His Missing Luna

Chapter Three

Peyton's Point of View

So this was heaven! I always wondered what it would look like. In all of my musings though, I had never once thought it would look like the inside of a cheap diner. But it must be heaven because I had just seen an angel, and not just any angel, my very own angel. The one girl I had been looking for as long as I could remember. I couldn't find her because she had already left the earth. And finally, it was time to join her. I had died. Well, technically, I'd been brutally murdered by one of the people who was supposed to love and protect me.

But if this was heaven, then why did everything hurt so much? My entire body had been crushed beneath a stampede of warriors. I had crawled on my hands and knees when they had left me for dead. I'd been informed, just before the attack, that my pack would be told I'd been killed by rogues. My mother wouldn't believe that until she had proof, and so I had to do everything I could to make sure that didn't happen. She had started to suspect that my father was plotting to remove me. If he couldn't produce my body, then maybe my friends and family would start to ask questions. It wasn't much to go on, but I had to try.

A pain in my chest, that I thought for sure would kill me, seemed to propel me upwards out of my horizontal position on the floor. I drew in a huge breath and wrenched open my eyes. Looking down on me was a face that I never thought I would see again, but I would know anywhere. She looked as bewildered to see me as I was to see her.

"Juliet!" I panted, as my oxygen levels started to return. "Long time no see!"

I tried to inject a little light-heartedness into the situation, but it was a tough crowd.

"Peyton!! What the f**k are you doing here? How did you find us?"

I'd always assumed that when I caught up with Juliet, she would be scared and timid. I never imagined she'd be so angry. And how dare she question me? She was the one that ran out of the pack with someone that didn't belong to her! Despite my shock, I found myself answering her with more respect than she deserved.

"I didn't. My father and I were due to fight for the pack, but I was ambushed....."

"Bull s**t!" She yelled fiercely, cutting me off mid-sentence. "The Alpha sent you ahead to lure her out, didn't he?" Her fingers were curling into her fists. I wasn't sure if she was going to hit me or throttle me. Nor did I care because of what she had just said.

"She's here?" I asked, astonished! So I had seen her!

Juliet scoffed at me in disbelief. "Don't act dumb Peyton, it doesn't suit you." She huffed out a breath in temper. "Look, I don't care what my i***t mate agreed with your father, but she does not belong to either of you."

"She's not the reason I'm here!" Although once I got through to her mother I wasn't going to go anywhere without her. "I swear to Goddess Juliet!! I'm not my father!"

"No, you're just his number one fan and follower."

"A lot has changed since the last time you were in Amethyst Moon." I ground out. This was getting us precisely nowhere.

During the few minutes we'd been arguing, I had felt my body return to full strength. I slowly got to my feet before realizing that there was now not a broken bone in my body. She had fixed me.

"You were hiding your abilities." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

"What other choice did I have?" Her voice broke and, for the first time, I had a small inkling of what she might have been through.

A small high-pitched beep sounded once from the long counter in the diner. We both looked in it's direction.

"You've led them straight to us!" She roared. "How could you be so stupid?"

"For the last time, I didn't know you were here!" I snapped. "We have to leave, or they'll kill us both."

"So be it." Juliet said flatly.

"What the hell do you mean by that?" I was so confused my voice shot up an octave.

"I promised myself that I would protect my daughter to the ends of the earth. I made that choice a long time ago. And now it's time to give my life in exchange for hers."

I rolled my eyes. "Don't be so dramatic, if we leave now we'll get a few minutes' head start." I started to walk towards the kitchen. She didn't follow.

"And then what?" She asked me. I halted in my tracks and turned back towards her. "They'll follow me to get to her. I'll lose my life anyway, and Amelia will become your prisoner or your wife. Personally, I'm not sure what's worse."

The insult hit me straight in the ego. "Fine." I snarled. "You do what you have to. But make no mistake, I will find Amelia and she will come back with me."

"No you won't," she laughed without humor. "You'll never find her."

I didn't have time for this s**t. I could hear at least a dozen wolves advancing. Time was running out. My only concern up until I fell into this diner was killing my father and taking over the pack. But now... now I wanted my bride. And I'd need to be alive to claim her.

I left Juliet behind and shot out of the back door. As I ran, my wolf, Dice, became restless.

'We shouldn't have left her behind.' He told me in a clipped tone.

'I couldn't force her to come with me, Dice.'

'You didn't exactly try very hard, did you Peyton?'

I slowed down my run into a jog.

'Why are you so pissed?'

'Because you just left the one person who could help our cause, to die.'

'She wouldn't have helped us. She doesn't trust me in any way, shape or form!'

'That might be so. But do you honestly think you'll see Amelia again without her help? She has hidden her from you for thirteen years, she's been right under your nose and you didn't know. You sent scouts out to this town and they didn't find her. How is that possible, do you think?'

A growing feeling of unease had started to take over my body. I had just discovered that Juliet could heal. Did she have other gifts? Could she have disguised Amelia in a way so that no one would ever find her? My heart started to hammer in my chest.

'I've f****d this up' I said to myself.

'You think?' Dice quipped back.

I didn't have time for his sarcasm. I needed to get back to Amelia's Mom and drag her with me if necessary.

Running back towards the diner, I couldn't believe how reckless I'd been.

I looked up towards the diner. Smoke was curling up through the air. I heard the whooshing sound of flames as they started to lick at the timber frame. I barely had time to register what was happening before there was an almighty explosion that knocked me on my ass. The diner was gone, replaced instantly by a huge fireball in the sky.