Getting close to the manor is easier than I thought it would be. Domi was right about the fact the valley
is almost like a deserted prison camp. Everything around the manor is still and empty while the valley
has all those who are no longer loyal to their alpha, pushed away. Separated by electric fences,
speakers playing nonstop the silent frequency to stop the vampire weapon being used against them.
The whole place is eerie, like a deserted army barracks and strangely dark despite all the spotlights
hanging from posts. None are on.
It’s almost like the aftermath of a battle in itself and if it weren’t for the distant chaotic noise of a real
war going on, it would be as silent as the surface of the moon. There are no birds, no small animals,
not even any kind of patrols and all the security cameras are facing the ground.
It feels like life has slipped away in what used to be a bustling busy home filled to the brim with an
eager pack. Most of the windows are boarded and with only the moonlight as illumination, the place
looks like a haunted house in some spectacular horror remake.
“I don’t like this.” I murmur to myself as Sierra and Carmen turn human and come to my side, pushing
Radar and my other flanking wolf aside. We stand staring up at the dark building, no longer afraid of
danger when the nothingness surrounds us. You can sense the fact that there is nothing here to be
afraid of.
“Are they even in there?” Carmen steps in front of me and peers long and hard at the top west tower
and its balcony. The room that belonged to Juan and we see not a single light in the entire place
flickering through boards and curtains.
“He’s there. I can feel him. He is hiding like the coward he is, locked away tight with his few.” Sierra’s
venom rings true, and I find myself staring at her for a long moment and truly questioning what she
knows right now. There’s a change in her now we are here, and it makes me nervous to think she is
suddenly unpredictable if she has the knowledge we are no longer bound.
If she knows, what will she do? Her death won’t affect me and that scares me more than anything. Her
desire to see Juan die….it trumps even her need to survive. I know how strong her will to put things
right is, and her devotion to ending this.
“You’re right. They’re in there. At least a dozen of them or more last time the crows saw him venture
out with his men and I can almost guarantee they know about the vampires too.” Leyanne nods
towards one sole camera which has a small red light blinking in the dark. I stare until my eyes adjust
and realize it’s moving, spanning the area and functioning normally. Maybe the rest are dead, but he
still has one eye on his surroundings. The camera room was always operational from inside those walls
and I shiver with knowing we are being monitored.
“So we just sit and wait? And do what? Play eye spy? Wave?” I snap, out of frustration, annoyed that
while our people are out there, we’re standing here like none of this affects us. I know Colton thinks this
is for the best and eventually they will come this way, but this just feels weird and wrong. Like we’re
hiding from the fight.
Luna!
I’m side struck away from Carmen out of the blue, taken by surprise as I’m caught by another wolf and
pulled down to the ground. Covered with a heavy brown furry beast as he bears down shielding me.
Panting heavily, my heart skyrockets through my chest and I squirm on the dirt as I try to come to terms
with what just happened. There’s noise of scraping claws, gnashing teeth, and yet I am concealed and
can only wriggle to get purchase from the wolf on top of me.
Luna. Are you okay?
The wolf protecting me asks via the link in haste, moving enough for me to scurry to my feet and get
behind him, to be immediately flanked by other guards where I can get a look at what’s happening.
My guards are fighting off three wolves from our old pack. They look haggard and feral, but I still
recognize them as some of the subpack which used to run as perimeter sentinels when we lived here.
It’s not hard to see they are not in the best physical shape and are quickly subdued by my own and
pulled to the ground to be restrained as Carmen and Sierra shield me from the front. They seem
disorientated and the wave of bitter hate flows freely around them like a thick smog.
“Are they Juan’s men?” I blurt out into the chaos of noise they’re making. Grunts, growls and excessive
heavy breathing as they are held down, and it’s now I can even see how thin and unkempt they are in
wolf form. They don’t look like they have eaten in weeks. Shabby and pitiful and when they are finally
held taught, my wall of wolves moves aside so I can get a better look.
I dust myself down as our prisoners turn to human and it’s now I can see exactly who they are. They
are the offspring of loyal followers to Juan. Sons of his close command and yet all there of them look
broken and exhausted and not exactly cared for. Filthy in naked skin and have sunken eyes and weary
faces that have seen better days.
My Guard all turn to human form too and Radar pulls the closest one to him with force, holding him in a
grip with arms folded across his back as he bears down on his spine with a knee. Holding him still with
that grim expression of a pissed wolf all over his face.
“Who are you to attack our Luna? Do you want to die?” Radar snarls into his ear while a crushing crack
as he applies force to his ex-pack mate’s spine makes me flinch. In soldier mode Radar is known for
being ruthless. He can be brutal and violent when riled and I am seeing hints of him in war mode. It
sends shivers down my spine.
“Luna? Pahhh….. We don’t have a Luna, nor an Alpha! Deserters who turned their back on us and left
us to suffer…. Don’t insult us.” Aiden, the wolf on the ground snarls right back despite being held tight
but makes no attempt to break free. They three are outnumbered by our dozen and it seems smart
enough to know fighting won’t end well for them.
“I’ll show you what suffering is right now.” Radar leans in again with anger but I step forward and tap
him on his shoulder to loosen his grip before he does anything to him. A sudden surge of guilt flowing
through me because what Aiden said isn’t completely wrong and I know Radar won’t hesitate to break
his bones. We did leave them, and they have suffered. I don’t blame the ones left to roam free for
hating us and believing we abandoned them. Radar relents a little and sits back on his haunches with a
sulking hint of grudged obedience, giving Aiden room to breathe once more. I exhale heavily and try to
calm my swirling nerves, knowing as Luna I really need to take command here.
“Aiden…. I’m Alora Santo, Colton’s mate. I’m the Luna Radar refers to and this is Sierra. You must
remember her; she is Rema now and once was Juan’s Luna. The woman he locked up for a decade
and betrayed. You are still our pack and that is why we are here. We’re here to help.” My heart bleeds
for these wolves and I can already tell by reading their emotions that the intention to attack us was not
for Juan, but for their own heartbreak and pain. I wonder how many of the villagers were hostile
towards our wolves fighting for them for the same reasons. Nerves swirling that maybe already our
wolves are fighting among them as well as taking on that blood thirsty enemy.
“Help? How? Do you have any idea how messed up things have become because of Colton? What are
you going to do?” Another of the men on the dirt responds with that same bitter, curt tone.
Stubbornness strong in his aura.
“The whole pack is here to fight the vampires off. Stop and listen to the noise in the air. That sound of
war and death! Your people are fighting for their lives and where is Juan? Who are the ones who came
for you? Scoff all you want but she IS your Luna, and WE are here to help.” Carmen steps forward and
kicks the thigh of the second wolf with a sharp dig, gaining a snarl in response from the one I recognize
as Taemin. A once valued sentinel and someone Colton treated like a brother. A wolf who couldn’t
leave because his family were tied here.
“Don’t say that scum’s name. He’s dead to us. Just like his son. Nothing good ever came from the
sacred Santa bloodline where they’re concerned.” The third, Robyn grinds out to join the conversation,
another from the same sub pack and yet despite his hateful tone, there’s a sadness in his eyes as I
lock my focus on his face. Behind their fury and venomous words, are wolves who have been
abandoned and are suffering from the syndrome caused by fracturing a pack and leaving them Alpha-
less. It’s a sense of detachment and can cause insane anger and bitterness among our kind.
“We don’t have time for this. We’re not here to fight or hurt you. We’re here to protect the pack and take
Juan to the vampires. You can either assist or be tied down until this is all over. You don’t want to live
on as free roaming wolves, then help us and we will reunite the pack when this battle is won. Your
suffering can end after this.” Sierra becomes dominant in the conversation with a commanding tone I’ve
never heard from her. Stamping towards Aiden and towering over him with a fearless aura as she
glares down at him with all the presence of a queen. “You can go on with this attitude and become a
hindrance, or you can get up, dust off and do everything to free and reunite our wolves. The vampires
are the enemy, not us and Juan….. we’re here to make sure he pays for everything he has ever done.
Don’t you want to be part of that?” She spits it at him and then places a flat palm on Radar’s shoulder
to move him back so she can lean down and gain eye contact with his prisoner. “We need allies. We
need the villagers to join the fight. If not, it looks like a lot of us will die here tonight.”
“Why should we trust any of you? Where were you all these months when Juan turned on us?” Taemin
struggles to get free but is kneeled upon by an extra wolf as they regain control of him. None of the
guards are letting up and seems even if they were once brothers, the priority is to keep me safe.
“You’re right! We weren’t here…. we were in another place fighting to survive and trying to figure out
how to fix a fractured pack. We were out there licking our wounds and struggling to know what to do,
while being oblivious to your suffering. We have no excuses.” I try and soothe with my words, feeling
the intensity of betrayal among them and attempting to push this conversation onwards.
“We need you to put it aside and help. You’re part of the pack here and you three can be more use if
you go rally your friends and family to Colton’s side. Look at me…. You know who I am. I was here until
only a few weeks ago, so don’t give me your bullshit and act like you were the only ones. I lived here; I
know what went down. I’m telling you to suck it up and stop acting like sulky babies.” Carmen walks
around to the front of all three and stands with her hands on her hips, jutting out her jaw while swishing
her hair back with a flick of her head. “We’ve suffered too. We’ve been fighting and hiding, and we’ve
had our own losses. You chose to stay here so don’t put that crap on us. Cut the bullshit attitude and
show some respect to your saviors.”
There’s silence for a moment as they stare her down and then break contact and all three look away.
Clearly recognizing her and knowing what she says is truth, but that high strung wolf gene is hard to
dampen. I can feel their fire dying a little and look around me to double check there aren’t more to
contend with. It seems these three were patrolling near the manor, probably scouting for supplies or
maybe sightings of Juan and have no one else with them.
I notice the camera is focused on us and no longer moving around, so someone is watching this scene
unfold and I second guess whether these boys are with Juan or not. Whoever is controlling it is
interested in what’s going on here and I wonder if they have audio too. I have an urge to wave and
throw them the bird.
“Look. You say Juan is the enemy, then help. He’s in there, right? Watching. Holed up like a coward
and letting his people suffer. So get up and do something about it. We’re here for the same purpose.” I
aim for a level tone, a hint of warmth in my words and pace around to get eye contact as best I can
while ignoring the spying technology. I notice how Radar watches my every move and that the guards
follow me closely with a severe stench of mistrust for what were once their brothers. It makes my heart
bleed to feel the distance between blood like this and scowl at the manor with a quick glance, at the
man who did this to them. A once superior pack and yet we lay crumbled in ruins this way.
“Get up and die by the hands of vampires? None of us are healthy enough to do very much. Isn’t that
obvious by how quickly you took us down. We are living like wild wolves nowadays, hunting and
foraging to survive. Juan uses the frequency to keep us weak.” He shifts enough to nod at one of the
speakers up high and I turn and lock eyes on what he’s motioning towards. Confusion at his words
invading my thoughts.
“What?” I quiz and glance back and forth trying to understand. “What do you mean?”
“You don’t feel it? I guess you haven’t been here long enough yet. The frequency, it has another pitch in
the notes and exposure over time dampens our strength and ability. He’s making sure we can never
take him down and are too feeble to even escape this place.” Taemin rolls enough to stare at that same
speaker and in unison Carmen, Sierra, Radar, and I all turn and stare at the black box hung up about
forty feet in the air and scrutinize it for a moment. A sudden tense quiet as we all take a moment to
digest this.
“So your saying the villagers are all weak right now, and that …. up there….will weaken the rest of us
before long?” I blanche and scrub my fingers through my hair at my temples, suddenly worried and
instantly afraid. My heart lurches into my mouth and Radar and I gawp at one another as a problem
suddenly hits us.
“Nailed it. We have no strength, and our speed is almost nonexistent. Look at us…we can’t even heal
properly, we’re all sick. Juan really knows how to hurt his own kind.” Aiden loses all fight and seems to
cave into a disheveled heap under Radar, a long sigh as he gives into the fatigue overtaking him.
“Oh my god.” Carmen verbalizes my gut reaction. A moment of panic sets in and I glance around at my
comrades, meeting equally shocked expressions as all our minds go to the same place.
Colton, we have a problem
I link him in desperation as visions of vampires taking down our strongest flood my mind and am
suffocated by the sudden nausea and fear that we just walked ourselves into a trap set by Juan. He
can’t regain power over his people, but he surely won’t mind seeing them all die.
He’s pumping out a tone to disable wolves, yet if we turn it off then the frequency to counteract the
vampire’s weapon will also be useless. It’s a no won either way and now as the noises drift toward sus
on the wind of a full throttle war being raged in the valley, I start to wonder which side is actually
winning.
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