Black Moon (Colors of the Moon #4)

Chapter 7

"I knew you'd be back."

I once again froze with my foot on the first stair, however, this time I didn't lunge for the newcomer's throat. Down the hallway tip-toed Elena, who then stopped a step away from me. She crossed her thin arms in front of her chest and looked me straight into the eyes.

It's her you should have choked and not the Luna Queen, Edria muttered.

"You haven't changed," Elena said.

While I knew I could easily take her on, I also knew she could just as easily mind-link her Beta mate, or, Moon Goddess forbid, even the Alpha King. I couldn't risk either of that happening.

"Maybe I haven't changed, but I hope you have. Or are you here to stop me? To wedge yourself between me and my mate?"

She was unable to hide the wince my words caused her, which in return had my stomach sinking an inch lower. This wasn't me. I hated being this cruel to anyone, even someone like her.

"I'm not here to stop you. I'm here to help."

Ha! Edria snorted.

"You can think of me what you want," for a second the determined glint in her eyes reminded me of the Elena I had grown up with, "but I'm not letting you go down there on your own. Even a strong warrior like you needs someone to watch your back."

She really thinks we'd be stupid enough to have her watch our back? Edria snorted.

I think we should let her come with us, I said.

Have you lost your mind? She tried to get rid of Naia.

I know. But right now she can help us get to our mate and free him. Like it or not, we need her.

"Okay." I took Edria's stubborn silence as an agreement. "But if you try to stop me or get in my way, I won't hold Edria back from killing you. She still wants your blood for what you did to Naia."

"Fair enough."

With Elena right behind me we tiptoed our way down the stairs. Halfway down, a scraping noise swooshed into my ears. I stopped and forced Elena to do the same. The scraping was the sound of a key being inserted inside a lock and then turned.

Elena and I locked eyes, and without any words necessary we nodded in agreement. We tiptoed down the rest of the staircase and stopped at the last two stairs. That way we still remained hidden in the shadows, while also having a perfect view of the elongated room.

A she-wolf with platinum blonde hair pulled the seventh barred door on the right open and disappeared into the cell. She came back out a moment later, however, this time she wasn't alone. She had a middle-aged she-wolf leaning on her shoulder, and I noticed that something was off about the older werewolf. Her entire body was shaking like a raging warrior just before she would shift.

The blonde she-wolf guided her to the nearest wall and then helped her sit down onto the cold floor. As she straightened back up, the older she-wolf latched onto her hand.

"I need my drink."

"Seriously?" The blonde tore her arm out of her hold. "I just freed you, Mom. Is your drink really all you can think about?"

"I know you have it with you, Krystal." The older one reached for her daughter again, but the said girl backed off another step.

The blonde she-wolf—Krystal—moved to the barred door two cells closer to the staircase, and unlocked this one as well. This time, however, she didn't enter the cell. She opened the door and then moved a couple of steps away.