Hallowed Moon
Hallowed Moon:2526words
Update Time:2024-11-01 09:41:00
[Trent]I was still with Maeve until about four in the afternoon. We tried to find Rock, but he was nowhere. The reports Maeve had were that even more people, mostly trolls, had disappeared.Even though I understood his distress and anger, rushing into the situation wouldn’t help. We weren’t ready, but we needed to gather our troops and get ready to attack as well. Victor would be up soon, but neither he nor his vampires could join us until around eight o’clock.We split up to get our people ready. I had the harder job of telling Gemma about Austin. This wasn’t something we could keep secret from her. I just hoped she didn’t blame Carmen for Austin being taken. Since she was the target, we knew Austin wouldn’t have been taken if he weren’t with Carmen.Ben and Mike met me in my office after I arrived back at the packhouse. Neither of them knew what I was doing when I left. I wasn’t only worried about telling Gemma about Austin. I had to tell my Beta that his little sister was in the hands of the cult.“Have a seat,” I told them when they entered.They looked at me oddly, because what else would they do? They always came in and sat down. I was having trouble dealing with all of this. Rock blamed us for Carmen being taken, and I understood, but I worried my friends would blame me, too.I told them about every decision we’d made in every meeting we’d had. Ben and Mike knew as much as I did. They knew what I kept from others and what I shared. They wouldn’t have the same objections Rock did, but they might say I wasn’t taking the threat against Carmen seriously enough.She wasn’t like Queen Ivy’s husband. He was a royal and had guards with him at all times when he went to the human city. We thought Carmen would be safe with the troll who was watching her. I didn’t think it was as much of a threat as it was. I should have known better.“What’s going on, Trent? You’re pacing a lot and that isn’t like you,” Ben said.“Did something new happen with the cult investigation?” Mike asked.“This afternoon Austin and Carmen went to the store to pick up food for lunch at the office…” I started. Mike immediately tensed. “When Austin was returning the cart, some men attacked him. They knocked him unconscious and went after Carmen’s guard. Carmen left the car, and the men surrounded her. From what I saw on the video, they didn’t hurt her, but they took Austin and she went with. We think they used Austin to make her do what they wanted.”Ben rubbed his eyes with one hand and slid it down his face to cup his chin. “Gemma’s gonna be beside herself. How was Rock handling it?”“Not well. He abducted Rhett and took off with Carmen’s guard. We haven’t seen him since. I think he’s going after the cult, but we searched everywhere and other members of the fae community started disappearing. Maeve thinks he’s gathering an army to go after his mate and Austin,” I explained.Mike stood up. “When are we leaving? I can have the warriors ready within an hour. We can send a message to the vampires and have them come in once they’re up for the night. Did you want me to get Harmony, or were you going to get her?”“Mike–”“No. We are not leaving my little sister with those people. Harmony had her baby, and that was all we were supposed to be waiting on before we could go after them. We’re done waiting,” he growled.“It’s not that easy. We have an alliance. We need to coordinate with Maeve, Saleh, and Victor be–”“NO! That witch hasn’t been working with us and blows off meetings. What has she given us from her spy? Nothing. She isn’t our ally. If anything, that bіtch is our enemy. She’s just hoping we’ll take the brunt of the attack and save her people without her having to risk them AGAIN!”My wolf didn’t like my Beta shouting at me and taking an aggressive stance. He was understandably upset. Mike had always been protective of his sister. It was a lot more than the way Ben and I were protective of our younger siblings.“Please, take a breath, Mike, before you do something you regret,” Ben said carefully.“Gemma needs to know her mate is missing and being held by people who have no regard for human life. She needs to know they used her mate as a bargaining chip to get her best friend to go with them.”“You don’t think Gemma would blame Carmen for this?” I asked.He looked at me incredulously. “It didn’t matter who went with her. They wanted her. They would have taken whoever she was with. It’s not like Carmen picked him because she thought he could protect her. She trusted the troll watching her to do that. She picked Austin because he’s her friend, too, and she wanted to spend time with him. Gemma will understand.”“Mike has a point. We’re werewolves. We don’t see things the same way as other species. You know that. Did Maeve make you think Gemma would blame Carmen?” Ben asked.She had voiced a concern when I said that I needed to tell Gem about Austin. Admittedly, I thought most people would see things the way I did, but I’d learned that they didn’t. Rock blamed us for this when we had little to do with it. All we knew was that Oberon asked about Carmen.He never asked about Austin. Though he asked about Pyla, she stayed in the fae lands and almost never left. Glamour was harder for her than it was for a normal troll because she was also hiding her tail. And Ewan was protected by his guards when he left the fae lands, which was also rare.It was obvious that Carmen was the target and Maeve got me thinking that Gemma might see this as Carmen not caring about Austin’s safety. They were right. All Carmen and Austin were thinking about was spending time together. They were roommates for months and got close while he was healing.I wasn’t thinking clearly. “I’m sorry. You’re right. Mike, I want you to go get Harmony. They only have one car and Cam takes it to work, so she’ll need a ride. She just pupped not too long ago. Ben, do you want to call Gemma in? We need to find out what she wants to do.”Ben scoffed. “Gemma is going to want to go find her mate. She’s a good fighter, but I don’t want her there. It’s too dangerous and there is already a large fighting force put together.”“We have to give her the option. She’s a ranked blood wolf. This is her mate,” I replied.Mike didn’t add anything. He knew when he was dismissed. He needed the drive, which is why I was sending him out to get Harmony instead of just linking her.A few moments later, Gemma came into the office. Ben got up and took her to the couch. She had been smiling, but that smile faded as he sat with her and held her hand.“What’s going on, Alpha?” Gemma asked.“Something happened today in the human town. Carmen and Austin were abducted. We’re fairly certain it was the cult in the area that has been gathering supernaturals. We don’t know exactly why they wanted Carmen, but they used Austin to make her comply and go with them,” I told her.Gemma was stone still. Her knuckles were white as she gripped her cousin’s hand with all her might, but her face didn’t change. Her eyes were wide and her jaw clenched. Gemma was breathing slowly as if she was trying to hide from someone.“We’re planning to go after them, Gemma, but we need to know if you want to go with us. I know you’re not a trained warrior, but you know how to fight. You have ranked blood, and it’s your mate. We’ll accept whatever you want to do.”“They have Austin and Carmen?” she asked in a whisper.“Yeah. Rock is going, and we have many people on our side. You don’t have to go if you don’t think you can handle the fight,” Ben replied gently.“Did you tell Austin’s parents yet?”“Not yet. You’re his mate. You get first notification,” I said.She wasn’t taking it well. Gemma started shaking. She was only twenty-two and just found her mate. His being in danger was a lot for her to process.“Gem…. I know it’s a lot to handle, sweetheart, but we need to know what you want to do here. Do you want to come with us?” Ben asked.Gemma looked at me, then at Ben. “I… I don’t know. What if I mess something up and something bad happens? What if I die in the fight and he has to live without me because I wasn’t skilled enough to stay alive for him? What if I fail and he dies? Do you think they’re planning to kill him? Oh, Goddess, what am I going to do?”Her previously frozen demeanor shattered, and she started hyperventilating while tears streamed down her face. No matter her bloodline, Gemma was just a young woman whose mate was in danger. It was one thing to defend yourself, but that didn’t mean you were ready to go to war.“You don’t have to go, Gem. You can stay here with Austin’s parents and my mom and dad. We’ll go get him,” Ben murmured while rubbing her back.“What if they kill him before you can bring him back? What if he dies?”We couldn’t answer that. It was the question for everyone. What if we didn’t get there in time? What if Rock didn’t? We didn’t know what the plan was for Carmen. Were they planning to use Austin to keep her compliant longer or were they going to kill him once Carmen was brainwashed, too?If he were dead, Gemma would have said something. I could see the mark on her shoulder still, so I knew he was alive. Austin was one of my people and he needed me. We couldn’t waste time.I’d call Maeve and leave a message for Victor. The Hallowed Moon Pack was joining Rock and his people. The rest of the fae and the vampires could come in later.“What’s the right answer, Alpha? I don’t know what to do. Why is this happening to us? I promised him I would always have his back and take care of him. I should be there, right? I should be there to save him. What if I’m not as strong as I think I am?”She may have said ‘Alpha’, but it didn’t seem like she was really talking to me. I don’t think Gemma ever thought she would have to protect Austin from anything short of a hunter attack. This was different. We knew everything about what would happen if hunters attacked. There was no telling what would happen with this cult.“Gem, stay here. I’m going to take our best warriors and go get your mate. Ben, I want you to stay here, too. Mike needs to go because his sister is there, but Gemma needs her family around her. We’re going to take care of this, trust me,” I told them.Ben didn’t look happy, but we couldn’t have the entire leadership out there. Keeping one back ensured there was someone to train the future Alpha and Beta and someone to keep the pack running with our mates.Gemma nodded her head and leaned against her cousin. I felt for her, but there wasn’t anything more I could do. This was the right decision. She was in no condition to fight. I didn’t want her to push herself into it and end up dead. We would do everything in our power to bring her mate back safely.‘Trent, Harmony’s not here,’ Mike linked me.‘What? Did you check at Cam’s parents’ house?’‘Yeah, I checked both. She left the baby with Cam’s parents and said there was something important she needed to take care of. Harmony left milk and things for the baby to stay there all night,’ he replied.‘Get back here. We’re getting ready to go. She’s probably with the trolls.’Harmony somehow found out Rock was going in and went along. Damn it. I linked the head warrior and had him activate our top three elite warrior teams. The cult was large, but I didn’t know how many were trained to fight. I did know there were some species in it that wolves couldn’t take on one on one.“Ben, take Gemma to your office and help her calm down. Then I want you two to go talk to Austin’s family and stay with them until we get this resolved. We’re heading out as soon as everything is ready,” I told them.“Yes, Alpha,” they answered and got up to leave my office.Gemma stopped and turned around, then hugged me. “Please save my mate and my friend. Tell them I’m sorry I couldn’t come, but I’m waiting for them here.”“I’m going to find them and bring them home, Gemma,” I vowed.“I trust you, Alpha. Goddess watch over you.”With that, she went back to her cousin and left the office. It really was for the best. Gemma wasn’t a warrior, and she didn’t want to be in the way while we were fighting.While I waited for Mike to return, I pulled out the information we had on the location of the cult. I didn’t know how Rock planned to get that, but I was fairly certain he found a way.“Alpha, good afternoon,” Rhett said from behind me.I turned to find him sprawled on my couch as if he hadn’t been abducted by trolls a few hours ago. Rhett lazily reached into his coat and pulled out a folded paper.“This is the layout of the cave system. I can mark the places where people can get in based on size, then I have to go. We’re leaving for the cultist’s den shortly,” Rhett told me.“You’re going back with them?”“They need me. Organize with your allies. Rock and Queen Ivy are expecting the pack, fae, and vampires as backup. Their team is made up mostly of fae, but they also have Cam, Harmony, and Grayson with them, as well as the people who work for Rock in his company.”“Queen Ivy?”“Yes, it seems the cult took her husband as well. I didn’t get all the details, but she is rather upset about the whole situation.”Rhett got up and came to the desk, where he spread out the paper he’d been holding. He marked the entrances for me and explained how the first wave was attacking. As my phone rang, Rhett disappeared.Maeve was on the other end. She was upset because two of her children had gone off to fight the cult without telling her. It sounded like Rock had put together quite the army. It was our turn to gather our forces. The second wave would take a while to put together. I hoped Rock’s team didn’t fall before we got there to relieve them.