Jane
'"Fuck off, you assholes! This isn't real!" I scream while continuing to thrash about. The cold water hitting my face has my eyes wide open, and sitting up in startled shock as my chest pants with confusion. My eyes land on Lanny's, looking ashen and guilty with the empty tumbler in his hand. Throwing my arms around his neck, I'm careful not the touch his flesh with mine. "Thank you." The faintness of my breath and voice has me on high alert.
I'm weak and in a whirl of pain like never before. I hurt everywhere, and yet I feel entirely numb simultaneously. It's the most bizarre feeling to date. Lannister holds me softly as my eyes squeeze tightly, expelling a fresh dose of tears. "We got you," his calming tone has me moistening my trembling lips as I sit back. "Jane?" worried shock has me swiping at my cheeks, noticing the crimson.
"It's okay," I answer, looking around at the pitiful stares. Since I was last awake, Sarah and Yanick have paled a few shades with what I believe to be dread. "I'll be better if you tell me we're almost in Sweetwater." I wince with discomfort when sitting all the way up. From the looks of it, we're still high up in the white sky, presently aboard one hell of a snazzy private jet.
It's not overly large, as Alpha Malikite and a few other—warriors—crowd the rest of the available seats, but every bit luxurious as one can imagine. Inhaling the faintest scent of Dante tells me this vessel belongs to Silas... the thought makes me inwardly smile.
"We've been rerouted to Appleton, Luna Jane," the Alpha responds, looking quite pasty. Shifters hate to fly, swim and even drive—avoiding it at any cost. They prefer to have their feet and paws planted firmly on the ground. Otherwise, they feel their circumstances are beyond their control—which they are when you think about the wonders of the sky, sea and vehicular speed. "A brutal storm is plaguing the north and causing a bit of an issue. We've been advised to land—"
"Whereas I appreciate your concern, Alpha Malikite, Sweetwater has a private airfield reserved just for mucky-mucky to live it up." In the months I've been separated from Silas, I have memorized every aspect of the north. From its amenities and functionalities of the towns, reserves and human zones to the northerner people and populations, including the high-ranked shifters and human mayors. I studied everything about the north, down to the weather, throughways and mountain ranges.
"I need to land there. If the storm is as bad as they say, I would never make it in time if I were to travel by car." Swallowing, my throat feels incredibly tight and swollen, making it hard to speak, let alone breathe. "My mate is on the verge—" he suddenly stands, nodding his show of respect and understanding.
"Enough said. I will have the aviator radio in your request Luna of the North." With a tiny grin and nod of my own, he leaves to address my want as a human flight attendant passes me a warm, dampened towel to wipe the water and blood from my face. With trembling hands, I take it with another tight grin. He nods, lowering his eyes.
"Jane?" I turn to my trio of friends, almost forgetting they were with me.
"What did you tell my parents?" Sponging up the liquid, I chuck the stained towel next to me, where a cup of steaming green tea awaits my lips. Lanny smiles, but it doesn't reach his eyes.
"You texted them, deciding to be spontaneous, making a mini-getaway to do some ice fishing on Lake Simcoe—with us in tow." I actually laugh as he and Yanick join me, but not Sarah. She moves closer, adjusting my seat to an upright position before checking my vitals and jabbing me with a needle to the top of my right arm. Giving her the side eye, she winks, making me lean my head toward hers, grateful she and the others are with me. There is no need to ask what she's giving me. I trust her and the other two with my life.
"My parents bought that? Me? Hanging out on the ice, in the cold, fishing?" All three laugh while nodding as the nearby warriors' cock subdued grins. I smile over with a warm grin. "I suck at the outdoors. Just thinking about them gives me frostbite and insect bites." They chuckle as I turn back to Lanny when the humour dies. "Promise me if I don't—"
"You will." Alpha Malikite returns, taking up a great deal of space with his immense, intimidating form. "We land within the hour." He moves closer, taking the seat next to Yanick, who scouts marginally away. The Alpha notices but remains unbothered. After all, he and his men are here for me as a favour to my mate.
"Thank you." I watch as Sarah adds another bag of clear liquid next to the others feeding into my veins. Jesus, maybe I should question what the fuck she's pumping me with. "What happened in Wellington? To all your—" his bright blue eyes remain hardened as he offers a hint of a grin.
"Many lives were lost, Luna." His low gravelly tone tells me it was another bloodshed. "Luckily, the humans were unaffected and obtuse when it came to the brutal brawl." He casts his eyes over at my friends. "And it will remain that way. As far as anyone knows, nothing happened."
"But my co-workers and..." I trail off with a huff and nod. "Miasma."
"Miasma." His entire demeanour reminds me of a mob boss from an old movie. The way he speaks slowly and thoroughly. The way he looks and dresses. Even his warriors remind me of mobsters as I side-eye them now. "As far as the residences know, The Temptation is closed due to a pipe burst, buying the time we need to clean up Dante and the other's mess." Guilt fills me as my eyes lower. "Luna?" I look up to find him stoic. "Not many humans, let alone shifters, would have had the nerve to do what you did."
"Many won't return home to their families because of me." His eyes shine with a bit of warmth. "I intended to end Dante and hoped I could do so before all shit broke loss." He lowly chuckles and leans back in his seat, crossing his ankle onto his knee. "I took a gamble and—"
"—it paid off," he finishes with a clenched jaw. "When you contacted me over a month ago through your friend," he looks at Yanick with a humourous grin. I pleaded and begged him to make the trek to his High Court. He was scared shitless, but as soon as he dropped my name and who he was, he was given an audience with the mighty Alpha in front of me. "I could hardly believe it. For one, you somehow outwitted the miasma we initiated on the humans here but also worked out you were being watched."
Reaching for the tea, I take a much-needed pause and sip as I collect the words I need to respond. It was a gamble, indeed. And the more I remembered, with the help of my dreams and the fading of the fucking pill Dante had me take, the more aware I became of the threat that surrounded me. Not only Mira and others like her but the fact that my friends and family had been hazed. Their memories altered to help accommodate the coverup orchestrated to have me believing I never left Pineton.
Looking back, I understand why Silas had done what he had. He was trying to keep me from going thoroughly insane, knowing my memories had been altered and that I was marked—in more places than just my neck and shoulder—while keeping me safe the best way he could without his presence. It backfired in so many ways finding ourselves on the brink of death with many more lives lost.
"The purple pill that Dante gave me the night of the Swinish Spawning was to manipulate my mind into forgetting the duration I spent in the north. It wore off, allowing me to remember mostly everything in time." The Alpha's eyes catch my trio of friends causing me to smile. "As for the miasma, your kin still holds control over their minds, but our friendship and trust in one another outranks what they were programmed to believe."
I take another soothing sip as my fingers tremble like a woman of ninety years would. "They know pretty much everything I have documented and remembered from my time in the north, Alpha Malikite. But their loyalty is unbreakable, and rest assured they will not expose your traditions."
"Forgive me," he offers with an unsure glance my way, "it's not every day a human is so thoroughly informed and speaks so freely about rituals that are sacred to my kin." I huff with a smirk, thinking otherwise. Yes, I openly spilled the beans to my closest allies as I had no other choice. Despite Silas's attempt, I was slowly—scratch that—I had gone insane and needed them to tell me I wasn't. That what happened to me wasn't a figment of my imagination. That I was indeed marked and gifted the truth about shifters—the absolute truth.
"In no way do my friends, nor I judge your rituals, Alpha. We, humans, have our own traditions that are meaningful to us. I was simply trying to wrap my mind around the fact that I had woken up one day thinking it was no different than the last, only to realize that it couldn't have been further from the truth." I smile at Lannister, who greets me with a kind grin. "If it weren't for their constant support, I would have..." I trail off with a nod. "Anyway," I lift my chin, hardening, "you have your pack; this is mine."
I watch as the imposing individual glances over at the cluster of warriors. The shared look is nothing shy of understanding. "Fair point," the moistening of his firm lips reveals his sharp canines, "continue." Placing the tea back down on the coaster after taking a much-needed sip, I sniff. "You stated that Dante purposely exploited your mind with a pill—here, I thought it was Alpha Silas who used the miasma on you." I only smile as he works it out with a calculating expression. "Why not just miasma you? It's simple enough and doesn't lose its lacklustre," he teasingly smiles over at Yanick, who continues to keep his temper at bay.
Let's not forget this is our overseer. We're inferior to this man and his disciples—Luna or not, I have not been formally announced. Even when I am, I have no say or authority over Alpha Malikite. He's only helping us as a favour to my mate, and my friends and I have not forgotten.
"We," I offer, "as in my friends here, speculated that the miasma didn't affect me." I sigh with another slight whimper when I begin to feel the ache at the back of my head. "Which we proved when Mira finally made her move."
"Aww, yes. You suspected this would happen and came to me for help only to learn Alpha Silas was already prepared in the unlikely event that his brother found his way to you." It didn't surprise me that my mate had many eyes and ears watching out for me, but I needed to know who I could trust and who was all smoke and mirrors—not an easy feat without the help of the only other high-ranked shifter I knew of outside the north.
"I was surprised to hear Silas had purposely sent Mira and a few others—you kindly identified—to my zone with the task of watching over me; only that was not the case at all, was it?" As we have never met, let alone spoken, until today, I confront the Alpha. "It was to separate them from Callum and Dante. I was merely used as a decoy while you keep tabs on Mira and the others—reporting back to my mate."
"How would you..." his surprised reaction is all I need to confirm what my friends and I had speculated a while back. Yanick and I staged a few laughable operations to try and flush out who was safeguarding me and who was tailing Mira and the others. After many failed attempts, Nick finally captured a few pics we sent to Sarah, who used her abilities to find out who the unidentified individuals were. We were all shocked as Lannister used his intellectual connection and discovered I was well protected from everyone.
"It doesn't matter. I know my mate, and he doesn't trust many at the moment. Hence the special ops unit, Silas, secured from the Lycan Gaurd from the Isle of Vertigo, who was acting as my formal detail." My eyes turn to the half-dozen warriors who look shell-shocked. "Thank you for keeping my friends, family and me safe thus far. Your presence here and in the coming hours will be much appreciated." The redhead only plays with his canine before nodding with a humbled grin.
"How the hell..." the Alpha sneers with complete shock.
"We may be human, but we are far from obtuse." I throw his derogatory word back at him from earlier. Grateful or not for Alpha Malikite's aid, I don't like my kin being demoralized or bamboozled. It's inhuman, and I will try my damnedest to change that one day. "Where is the rest of your brigade?" I question the shifter with the greenish-silver eyes.
"Behind us, Luna Jane. This aircraft wasn't large enough for all of us," he speaks low and cautiously. "Malikite insisted he flies with us. I hope that is not an issue, my Ladyship." My sights travel over the men, impressed that they are not overly large beings compared to most Gammas, Warriors and Huntsmen I've studied over the past few months, but rather stealth-like in appearance with sharpwitted expressions.
Furthermore, I find it interesting that he didn't address the Alpha as such. Then again, they are from the Isle of Virago, and the rules are very different from how the rest of the country operates. "No issue," I kindly smile, "your name?"
"Bravo." He lowers his neck, as my eyes move to the shifter next to him as they introduce themselves. With every name, my smile grows slightly despite the dizziness swarming my head. "We are honoured to meet you finally—properly, that is." My eyes search his as he continues to deadpan with me.
"Morse Code. You're named after the Code." He nods with a smirk. "Are there twenty-six of you?" He shakes his head, looking at the other five men.
"Twenty-five. Our Alpha resides over the north," he smiles. "Bravo is my military-given name, like all my brothers and sisters in our brigade. We've been training and preparing for you since you were born—since our Alpha handpicked us to guard over his Luna one day."
"Holy shit!" Lannister whispers with amazement where I'm left gobsmacked. "But you let Mira approach Jane knowing the risk she was to her wellbeing."
The redhead sits back and shakes his head with an arrogant expression. "Never. We had snipers on her and the others at all times. As a matter of fact, we easily took them out when the time came." He moistens his lips. "Alpha Silas is far from moronic. He covered all angles, and nothing was or did or will get by us with a unit as large and conditioned as ours."
Slumping back, I digest what I'm hearing. I knew I was safe but had no idea how many were watching me, let alone trained for my presence. "A week ago, Mira approached me and attempted to use the miasma on me along with a cockamamy story about my time in the north—only Dante was my mate, not Silas... he was the evil one who no longer was a problem."
The story she spewed was pretty convincing, and I would have believed it had I not remembered the truth or who Silas was. "She went on to say I was no longer in danger and that Dante was coming to slowly lift the veil of amnesia his brother had administered before bringing me home." I look over at Bravo, "How did he earn passage across the border if the north was closed?" I bait to see if what I'm told is factual or another web of lies. "Surely, my mate's scent is embedded and distinctive to all of his people?"
After a long moment, he nods, seemingly to catch on to my little test. "Before our Alpha went quiet, he sent his best huntsmen after Callum and Dante. They chased them for weeks around the north until they landed in Sweetwater, where Lara-Lee hid them until securing this jet to fly them to the Pineton, where Milakite cleared their entry." The death stare of the older shifter has me biting my lips.
"Okay, yes. That is true," the Alpha's perfected sculpted brow cocks with amusement. "But it was at the request of Luna Jane—tell him." He looks at me, somewhat panicked. "Tell him that is what you insisted upon despite my council against the ideal. That you were adamant on confronting Dante and the other traitors in spite of risks to your wellbeing."
"Absolutely, it was adamant and made the call." I weakly smile. "Time was running out, and I wasn't the only one who knew it." I sigh, trying to regulate my abnormally slow beating heart. "When Mira approached me, I played along—but I clearly didn't believe her." My friends watch me with great interest. They knew about the plan I had conjured up, hoping they would bite—and they did—hungrily.
After all, we had different agendas while desiring dissimilar outcomes. I was hellbent on getting my ass across the northern border for some time. I assumed Silas was behind my refusal, knowing it wasn't safe with Dante and potential others still on the loose, but I did ally with someone who has been incredibly insightful.
"When Silas became silent in my dreams, I knew something was terribly wrong. Sweetwater was where I spent my time while in the north—as you know." I address the Alpha, who nods while intently listening. "I frantically began to call High Court whenever I had free time, including breaks, train rides to and from work, before bed, and when I first awoke in the morning - I kid you not. Finally, the interim overseer of the town called me back." I softly smile, remembering that day not so long ago. "From what she's divulged, she seems quite loyal to Silas and had incredible insight into what was happening around her and me."
His head cocks with thought before he moistens his lips. "Lara-Lee is Beta Callum's mate, Luna Jane. You shouldn't trust a word she says," he counters as I smile a bit more.
"True, I shouldn't. However, not only did Lara-Lee play along and get Dante and the Beta here, the information I tossed at Mira and Callum mere hours ago was proven true. As a result of the Beta's lies and deceptions, Lara-Lee was all too eager to tell me about Mira and her fibbing ways too." My head tilts as I think about our lengthy conversation and all that is happening around her. "Needless to say, we are both on the same page and want Silas back, and the north restored to the place he had painstakingly built and continues to evolve for the better."
"And you believe her?" he questions.
"For the moment, I do—but I've been wrong in the past when it came to the northerners and who I thought were loyal," I counter. "However, she uncovered the truth about Callum and Mira while filling in as overseer in Sweetwater. The town is practically desolate, leaving her with plenty of time to dig into her mate and his long-time lover. They had multiple plans to wipe out the twins, thinking they could rule the north. "Mira lied to me about being a crossbreed—"
"Crossbreed? As in human and shifter," he scoffs while looking at the special ops troops, who also snicker. "Impossible."
"And yet, here Jane sits. The Luna of the North!" Sarah fires out, shutting them down. "Marked and mated to the most lethal Alpha to ever govern." She smiles a shit-eating grin, "oh, yeah, and let's not forget, Alpha Silas is a crossbreed." All eyes are on the feisty Latino who has never taken shit from anyone—human, that is.
"Lycans are our forefathers—it's different," the Alpha scolds with his looming baritone as we bow our heads. "No documented human/shifter fate-mated couple has ever existed... before now." Just the slightest lick of disbelief lathers his words. Silas and I both know we are an anomaly. Lanny has been researching for months to find another case like ours—speaking with endless professionals worldwide—coming up short. Either past matches were shunned or held in secret... like Mira's falsified telling of her grandparents.
"That you know of," Yanick pipes in with just as much vigour as Sarah. "Just because you have never met another couple like Jane and her mate doesn't mean she's lying." His French accent is thick with accusation. "You're not calling the Alpha of the North a liar, are you?"
"Of course not." Our residing shifter fires out, completely appalled and somewhat frightened. "I wouldn't be helping you if I thought otherwise."
Shaking my head, I fidget with my fingers, trying to keep my tears at bay as the building of emotions and conversation is proving to be futile. I need to get to Silas. That is all. The feel of Sarah's arm gently wrapping around my shoulders has me looking up at her. She offers a reassuring grin before softly swiping at my bloodred tears.
"Why?" I croak out, meeting his brilliant blue eyes. "Why are you helping?" The sympathy within his intense look has me questioning all I've come to know about the fierce Alpha silently overseeing and influencing Pineton for the last four decades. He smiles before setting down his untouched glass of what looks like scotch on the tabletop next to him.
"I have known your mate a very long time. He's iconic in my world—all he has done in his young years—including the landmass and packs he's conquered, making him exceedingly prosperous and revered by most." He pauses with a thoughtful sneer. "He's also continuously ridiculed by those who are jealous and incapable of pulling off the shit he has." His admirable chuckle has my lips pulling up into a soft smile.
"The empathy he has shown to all life that resides on our earth, not just our kin, makes him equally loathed as well as loved as he pays no attention to what others think. He's fearless in every sense of the word but no show-off. He simply does what he wants, when he wants—going against the grain of what we were taught long ago." His head cocks to the side as he gauges me with a pondering expression, "until you." He laughs. "You shook him, Luna Jane. In spite of the affliction, I heard it in his voice when he explained you arrived on his lands and would be staying indefinitely."
My eyes widen remembering our conversation—more like the screaming match as I jetted off into the nearby woods of his beautiful home just outside Sweetwater. How I thought he was lying, but he wasn't. "He should have sent you back to Pineton immediately. It's how humans are handled when breaking protocol."
"To be fair," Lannister interrupts, earning a warning growl from one of the warriors, to which the Alpha responds by lifting his hand to silence the ginger-headed beast. With a wavering expression, Lanny continues with less heat in a matter-of-factly tone. "The lines are quite blurred, my Alpha, when it comes to leaving our appointed zone. We were merely informed to stay on the human throughways, never veering off the well-marked roads that lead to other zones. It's hard to imagine that Jane broke protocol if she did exactly what was drilled into us from an early age." Lanny shakes his head in thought. "Sure, we knew anything beyond a road trip to another human zone, we would need permission—like flying, post-secondary career preparation, leaving our country—but the north is part of our motherland. Technically, Jane did nothing wrong."
In all honesty, I didn't. I thought I could venture anywhere human-populated—like fellow zones, marked thruways and educational academies. How little I knew about my world and society not that long ago.
"I suppose I cannot argue your point, Lannister." My friend sits back in his seat, looking somewhat smug despite our current company and conversation. "However, regardless of what you may think, the rules are in play for good reason." The Alpha turns his attention back to me, "Alpha Silas explained why." The corners of his lips curl into a contrite smirk. "Neither here nor there, Jane had arrived, and the Alpha of the North was smitten by his human mate."
"He told you that—that I was his mate?" I undoubtedly question.
"He didn't have to, Luna Jane." He smiles. "I've been around a long time and dealt with your mate on many occasions in the past. Never once had he barter for anyone's pardon—except you."
"Pardon?" Yanick growls as Lanny and Sarah both shoot him a look. "No. Fuck that! Pardon. Please. We're not cattle—"
"My swell be," I mutter under my breath—the shifters catching it from the smirks crossing their lips. "So why did you help Silas? For leverage? Money? Land? Why?" I'm done beating around the bush and this discussion. "Stop blowing smoke up my arse about how incredible my mate is." He leans to his left, masking his smile while outlining his lips with the tip of his fingers. "You had every right to refuse to get involved in our internal fight. To decline me safe passage and residency back into Carrington—knowing the risks that could and did follow." I eye him seriously. So why?"
"Such lack of trust," his chuckle and shift in his seat have my back up as we begin to descend. "Although, I don't blame you. We are a..." he ponders, eyes boring into mine, "fickle species."
"Fickle wasn't the word I would use." Try voracious, narcissistic oppressor. "Why?" I speed the conversation along, needing to clear my mind before we land. The storm is vicious, and I have no idea how I will find the north star in the wake of the blizzard.
"When my fated mate and I met over half a century ago, many were outraged and cruel to Luna Melita—do you know why?" I nod, finding the scandalous report ridiculous and ill-conceived. Of course, I've done my homework not only relating to the north but all reigning Alphas and territories throughout our country and worldwide. The more I absorbed, the better understanding I began to gain. It helped that I was filling endless waking hours of insomnia—hoping the exhaustion would eventually drag me into the darkness where my mate awaited my arrival—if only in a dream.
The thought has me sniffing, swallowing and refocusing on Malikite. "Being first cousins, many were repulsed and refused to acknowledge her at the Luna Reveal Ceremony." My sympathetic eyes land on his as we're instructed to buckle up and prepare for landing from the overhead speaker. "They all attended—the Alphas of the World—as it customary and frowned upon not to receive someone as rare as a fated Luna." He pauses with such sadness. "But only to snicker and ridicule our fate-created bond."
"I'm so sorry," the words hit me hard, visualizing a moment that should have been so special, only to be ruined because—
"It was Alpha Silas who stood first and bowed his neck in respect when Melita made her debut into the room of sniggering assholes. It was he who held his glass high and tosed my mate, welcoming her into our world with words of encouragement and esteem. By giving his approval, Melita was accepted by all." He smiles freely while pulling on his belt a little too harshly. "Later that night, I thanked him, and I'll never forget his confused expression."
My grin returns as we break through the clouds, only to be swarmed with a relentless snow squall. "Your mate told me it was no one's business regarding my relationship with Melita. We were fate-mated, and our bond should be nurtured and celebrated, not satirized and criticized. Fuck the others and their hating natures—his words, not mine." He smirks, seeming a bit agitated now that we're about to touch down.
"Anyway. I'm devoted to you and your mate, as he's been nothing but cordial to my Luna and me." Nodding while moistening my trembling lips. I'm so cold, and the pain resonating throughout my body is beginning to outweigh the numbness. "Although I never did sign up for this aspect of the deal. I hate flying even in a jet as sophisticated as this one," he weakly jokes, gripping the armrests tightly like the other shifters. They've paled further as the tiny jet hits a steady bout of turbulence.
"For what it's worth, Alpha Malikite," the plane's wheels touch down, bouncing along the bare tarmac before the engines slow. "We wouldn't have gotten this far without you and your pack. Thank you."
He heavily sighs as we firmly roll along the runway. "We're not nearly done yet, Luna Jane." He points to the window, emphasizing the storm. "I hope you have a plan now that we've finally arrived in Sweetwater."