The Chronicles of Moon
Chapter 21

New Moon

The drive was agony for everyone in the car, and Moon’s heart sank every time she checked her phone just to see there were no messages from Emily or Ben. Every time she looked at her phone, Colin squeezed her hand, and Moon found it so comforting that she didn’t even try to let go of his. Between the anxiety and nausea, Colin holding her hand and brushing his thumb over hers every now and then was the only thing keeping her from losing her mind and her breakfast.

They are still a few miles from town, the highway far behind them and the winding mountain road stretched out in front of them. Moon had been seeing the smoke rising into the air for most of the drive. The winding road and thick trees hid it from view for most of the drive.

Rounding another corner, they could see thick dark smoke billowing into the air far worse than it had been before, or maybe they were just so close to it now that it seemed worse. Moon gasped, and Colin drove even faster. Moon was pretty sure she would be completely sick as they whipped around curves, and her stomach lurched. All the color drained from her face as they raced down the familiar road leading to her pack. The road is narrow and winding, with the steep mountain on one side of the road, and a sharp drop-off on the other side. Moon didn’t even want to look at the steep drop.

Finally, they made it to level ground, and the trees line both sides of the road. The pillar of smoke straight in front of them. Moon Just wants to get to her pack. She tries to call Emily and Ben, but the phone went directly to voice mail. Moon got the first glimpses of her little town when the trees cleared. The smoke was coming from the mill mainly, but damage to the rest of the town was plainly visible. Wolves started chasing the SUV, and Chris let out a sharp breath.

“It’s Jess. She says David’s wolves got here in the nick of time, and they were able to get a handle on the situation. Jess says they managed to knock out the cell tower near town and haven’t been able to get service.” Chris looks as relieved as he sounds, but Moon can still feel her heart in her throat.

“What about injuries? Casualties?” Moon hates to ask, but she needs to know.

“They are minimal we will have a better idea soon. The mill is lost and a few other buildings and houses.” Chris looks at Moon sympathetically as the car drives through town. Moon looks at all the broken glass of the shop windows. Everything is a mess. Her sweet little town looks like something from a post-apocalypse movie. Colin stops the SUV when a blonde woman waves them down. Moon recognizes her as Jess. Moon met her only a few times, but she liked her; Jess was one of those people you just enjoyed.

Jess had her dark blonde hair pulled back in a messy ponytail. Cuts and scratches were in various states of healing. All the SUVs had stopped, and people scattered as they carried out orders that Chris and Colin silently gave them.

With the SUV stopped and everyone getting out, Moon feels frozen for a moment taking everything in. She sat dumbfounded as to how this could happen. Colin and Chris are meeting with Jess, and Moon can see them all talking, but she just feels numb until her stomach decides now is the time to purge everything in it anyway.

Moon races out of the SUV and to the nearby bush, promptly losing everything she ever ate into the bush. Moon collapses to her knees shaking, wiping her mouth, she hopes no one saw her, but she can hear the scrape of shoes coming toured her.

Moon starts to get to her feet, still shaking and feeling sick, when he takes her arm, helping pull her up onto her feet. Before she can say anything, Moon is wrapped in a crushing hug. She instantly knows who is crushing her.

“Ben, I can’t breathe.” Moon gasps out. “Please tell me everyone is all right.”

“From what I have gathered we lost a few good people. I don’t know how you and Colin got David to send anyone but thank you. It would have been so much worse.” Ben lets Moon go, and she can finally see him now that she isn’t crushed to his chest. He looks about the same as Jess and the others she managed to catch glimpses of.

“Colin is the one that got David to do anything. Do we know who did this? I didn’t think we had any enemies but first the trucks and now this? What is happening?” Moon looks around the ruins of her town. She has no idea how they will recover from this.

“I wish I knew Moon, but we will figure it out.” Been doesn’t sound like he completely believes that, but he’s trying to convince himself and Moon. “Come one, let’s go to the packhouse, and you can see Em and Rose.”

Moon and Ben join Colin, Chris, and Jess, in discussing what happened.

“Colin, we are going to the packhouse. We can all sit and figure out this mess and come up with a list of packs that might have a grudge against us or you?” Ben says tentatively.

That seems to have sparked something in Colin, who just nods curtly. Moon feels that Colin might just have an idea of is who behind the attack on her town, and she intends to find out who it is and why her pack.

They all walk up to the pack house, and a few windows have been broken, but that is all. It seems to have fared far better than several other houses in town. The lawn has been ripped up by wolf claws, and deep scratches in the door make Moon shiver. Emily races out of the pack house with Rosie in her arms. Ben wraps them in a hug and kisses both of them, relieved they are safe. Moon quickly flings herself into the mix as well, making Emily laugh as Moon squeezes them in a tight hug, just so relieved they are unharmed.

The wolf howl and the large black wolf standing at the tree line makes Moon’s blood go cold. The wolf looks so familiar in a way, and when Colin lets out a roar, he shifts, and Moon can see why the wolf seems so familiar. It looks like Colin’s wolf Farrell. Colin and Chris have shifted and taken off after the black wolf as it darts into the trees. Jess tells them to stay put as she shifts as well, racing off after the men.

Moon feels like the air has left her lungs, and she can’t get it back. Her heart feels like it might explode as her body begins to burn. She can faintly hear Ben calling her name, but it sounds muffled and strange to her. Every bone in her body hurts. And the voice in her head is yelling now.

GO NOW! GO AFTER THEM, OR HE WILL BE KILLED! The voice booms in her head, and she doesn’t waste time arguing with it. She doesn’t even feel like she is in control of her body as she sprints after them. She’s not even sure how she knows where to go she’s simply running as fast as she can as the voice keeps yelling in her head.

The sound of wolves fighting grows louder as she pushes her legs harder. She is near Moon lake when she sees them. The black wolf has Colin unconscious on the ground. Chris and Jess are nowhere to be seen. The black wolf is about to go in for the kill as Moon screams out in a voice she doesn’t know.

“MINE!”

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