The Blood Moon Twins
Chapter 97

CAULDER

I clung onto Harper, terrified to let go. It still didn't feel real that she was here, and part of me feared that if I let her go, she would disappear. "Hey! What are you two doing?" someone shouted from father down the path.

I was shocked back into reality as I realized I was in the middle of escaping. I grabbed Harper's hand and started standing up. "We have to get out of here. Now." I started pulling her, knowing if we got caught I would just end up back in that room, only this time Harper could be locked away, too. Harper pulled back on me. "Caulder, stop. It's okay. We don't need to run."

I pulled on her again. "You don't understand. We can't get caught." Harper came along with me this time. With her hand in mine, I suddenly had a lot more energy. I quickly turned the corner and pulled us into a dark shadow between houses. "Stop!" the sorcerer shouted. His footsteps rang after us.

I pulled Harper flushed against me, blending us as deep into the shadows as possible.

"Caulder," she whispered, looking up into my eyes.

"Shh," I hushed, waiting for the footsteps to fade.

The sorcerer ran past us, not even seeing us. I felt Harper's heartbeat pounding against my chest, and I held her closely. No matter what happened next, I refused to be separated from her again. I waited until I couldn't hear him anymore before speaking again. "We have to get out of here before he comes back." I started pulling Harper's hand, but this time she planted her feet firmly into the ground.

"Wait, Caulder. What's going on? Why are you here, and why are you running? Are you in danger?" Her voice shook as she asked all of these questions, and she sounded just as confused about the situation as I was.

"Because I'm trying to escape. They've had me locked up," I said. I still wasn't sure if I was in danger or not, but I didn't trust these people.

"Why were you locked up?" she asked, her eyes wide. "I don't understand."

"I'll explain later, once we are safe," I said. "We need to go now."

"We are safe," Harper said. "At least we should be. I don't think these people are enemies, which is why I don't understand why you are here or why you were locked up."

I stopped, realizing I didn't know why Harper was here. I had just assumed they had brought her here, and she was running just like me. "Wait, do you know these people? Why are you here?"

"We're all here. You're parents, Blade, Remy," Harper said. "But we didn't know you were here. We were looking for help to figure out more about Remy's prophecy, and it brought us here. I didn't think they were bad people, but if they had you locked up-"

"I don't know if they are bad people or not, but they didn't want to let me go until I told them who I was, and with the council after me, I was hesitant to tell them," I explained.

"Wait, you're that boy?" Harper said, her eyes lighting up. "I heard them talking about you, but they didn't know who you were. If I had realized it..."

I gently grabbed Harper's chin. "Don't do that. Don't start blaming yourself for things that aren't your fault. What matters is that we are together again."

Tears started pouring out of Harper's eyes again. She covered her face with her hands, and I didn't understand why, but she was breaking down in front of me.

"Hey, hey, what's wrong?" I grabbed her hands and pulled them away from her face. Her eyes glistened with tears, and she looked beautiful even when she was crying.

"I feel like it's my fault that you were taken in the first place. If I had been able to defend myself, if I had just been stronger, you wouldn't have had to go with Winslow to protect me. And seeing you now, I can see the pain etched into your face from what you went through, and it feels like it's all my fault." She hiccuped as she spoke through her sobs, and she looked more broken than I felt.

My chest ached as I watched my mate falling apart in front of me. I thought I was protecting her when I agreed to go, and I hadn't thought about how she would feel being left behind. I never thought she would blame herself, because it wasn't her fault. I felt like a complete fool as I realized she was hurting just as much as I was, just in a completely different way.

I pressed her hands against my chest. "You are not at fault here, and neither am I. The Council of Magic are the ones to blame. Winslow was prepared, and he was ready to kill you if that's what it took. No matter how strong either of us were, Winslow intended to leave with me, no matter what it took."

I kissed Harper's forehead, and then each of her eyes. "You are strong and amazing just the way you are." I kissed her nose and then her cheeks. "You have done nothing wrong, and I'm so lucky to have a mate like you." Finally, I kissed her lips. "I love you, okay? That's all that matters."

"I love you, too," Harper whispered back. She quickly kissed me again, wrapping her arms around my neck.

As I held her in my hands, I could feel the tension release from her body as she let her guilt go. I stroked her hair and held her close to me. I just wanted to make her feel better and make her smile every day for the rest of her life. "Hey! What are you doing?" a voice shouted at us.

I looked and there were a group of people approaching us. Their magic was ignited, and they were on edge.

"Don't move," the sorcerer cautioned as he approached us.

Harper pulled away from me and faced them. "We haven't done anything wrong. There is no need for this aggressiveness."

I quickly grabbed Harper's hand and stood tall next to her. My magic was still too weak to attack these guys if it came down to it, but I would pull whatever magic I had to shift us away if they did anything to threaten Harper.

"I knew we shouldn't have trusted a group of wolves," the sorcerer sneered. "You are breaking this man free and putting our camp at risk."

"Why did you have him locked up in the first place? He did nothing wrong!" Harper shouted. She was losing her cool, and I started to grow worried that we were in danger after all.

These sorcerers didn't seem to be friendly, and they clearly weren't a fan of Harper. We needed to deescalate the situation quickly, or we would be stuck in a dangerous situation. Tears started pouring out of Harper's eyes again. She covered her face with her hands, and I didn't understand why, but she was breaking down in front of me.

Harper mentioned the others were nearby, so I tried to link them, but my wolf abilities still seemed to be absent. I couldn't even attempt to create a link with anyone. "Link Remy and have her bring everyone," I whispered to Harper. Hopefully she could make contact, so if something happened, we would at least have others to back us up.

-

REMY

I felt the shift in energy of the group before I saw the change. Several sorcerers gathered around, and the looks from the people around us turned sour. Something was happening, and my instincts were telling me that it was something that wouldn't be in our favor. I stood up, realizing Harper had never come back from getting her food. I looked around the crowd, but I couldn't spot her curly blonde hair anywhere.

"Where did Harper go?" I asked.

The others caught the edge in my voice and stood up as well.

"What's going on?" my mom asked, looking around. We were all on edge now.

"Stay here," my dad ordered. He walked towards the group of sorcerers, and I knew he was going to try to figure out what was happening.

"Remy, I need your help now. Hurry. Caulder is here," Harper's voice rang through my head.

My body tensed at the mention of Caulder. I didn't know what was happening exactly, but Harper made it clear that she was in some sort of trouble, and I wasn't about to hesitate.

"On my way," I linked back.

I inhaled deeply, quickly picking up on Harper's scent. It was easy to distinguish among all of the sorcerers around me. I dashed towards her scent, shouting back at the others, "Harper's in trouble!"

I didn't waste a second moving forward, running at full speed. I heard footsteps behind me, and I knew Blade was quickly following me. I weaved through the little homes, not slowing down for a moment. I didn't care what happened, but I needed to make sure Harper was okay. I thought we were on good terms with Cain's people, but if they were threatening Harper, I knew everything would fall apart quickly.

I turned another corner, and I saw Harper standing in the middle of a bunch of sorcerers, clinging onto Caulder. He looked rough. His eyes were sunken in, and even from this distance, I knew he was covered in bruises. Did Cain do this to him? How was he even here? I thought he had been locked away with the Council of Magic.

I took a leap and shifted into the middle of the group of sorcerers. I stood in front of Harper and turned to everyone surrounding her and Caulder. I was ready to fight every last person here if they tried anything. We were outnumbered, and I could barely feel Caulder's energy, so I wasn't sure how well he would do in a fight. Blade was nearby, though, and I was sure my parents were just a few steps behind him. I just hoped it didn't turn into a fight.

"What the hell is going on here?" I demanded. My magic rose within me, and my heart was pounding against my chest, threatening to break free. Caulder was here. He was actually here.