Moon Bound (Glorious Darkness Book 1) (13 page)

(23) The Dog That Doesn't Bark

|Regan's POV|

"What the fuck is this place?" Following close behind, Jason probably thinks that I have the answer but I know as much as he does.

"No idea," I admit without turning towards him. Instead, I follow the gravel path towards what looks like the biggest warehouse I've seen.

I've expected to be summoned to a lot less civilized place, somewhere in the wilderness surrounding the town, not barely at the outskirts of it, but I guess this is Collen's way to show his consideration about my unfamiliarity with the city.

The building is far from what you'd consider a place of civilization. It's a run-down, metallic gray construction, the paint falling off the steel panels assembled together into the gigantic construction. Gray, where the metal has stayed untouched by the corrosion, giving way to a multitude of red rust spots as if the place has been abandoned for years.

No wonder the wildlings will be comfortable to have a meeting here.

I stop in front of the tall, metal doors, wondering if this isn't my worst idea so far, but then again it's not like I have a say in the matter.

So much for being the strongest Alpha of the north.

"We going in?" Jason whispers as soon as he stops beside me, his uncertainty as evident on his face as the concern is in his voice.

"Yeah," I say as quietly as he did, listening for any sound coming from inside.

There's nothing I can hear even with my enhanced Alpha senses. What's even more concerning, I can neither feel nor smell them. No human or wolf scent underlays in the air, the wind carrying only the aroma of drying-off-ground raindrops and new-born grass but nothing from inside the place as if whatever the contents are, have been vacuumed inside the steel skeleton.

The place feels as deserted as it looks.

"Time to find out what waits inside," I say sounding braver than I actually feel and push the doors open. Made of solid steel, the metal produces a loud creak as the doors slide open slowly, a rotting stench wafting from inside and hitting my nose.

"Jesus, the fuck is that smell!" Complaining, my third in command retracts back from the slight opening.

Taking a step back as well, I wait for the stench to wear off. Hell lot of fresh air will be needed to fan inside in order for the mixture of moisture and carrion to fade.

"Why did we have to come here again?"

Glancing at Jason, noting his wrinkled in disgust face as he breathes through his mouth, I'm starting to question this decision as well.

There's urgency in him, one foot tapping on the gravel floor underneath as his hands clench and unclench.

"A meeting," I choke out, bracing myself before I step inside, holding my breath.

Sticking to the illuminated by the creak in the door path, I try to see any shapes hiding in the deep dark inside the place. Moving forms, wrapped in darkness, I can feel them closing the space around us the further we go into the building.

"A meeting," Jase echoes doubtfully, following in my tracks. "No meeting will be ever worth us being scent-raped."

"Scent-raped, huh?"

"Damn right, man. Damn right. Who are we meeting anyway?"

"Naaame iiisss Asssh." We freeze on the spot as soon as the sound comes. I know who he is since his voice sounds the same it did ten years ago, however, it's not how he spoke back then.

He's lost it all. All traits of humanity he has ever had are gone, even his speech mutated from once nearly human to this hissing, scratching on vocal cords semblance of talk.

The boy who once struggled to become as human as possible has now deteriorated back to his true nature.

A few seconds later, I see him emerging from the darkness. Even with the few specks of light permeating the warehouse, the place is enveloped in darkness making it hard to see the one standing a few feet in front of me.

The outside appearance misleading for the unknowing observer, no light probes through the nonexistent creaks and crevices of the joint steel panels. No windows have been cut into the plates, rendering the construction a black-filled edifice of metal.

He steps into the solitary light, closer to me now his frame is more than a moving shadow in the darkness, the stench clinging to his mangled from old wounds and battle scars body. The left side of his form has taken the biggest impact of all. It's not the same but a melted mess of flesh that will always carry the grotesque. A sight to frighten and repulse, no hair has grown on the flesh as it has over the other side, turning the man I knew into a full-fledged wildling.

"Raeeegan," he gurgles at me, inching closer with his hand thrown into the air, black claws on his deformed fingers. "I see yoou are quiiite imprrressseed by my brrrother masssterrr piece."

I give him a nod, ignoring the offered hand, too disgusted by the creature to venture a touch.

Did your brother do this to you? I want to ask but instead, "I've come like your brother wanted," I state evenly, my heart racing inside my chest.

"A mooossst welcooome gueeessst in myy priiivattte hooome," Ash hisses, angling his mouth-muzzle into a smile, more frightening than any I've seen on his face before.

"Cut the crap, Ash. What am I here for?" I snap, running out of patience.

"Aaaloonee, had tooo cooome alooone," the creature corrects, a line forming on his forehead in concentration. He's no longer the boy I knew either. He's changed both outside and in.

The shadows around us move, a sound like something's being dragged closer to where we stand ringing through the place.

"You brooought one... weee toooook one," Ash hisses, golden eyes looking straight at me as another beastly man steps into the light, dragging something behind.

As the creature makes his way to the lit-up path, my mind begins to make sense of what I'm seeing. It's not something but someone the creature is dragging toward us. A man. A wolf I've seen living and breathing just yesterday.

Now, that wolf is a bloodied, mutilated mass of dead flesh, the screams frozen on his face.

"A small token to remind you to do as bid, Alpha Greene. We wouldn't want you to forget our agreement now, would we?" the other wildling says, speaking human unlike his superior. He flings the body at my feet, stepping back to stand with Ash.

"I always did what you wanted from me." I grind my teeth together, suppressing the growl threatening to escape after finding out they've killed one of my own.

Standing unconcerned besides his superior, the creature seems to notice my predicament and gives me a wolfish grin with his muzzle. It's so strange to see this half-wolf, half-man mocking me.

He shares a lot of features with Ash. His eyes, even not being the same golden color, are still a shade of yellow, beastly, mad eyes that perceive too much in his quiet observation. He is much shorter than Ash, his frame nearly half of his master's, however, looking at both of them, you can almost convince yourself they are blood-related.

All wildlings look alike since they flaunt their beasts for all to see. It's who they are and what they are. Born as wolves, they grow quickly and shift to their humans when puberty hits. But then most of them slowly turn into something else, something that even we, normal wolves, cannot explain or accept. Nature going amiss with simply allowing them to exist.

"I'll be the one to do the talking since Beta Ashwin finds human speech bothersome," the creature informs me after a slight nod on Ash's part.

"He didn't have that problem before," I comment.

"Things change, Alpha Greene. People give their loyalties where they are appreciated. But you know all about loyalties, don't you, Regan? It takes a deep understanding to sell a friend's life for a title." It's the other wildling talking but these are Ashwin's sentiments he is expressing.

He blames me for what happened to him after I left. He feels like I have betrayed him.

I did betray him when I left him behind and he betrayed me when he sent his people to chase me out of my home, when he sent them to kill my own.

"Anyway, enough talking of the past. We're here to speak about the future. I presume Alpha Collen told you that we are well aware of the vampire's plans." I nod, playing by the rules these creatures have set for me.

"We know you're working with him and are planning to draw our leader out. Little does he know he's already found him," the beast-man giggles, actually giggles.

"However, as you've probably guessed, Collen has other plans and you and your little mate, Alpha Greene, are essential elements of the agenda."

Unable to hold it back now, I growl. Do the wildlings actually think they can threaten my mate? Do they think I'll allow them to hurt her?

"Hold that bark in, dog!" the creature snaps, voice dripping with mockery. "It's us who will let you live soI suggest you play the good little dog we've trained you to be," he barks out. "Understood, 
Alpha
?"

I close my eyes, the Alpha in me curling his tail between his legs just like the dog they see me as, surrendering to a fate that's never been in my right to change, my neck bending as my head bows low.

And play, I shall.

(24) Love Letter

|Scarlet's POV|

Words echoing in the silence. They've been spoken minutes ago yet you can still hear them inside your mind. Thoughts of chaos, fear stirring up inside, bleeding through your ears, the same ones that listen to these words that are no longer said but there, hanging like an invisible threat in the frozen air.

It can't be true. This isn't real.

Breathing in then out, is it time to fall and fold or is it time to fight?

Someone watching, quietly observing, breath fanning at the back of your neck, raising fine hairs, rippling awareness on your skin.

The letter's folded on the table after Cole dropped it there, hands shaking too much to be able to hold it.

Picking it up with trembling fingers, his own fear ignited inside, "They are asking for a meeting," he says passing it to me.

Crumbled, the paper looks worn off, like it's been read one too many times before it was showed to us. How long exactly did Cole hold onto it before letting us know? Why did he hide it from us? The envelope is missing. No date and no sender to be found.

"Does Michael know?"

Secret looks, words that are passed without words, guilt in their eyes when they meet mine.

"He's aware of the situation, however, he won't be able to attend the meeting since he's swept up with work. We'll be on our own."

Is this a lie too? Or is he just not telling the whole truth?

"He's not the only one you told about this, is he, Cole? All of you, you knew about this and hid it from me?"

Turning away, he doesn't look at me. None of them can. I've guessed right.

"I'm sorry, Scar. With Samuel and then the news about your old pack... I just didn't know how to tell you..."

Shaking my head, "Cole, just shut up, alright," I say and I look down at the 'love letter' in my hands, reading the beautiful cursive.

'We know what you are and who you are. Meet us at Stonegarden on the night of the full moon.'

Tonight.

"This doesn't look like a meeting request, Cole," I point out, dropping the paper like it burned me. In a way it did. This letter is nothing if not a threat to my family, one I'm going to make sure is disposed of as soon as I get my hands on these fuckers.

Micah rolls her eyes at me. "Thanks for stating the obvious, Scar. We couldn't have figured it on our own."

"Bitch," I mutter quietly but she either doesn't hear me or doesn't care. My bet is on the latter.

"So, what is the plan for tonight, Cole?" she asks instead. What, I'm sure, everyone must be curious about. Cole may not be our Alpha. After all, we are a family, not a pack, though he is as close to the patriarch of the family as anyone can be. He is the responsible one, the one who'll shove it up your ass if you misbehave. Figuratively speaking, of course.

"Hunter and I are going to the meeting alone while the rest of you are staying on house duty," Cole explains calmly, the way someone will let down a stubborn child. He breaks it down on us as gently as he can. Which, as you may guess and you'd be right, isn't met with happy cheers and applause.

Always the firecracker, "The hell we are!" Micah snaps instead of going nuclear at the news as I'd have expected.

"I'm with her on this one," I join. "And what's this freaking house duty you're talking about, Cole? There's no such thing as house duty here. What are we supposed to do? Guard the walls?"

"This is our home," he growls out, anger rolling off of him in waves of heat as he gives each one of us a hard look filled with the promise of pain.

Unfortunately, he seems to be forgetting the most important detail here. The notion has been introduced to us, ingrained in us as our past is, at least once by his hand alone even if that's been done with good intentions in mind. Pain has shaped who we are now and pain is what we keep living with.

We feed off it as we feed off flesh and blood.

"You're not going to win this one, mate," Hunter announces, standing up and squeezing Cole's shoulder blade as he leaves the scene.

A couple of minutes later, minutes that feel like hours in the heavy tension, Cole finally gives up under the expectation-filled stares his way.

"Fine!" he huffs, jumping to his feet. "Everyone who wants to come with me and Hunter, be ready in two hours. And better not die on me or I'll dig you up and kill you myself! Understood?"

"Why are you looking at me? I'm not helpless!" Adam's remark brings a small smile to my lips.

We're back to normal even if nothing is normal anymore. Not with Alpha just waiting to get his claws in me and not with the unknown threat we must face tonight.

It feels good to be back on track even if it's just a pretense.

"You tend to turn soft in this kind of situations. That's what I meant, Princess," Cole enlightens Adam with a smirk. Jaz lets out a soft giggle as I exchange a look with David, who seems to find the exchange as entertaining as everyone but his brother. Finding humor in teasing or watching your sibling being teased by others never gets old I suppose. Especially when said sibling delivers as good as he's receiving.

Pressing a hand to his chest, "Why, you wound me, baby," Adam fakes hurt. The puppy look fading in a matter of seconds, it's being replaced by a mischievous grin. "If I remember correctly this isn't what you were screaming out last night."

"Keep dreaming!"

"Dreaming, Cole?" Adam snorts. "Yeah, right! Because I'm the one dreaming about this hot bod and moaning 
Oh, baby, har...
"

Never seen this one coming, I press my hands to my ears to prevent myself from hearing more before I scram off to the safety of my room.