#3 By the Light of the Silver Moon
Chapter 48

Marigold

Finn had gone too far with the new security system. You couldn’t open a window without setting off some sort of alarm. I aggressively started hitting buttons on the elevator, mumbling at the new control panel. Stone laughed at me and swiped his key card to make the elevator move.

“This is ridiculous.” I snapped, crossing my arms over my chest.

“It’s for your safety, Mari.” Stone smirked, rolling his eyes at my temper tantrum.

“Whatever. I’m going riding today and you just try and stop me.” I threatened the Gamma. Stone just shook his head and followed me to the stables.

During my many unsupervised hours while Finn was working and I was bored, I had discovered that the pack had a horse stable far away from the house, just on the edge of the property. Apparently, one of the Luna’s loved horses and used to show them. To honor her, the future Alphas named the stables after her and kept up with it. I had never seen a horse before, but it turns out that I love them and was a quick study.

The stablemaster, Cassie, started giving me riding lessons and, in no time, I was going for trail rides on my own. Finn hated it but it was something I had that was all mine. It was peaceful and lonely, it gave me time to think and reflect on everything that was happening in my life.

The horses had grown used to the wolves and were no longer spooked by them, so Stone would shift into his brown wolf and follow me while I rode. He stuck to the trees and stayed a healthy distance back while I rode through the open fields.

I rode over the grassy hills on the back of a grey stallion by the name of Watcher. He got his name because of how intently he watches over his riders and fellow horses. He was very loyal and very protective. He took to me right away and we have been bonded ever since. I slapped the reigns and Watcher picked up speed. It had become a game of mine, to see if I could lose Stone’s wolf on Watcher, even if it was just for a minute.

I turned around and saw that Stone was nowhere to be found. I slowed Watcher and laughed to myself. A few minutes passed, and there was still no sign of Stone’s wolf.

“Kato?” I called out to Stone’s wolf and searched the woods. I reached out my hand and parted the trees, trying to replace him.

“Well that’s not good.” I mumbled to myself just as the sound of twigs snapping and feet pounding the ground filled my ears.

I snapped my head towards the source of the noise and saw dozens of wolves running out of the woods, surrounding me. A dark brown, almost bronze, wolf was at the head of the pack. He was slightly larger than the others, but still not as big as Hunter. The lead wolf shifted and I shivered at the naked man it became.

“Aloha Torrin.” I gasped, glaring at my old master. He grinned menacingly at me, not even bothering to cover himself.

I tugged in Watcher’s reigns, trying to retreat from the wolves. Watcher whinnied and I turned around to see that we were also flanked by more of Torrin’s pack. I recognized his Beta and Gamma immediately.

“It’s so good to see you again, girl." Alpha Torrin said in greeting. I turned back to face him,

“Afraid I can’t say the same.” I growled. I felt my eyes turn green as my fingers twitched with power.

“Now, now, none of that.” Alpha Torrin tsked just as a strange powder filled my eyes and nose. I coughed against it and felt all the magic drain from my body.

“What did you do?” I cried, looking over at Beta Collins who had shifted and blew the bag of powder in my face.

“Don’t worry, it’s temporary.” Beta Collins laughed.

“Where did you get that?” I asked, eyeing the remains of the white powder on Watcher’s saddle.

“Your father, of course. I have to say, that man might hate you more than I do.” Alpha Torrin smirked.

“Why would you hate me? I never did anything to you!” I shouted.

“You were nothing but a pain in my side, and then you had the audacity to disregard our deal and leave with another Alpha. You were disrespectful and someone needs to show you your place.” Alpha Torrin said between his teeth.

“My place? I’m a Luna, this is my pack and my territory! You stand below me here, Torrin." I glared at Alpha Torrin as I threatened him.

“You are nothing! You’ve always been nothing and you’ll always be nothing. You’re no Luna and you are not capable of standing above me. In fact,” Torrin smiled dangerously just as I was pushed from Watcher.

I yelped and looked over at Beta Collins who had shoved me from my horse. Collins ascended on me, grabbing my arm and dragging me over to Torrin. He dumped me at the Alpha’s feet.

“You belong below me.” Alpha Torrin finished, hovering over top of me. I glared at him, meeting his gaze. His eyes turned back as he reached down and pulled me up to face him,

“You dare look an Alpha in the eyes?” He growled.

“I. Am. A. Luna!” I said as powerfully as I could, mustering up all my strength and using it to enact my Luna voice. Torrin shook his head, seeming surprised and affected by my tone. He dropped me and stepped back.

“You are pathetic.” He muttered, but I could tell that he was shaken.

“What do you want?” I snapped.

“To see you suffer.” Torrin answered plainly. I pulled myself up and glared at Collins as he wrapped his boney fingers around my arm. I tried to break free, but he wouldn’t let me.

“I no longer exist for your amusement.” I said.

“You never did. You were never amusing. You were nothing." Torrin reminded me.

“And you’re just scared,” I spat,

“You found out about what I did to Alpha Julian and you were afraid that I would do the same thing to you, so you went crawling back to my father for help.” I dared him to argue.

“Scared of what? A tiny, pathetic, exiled princess?” Torrin rolled his eyes.

“No.” I said, not providing any other explanation.

“Take her.” Alpha Torrin waves his hand, obviously tired of the chitchat.

Collins yanked my arm and drug me towards the woods. The wolves surrounded us as we ventured deeper into the trees. Eventually we came to a small cottage right on the territory line. Collins opened the door and shoved me inside. I turned around to see Alpha Torrin had followed me in. I grumbled and stood up, looking around the cottage. My eyes came to rest on the other occupants.

“Renee?” I gasped in shock at the familiar she-wolf. Behind her was the rest of her squad, Kelly, Skyler, and Gabrielle. Renee smiled,

“With you gone, the Alpha will be ours for the taking.”

“Are you stupid or just dumb?” I mumbled, earning a slap from the she-wolf. Torrin laughed and approached Renne, laying his arm around her shoulders.

“Now, now, we’ll have plenty of time for that.” I eyed Torrin and Renee, resisting the urge to go postal on both of their smug faces.

“What the hell is happening here?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Alpha Torrin came to kill you and found us lingering on the territory line deciding on a plan to do the same thing.” Renee said, rolling her eyes.

“Even if you kill me, Finn will never chose you as his mate.” I cried.

“Oh, I don’t want to be his mate anymore. One of the girls can have him. I’m already a Luna.” Renee’s smile made me nauseous, but not as nauseous as seeing her and Torrin’s make out session.

“You two are mates?” I gagged.

“Isn’t the Moon Goddess just a fickle little bitch?” Renee cackled.

“I’m going to puke.” I groaned, looking away.

“Put her in the basement.” Renee ordered one of her followers, I couldn’t tell which blonde was which.

One of them dragged me down a set of wooden steps and tossed me into a dark room with a cold, wet concrete floor. A few seconds later I heard the door slam shut and I knew I was alone. I fumbled around and was able to replace a flashlight. I clicked it on and looked around. There were a few boxes and some shelves, but nothing else in the small basement. In the corner was a window.

I drug one of the sturdier looking boxes over to the window and stepped up on it. I stood on my tippy toes to see outside. Half of it was blocked by dirt. The parts I could see out of didn’t give me much of a view. I pushed on the glass, trying to open it. The window pains were old and heavy, the layers of white paint helping to seal it shut. I grumbled and climbed down. I started searching through the boxes.

I found a couple of blankets and another flashlight. There were books, old movies, and a bunch of other junk in the rest of the storage bins. Nothing I could use as a weapon or to break the window glass with.

I sighed, feeling defeated and grabbed the blankets. I folded one in half and sat it on the floor, tugging the second blanket around my shoulders. I sat down in the first blanket and thought about my mate