Rejected Mate and Following Fate - Awakening Book
Chapter 106: The Manor

Getting close to the manor is easier than I thought it would be. Domi was right about the fact thevalley is almost like a deserted prison camp. Everything around the manor is still and empty whilethe valley has all those who are no longer loyal to their alpha, pushed away. Separated by electricfences, speakers playing nonstop the silent frequency to stop the vampire weapon being usedagainst them. The whole place is eerie, like a deserted army barracks and strangely dark despite allthe 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 areal war going on, it would be as silent as the surface of the moon. There are no birds, no smallanimals, 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 aneager pack. Most of the windows are boarded and with only the moonlight as illumination, theplace 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 longerafraid of danger when the nothingness surrounds us. You can sense the fact that there is nothinghere to be afraid of.

"Are they even in there?” Carmen steps in front of me and peers long and hard at the top westtower and its balcony. The room that belonged to Juan and we see not a single light in the entireplace 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“svenom rings true, and I replace myself staring at her for a long moment and truly questioning what sheknows right now. There's a change in her now we are here, and it makes me nervous to think she issuddenly 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 putthings 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 ventureout with his men and I can almost guarantee they know about the vampires too.” Leyanne nodstowards one sole camera which has a small red light blinking in the dark. I stare until my eyes adjustand realize it's moving, spanning the area and functioning normally. Maybe the rest are dead, buthe still has one eye on his surroundings. The camera room was always operational from inside thosewalls 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 thatwhile our people are out there, we're standing here like none of this affects us. I know Colton thinksthis is for the best and eventually they will come this way, but this just feels weird and wrong. Likewe'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 wolfand pulled down to the ground. Covered with a heavy brown furry beast as he bears down shieldingme. Panting heavily, my heart skyrockets through my chest and I squirm on the dirt as I try to cometo terms with what just happened. There's noise of scraping claws, gnashing teeth, and yet I amconcealed 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 andget behind him, to be immediately flanked by other guards where I can get a look at what'shappening.

My guards are fighting off three wolves from our old pack. They look haggard and feral, but I stillrecognize them as some of the subpack which used to run as perimeter sentinels when we livedhere. It's not hard to see they are not in the best physical shape and are quickly subdued by my ownand pulled to the ground to be restrained as Carmen and Sierra shield me from the front. Theyseem 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 andexcessive heavy breathing as they are held down, and it's now I can even see how thin and unkemptthey are in wolf form. They don't look like they have eaten in weeks. Shabby and pitiful and whenthey 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. Theyare the offspring of loyal followers to Juan. Sons of his close command and yet all there of themlook broken and exhausted and not exactly cared for. Filthy in naked skin and have sunken eyes andweary 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 himin a grip with arms folded across his back as he bears down on his spine with a knee. Holding himstill 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 crushingcrack as he applies force to his ex-pack mate's spine makes me flinch. In soldier mode Radar isknown for being ruthless. He can be brutal and violent when riled and I am seeing hints of him inwar 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 leftus to suffer... Don't insult us.” Aiden, the wolf on the ground snarls right back despite being heldtight but makes no attempt to break free. They three are outnumbered by our dozen and it seemssmart 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 andtap him on his shoulder to loosen his grip before he does anything to him. A sudden surge of guiltflowing through me because what Aiden said isn't completely wrong and I know Radar won'thesitate to break his bones. We did leave them, and they have suffered. I don't blame the ones leftto roam free for hating us and believing we abandoned them. Radar relents a little and sits back onhis haunches with a sulking hint of grudged obedience, giving Aiden room to breathe once more. Iexhale heavily and try to calm my swirling nerves, knowing as Luna I really need to take commandhere.

“Aiden.... I'm Alora Santo, Colton’s mate. I'm the Luna Radar refers to and this is Sierra. You mustremember her; she is Rema now and once was Juan's Luna. The woman he locked up for a decadeand betrayed. You are still our pack and that is why we are here. We're here to help.” My heartbleeds for these wolves and I can already tell by reading their emotions that the intention to attackus was not for Juan, but for their own heartbreak and pain. I wonder how many of the villagers werehostile towards our wolves fighting for them for the same reasons. Nerves swirling that maybealready 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? Whatare 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 soundof war and death! Your people are fighting for their lives and where is Juan? Who are the ones whocame for you? Scoff all you want but she IS your Luna, and WE are here to help.” Carmen stepsforward and kicks the thigh of the second wolf with a sharp dig, gaining a snarl in response from theone I recognize as Taemin. A once valued sentinel and someone Colton treated like a brother. A wolfwho 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 thesacred Santa bloodline where they're concerned.” The third, Robyn grinds out to join theconversation, another from the same sub pack and yet despite his hateful tone, there's a sadness inhis eyes as I lock my focus on his face. Behind their fury and venomous words, are wolves who havebeen abandoned and are suffering from the syndrome caused by fracturing a pack and leavingthem Alpha-less. It's a sense of detachment and can cause insane anger and bitterness among ourkind.

“We don't have time for this. We're not here to fight or hurt you. We're here to protect the pack andtake Juan to the vampires. You can either assist or be tied down until this is all over. You don’t wantto 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 commandingtone I've never heard from her. Stamping towards Aiden and towering over him with a fearless auraas she glares down at him with all the presence of a queen. “You can go on with this attitude andbecome 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 hehas ever done. Don't you want to be part of that?” She spits it at him and then places a flat palm onRadar’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 heretonight.”

"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 keepme safe.

“You're right! We weren't here.... we were in another place fighting to survive and trying to figureout how to fix a fractured pack. We were out there licking our wounds and struggling to know whatto 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 useif you go rally your friends and family to Colton’s side. Look at me.... You know who I am. I was hereuntil only a few weeks ago, so don't give me your bullshit and act like you were the only ones. I livedhere; 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 herjaw while swishing her hair back with a flick of her head. “We've suffered too. We've been fightingand hiding, and we've had our own losses. You chose to stay here so don't put that crap on us. Cutthe 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 hardto dampen. I can feel their fire dying a little and look around me to double check there aren't moreto contend with. It seems these three were patrolling near the manor, probably scouting for suppliesor 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 thisscene unfold and I second guess whether these boys are with Juan or not. Whoever is controlling itis interested in what's going on here and I wonder if they have audio too. I have an urge to waveand throw them the bird.

“Look. You say Juan is the enemy, then help. He's in there, right? Watching. Holed up like a cowardand letting his people suffer. So get up and do something about it. We're here for the samepurpose.” I aim for a level tone, a hint of warmth in my words and pace around to get eye contact asbest I can while ignoring the spying technology. I notice how Radar watches my every move andthat 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 aquick glance, at the man who did this to them. A once superior pack and yet we lay crumbled inruins this way.

"Get up and die by the hands of vampires? None of us are healthy enough to do very much. Isn'tthat obvious by how quickly you took us down. We are living like wild wolves nowadays, huntingand foraging to survive. Juan uses the frequency to keep us weak.” He shifts enough to nod at oneof the speakers up high and I turn and lock eyes on what he’s motioning towards. Confusion at hiswords 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 anotherpitch in the notes and exposure over time dampens our strength and ability. He's making sure wecan never take him down and are too feeble to even escape this place.” Taemin rolls enough to stareat that same speaker and in unison Carmen, Sierra, Radar, and I all turn and stare at the black boxhung up about forty feet in the air and scrutinize it for a moment. A sudden tense quiet as we alltake a moment to digest this.

"So your saying the villagers are all weak right now, and that .... up there...will weaken the rest of usbefore long?” I blanche and scrub my fingers through my hair at my temples, suddenly worried andinstantly afraid. My heart lurches into my mouth and Radar and I gawp at one another as a problemsuddenly hits us.

“Nailed it. We have no strength, and our speed is almost nonexistent. Look at us...we can't even healproperly, we're all sick. Juan really knows how to hurt his own kind.” Aiden loses all fight and seemsto 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 atmy 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 amsuffocated by the sudden nausea and fear that we just walked ourselves into a trap set by Juan. Hecan'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 thevampire’s weapon will also be useless. It's a no won either way and now as the noises drift towardsus on the wind of a full throttle war being raged in the valley, I start to wonder which side isactually winning.