His Missing Luna

Chapter Five

Peyton's Point of View

The only reason that I, or anyone around me, knows anything about a perception filter is because of Liam Campbell. He heads up the Amber Moon Pack and is one of the best Alpha's I know. Of course, I'm better, but then I'm sure he'd say the same thing. He's a hell of a fighter though. We've met a couple of times, sank a few beers and then ended up seeing who could pin the other the quickest in a battle. It's 3-0 to Liam. Something my Beta isn't in a hurry to let me forget.

The question was, would he help me out with this. He respected me as I respected him, but we weren't each other's besties. I offered up a silent prayer to our Mother, dialed his number and waited impatiently for him to answer.

"Hello!" He cheerfully yelled, rather than spoke into his phone. He was a joyful son of a b***h, I'd give him that.

"Liam? It's Peyton Amethyst Moon."

"Hey! Sorry to sound a bit offhand - I didn't recognize the number." Offhand? Moon Goddess, what I wouldn't give to be as happy as he was.

"It's the landline - I smashed my mobile." I grunted.

"That'll be the fourth one this-" He broke off the sentence early so as not to piss me off, clearly a smart man. "Anyway what's up? you wanna go another round?"

"Tempting, but no. I actually wanted to know about perception filters."

There was a beat of silence, before Liam responded. "I'd love to be able to help man, but I've never heard of it."

I sighed in annoyance. "It was you that told me about it at the last Alpha conference."

"You must have me confused with-"

"Right before you drank that pink cocktail and fell in the pool!"

"Oh you want drunk Liam! Well, sadly, he's not here right now."

"Liam, I swear to the Goddess..."

"Hey, if you've got an issue with drunk Liam, you'll have to take it up with drunk Liam."

I seethed silently, I could almost hear him smiling down the phone. He thought he had me. But I had a little something in my back pocket.

"That makes sense, I suppose." I pretended to think about that for a while before I delivered my first blow. "So, I guess as drunk Liam isn't around, I'll just give Lucas a call instead."

"Why would you do that?" Liam asked uncomfortably. "What would my brother know?"

"Well, as you said it is on his territory, I mean it's him that's hiding-" I had no idea how to finish that sentence because I didn't know what Alpha Lucas was keeping a secret. Liam was just coming to that part before he took his late night swim.

"Do not finish that sentence, she'll kill me!"

"Sure," I agreed, not even trying to hide my own smile. I was damn pleased with myself.

"So, I can't tell you much about it-"

"Lucas it is then.."

"Peyton, for Goddess’s sake, let me finish my sentence." He sounded exasperated as hell, but I couldn't care less! I needed this information so badly, it felt like my life depended on it.

"All I can really tell you is that it exists. That perception filters exist. And they're not of Werewolf origin, they come from Witches."

That threw me completely. Juliet was not a Witch, she was a Werewolf.

"Go on," I encouraged.

"Lucas's pack is protected by one, or at least the borders are. There is no way a stranger could find their way onto his land, unless it was by pure coincidence."

I hung my head in misery. "That's how I found her last time."

"Found who?" I could hear a scraping of a chair on Liam's side of the line. He was obviously making himself comfortable. Not that there was much point. Mine was an extremely quick, if gloomy, tale. "What's this all about Peyton?" I heard the compassion in his question. I hated it! But I had to suck it up if I wanted to get her back.

"Amelia." I spoke her name softly and quietly and with a lot of heartache. "She's my mate. At least I think she is. I can't get close enough to her to find out. I've been scouring the country for months looking for her, but every time one of my crew gets anywhere near her, she seems to vanish."

"She's probably still there." Liam said "The perception filter works by drawing your attention away from its bearer, rendering them unnoticeable, so to speak. But I don't understand why she would want to hide from you if you're her mate."

"I've known she was my mate since I was around four or five. She was promised to me by her father but she disappeared from the pack with her mother one day. No one was able to find them again. When I did finally see her, it was by complete accident. She wasn't 18 then, but I remember her being worried about me. It's a bit fuzzy, not least because I was dying at her feet." I didn't need to explain that day any further. Liam knew all about what my father had done and why.

Liam said nothing, and for a while an uncomfortable silence stretched between us until I finally broke it with something practical. "She and her mother lived their lives around humans. How did they do that if they were protected by this filter, do you think?"

Liam, who must have been relieved that I was talking again, answered quickly. "It could be that it only works on creatures from other worlds?" It was a question more than a statement. I sensed his expertise in this subject were fairly limited.

"So what do I do next?" I asked, knowing that I wouldn't like the answer.

"You have to wait for her to take it down."

"I'm not even sure she knows about it. If that's possible?"

There was an almighty crash on Liam's side and I heard a blood-curdling scream.

"Liam? What the hell is going on?" It sounded like a child was being murdered.

"Nothing good. You're about to get a visitor. She's small and she's very pissed off. And for Goddess's sake, do not tell my brother I had anything to do with this."

He slammed the phone down seconds before I heard my front door flying from it's hinges.