One Fateful Night

I watch the scenery as it flies by and I continue with my internal battle of coming to grips with what I will see once I reach Blood Moon. The likeliness of there being survivors was extremely slim, especially considering the battle had occurred two days ago. We pull up to the ashes of our once beautiful pack house, and I felt like I was going to break down. Stay strong Emily, we need to do this! I thought to myself as I began to focus on the backyard, a majority of the pack was there for the party so if they fled, it would be in the woods behind the pack house. My eyes happened to come across the food and drink tents that were shredded with nothing left but overturned tables inside. It’s hard to believe that these same tents housed so many laughing and talking just two nights prior. I made my way to the bonfire area where Josh and I sat and laughed as we people-watched; as those memories came back emptiness filled my heart.

Taking a deep breath, I stop in my tracks and listen to my surroundings, as nature continues on like nothing ever happened; I hear the birds chirping and trees rustling in the distance. Not hearing anything out of the ordinary, I began to turn around to walk back to the car. Suddenly, I hear what sounds like faint sobbing behind me. I quickly turn around and begin to follow the crying, it leads me across the yard into the Pup Play Area and to a tree house above me. Climbing the ladder, I come face to face with a crying little boy who looks at me and screams.

“I am not here to hurt you! I am here to help you!” I exclaim as I stop in my tracks. As his screams turn into full sobs, I look down at him, he looks totally exhausted and very pale, and his little brown eyes are lifeless and puffy from all the crying he has been doing. I slowly walk towards the distraught pup and place my arms around him.

“I can’t find Mommy and Daddy.” He looks at me tears streaming down his cheeks. I quickly wrap him in a tight hug.

“It’s going to be alright baby, but I would like to take you away from here so you will be safe. Can you please come with me so we can get some food and try to figure out where your Mommy and Daddy are?”

As he continues to cry, and gasps for air he managed to nod his head. I pick him up and carefully carry him to the edge of the tree house.

“I am going to need you to crawl down the ladder for me and I will walk you to our car. You will meet my Uncle and his friends. None of them will hurt you. Ok?”

He nods his head and looks at me. “What’s your name?” He asked.

“My name is Emily, but you can call me Em. What is your name?”

“My name is Lucas; will we be able to find Mommy and Daddy?”

I frowned at the thought of lying to the child, the disappointment of losing both parents is hard enough for me, and I could only imagine how he would do upon hearing the sad news. “I’m not sure but I will keep you safe and make sure you are taken care of while we try.”

He smiled and nodded as I made my way down the ladder and he soon followed. Picking Lucas up, I walked to the car as Alexander ran towards me carefully taking him from me and carrying him to the car.

“There is no one else, let’s move on,” I said as we piled in the car and buckled ourselves in.

With still five hours to drive to the Midnight Rain Pack, I put my arm around Lucas and let him sleep. This boy has been through hell the past two days; I can at least protect him as he sleeps. I laid my head against the window and slowly fell asleep as well. I woke up to a tapping on my arm and a quiet “Em I’m hungry”. I smiled at the little boy as I remembered I had some granola bars in my bag that I packed for my walk. Grabbing one out of the bag I opened it up and handed it to him.

“We are almost there now; here is something you can munch on until we arrive”. He gives me a toothy grin and happily begins munching on the granola bar.

I notice the car slows to a stop as we sit in front of a large gate. A guard walks up to the car to confirm its riders, while I look to the left and see a man just staring at us with pure shock. I looked at his features and he looked so familiar. Wait! I know this man!! I thought to myself as I jumped out of the car, I walk over to Roberto, a Blood Moon Guard, and ask “Roberto, Is it really you?”

He continues to stare at the car as tears stream from his eyes. I follow his gaze to see what he is looking at and realize he is staring at Lucas. I have been sitting in the back seat with his son, turning back to look at him I smile at the shocked man.

“Go to him,” I say as he returns my smile and sprints to the vehicle.

The excited screaming of Lucas screaming “DADDDDDYY!!” surrounds us all as he jumps out of the car to hug his father. With happy tears flowing I look at them and thank the Moon Goddess I went back to Blood Moon.

The sound of closing doors interrupts my thoughts as I see two men walk up to us.” Alpha Alexander, I presume? My name is Alpha Hedrick, this is my Beta Richard. Looking at Hedrick, I estimate he was close to 6′5"; he had a very skinny build that was accentuated by his muscles. His dark red hair is cut close to his head giving him a very scholarly look.

Beta Richard, on the other hand, was close to the height of Hedrick, but his muscles were huge he had black hair and blue eyes that were to die for. He just nodded at me and began staring at Lucas and Roberto who were playing and enjoying each other’s company. “I’m so glad someone got a happy ending,” he exclaimed. “Roberto, take the afternoon off and spoil that little man!” I couldn’t help but smile as we walk back to our cars to drive to the pack house.