A LUNA'S SHADOWS (RE-WRITE IN PROGRESS)

(Adira)

The floor beneath the building shook, it shifted, and the first sounds were the growls, something completely indescribable. Growls of nightmares. A shadowy beast climbs from the ground beneath. Its teeth bared and pearly wolverine-type claws glimmered from its huge paws. A growl was so loud that even the walls shook echoed from its bear-like jaws. The whispers stopped instantly. Most had cleared the room. The brave few that remained hung near the exit. A bubble appeared to shelter me, moving any fireball Jayce threw at me to float like a helium balloon through it. Jayce bolted to me. But he never made it. Instead, he was thrown to the other side of the room. He shifted, calling to me in his full nakedness. Nothing but muffled sounds made it through the bubble as I laid there, trapped in the memories of torture. I felt what was happening around me, but I felt trapped here. I felt the pain and the injuries all over again.

I felt his breath on my neck again; I felt myself cry with hopeless loss. I felt I wouldn’t see my family again. That together we were all trapped by different enemies. The lulling effects of sleep only caused nightmares. All the tears I had cried, all the moments I wanted to die. They are here, haunting me. Despite my name being called, despite the rampaging creature hunting Jayce. A wolf that gave me fireworks and sparks inside me like no one else ever had. Despite all that, I couldn’t stop it. Not until I numbed the pain and dark hole inside my mind that Vlad had caused. The entire training area lit up in a glowing flame. A gurgling growl of the creature was the last sound I heard before I curled up into a ball. That was the exact example of why I had refused. This wasn’t anything useful. This is a power resulting in death. Hands pulled me to my feet. I watched his lips but everything was silent. Barely able to stand on my feet, I waited for the sound to return. Knowing they would kick me out, we would be on our own.

“With training, we can control it!” He said excitedly, just as a pup would over a day in the forest.

“I’m sorry, what?” I said bluntly.

“You have the spirit gene!” He exclaimed.

“And that’s a good thing?” I asked sceptically.

“You could turn the war around. With some training, it could be what we need!” Jayce said with his annoying smile.

“No, I don’t want to be some tool.” I growled.

“That’s not what I meant.” His face softened.

“I just want to find my family and get out of here.” I said.

“We could help you, we planned a raid at the end of the month.” Jayce said.

“Fine, I will be here until then.” I said.

“You’re not trapped here, I promise you.” He whispered.

I wanted to believe him. But, with so little faith, it will be difficult. He led me to where Elijah sat and in one glance; I spotted him stroking a girl’s hair. I recognized her as the copper-haired girl who had been behind Jayce in the alley. Slowly they turned their gaze to me. The copper girl smiled a big smug smile that I was about to wipe off her face. Elijah went white. He stood up, waving his hands in a panic like some desperate attempt to calm me down. The entire eating area fell quiet. Most of them had been wolves from the training ring earlier. Jayce spun me to face him, panicked. Suddenly the copper-haired girl was in my face and held a knife to my neck. I shoved her off me and felt the cool blood drip from my throat. I didn’t care. The area filtered out. Wolves picked their pups up and darted away. The girl smiled.

“Kaylee, what are you doing?” Jayce growled.

“Protecting my mate.” She growled.

“You could have handled this differently.” He growled.

“And let this girl kill us all?” She said.

“Are you stupid?” I said sarcastically.

“No, but your baby emotions are if you can nearly kill our alpha.” She growled.

The earth cracked open, the growls from over one creature. Once again, Jayce pulled me to face him. Our eyes meet and his calm fills me. How? I didn’t know, but the earth stopped moving and pulled itself back together.

“Just leave Kaylee.” He growled.

“Fine, but if that bitch comes near me. Watch out.” She spat.

“Leave!” Jayce growled.

He holds me with his golden eyes, the eyes of alpha and the flames feel so calming compared to Vlad’s electric bolts. I didn’t understand how quickly my world changed, had I lost Elijah? Mates? I thought it was all fantasy, but is it true? Do I have a mate? Is this the power of an alpha? My alpha bloodline, is it weak? What if my family is dead? A million questions bubbled over and over again.

“How about a walk?” Jayce asked, pulling me from my mind.

“Does that help?” I sighed.

“Sometimes, I thought I had found my mate once...Then she found hers and he wasn’t me.” He sighed.

“Sorry to hear,” I mumbled.

“Come on, I had a beta bring clothes to your room.” He said.

“Thank you.” I replied.

He walked me to my room; I swore I would need a map to get around this maze of a building. I think it was once a shopping centre. Probably in the part of town that was evacuated a few years ago. They had built halls and rooms out of metal sheets, probably to cater for the growing pack. I assume they always found wolves like me, the poor souls who had been misplaced. The government had done this to both humans and wolves, completely unnecessary. All my years with Elijah flashed to the front of my mind. I wanted to cry, to scream, but I walked into my room, numb. Unable to feel, I had experienced so much since uncle Jay’s phone call and now I felt as if I could not feel. I felt alone, more alone than I had ever felt. Elijah had been the last scrap of my old life. Now I felt as if it had cast me into a set of headlights of a truck. Frozen in time as I waited for it to flatten my body.

I spent my time training, distracting my brain from all the surrounding chaos. I barely looked at Elijah, knowing I would break his nose. But reminding myself that you don’t choose mates. Jayce had taught me a little about that part of wolf life. Though if I had my way, I might send Kaylee to the depths... Just for the knife to my throat and for her smug smile every time I pass her. Oh, I needed to hurt her. Our brief conversations now comprised throwing words back and forth. Sometimes she threw a knife or two. Two weeks, and I hadn’t spoken a word to Elijah. Instead, I counted the days until I saw my family. If I focused on him, I may just grieve for us, for all that we were, and maybe take this entire pack house with the tremors that come with my power.

“Hey new wolf?” someone whispered into my ear.

“Adira.” I corrected and faced her.

“Looks like Kaylee is having fun with you?” She giggled.

“Look, I can’t be bothered with this.” I rolled my eyes.

High school all over again.

“Oh, that’s not how it came across.” She sighed.

“Maybe I am just defensive at the moment.” I shrugged.

“I’m Viv, maybe you want a girl on your side?” She smiled.

“Adira, as you already know.” I smiled.

“Want to have lunch?” She asked.

“I just came from there, I was about to train for a bit, get my head in place.” I sighed.

“Hey, how about you test your skills on me?” She grinned.

“What’s your gene?” I asked with raised eyebrows.

“That wouldn’t be a lot of fun if I told you.” She chuckled.

Viv smiled with every move, a breath of fresh air against all the serious fighters here. Despite some superficial injuries, we both laughed at the end. Her gene was the ability to grow vines, and she could be sneaky about it. More than once she had my knotted vines up my legs and some had thorns. Her red hair and glowing green eyes made me think if she had been in a movie, she would be the exact actress they would cast. The countdown was on for the raid; I was almost excited about it.