#11 Meet Me in the Emerald Forest

Clementine

Lukas kept his arm securely around my waist as we walked out of the diner and down the sidewalk to where his truck was parked. Garrick was out front with his head on a swivel. Suddenly, Lukas went rigid at my side. He skipped to a halt and quickly pulled me behind his towering body. I looked around his side to see a group of wolves standing in the street.

“Are those wolves?” I gasped and was immediately taken back to the night in the woods. Lukas said nothing.

“Get her out of here, Lukas!” Garrick shouted as he ran into the middle of the street, standing between us and the wolves.

“What is he doing?” I nearly yelled, wrestling with the waistband of my jeans where my service weapon was tucked away.

Lukas grabbed my wrist and held my arm still. I looked up at him and he shook his head. For whatever reason, I relaxed under his gaze and dropped my hand. By the time I looked back up, Garrick was nowhere to be found. Instead, there was a large black wolf with his back turned to us. I felt my mouth drop open but no sound came out.

“Come on.” Lukas urged me, dragging me towards the truck again.

A vicious snarl ripped through the street that was now covered in screaming people running in all directions. Lukas shoved me against the side of the truck and turned his back to me, his entire body shielding me from the scene. Another wolf pounced onto the sidewalk. He was just as big as the black wolf but was a sandy color instead. Lukas’ body actually relaxed at the sight of it.

“What the hell is happening, Lukas?” I demanded but received no reply.

“Go, help Raven.” Lukas seemed to be speaking to the wolf. I stared at him like he was insane.

“Lukas!” I shouted as a wolf crept around the truck and towards us. Lukas jumped to the side, positioning himself between the wolf and me.

“Get in the truck, Clem, and don’t come out for any reason.” Lukas demanded.

He opened the door to the truck and practically threw me inside, slamming it shut and facing off with the wolf. I pressed myself against the window, my eyes never leaving Lukas. I gasped and covered my mouth as the wolf lunged towards Lukas. I heard myself calling out his name as the wolf’s jaw clamped around his shoulder. In seconds, Lukas was pinned to the sidewalk as the wolf’s massive paws clawed at his chest. I pushed the door open as hard as I could, slamming it into the wolf. It yelped and rolled off of Lukas.

I had no idea what I was going to do next, but I knew that I had to get to Lukas. I fell out of the truck and covered his body with mine. I peeked up to see the sandy colored wolf ripping apart the smaller wolf. He looked up at us once before running back towards the street.

“Lukas?” I yelled in his face, shaking his shoulder, but he didn’t respond.

“Get in the truck, Clementine.” An eerily familiar voice said from behind me. I jumped and spun around.

“Excuse me?” I snapped.

“My name is Mateo, I’m a friend of Lukas’. Get in the truck so we can get you both to safety.” The man instructed me with an emotionless expression.

He was crazy tall with blonde hair and eyes that flashed from blue to black. He was shirtless and wearing only a pair of low hanging sweatpants. When I didn’t move, he sighed and bent over to pick me up. I complained as he threw me into the truck and shut the door. He put Lukas into the backseat and jumped in the driver’s seat himself.

“What are you doing?” I demanded, studying his face closely. I had no idea why but I knew this man from somewhere.

“He needs medical attention and you need to be kept safe.” He said as he sped off and away from the wolves brawling in the street.

“The hospital is the other way.” I argued, looking at Lukas in the back seat.

“We need to get him to the reservation hospital.” Mateo replied.

“That’s miles away! He needs help now.” I shouted at him, tempted to rip the steering wheel out of his hand.

“Just trust me, Clementine. He needs the reservation.”

Mateo glanced over at me with the same fierce look I often got from Lukas. Something about that expression made me believe that both of these men would jump in front of a moving bus for me. It was intense and confusing.

“Who are you?” I asked quietly.

“I told you….”

“No, not that. Lukas told me you were his best friend and like third in command or whatever. But, I know you from somewhere else.”

Mateo looked at me again with wide eyes and I swear I saw worry flash across his face.

“I don’t know.” He mumbled but I knew he was lying.

I ignored him and looked back at Lukas. Something was calling me towards him so I undid my seat belt and crawled back to sit with him. I put his head on my lap and gently stroked his hair. I caught Mateo watching us in the rearview mirror.

“What?” I snapped at him and he just shrugged with a little grin.

“We’ll be there in less than fifteen minutes.” Mateo informed me and I looked out the window in surprise.

I hadn’t realized how fast Mateo was driving until now. Normally it would take nearly 45 minutes to get from this end of town out to the reservation inside the Emerald forest. It would be a miracle if Mateo’s driving didn’t kill us.

I had never been to the reservation before so I watched out the window as we approached the security gate at the end of a private stone driveway. The driveway was surrounded by tall trees on either side and acted as a runway to a shiny gate. Towering above us were double doors meant to guard the President’s house, not some two hundred year old Native American reservation.

Protruding from the gate on either side was an equally as impressive fence that disappeared into the Emerald forest. Mateo waved urgently to the large men who surrounded the gate and suddenly the doors swung open and we were flying down the road again. It was a long drive until we finally caught sight of civilization, made quicker by Mateo’s rambunctious driving.

I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but a full fledged community hidden behind those gates was not it. All around us were little cottages with beautiful flower beds and winding sidewalks leading from the road to the front door. Occasionally, there was a larger building with signs we were passing by too quickly for me to read. After another few terrifying minutes of Mateo’s driving, he slammed on the brakes and we came to a screeching halt in front of a brick building with a red cross on the door.

Maeto was out of the truck before it had come to a complete stop and already had the door open to the back seat before I had time to process what was going on. He grabbed a still unconscious Lukas and motioned for me to follow them into the building. There was already a flurry of activity waiting for us inside the hospital.

“Put the Alpha down here.” A woman in scrubs said, pushing a gurney towards us. Alpha?

“He was attacked before he could shift. The rogue got him in the shoulder and clawed the shit out of his chest.” Mateo explained in a hurry, raking his hand through his hair in concern.

Lucky for us, the nurse seemed to understand the weird language Mateo was speaking because I sure as shit didn’t.

“Dr. Moreson is already scrubbed in and waiting for him. We have to hurry.” The nurse pushed Mateo away and started running down the hall with Lukas in the bed.

Dr. Moreson? Why did that name sound so familiar?

Mateo seemed to forget that I was still there as he walked up to the receptionist and started talking to the two ladies behind the desk. I looked around and noticed that nobody was paying me any attention. I started feeling awkward so I decided to cut my losses and try to make my own way back home.

“Where are you going, Clem?” Mateo called out right when I reached the front door.

“I was just going to find my own way back home.” I replied with my hand on the door handle.

“Nuh-uh, you’re not going anywhere.” Mateo looked at me seriously.

“What are you talking about?” I sighed.

Mateo glanced at the receptionist ladies and that’s when I realized that everyone in the room was now staring at me. I pulled open the door with the sudden urge to run for the hills. In two seconds flat Mateo was in front of me and his hand was gripping my arm, holding me in place.

“Let go of me, Mateo.” I snapped, trying to shake my arm free from his grip but it was no use, Mateo’s grip was impossibly strong.

“You need to stay here to help Lukas.” Mateo’s face was like stone.

“I’m not a doctor, how am I supposed to help?” I glared at him.

“You just….do.” Mateo huffed, looking frustrated.

“Oh, geez, thanks, that clears it all up.” I sassed, “If you don’t let go of me right now you’re going to regret it.” I warned him.

“Clementine, please, don’t make me do this.” He sighed and I felt my instincts kick into overdrive.

“I don’t even know how you know my name!” I shouted at him before successfully freeing my arm from his grip.

“I’m Lukas’ best friend, you can trust me.” Mateo pleaded with me.

“I don’t even trust Lukas, I barely know him.” I argued.

“Just wait until he wakes up, he’ll explain everything. Just, right now he needs you to stay near him to give him strength.” Mateo’s eyes pinched together as he reached out towards me again.

“I am not staying here and I don’t want anything to do with whatever weird cult situation this is.” I waved my hands around dramatically and felt my shirt lift up.

Mateo’s eyes snapped towards the waistband of my pants and everyone shuffled uncomfortably in the room. I didn’t have to look down ot know what they were looking at, I felt the cool weight of my service weapon against my skin.

“Didn’t Lukas mention that I’m an FBI agent? Some friend he is. I suggest you back off before you end up in handcuffs.” I rested my hand on the gun.

Mateo sighed loudly and nodded at someone behind me. I figured that was his way of conceding so I turned towards the door, ready to bolt. That’s when I felt something sharp pinch my neck. I whipped around just in time to see one of the nurses retreating with a syringe.

“What did you do?” I yelled but my vision was already turning black.

“It was just a sedative, you’re safe, Luna.” The nurse said.

“What….” What did you just call me? Was what I wanted to say but my tongue suddenly felt numb and I lost control of my legs. I would have collapsed to the ground had someone not caught me.

“She’s not going to thank you for this, Gamma.” I heard someone say but I was already too confused to add another question to my growing list of questions.