AFRAID OF THE DARK

CHAPTER 18

"I hate him. I hate him so much." Locus curls up on the couch and cries.

"I can't believe he would do this to you. I know he seems like such a jerk, but I'm sure it is because he's weak. The Dark got to him. I'm sure he regrets cheating." Rachel tries to console her.

"Yeah, right. He cheated on me not once, not twice, but three times. Does that sound like he regrets it!" Locus yells back.

"Locus." I say to get her attention.

She turns to look to where I'm standing and notices the luggage bags next to me. "You're leaving?"

"Yes. We are going to..."

"That's just like you. Leave to go live your perfect life with your perfect mate. Leave me here in my pain. Just go and be your perfect self."

"Excuse me?" I question with held back anger.

"Your mate didn't cheat on you. You'll never know what I went through. You'll never feel that kind of pain. It's like somebody is squeezing your heart so hard that it will burst. I have deep scratch marks and bruises where I tried to make it stop. It almost killed me."

"She knows what it feels like. She went through it herself last night." Rachel's lip lifts ever so slightly, but her eyes remain hateful. "How many hours did you go through that pain until the bond broke?"

I slap her across the face and nearly get attacked by Logan for doing so. Adam holds him back. I look back and forth to the girls that are supposed to be my family. Their betrayal hurts, but I don't let them see my tears. I stay strong and face Locus directly. I attempt to be the bigger person.

"I don't think Cedric meant to cheat on you. The Dark has him and many of the others captive. Some of them have followed under his control. He's under the dark's spell and if you want him back, you're going to have to stay strong and learn to forgive him. Otherwise, you will lose your mate. I know it hurts, and yes I have felt that pain. My life hasn't been perfect like you think. I've had a mate cheat on me. I know the hurt, but I forgave him. He was weak and that's what happened to Cedric. The Dark has found his weakness. Now you have to help him find his strength." I turn back towards Adam and Mindy to help with the bags.

"You're going back?" Locus stands and looks at the bags. "I'm going with you."

"No. You can't. He'll put you under his spell too." I shake my head. "We're only taking members that don't have regrets or weaknesses that can be used against them."

"If you're right about Cedric, then I have no regrets. I'll forgive him. Let me go with you to bring him back to me." She grabs my arm tightly.

"Really? You don't regret not telling your family or Cedric what was happening to me even though you talked to them while I was locked up getting beaten on a daily basis. Did you ever ensure I was getting food each day or were you too busy partying and spending time with your new friends? Do you feel guilty they were starving me so much that my wolf still doesn't let anybody near her food? And you think all I think about is myself?" I raise my voice. "You've ignored me since Rachel has arrived. You showed her around town without asking if I would like to go. I'm still getting thrown against lockers. If you don't feel guilt for any of that, I don't want you near me."

She has tears in her eyes and I thought I had seen some guilt, but she glances to Rachel and she stops feeling any guilt. "No. Ever since we were little everybody has worshiped the ground you walk on. You shouldn't have been a Luna. My father may be a Beta, but it is by choosing. We are Alpha blood too. Why do you get to be the Luna. Why were you the one born with a strong wolf? You don't deserve it. You don't even feel guilty for the deaths of your parents or your grandparents. They died protecting you, but you walk around like your all high and mighty..."

She rushes back when my wolf comes forward and wants to attack her. Thankfully Adam is there again to stop another attack. Logan steps in front of me to tell me to calm down. He places his hands on my shoulder and says it is probably better if I leave. He's not angry. There's empathy and sadness as he talks. Rachel pushes him away from me and yells at him for touching me. I whisper a goodbye and a thank you when he looks back up. I walk out of the house without looking back to see if the others are following.

"Are you okay, Luna?" Adam asks as a friend, but again uses my title to remind me who I am.

"I'll be okay once we save our pack." I walk to the car.

The driver helps place our bags in one of the trunks of the two cars waiting. I frown at the men packing bags into the second car. Adam walks me over to them for introduction. They inform me of their position in the pack is and their main skill in fighting. Only one of them is a lead fighter while the other three are still rookies. Many of the pack members refuse to help, but there are many of them that are scared as well. They have heard stories about the creature of the night and they don't think they are strong enough to face him. We only have four brave fighters from Logan's pack volunteering to help. It's not enough. I don't know how Uncle Reggie's pack is faring and how much of their help we will get. We need more fighters.

"Cami, wait. I'm coming with you." Logan yells and runs down with a duffel bag. The clothes had been packed haphazardly and a few shirts fall out. One of his men helps pick them up as Logan runs down the stairs. He's nearly out of breath from rushing. "I called your uncle to let him know you're on the way. He said many of his pack members are under the control of the dark, including his daughter. Rachel and few of her friends had gone to a concert and were different when they returned. They had tried to contain Rachel, but she escaped. She's under Dark's spell."

A commotion from the front door grabs our attention. Two men have a tight hold on Rachel as she fights and curses with them to let her go. I notice the darness in her eyes. It had been as if she hates the world and is always angry. Her hair is wild from thrashing around and for a second I wonder if I had looked the same when Adam had taken me to the cells.

Another man has Locus by her arm following. Locus is crying and shaking in fear. She keeps telling the man she is innocent and not under a spell. The man says nothing in return. It's another man that says they have Alpha's orders to lock them up until the dark creature has been defeated. Locus looks my way begging for help. I sigh knowing this is probably for the best. Who knows if Rachel was successful in putting thought into her head. She could try to release Rachel from the cells. We can't take that chance. I pray she's strong and stays strong for Cedric's sake, then I turn away. Logan does the same and tosses his bag into the car trunk.

"Rachel was trying to turn her." Adam realizes.

"Yeah." I answer and open the back passenger door to the car.

"Then she didn't really mean the stuff she said." Mindy says softly trying to make me feel better.

"She's not turned yet, and she wasn't when I had been locked in the cells." I remark coldly before climbing into the car.