Blessed by the Moon Goddess

Chapter 8

Janelle

“Like hell. I know my son eats some crazy s**t, but it doesn’t explain how he ingested wolf’s bane. No, you listen to me, Vincent! I want you to grant me an investigation. What the hell do you mean no? Then let Abel investigate. Fine, something better be done.” Serge’s voice echoed through the house causing me to jump awake. Abel reaches out for me, but I push him away realizing that Serge is close to catching Abel in my bed never mind my room. “Abel?!” Serge calls out.

I get out of bed and run to the bathroom. I need to get out of here before he discovers Abel in here. When I get out of the bathroom, Abel is out of bed on the phone. “Yes, sir. I will, he’s calling me right now. Okay, yes. I will do that.” He hangs up the phone and then answers another call. I walk to the door, only for him to block it with his body. “Yes, Alpha. He just told me. Pick someone who’s not afraid of my father. You know what I’m talking about. Yes, sir. I will be in within the hour.” He hung up the phone and grabbed my hips pulling me to him. “Do you think you are leaving without kissing me good morning?”

“That’s what you’ve been doing for the past month? Kissing me good morning before work after having s*x the night before with another woman?”

“You got me hot and bothered then told me no. What else was I supposed to do? It’s not like you realized what you were doing to me as I was the one pushing it.” Abel defended. “I… Forget it, I’m done apologizing. I need to go to work, but I hate to ask you this… You wouldn’t have poisoned my little brother, would you? As a way to get away from here?”

“What? Why would you ask me such a thing?” I feel hurt by the question. Tears start to flood my eyes. “I’m not a murderer. Your pack are the murderers. They murder innocent children, and defenseless babies, not me.”

Abel grabbed my face with both hands and brushed my tears off my cheeks with his thumbs before leaning in to kiss me. “I’m sorry, I had to ask. I need to investigate everything, though I want to know what you were just talking about. Can we talk later? I mean, real talk not you being afraid to talk to me?”

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

“I’ll be back later,” he kissed me again and left the room. I wipe my tears and exit my room. I cannot believe he just asked me if I poisoned a child to get away. He’s my mate, and as much as I hate being a slave here, as long as he wants me, I will stay with him.

I enter the main room to see Serge holding a crying baby. “Do you know how to make her stop crying? She’s been screaming all morning. Can’t you hear that?”

“I’m sorry sir, I’m used to your wife tending to her. Yes, I can help with the baby.” I reply taking the infant who has a very full diaper. “Can you ask your wife if she has any more bottles for the baby? She only has three more in the fridge.”

“I will have her come home. She was being stubborn last night.” Serge answered. “Can you manage the infant and your chores?”

“Yes, sir. I just need more food for her.” I reply as I pull everything off the baby. “There you go, sweety. No more wetness, let’s get you in something dry and warm.” The baby continued to cry as I cleaned her up and got her dressed.

“I thought you said you could get her to stop screaming,” Serge demanded.

“I am working on that sir. She’s dirty and hungry, and maybe a little cranky,” I respond as I work on heating a bottle in the bottle warmer. “Are you hungry little one? Yes, I know. My don’t you have such strong lungs.” I coo as I gently rock her waiting for the bottle warmer to finish. Once she gets her bottle, the crying becomes little sobs. “There you go little one.”

“Finally,” Serge sighed then walked away. I heard the front door close telling me I was on my own today with little Sadie. As soon as I get Sadie to sleep, I go to the kitchen to clean up.

This is definitely not what I expected, but at least they trust me with their baby. Unless they are thinking like Abel. I mean, if my own mate suspected I would harm his brother, then what would keep his parents from thinking the same way? Is this some sick sort of test to see if it's me who’s harming their children?

I managed to make all the beds and clean up the rooms before the baby woke up for another diaper and feeding. Only she wasn’t tired afterward, which made me nervous. I bring her to the parlor and lay her on a blanket on the floor while I clean the room. The front door opens just as I finish dusting, and Helga walks in.

“Why is she awake and on the floor?” Helga demands.

“I tried to rock her back to sleep for twenty minutes, but she just wasn’t tired. I brought her out here, gave her some toys and she’s been happy.” I answer. “I wasn’t sure if you do that tummy time thing with her, so I opted to let her only do this.”

“Serge said she slept through the night but was screaming all morning. You said she needed more food.” Helga stated.

“Yes ma’am, there are only two bottles of food left in her mini fridge.”

“She does seem happy. She’s the fussiest of my nine.” Helga sighs sitting down. “I will pump then go shower and change. I just don’t know…” She looks like she wants to cry, but shakes her head, stands back up, and walks into the nursery.

While Helga did what she needed to do, and the baby continued to happily play, I brought out the vacuum to continue my chores. I vacuumed the rug in the hallway just to keep going with my chores. When Helga came back into the room, the baby was just beginning to fuss and I was changing her diaper while a bottle was warming.

“I’m going back to the hospital. The healer said Conrad got most of the poison out of his system, but last night was rough.” Helga sighed. “Never in my life…”

“I’m sorry, I hope he gets well soon.” I reply. I’m not even sure what else to say to her. If I say, ‘it wasn’t me’ it’ll seem like I’m guilty of something.

She pulls her phone out of her pocket as it begins to ring. “The school…” she looks at it as if surprised to be receiving the call. “Hello?” she answers. “What?! Oh Goddess… Please, I’ll be there when she arrives.” Helga hangs the phone up. “Nia is being sent to the healer with similar symptoms as Conrad. I…”

“I have the baby. You go take care of your sick children. When the others come home, I can care for them too. I promise, I will protect them.” I assure her.

“If you need more food for Sadie, I have some formula in the closet of the nursery. Only use it when she’s completely out of breast milk. Follow the instructions on the package, and it’ll work.” Helga stated.

“Okay.” I nod. Helga gave the baby a kiss on the head and left.

As I finish feeding the baby, I get this nagging feeling in my gut that we’re not safe here. The last time I felt like this, my entire pack was slaughtered. I don’t like this feeling. I lay Sadie in her crib while I pack a bag with her milk and find the extra formula and empty bottle. I also put the bottle warmer in the bag, before loading up her laundry basket with diapers wipes, and extra clothes. Carrying her and everything to Abel’s apartment is a task, but I can set her down upstairs and bring the rest upstairs from here. I’ll deal with the consequences when they come if I’m just being paranoid, but I like my chances of only one way up, one way down then in this huge open space downstairs.

I situation her snuggle on the bed to ensure she can’t roll while she sleeps, and try to relax. Who is attacking these kids? How did they get to two kids in two days? Conrad obviously eats things, but Nia is old enough where I’d think she’d be more cautious about what she ingests.

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It’s only been a couple of hours, but I still can’t shake this feeling. It’s unnerving. Could this be the mate bond and being what Abel is feeling? I don’t understand how this whole mate bond thing works. My parents always told me that everyone’s experience is different, except for the strong urge to be near one's mate.

I should be happy someone is targeting the family who enslaved me, but I’m not. Even if my mate wasn’t a member of this family, I’d feel this way. The ones who are being targeted right now are children, innocent children like my brother and sister who were slain because they were born into a specific pack. No child deserves to suffer or be endangered because of who they are related to. I’m angry that someone would stoop so low to poison children for no adherent reason. If an adult angers you, go after the adult, not defenseless children.

The baby begins to stir from her nap again, looking for more food and a clean diaper, pulling me from my thoughts. I do my job of caring for the infant that was entrusted to my care. Taking care of this child makes me realize that as mean as this family is with their words and threats, they treat me well. I’m provided clothes, three meals a day, and a comfortable bed plus Helga encourages good hygiene. Yes, only my mate knows my name, but I can handle being called ‘girl’ if it meant that they would continue to take care of me.

As soon as I rock the baby back to sleep, I hear a loud bang downstairs. My heart stops. Is this Serge coming home to find the baby missing? Or did someone just break in? I hold my breath and listen to find out my answer… What I hear is not either.

“What do you think you’re doing? My Daddy is going to kick your butt for taking me.” Masey’s voice carries through the house. I hear a menacing laugh and every hair on my body stands on end. Masey is in danger.

I move the baby to the bathtub and lock the door before sneaking down the stairs. If I can sneak up on the person, maybe I can help Masey. I’ve never killed anyone before, but… I can’t let someone hurt Masey. Not after what happened to my own little sister. No, I need to help or die trying.

“Let me go!” Masey screeched. “DADDY! HELP ME!”

The person in the parlor with Masey laughs. “Yes, call for your Daddy, little one.” I peak around the corner and see a man slightly smaller than Abel standing in front of the sofa with his back turned to me. He’s looming over Masey who is hog tied and tossed on the sofa. What is with these people in hog tying others? I shake my head, I need to focus.

I press my finger to my lip as I come out from the corridor. Masey’s eyes go wide when she sees me. “What are you going to do?” She asks.

The man just laughs, “use you for bait. Your father and I have some unfinished business to handle.” He informs her.

I’m within pouncing distance now. How the hell has he not sensed me in the room? Is he that consumed with his own plans? “You can’t take him.” Masey shrieked when she sees me crouching. I’m going to jump on his back and hopefully get within striking distance.

“That’s what he would have everyone believe isn’t it?” The man growled.

I jumped on his back. “She was talking to me,” I state as my hand shifts into my claws and I rake it across his neck. Blood sprays every where. All over Masey, the sofa, me, the walls. The man crumbles to the floor under me and I stand up, picking Masey up in my arms. I cut the ropes as she wraps her arms around me crying. “It’s okay.” I whisper to her. I run to her room, stopping in the bathroom to use a towel. I wipe all the wet blood off of us. The last thing I want is to leave a trail going to Abel’s room. “We’re going to Abel’s room. Okay? I have Sadie up there already.” She nods but continues to cling to me. I grab her a change of clothes and run back upstairs, careful to avoid any of the blood.

In Abel’s room, I pop the lock to the bathroom door, and pull Masey inside where I clean her up with the sink and help her change her clothes. “You… You killed him.” She sobbed. I nodded not knowing how to respond to that. Once she was taking care of, I washed my face and arms before promptly vomiting in the sink.

I slump to the floor shaking as I try to calm my nerves. “I didn’t think I could,” I finally whispered. “I had to save you.”

“Why? We’re not nice to you.” Masey asked.

“Because you are a kid. I had to protect you. I promised you mom I would protect her babies.” I replied softly. I heard another loud crash downstairs and got to my feet. “Stay here. Keep her quiet, no matter what don’t open the door unless it’s me or your family.” I instruct Masey before pulling the door closed.

I shift into my wolf knowing I’m bigger in wolf form than my human form. Not as big as some wolves, but bigger than my usual size. I crouch next to the sofa, ready to pounce on anyone coming to the top of the stairs. If I strike at the correct time, I’ll take them down the stairs with me. Anything to keep them from getting Masey or Sadie.

The door opens and I hear footsteps on the stairs, as I crouch lower making sure I get the maximum pounce I can muster. When I see the top of their head over the half wall stairwell, I pounce, launching myself at the intruder. Too late do I see that it’s Serge. In a split second, he sees me and flinches. He moves so quickly, that he catches my shoulders with both hands and pushes me towards the top of the stairs away from him. I hit the wall hard. “s**t, are you okay?” Serge mutters coming up the stairs and picking me up. He lays me on the bed so I can shift into my human form. My right arm is broken, and I’m seeing spots. “What happened?” He asked me.

“I…”

“Daddy!” Masey calls as she comes running out of the bathroom. Serge catches her in his arms and scoops her up. “Daddy, she… She saved me.” Masey told her father. I feel my eyes roll up and everything went black.

******************************************************

Abel

I got home to check on everything, dreading having to tell my father I found no leads on who or how Conrad was poisoned, only to find the front door splintered open. Someone broke in… My heart stops… Goddess, let her be okay. I’m shaken when I enter the house.

I see a corpse laying on the parlor floor in a pool of blood. The sofa has a void within the blood of a body. Someone was laying there when this man was killed. There’s a thud upstairs, and my heart drops into my stomach. Janelle… I sprint down the hallway and up my stairs two at a time. “Girl…. Girl, wake up…” My dad is shouting patting her cheek.

“Daddy, is she okay?” Masey is sobbing next to the bathroom door.

Why is Janelle naked and covered in blood? “What happened?” I ask moving towards my bed.

“She acted me. I deflected trying to keep us from getting injured. She had too much momentum and hit the corner of the wall.” My dad explained. “I heard the arm snap, but it looks like she hit her head. She was talking, then her eyes rolled back in her head.

I sit on my bed and pull her to me. “Janelle… Janelle, open your eyes. Come on, you can do it.” I call to her as I pull the covers over her.

“Son, how…” My dad stops himself as if he realized.

“Come on, wake up.” I lean down and kiss her lips. “Janelle, let me see those soft brown eyes.” I plead.

“Abel?” She groans. “What? Ow… Oh, everything hurts.”

I can’t help but smile. “I told you that you were fragile little wolf.”

She looks at me confused. “I’m not that fragile and stop calling me little.”

“You hit the wall and knocked yourself out.” I chuckle.

“Your dad pushed me into the wall.” She scoffed.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to push you so hard.” My dad states.

Janelle turns to him and looks horrified as she tries to pull out of my arms. “Sir, I can explain… I…”

“Relax, rest, we’ll talk later.” My dad says. “I need to call Vinny.”

“Yeah, I think you should.” I agree.

“First, we have a big problem.” My dad sighs. “She’s not supposed to exist.” He points to Janelle. “I was ordered to kill her if I found her, to ensure no one survived. She reminded me of Nia and I couldn’t do it.”

“And because I killed that wolf… Oh Goddess, I’m sorry.” Janelle begins to cry. “It’s just… Masey… I…”

“It’s okay.” I whisper holding her tight and kissing her forehead. “Can’t we just say, I found her doing patrol one night?”

“She was spotted in human form running into the woods. I didn’t realize it was her until I got her here. I had a feeling, but in wolf form she looks bigger.” My dad explained.

“Can’t you say you killed a wolf in the cave, thinking it was her? She’s my mate, Dad. We need to think of something…” I plead.

“I figured as much,” He sighed as if disappointed.

“I can renounce all claims.” Janelle blurted out.

“All claims to what?” My dad asked looking at her in shock and confusion.

“As the surviving member of the Bloodmoon pack, and eldest niece of the now deceased Alpha, I am the rightful Alpha of the Bloodmoon pack. I can renounce my claims.” Janelle explained.

“Oh, s**t,” I murmur.

“All this time?” My Dad asked her looking at me. “No, don’t mention that to anyone. Masey, you did not hear that, understand.”

“Will Janelle be in more danger if I tell?” Masey asked. I’ve never seen my sister so timid, what happened?

“They will kill her for sure, and Abel as her mate.” My Dad told her.

“No, Janelle saved me, Daddy. She’s good.” Masey protested. “Don’t let her get hurt. Please Daddy, I can keep a secret, I will keep Janelle’s secret and keep her safe.”

“That’s my good girl,” My Dad smiles at her. Masey has always been the one kid that got Dad to do everything for her.

“Masey, are you okay?” Janelle asked her.

“Yes, are you?” Masey asked climbing onto the bed. She gave my dad a hug, then crawled over to me and Janelle. “Abel, she’s my best friend.”

“That’s fine,” I chuckle as Janelle wraps Masey into a hug.

We hear Sadie start crying in the bathroom. “Why’s the baby in the bathroom?” My dad asks getting up to get her.

“Janelle put her in the bathtub to sleep,” Masey stated.

“She can’t roll anywhere or get hurt in there. I needed to help Masey.” Janelle explained trying to get up again. “She needs a diaper change.”

I release her but stand up before she can. I grab one of my shirts from the closet and bring it to Janelle to put on. I help her into it, and button it up careful not to touch her arm. I kiss her lips with a smirk, before letting her go to the laundry basket full of diapers next to my sofa. “Someone was prepared.”

“I had an uneasy feeling after your mom got a call that Nia was having similar symptoms to Conrad.” She explained. “I wasn’t taking any chances.”

“Nia?” I didn’t hear about Nia.

“Yes, I picked all the kids up from school, which is how I noticed Masey was missing. I thought maybe she just walked home.” My dad admitted. “I didn’t have time to call you as I was panicking.”

“Call Uncle Vin. I’ll handle the consequences.”

“No, I will. I’m due to retire anyway. A few days in prison will be worth it.” My dad sighed pulling out his phone. “We had an intruder. He kidnapped Masey, but my housekeeper was here watching Sadie for Helga. Let’s just say he’s dead, and all three girls are fine.” Dad waited for a response. “We will see you when you get here. Yes, all the kids are at the packhouse as instructed. Okay, thank you.” He hung up the phone and looked solemn. I’ve never seen my dad look so defeated, but over the course of the phone call he seemed to age ten years before my eyes. “He’s on his way.”

“How are we going to do this?” I ask him as we watch Janelle tend to Sadie.

“Masey needs to remain up here. If Sadie is sleeping, she should be up here as well.” My dad answered.

“And Janelle?” I press.

“She’ll have to come downstairs with us. Whatever that decision is, she needs to know. As well as your mother.” He sighed. “I need to call her and tell her what has happened.”

“Any idea why we are being targeted?” I ask. He just shakes his head. “I don’t even know that wolf down there.”

“Neither do I, but that doesn’t mean he’s not a member of this pack.” Dad replied. It’s true with over 5,000 members there’s no possible way for us to know everyone. We know our troop unit, and dad knows the unit leaders, that’s it. If this wolf was part of another unit from last year or any other time, then I wouldn’t have crossed paths with him. The way our military guard is designed is bizarre, but it’s worked since my father was a kid. Uncle Vin may have become the new Alpha, but he hasn’t made any major changes to the pack or the order of how the pack is run. “I need to call your mother,” Dad stated walking down the stairs.

“Abel, why does Daddy look so sad?” Masey asks me.

“He’s just scared. Conrad and Nia were poisoned, and are not feeling well, then you were stolen and brought here. He’s scared we’re all in danger and he can’t protect us all.” I explain gently. I know there’s more to it, but I can’t stress her out, she’s only six.

“Will Conrad and Nia be okay?” Masey asked.

“I think so,” I reply looking at Janelle. My concern is the safety of my mate. I just found her. I waited 25 years to meet her, and now… I need to know why her pack was ordered to be destroyed. Things Janelle and my dad said just don’t make sense. Uncle Vin has never ordered the murder of an entire pack. Sure, we’ve had several wars, but nothing to the extent of what happened to the Bloodmoon pack.