Chapter 32: Chapter 32

“Allie, we must go back to the pack house at once. I need to check on my potions without delay,” Melissa said, urgently.

Brad sent two warriors to follow the scent of rogues to see where they had come in the border.

“I’m going to orb back to the pack house, sweetheart. I’ll be in the potions room,” Melissa said to me. I nodded and she orbed out.

“Luna, we should go,” Brad said, looking around, “It’s not safe here.”

The remaining warriors surrounded us as we rushed back to the pack house. The journey back was a blur. My whole world felt like it was falling away from under my feet, leaving me feeling hollow. Everything was playing out in front of me in slow motion.

“Come on Allie,” Lana pleaded, “We have to keep it together.”

“I’m trying, Lana,” I said, “But I need him. We need him. All of us.”

“We’ll find him,” she said, “But you have to be strong. We are a team, ok?”

I tried to be strong, but the mate bond was stopping me. I ached for him. I felt all of Reece’s despair and all his pain through our connection. It was exhausting and excruciating.

Once at the pack house, everything happened quickly. I felt detached from reality as I watched everyone bustling about around me; Brad was briefing the warriors, Penny was floating around checking if anybody needed anything, bringing me a glass of water and sitting me down.

I kept trying to mind link him, but still nothing. Feeling numb and empty, I couldn’t stop the tears from falling. I felt Penny wrap her arm around my neck resting under my chin, standing behind me, hugging me. My hands touched my belly. Soft tingles crept up my fingers and a comforting warmth spread over the palm of my hand. Our pup. I smiled; our little pup was reminding me to stay strong.

I squeezed Penny’s arms around my neck. I turned to her, smiling, “Thank you. I needed that.” I wiped my tears away, took a deep breath and stood up from my chair. I would sit and mope no longer. I was Luna of this pack and I needed to start acting like it.

“I’ll be in the potion room,” I said, and left the room before anyone had a chance to respond. I raced to the potion room and burst through the door. Plants in pots covered each surface and dozens of empty vials littered in between them. She had certainly been busy. There were several cauldrons on a bench against one wall, each one filled with a different coloured liquid bubbling away.

“Can I help?” I said, determinedly. Melissa was busy at a large table, sorting through empty vials.

“Yes,” she said, enthusiastically, “The plant is ready!”

“Oh, thank the Moon Goddess!” I cried.

“Help me pour this into these vials, sweetheart. We need one for each warrior,” she instructed.

“Ok,” I said, and I grabbed a bunch of empty vials.

“This potion is for protection against dark magic,” she explained, handing me a funnel. “Quickly, my darling. We must work quickly.”

I started to fill them steadily and popped a bung in each of the vials.

“What about the potion to find Lucien?” I asked, “Is it ready yet?”

“I added the plant to it already. It needs a few more minutes until its ready.” She said as she stirred the cauldron nearest to her, flitting her attention to another cauldron to her right in tandem.

“Ok, I will tell Brad that the protection potions are ready for the warriors,” I said, as we filled the last vial.

“Thank you, honey. Can you have the warriors come here to collect their vial?” she asked. I nodded and closed my eyes to mind link Brad.

“Brad, bring all the warriors to the potion room, please. The protection potion is ready,” I said.

“Yes, Luna.”

I ended the mind link, but as soon as I did, I heard something faint come over mind link. It was quiet though and I could barely make it out.

“Allie,” barely a whisper.

“Mate! It’s our mate,” Lana cried.

“Not now Lana!” I screamed. “Quiet!”

I strained to hear. “Allie. Can you hear me?”

“Reece, is that you?” I said. He sounded so different. “What is happening? Where are you? Are you hurt?”

“I don’t know,” he said, weakly.

“Are you ok?” I asked.

“Wolfsbane,” he said. My blood ran cold. He was being poisoned. Once wolfsbane was in your system, you could no longer heal and would need the antidote to flush it from your system.

“Lucien,” he said.

“I’m coming, Reece. You have to hold on. We’ll find you,” I told him.

“No, it’s a trap,” he whispered, sounding more and more distant.

“Reece! Reece!” I cried. But it was no use. He was gone, too weak to keep mind linking.

Lana howled in my head, and the emptiness was all-consuming, completely overwhelming. The room was spinning and I felt myself swaying.

Brad came through the door of the potion room, followed by Penny, just at that moment and caught me before I fell. He guided me to a chair and plopped me down onto it.

“Reece mind linked me! Just now!” I said to Brad. Penny knelt in front of me to check I was ok.

“Is he ok? Where is he?” he asked desperately.

“He is weak. He said he’s being poisoned with wolfsbane by Lucien,” I told him, “But he doesn’t know where he is being held. He said it’s a trap and we shouldn’t search for him.”

“Oh, man,” he said, rubbing his face, “Wolfsbane will be making Maddox weaker and weaker.”

“We need to find him, Brad. And quickly,” I demanded.

Melissa was handing out the vials of potion to each of the warriors and gave them instructions on when they should be used.

“Once we have located his hideout, we will have warriors at every exit, surrounding it,” Brad said.

“Melissa, can you cast a spell to hide our scent? We need to be hidden until we find the hideout. The element of surprise will be crucial,” Brad asked.

“Yes, I can do that. But it will have a time limit and will work for only 30 minutes. You will need to be quick,” she said.

“Ok,” he said, “That should be enough time.”

“We should let the Elders know what is happening,” I suggested.

“Yes, Luna,” Brad said. He mind linked the council and filled them in on what was happening here.

“They are going to send some wolves from the council to us here,” Brad told us. “How’s the potion coming along, Melissa?”

“It’s almost ready, Beta,” she said.

“Great, once all the preparations are sorted and the council get here, we can leave,” he said.

“How long will they be?” I said, anxiously.

“They are on their way and should be with us within the hour,” he confirmed. The Elders were keen to capture Lucien as soon as possible. News that a siren has been discovered has made them act with surprising urgency.

“Good, I want to leave as soon as possible,” I said. Brad looked at me with a stunned expression on his face, his mouth gaping open slightly. It was several seconds before he could speak, as he visibly struggled finding the words to say.

“Luna, you have to stay here where you will be safe!” he finally said, “Penny will stay with you.”

Penny instantly scrambled to my side. Brad rolled his eyes and he knew he had said the wrong thing.

“I’m going,” we both said at the same time. We looked at each other in joint defiance, her eyes bright with her newfound confidence.

“No, no, no way. Nah-uh. Absolutely not! You cannot be serious?” he babbled, pacing around the room.

“Honey, calm down,” Penny said. He walked up to Penny and stood in front of her taking both her hands in his.

“Baby, what are you doing? Do you have any idea how dangerous this is going to be?”

“Yes, I’m fully aware,” she said, indignantly “but if I have a chance to kick this guy in the balls ‘til he cries, I’m going to take it!”

I couldn’t help but stifle a giggle. She can be feisty sometimes! And today she meant business, and so did I.

“It's not funny, Luna!” he said.

“Brad. I am one of, if not the most, powerful werewolf in this pack. I’m going with you to kick this guy’s ass and get my Alpha back. And there’s nothing you can do to stop me. As your Luna, I am telling you I will be coming along. And so will Penny.”

“What about the pup?” he said. Shit. I had momentarily forgotten about that, my mind totally consumed with my mate. Well played Beta! I took a moment to find an answer.

“I realise it’s a dangerous mission. I honestly do, but I cannot and will not stand back and do nothing. I refuse to raise this pup alone and I’m taking back what’s mine. Reece would do the same for me,” I said firmly. I had to do everything I could to make sure this pup had a father. A life without Reece would be no life at all and our bond was so strong, I seriously doubt I would survive if he died and our bond was severed.

Brad tried one last time to convince Penny to stay, his anxiety hitting epic proportions.

"Please, baby. Please stay here," he begged her.

"This pack saved my life. You saved my life. I have to do this. Please trust me," she said softly, as she stroked his face. He let out a breath and his shoulders sagged in defeat.

“Fuck,” Brad cursed, shaking his head, “Reece is going to kill me.”

“Allie, Penny, are you sure about this?” Melissa asked, looking concerned.

“Yes,” I confirmed. She smiled. Penny nodded her agreement.

“Just like your mother,” she nodded, smiling. “Ok then. I will come with you also. We don’t know to what extent he is using dark magic. If his dark witch is there, I will try and neutralize her power.”

“So, we’ll all go,” I said. Brad did not look happy. Deep frown lines had set on his forehead, and his arms were crossed firmly. I could understand his frustration. It had taken Penny a long time to recover, physically and emotionally, and it had been a long few weeks.

“Look,” I said to him, “I know it’s not what you want and yes, it will be dangerous, but we will be stronger together.”

Penny reached for his hand. “It will be ok, honey. I know it will.” He still didn’t look happy, but his face had softened, and I knew that the mate bond was calming him.

I checked on the potion with Melissa. “I think it’s ready now,” she said. She poured the orange liquid into a delicate vial and corked it.

“The council are at the borders. I will go and meet them,” Brad said, and left the room, still sulking.

“Help me push these tables aside, Allie,” she said, “we need some space for this. Penny, you too dear.” We each carefully pushed a table to the edge of the room, leaving a large space in the centre.

“Now I will need to smash this potion and say the spell,” she explained, “then the location should reveal on the map.” She pointed to a large paper map spread out on a large table in the corner.

“Ready?” she asked. I nodded. My nerves were shot to pieces right now. I couldn’t relax or settle and each moment I was separated from Reece made it worse and worse. I stood next to her as she smashed the vial on the floor and said the spell. Smoke started to rise from the potion. We looked over to the map, but nothing happened.

Agonising seconds ticked by but still nothing happened. Penny looked from me to Melissa, confused.

“Erm, shouldn’t something be happening?” she asked quietly.

“The location should highlight on the map, showing a beacon of light,” Melissa said with a frown on her face, and pacing up and down the room. “I must have got the potion wrong, or the spell maybe.” She rushed over to her notes to check the potion and began frantically flipping through the pages of her notebook.

“I did everything right. I don’t understand what happened!” she cried.

Brad came through the door and looked to each of us as he surveyed the scene before him. “What’s going on?”

“We were trying the spell to find Lucien, but it hasn’t worked,” I told him.

Lana howled and whimpered relentlessly in my head, desperate for her mate. “It’s ok Lana. We will try something else.”

“How are we going to find his hideout?” asked Brad, his voice filled with growing concern.

“I’m not sure,” Melissa said softly.