The Moon Phase Trilogy | Protected | Book One | ORIGINAL

Sixteen

Ericka laid in a field of flowers as she watched her sisters play. She put her head down on her tail gently and sighed with a small smile. The sun slowly faded as it came down from the sky and she howled at it, saddened it was leaving the sky for another night.

She fell in love with the dusk and wished it would stay that time of day forever. Her red and brown fur glistened with it and it made her so happy. "Sissy, come and play!" Alex shouted happily as she spun around in the flowers.

Ericka stood and shook herself before walking over to her little sister. She nuzzled Alex and the girls didn't question Ericka's wolf form. "Can we stay here forever? It's so peaceful and there's no danger," Maxie said as she laid in the flowers looking up at the moon and stars with a smile across her lips.

Alex laid next to her and Ericka did the same on the other side of Maxie, "I'd love to stay here too!" Alex shouted happily.

Ericka smiled and her tail swayed happily. She watched the flowers change to grass that was dead and the sky changed to a deep red and it was hot as if they were in the middle of a fire. She looked to see her sisters gone and ash were in their place. Ericka panicked and she ran as fast as she could to a burning forest. She was clueless as to why she was running towards the fire instead of away from it, but she figured her wolf knew what to do. Ericka got closer and closer to the fire and her fur grew darker, like the flames' ashes. 'Why is my fur changing color?' She thought to herself. Her wolf wasn't in full control, but for good reason.

'Dusk, please come to me. The girls are safe, but we need your help,' a familiar voice spoke in her head. Ericka grew confused and wondered who Dusk was, but let her wolf guide her. Ericka was pushed to her limits as she ran on all fours. 'Follow my scent, Dusk. Trust your instincts, Luna.'

'Who are you? What does 'Luna' mean?' Ericka replied confused. She felt her wolf discipline her and she trucked on through the burning forest. She kept looking back from where she came and it was almost all ash, like her fur color. Ericka picked up a familiar scent, a manly stench of forest and sweat, and tracked the guy down.

Ericka's wolf gained full control and pushed even harder to get to the voice. She knew Ericka couldn't handle knowing the truth, not just yet.

~*~*~*~*~

In the real world, Jayden found Shaun in a room with his brother and Skull. A dark colored teen boy stood watch in the room and he needed to get in there to save Shaun. Jayden wasn't sure if he could take the kid on by himself, but he had to try something, before they did something to Shaun. He stood up, leaning against the cold, brick wall for balance and pushed open the door with some force, "Let her go," he growled.

Asher looked to his right to see his twin and smirked, "Daemion, let him in. Skull, give Jayden a chair to sit in. I want him to watch what I am doing to precious Shaun Frost, the next Luna of her pack."

"What the hell did you do to her, Asher?" he demanded an answer, but all he got was silence. Jayden looked around the room and felt a lot of tension in it just from that one kid, who was two years younger than they were. "What is your problem?" he snarled at the dark colored kid.

Daemion grew offended and was about to shift, but Asher gave him a look that made him crawl in a corner and hide, "Sorry sir," was all that came out from his mouth. He didn't try to make eye contact with anyone and just stared at the ground until told differently.

Jayden raised his brow and looked over to Skull who seemed to be helping Asher with whatever they were doing. He couldn't really see much, but the one thing he did see was Shaun's wolf. Blu revealed herself and her coloring and pattern was different. Her fur was still dark blue, almost black, but he saw some grey spots on her muzzle and throughout the rest of her fur. He stood up, clutched the chair for balance and growled, "What did you do to her wolf?"

"I made her look even more powerful brother. More fearful," Asher said plainly. He stepped aside and revealed Blu's new accessories. Jayden took in the view and it hurt him a little bit. Blu looked to be in so much pain, scars could be seen where the grey fur was and dried blood blended in with her deep blue fur.

"You think that's frightening, Asher? You tortured Blu, by putting Shaun to sleep!" Jayden shouted. His fists clenched and he released the chair slowly.

Asher chuckled, "The serum I gave Shaun, healed her wounds, but gave them to Blu. I thought I was being nice, but apparently I wasn't."

"You know as well as I, that wasn't being nice! Seriously, what the hell is wrong with you bro? Look at what you have become! How can you live with yourself?" Jayden scowled. His voice dripped with disappointment and he strutted towards his brother. "Mother and father would be so angry with what you have become, Asher." He removed everything that was attached to Blu and picked her up gently, making sure not to make her pain worse. He turned on his heel and limped out the door. What shocked him the most, Asher didn't stop him. Skull had helped him get the door and he traveled back to where Ruby and Ericka stayed. Jayden still saw the vampire twins arguing and he rolled his eyes.

"How did you get past us wolf boy?" Noellia asked shocked.

Jayden chuckled, "You two were distracted by who was in charge. So what were you two saying about the necklace? What do I need to do to get Ericka back?" he asked and set Blu down in front of Ericka's cell to rest.

Grant came to Jayden's side with an evil smile across his lips, "I need you to kill your brother and his hispos. Then I will give you the necklace to save Ericka Bluhm. You have a week to do so, Jayden Fahl. If you fail to do so by next week Friday, Ericka will die here and you will be mateless forever," he whispered in Jayden's ear.

Jayden's body grew stiff and he looked at the love of his life, lying motionless in the cell. He looked back to Grant, but he was gone. His sister had disappeared and so did the pendant, "What am I going to do?" he said under his breath.