Lunaria (A Soulmark Series Finale), page 5
I watch, along with the rest of the audience, as Noah joins Carrie. He places a hand on her back, a tight smile lines his face. "You'll have to forgive my betrothed," Noah says, tossing a placating look my way that is by no means believable. I bite my lower lip to stop myself from saying anything that may trigger an outburst from either and give a short nod back. "She-wolves," he laments and directs Carrie to face him. He casually loops a strand of her hair and tucks it over her shoulder. "They're known for their fast tempers. It's why they need a strong counterpart to reign them in."
His comment elicits a few chuckles from the crowd. Noah grins knowingly, but Carrie appears ready to snap once more.
"So emotional...." He murmurs. "Sit back down, Carrie. Rest. You bore the weight of this pack for far too long alone. Besides, I'm far more versed in negotiations. Isn't that right, Adrian?" The beast in question makes a choked noise intoned with a warning. Nobody moves and Noah drops all pretenses of geniality. "I said, go sit back down, Carrie."
The she-wolf’s growl vibrates with resentment. Her eyes slip to gold in little less than a blink, but I catch the humiliation that flickers over her expression before it is consumed with ire.
"Don't forget whose pack this is," she tells him. "Whose namesake it is."
He makes a tsking sound and drops his hand to his side as he turns away from her. "So long as you don't forget what we are fighting for: our traditions and code of honor."
His comment ends their odd power play with Carrie the loser. She fumes silently, her face aflame and chin tipped high. She turns heel and struts back to the platform, her heeled boots stomping and crushing all that lie in her path. The wolves follow her retreat with knowing eyes before returning to Noah with deference.
Noah soaks in the attention with false humility, then offers a hand to me. I study it cautiously, flinching when the rokama lets loose another rumbling noise. Footsteps sound and then the rokama is at my side. He wears a fearsome look as he hauls me up by my elbow.
"We made a deal," the rokama says, his voice and demeanor severe. "My cooperation and strength for the fairy."
"Indeed, we did. You can have your fairy at the end of all of this," Noah concedes with a tilt of his head. "If she wants you, that is," he amends. Their gazes land on me. One soaked with anger, the other full of dark intent. I try to break free from the rokama's hold, but to no avail.
"Let me go," I hiss, though the heat in my voice is diminished by my body language. I am hunched and quivering, my skin paler than I've ever seen before. They ignore me.
"She's mine."
Noah smiles. "Like I said, Adrian, if she so chooses."
"I'm not a prize," I say with surprising force.
With a vicious yank, I liberate myself from the beast's hold, but my clumsiness prevails. I trip over my feet, falling down soundly on my rear end. The crowd's jeering covers my groan. Even Noah laughs cruelly at my fall. Adrian swoops toward me just as before, but I curl away from his assistance.
"Don't touch me." Adrian stops, his body half-way bent, and hand outstretched. Though his face is stoic, I spy the bob in his throat. I knock his hand away and rise without grace. "I hate you," I hiss at him. "How could you bring me here?"
Noah’s laughter starts anew as he places both hands in his jean pockets. He observes our quarrel with great amusement. "She's quite spirited, isn't she?" Noah grins. The sight makes my skin crawl. "Tell me, Lunaria. What would it take to win you to our cause? Safe passage for your winged friends? Nicer accommodations? You'll understand that there are certain limits to our generosity, but I'm sure we can come to some amicable solution that both parties would find mutually beneficial."
The alpha slips closer and allows dark intentions to shade his gaze a brilliant lycan gold. My heart skips a beat as I battle with my fright. Be strong, Luna. For your friends... for your family. The wolves of the Adolphus pack and witches of the Trinity Coven flicker through my mind, but one sticks out among them all. Long, dark hair. Soulful brown eyes. A killer right hook. Calliope. This past summer she risked her life for mine... and now her soulmark, Keenan, had done the same with a tremendous consequence.
"I hate you, too," I say at last, keeping my voice just above a whisper. "I will never help you because you are vile and the worst of your kind. You make me sick."
Smack.
The pain is delayed, but it swells and stings across my cheek soon enough. The ache in my hip and elbow, where I smash to the ground, is truly mild in comparison. Noah crouches down beside me, brushing my hair from my face as I freeze. Molten eyes study me with amusement.
"Everyone has a price, Miss Lunaria. Even you," he murmurs. Standing, he ushers over two men. "Take her back down. Let's give her some time to think. Not you, Adrian, you stay."
The rokama holds himself back with cold composure, but his eyes never leave mine as they drag me away. I'm not allowed the courtesy of finding my feet under me. They kick and flail uselessly as the two wolves haul me back by my wrists.
"Let me go!" I screech, finding my voice among my choking breathlessness. Everything is moving too fast, and I'm powerless to stop it. "Let me–ah!"
Pain–it knocks through my body without mercy as I plummet halfway down the stairs rolling feet over head. When I land, everything throbs in agony and the room spins before me. I groan low in my throat, failing to place the cries that follow as my own. Lost in the haze of my suffering, I do not protest when fevered hands carry me the rest of the way to my cell before tossing me inside. My cell door shuts behind me with a bang.
"I'd think about his offer," my carrier says. There is no menace to be found in the wolf's tone, no ounce of sympathy either. "He's not the kind of man to give it twice."
Keenan and Jax's voices rise at the wolf's retreat. They echo off the walls and drill into my head. I let their words sink into me and wrap around me like a blanket as I drift into unconsciousness.
++
I come to with a jolt and labored breath. My dream, whatever it was, leaves me with a racing heart and sweat-covered neck. I sit up with sluggish movements. Pins and needles immediately douse my body, reminding me of the pain that settles in the bruises and cuts now on my body. I cannot recall–
"Luna?"
I search Keenan's cell. He is propped up against the bars that separate us.
"Keenan," I whisper. A grimace reworks my face, pinching it together as I swallow with effort. The collar did nothing to protect my chaotic descent of the stairs and the bruises there might just be the ugliest. The slightest movement of my neck ignites a poignant ache. "Are you all right?"
A two-note laugh bursts past his lips as he eyes me. "I'm almost completely healed from the fight in the road. If we’d been brought any food, I would have healed sooner. How are you, Luna? Fairies don’t have supernatural healing, do they? Last summer after the Wardens of Starlight attacked us, I heard it took you quite some time to heal.”
I shake my head slowly as my hands drift over my body to find the worst of my aches and pains. Fairies didn’t have supernatural healing, but with our surplus of magical ointments and tinctures, it didn’t matter much. "I'm... I'll be okay. I'll heal too," I say in a small voice. “Nothing’s broken, I’m just bruised.” Everywhere.
"You sure, gorgeous? We heard you tumble down those steps, and it didn't sound all too nice."
"Jax?" I spot him at the corner of his cell leaning with his back against the wall, and shoulder against the bars. "Are you all right?"
He doesn't speak right away, and with the feeble light and swathes of shadows upon him, it is too difficult to assess his damage. I hug my arms around my middle and scrunch my knees to my chest.
"I'll survive," Jax offers on the back of a forlorn sigh. "We all will as long as we stay strong."
Keenan nods his agreement. "Luna, can you tell us what happened up there? Do you remember anything?"
"They made me talk to the alphas. At least, I think they were the alphas. They seemed like they were in charge because they were the only ones with real chairs and got to be on a platform."
Both men stay silent, but then Keenan forges on, his voice calm. "Was everyone else standing? Can you describe what you saw?"
My head throbs as I recall the scene as best I can. It is not hard to summon the images, but my headache is a mighty distraction. How I long for one of Gran's teas and Zoelle's cookies to put me at ease.
"Gorgeous?"
I sniffle and wipe the grief that tracks down the sides of my face. "They... they had seats. Some of them did anyway. They were these square things that were made up of long yellow stick-like things. It was all over the floor, but they scooped them all up and tied them up tight to make benches for themselves."
"Straw?" Keenan questions after a delayed second.
My lips press together for a brief moment. "I think so," I answer hesitantly. "I've never seen it before in person. The witches didn't take me around town because the glamour I wore was difficult to maintain. They never took me out of town either, and I don't recall seeing anything on Gran's television that looked like what I saw upstairs."
"Gods." Jax breathes the word like a curse. "No wonder she's desperate to go back to her home–she's been a prisoner in your witchy ally's house this entire time, hasn't she? They've probably been using her powers of enhancement to–"
"Drop it, Jax," Keenan snarls back. "You don't know what you're talking about. The coven has done plenty to get her back home, haven't they, Luna?"
I sniffle again. "They tried," I say, ducking my chin. "But everyone’s been so busy lately. Getting me home hasn't been their highest priority for some time." I catch Keenan's eyes and see his pity. I clear my throat to break the sudden tension, despite the ache that accompanies it. "It's all right though, because Winter said she would help me home. She swore it."
"Sounds like a prisoner to me, wolfman."
Keenan snarls again at the taunt. "Knock it off."
"Please don't fight!" I shout before another retort can be hurled across our cells. "We need each other. Please."
"Sorry, gorgeous," Jax says. He heaves a sigh and reframes his lips into a sad smile. "I'm feeling a bit vexed given my less than magical state."
"What do you mean?" I ask.
Jax looks away and fingers the bottom of his collar. Another sigh rushes out of him, the action making his body visibly shake as he lowers his hand and slams it against his leg. I wince.
"Whatever this is... it stunts the access to my magic. Any attempt at summoning it earns a rather painful and debilitating shock from this fine, little accessory."
"A shock?" I ask. "They shocked the rokama with the collar too." My confirmation is dispensed on a shaky breath. Both men look at me. They wear matching expressions of wary interest.
"Why did they shock him?" Jax inquires, his voice no longer ruffled with discontent. A few strands of his fair brown hair fall into his face as he leans forward awaiting my answer.
"He... misbehaved. The alpha she-wolf didn't like the way we were acting, and so she punished the rokama and me. And–"
"Sorry to interrupt, gorgeous." Jax shoots me a short smile. "But what exactly is a rokama? You've said that word a few times now. Are you talking about the monster of a man who we found on the road?"
I nod. A solid lump lodges in my throat as I recount what I know of the beasts' kind.
"Rokama are native to my home in the Hollow Woods. They are similar to lycans, but... not." My explanation runs short at the frown spearing down Keenan's face. I rush on, "You see, they too have the ability to shift from man to wolfish beast. My kind is most familiar with their less-than-human nature because they hunt us. Rokama are larger than lycans. Faster. Stronger.
"It is said they draw their power from the Dark Father, who brings storms and chaos to my land, and that their eyes are cursed with darkness while their wings were born from the shadows of Skä–where creatures of night take their first breath and are sent to at their last."
I suck in a lungful of air after my tirade finishes. Keenan stares at me wide-eyed as I catch my breath. All the while, a pang of niggling guilt crops up inside me. My words were not wholly based on truth but supplemented with the rumors I grew up on. Hadn’t the rokama said differently of his kind’s nature?
"When you were up there, this collar brought him down?" I nod my head at Keenan's question, drawn away from my thoughts.
Paying no mind to whatever grime occupies the walls rough surface, I press my cheek and temple against it. There is a storm brewing in my head. Thunder ripples from the back of my skull to the front. It makes my eyes shutter close and my jaw clench shut as the ripples make their way down my spine all the way to my frozen toes.
"Luna?"
My lashes flutter open to look at Keenan. "Yes?"
"Can you tell us what else you saw up there and what happened?"
"Okay," I whisper, though it takes several minutes for me to gather myself. "The floor was gray and smooth and covered in straw," I recite, closing my eyes to paint the scene behind shut lids. "Dozens and dozens of people were there, but not when the rokama first took me up. They were all at the other end of the room. The space was... large. The walls were red." I pause to open my eyes and nibble at my bottom lip only to regret the action an instant later. With care, I examine the cut near the corner of my mouth with the tip of my tongue. "The woman," I continue, "her name is Carrie. She seemed like she was running things. At least, partly."
"Carrie?" Keenan's immediate response perks me up, as well as Jax.
"You know her?" Jax asks.
"She's the step-daughter of the former alpha, Rollins Wselfwulf, and heir to the pack. She's kept the Wselfwulf pack's quest for supremacy alive. By Xander’s account, she’s gotten more obsessed with the plot as the years passed. When her father passed, it kicked into high gear." Keenan leans more of his weight against the iron. "I knew her when I was younger, but not well. Our families didn't run in the same circles. Mine was ranked low in the pack. Carrie and her mother were at the top."
We take a minute to digest the information, exchanging worried glances.
"You said she punished the rokama, Adrian, and you. What did you do to earn her ire?" Jax inquires. Both men look to me in expectation, but I make a face and shake my head. The mere thought of sharing the humiliation makes my stomach turn. "Luna"—Jax's voice carries a note of urgency—"we need to know. Keenan and I can't afford to be made any weaker. If we know what might set her off, we can try to avoid it."
I remain quiet.
"Please, Luna," Keenan chimes in, his voice drenched with worry.
I duck my head and avert my eyes to the dirt staining my pants. "She wasn't upset with us at first. She was upset because the man was–" my brow scrunches in a mixture of confusion and frustration as I try to place his actions "–he was also trying to be in charge, and it made her mad. Instead of being mad at him though, she got mad at us... at me."
"Why?" Jax probes.
Warmth crawls up my neck to my cheeks. "She said I was 'simple'," I say. "I know what that means. She was calling me stupid." I sniff a few times and bat away the moisture at my eyes. "She wanted me to say in front of everyone that I was a 'simpleton,' but when I tried to defend myself, she came after me."
"What did she do to you?" Keenan keeps his voice steady and subdued. Glancing at him, I find comfort in the support gleaming in his eyes and soften my posture.
"She was going to grab me by the hair, but the rokama stopped her."
The cellar goes eerily quiet. I dare not even breathe after my confession.
"Why?" Keenan questions. "I thought you said...." His voice dies away as a thoughtful frown comes across his brow.
I turn my regard away from Keenan, only to land upon Jax's inquiring look. Both of his eyebrows are raised quizzically high. "What exactly is your relationship with him? When we first came across him in the middle of the road, he wanted you, Luna. Why?"
Quickly, I cast my gaze from him as well. Heat returns to my cheeks, even as I press my face more firmly into the wall. The thundering in my head will not abate.
"He believes we are... fated to be together, though his proof is weak." I deliver the lie with incredible calm. His proof is weak, I tell myself, you did not study his lightning mark to see if it is a true match for yours. And how could he be so cruel to me if we are truly fated?
"That would explain why he stopped her." I peek at Keenan, but his focus is on his lap. "What happened next?"
"She called to someone named Ferris, and the collar around Adrian's neck began to pulsate red. He fell to the ground and tried desperately to tear it off, but he could not. Then she came at me again, grabbed me by my hair, and pushed me down." I pause in hopes of stifling the emotions bubbling up inside of me. Yet my shame will not be deterred. "So, I said I was a simpleton." My throat wells up, uncomfortably tight. "Everyone laughed at me," I reveal in a small voice.
"I'm sorry, Luna," Keenan says. "You didn't deserve that."
I shrug one shoulder weakly, avoiding all eye contact as I usher away my tears. "I tried to be brave. I was brave at the end. The man in charge made Carrie sit down, and he offered me a deal. He wants me to help them, but I said I wouldn't. I would never," I tell the men fervently.
"I don't suppose he liked hearing that," Jax comments.
"He hit me after I refused." My tongue darts out to test the lesion on my lip. It stings and brings back the memory of its origin in sharp relief. "Before they brought me back, he said everyone had a price. Even me."
"Did you get his name?"
I sweep my eyes up to Keenan. His body is held taut as he awaits my response. The sight alone makes my gut clench and twist. Even his hands are knotted.
"Noah."
Keenan's face morphs into a scowl. "What did he look like? From what I remember, the Wselfwulfs have at least two Noahs in their pack."
"He had blond hair that went down to his chin. Facial hair like Jax, but not quite as kept. He was tall and strong. But not as tall or as strong as you, Keenan. Most of the time, his eyes were gold. When they weren't, they were a bluish-green, like Jax's."
