as he nestles into her side, her arm instinctively going round him. I turn away and feel my legs buckle, white hot pain ripping up from my lower stomach and grasping at my head in a vice like grip.

I scramble to the nearest bathroom and flick on the light, ripping my shirt up to reveal my stomach. Flowing out from my wolf scar, like hot tar, are thick black veins, spreading out across my whole body. They inch up every inch of exposed skin, over my shoulders, down my arms. I wince when the veins in my neck tighten, black blood creeping up underneath my jaw.

"What the hell?" I gape to myself, gingerly touching the veins on my neck. They're hot and tender to touch, scorching my skin as they pulsate, changing size and pressing out against the thing skin on my neck.

"Lola Lattimore." A voice hisses in the air, as the temperature in the bathroom drops dramatically. The voice sends a chill down my spine as the floor begins to pool with fog, the same fog that was in Olivia's kitchen. I'd recognise that voice anywhere, it has followed me, tormented me for so long that I'd be a fool not to remember. I freeze, and listen carefully, watching as my breath begins to cloud up like heavy mist, feeling like ice against my tongue. "You didn't think you could hide from me forever."

"Why can't you just leave me alone." I whisper so not to wake anyone up, clutching my stomach as another stabbing sensation ripples through my stomach. "You already have Shiva, what more do you need from me?!"

His laughter rips through my body like a biting wind, cold and malicious, and fear hits me like it's never hit me before. Not when rogues attempted to shoot me with a crossbow, or when Kaden and Jasper find me in their territory all those months ago. But now, I'm terrified.

"Come find me where your quest to stop me began, or I'll kill your child, in front of you, and then I'll kill you in front of Kaden. I wonder how he'll take losing everything. I guess you'll have to come to me and we'll never have to find out."

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Hey guys!

How long has it been? 8 Days?! Damn I'm really getting my act together aren't I.

This book is finally drawing to a very dramatic close, and *SPOILER* it ends in a monster plot twist I can guarantee you won't see coming!

I'm feeling very inspired at the moment so I have a strong feeling the next chapter will be up before the end of August, which I hope cheers you up as much as it does me.

What did you guys think of this chapter? Things are finally starting to fall into place and are beginning to click. Carrick is a snakey little bitch that I have to say I've hated ever since I created him, LOL who can say they hate a person they've created.

Me!

Sometimes I have to remind myself he's not actually real so I can only virtually punch him, or get Kaden to do it for me.

Anyways, please let me know in the comments what you thought, and give me a big fact LIKE if you enjoyed this chapter!!

Lots of love,

Lauryn xoxo