The Alpha Luna's Veiled Emotions

FOURTEEN

My last week at Blood Moon passed simultaneously very slow, and very quickly.

My days were busy. I ate a light breakfast each morning and then went to work in the office. I tended to as many duties as I could, trying to do my best to stay natural since Byron had informed me that Kane was being notified of my performance and actions. At lunch, I would eat all of my food. Whether Sarah brought me my food or not, I knew that she was somehow making sure I was getting unpoisoned food at least for that mealtime, and at MaryAnn's house, she and Sarah always provided me with snacks to sneak back in so that I could keep my energy levels up.

While visiting MaryAnn's in the afternoon, we would tend to my dress as we had appearances to keep up, and a dress did have to be made, but the three of us mostly spent our time planning. The two of them had helped me spread the silver fire to several Omegas who were willing to help the cause. Maxis - Max - would play, or cuddle in my lap, and more than once he had cried when I left, no matter how much I promised that I would be back again the next day. I tried to convince MaryAnn to come with us on the escape, but now that we had Byron fleeing with us for protection, she did not think our group would benefit. She promised to stay alive until I returned with reinforcement, and truthfully, it would be nice to know that I had her here on our side, along with Harold to aid with damage control.

Nights were the hardest. The time ticked by after being deposited in my room. The first two nights, I had hardly slept, my mind racing with everything that could go wrong. Finally, on the third night, I had carefully peeked out of my bedroom door. There was a guard stationed at the top of the stairs down the hall, but he was tired too, and he had dozed off against the banister, allowing me to slip out of my room, and into Kane's. I had searched for the hidden staircase, just in case I should need it, but I hadn't had any luck, and I didn't want to risk too much of my scent laying around. The next few nights, I returned, and I even tried his office, but the door was locked. I knew it was foolish to keep going through his room, but something told me that the stairway could be useful.

As each day came and went, the sense of dread I felt got worse. I tried to brush it off as anxiety, and buried myself into our escape plans, trying to fill in any cracks, but there was really nothing else I could improve. Still, the sense of dread lingered, growing like a gnawing animal inside me, even my wolf seemed aware of it, tucked away in my head, growling and fussing restlessly. When Kane sent word that he would be arriving a day late, the afternoon of the full moon party, the tension inside doubled. I had thrown up violently into my desk trash can after Byron had delivered the news, and if it wasn't for the fact that I hadn't had s*x with Kane, I would've worried I was pregnant because nausea didn't subside.

He would be back any hour now. I tried to push aside the anxiety as MaryAnn stuck pins into the dress I wore where I stood on the old pedestal in her house. It was her last chance to record any mistakes before she brought the dress back this evening. It was also my last chance to say anything to Max before all hell broke loose. I was so lost in my head, that I didn't hear MaryAnn calling to me until she grabbed my wrist, my eyes suddenly snapping to hers.

"Calm down, Alpha, everything will be fine," she reassured, "Come. Come see Maxis, and then you'd best get back to the packhouse."

I nodded, and let her remove the dress from my frame before I stepped into my other clothes. I hardly had anything that would be okay to travel in, but MaryAnn had reassured me that she would send Max and Sarah with a spare set of clothes for me to change into. After dressing, I followed MaryAnn into the cellar, and this time, Max bounded up to me, instead of her. I caught him around the middle, lifting him into my arms. He would be a tall one, that's for sure. His gangly limbs already hung heavily around me.

"Hi there sweet boy," I laughed, as he tucked his head against my shoulder, "Are you ready to leave tonight?"

We had kept Max slightly informed of what was going on. Alex and MaryAnn had been drilling into him for years how important it was to stay quiet, keep his head down, and listen in times like this, and though it was helpful in our situation, I looked forward to seeing him carefree and unapologetically happy.

"Yes," he mused, before wiggling in my arms for release, "I want a snack."

I couldn't help but laugh. Of course, he did. All this boy did was eat. Before he could sprint away, I grabbed him by the shoulders, crouching in front of him.

"Maxis, listen to me again, okay?" I said firmly, holding his eyes, "I will meet you and Sarah and Byron in the forest okay? And we are going to take a boat, but I may need to shift. You may need to see my wolf, but she loves you just as much as I do okay? She will keep you safe."

Max nodded, a wide grin on his face, "I really want to meet her. I never got to meet daddy's wolf."

My heart throbbed, and I quickly brought him into a hug, before letting him bound away from me. MaryAnn hooked her arm through mine.

"I never thought I'd see that boy so happy. I know how pleased Alex would be," she said quietly, "Make sure to take care of him."

I turned my eyes to her, "You will see him again, MaryAnn. I promise I will be back, as soon as I can be."

She shrugged, "I always promised myself that I would go down fighting. Same as my husband did. Same as Alpha Raymond did. Same as Alex did."

I shook my head, softly, but she held up a hand.

"Don't worry dear, I don't plan on dying anytime soon, but I listen to me, just in case," she said, I went to speak but she shook her head, "Humour an old wolf. Please."

I sighed softly, and she took it and ran with it.

"I know that you feel like the mate bond weakened you. That Kane was able to manipulate you using it, but you are young, Camilla. He was a grown man, out of his mind, who used you. That was not the mate bond, that was the kindness of your soul trying to find the goodness in his," she mused, "I believe in second chance mates because I've seen it happen. I know it is rare, but when it happens, it happens to those that deserve to be loved, and you, my dear, deserve to be loved."

"Max is plenty for me," I said with a soft smile, "I have my family, my pack, I don't need a mate."

She shook her head again, "I don't doubt that even without one, you will be a force to be reckoned with. But you deserve one. Mates are a gift from the goddess, and she doesn't make mistakes."

I couldn't help but feel that she had made a mistake, with Kane and I. He was no gift, he was torture. I was broken compared to what I used to be, because of his crimes. But I knew the old woman was being kind, and so I nodded. Even if I had trouble having faith in her choice of mate for me, my faith in her was unwavering. I kissed Max goodbye, and Sarah walked with Byron and I back to the packhouse. Normally, the two of them would be casting longing glances at one another, but they were just as nervous as I was. Byron escorted us upstairs, and went to stand at my office door, while Sarah followed me back into my room. She would help me with my hair, and getting ready.

I took a quick shower, and then sat in front of the mirror, watching her as she pulled and poked at me. It made me smile that she seemed almost giddy to be tending to me, and I planned on figuring out what she wanted to do with her life when we returned home. My mind drifted to my pack. What damage had Kane done, if any? What was I returning to? That was the one thing I wished I had been able to do prior to my escape. I wanted to be able to let them know that I was coming. I wished that there would be familiar wolves in no mans land to aid us, but we would have to travel alone. We planned to cross through no mans land only briefly, before we would ask for refuge in Black Stone, who was Rising Sun's closest ally. There, we would rest, and if they allowed us to, obtain a vehicle to drive the rest of the way home. It was a long trek just on foot otherwise, especially unprotected.

It was half past five now, and I still hadn't seen Kane. I wondered if he was back yet, and if so, why he hadn't come to visit me. I didn't want to see him, but it would be strange for him to not come shove himself in my face after being away for so many days. It is what he did best, always inflating his ego, and making himself seem bigger by putting those around him down. There was a knock on the door, and MaryAnn entered, holding a garment bag. She strode over to me, but her face was not the joyful, wise woman I knew, instead she looked concerned, and instantly, fear bloomed in my stomach.

"Is Ma-" I said quickly, standing up, my wold growling in my head, already protective of the boy.

"Yes, yes, he's fine," she said quickly, setting the garmet bag on the bed, "Kane has returned, and he brought a prisoner."

I frowned, both at the fact that he had a prisoner, and the fact that she was concerned about this. Taking a prisoner was not uncommon. Werewolves had become more civilized, but we were also well within our rights to imprison someone for just reasoning, and even kill them.

"And?" I asked, my voice calmer now knowing Max was safe.

She shook her head, her brow furrowed, "It's just that...Kane doesn't take prisoners, and really, who would he imprison? He's cold blooded, a murderer. And the fact that he was gone so long, without a vehicle..."

I started to understand MaryAnn's concern. Kane really wasn't the prisoner type. He had no mercy. Although there were other reasons for imprisonment, like torture, which we knew Kane was a fan of, it still led to questions. My wolf whined in my head, pawing around anxiously. A thought popped up into my head.

"What direction did they go in?" I asked softly.

MaryAnn shook her head, "I don't know. He mostly took his own warriors with him, and none of them would have much information. I only know he had a prisoner, because I saw someone guarding the cells when I was walking here."

My belly tightened, but I nodded, and tried to relax myself. Everything was fine. Everything is fine, I repeated over and over again. After a moment, all three of us slowly resumed our duties. MaryAnn and Sarah helped me into my dress, and I finally paid attention to it. It must have been a design of Kane's. It was a dark red, the fabric slightly shimmery. The sweetheart neckline, despite how incredibly low cut it was, and the thin straps reminded me of the blue dress I first met Alpha Copeland in.

I much preferred the blue one.

The back of the dress dipped dangerously low, so low in fact, that I couldn't wear any of my panties without them peeking out, and MaryAnn looked apologetic. I did not have to wonder if that was Kane's purpose. The dress fell to the floor, sweeping the ground in a pool of thick, glittery fabric. It was a beautiful dress, that was certain, but it put me on display like I was some sort of doll. Sarah had done her best with my face, applying concelor, and pressed powder until you almost could see the dark circles under my eyes. I had been eating more, so my cheeks were less gaunt, but my skin was still sallow, and sickly looking under the makeup. My hazel eyes hardly reflected blue at all, the dark red color washing me out. My pale brown hair was in a high ponytail, revealing all of the skin of my back - and my neck. I shivered, and was suddenly thankful that Kane didn't plan on marking me until after I was with child.

Suddenly, the door opened, and in walked Kane. His sandy hair was slicked back, and he looked clean shaven, but those empty blue eyes shot daggers at me. His tuxedo was a dark blue, as if he mocked the color I wore.

"Pet," he breathed, his voice laced with honey and silver, "Ready to perform?"