The Hidden Luna

Chapter Thirty

Hunter pulled Scarlett up from the chair when he untied her ankles. As much as she hated to admit so, he was right about the wolfsbane. Her legs could barely function, the effects of it still active. Much to her dismay, she found herself leaning into him for support so she wouldn't fall. Hunter looked down at her and winked before he scooped her up in his arms.

He kicked open the door and Scarlett realized where she was. Her grandmother's farm. It had been abandoned since she had passed away years ago.

It was late. How late, Scarlett couldn't tell. The sky was pitch black with stars peeking through the darkness as Hunter carried her to the SUV.

Someone was in the front at the wheel and it was too dark to see if it was her father or someone new. Hunter opened the door and the two of them sat in the back.

Scarlett pushed as far away from him as possible, resting her head against the window. She tried to think of an escape plan, one that wouldn't result in her recapture. She wasn't far from town. If she found a way out of the car, she could run now that her ankles weren't restrained. She just had to wait for the wolfsbane to wear off.

She wiggled her toes, the feeling not completely awful. She wondered if she managed to get out of the car if she could shift. At this point, shifting would hurt more than the wolfsbane leaving her system.

She closed her eyes, an idea, an admittedly horrible idea came to her. She thought of Zoey. She thought of Leon. She thought of Zion. She thought of her mother, victim of her father's abuse before she fled, living a life constantly looking over her shoulder in fear of being found. Her anger overwhelmed her.

Despite not intending to, she began to shift. In the car. Her bones crunched. The zip tie broke free. Her clothes tore as her once human body morphed into a wolf.

Before they could react, Scarlett lunged first at Hunter, slashing at his face and chest. The driver of the car swerved out of control as Scarlett's wolf form was too big for the car, so big that as she attacked Hunter, the back of her hit the driver. She turned on Hunter and slashed at the driver. Then, she pushed all her weight against the windshield, bursting out of it, the glass littering her fur.

She was disoriented when she emerged from the car. The pain from shifting and the wolfsbane was too much she worried her shift wouldn't last long. She thought back to her anger and harnessed it as she ascended into the forest.

She heard the other cars, likely one of them belonging to her father screech to a halt. Scarlett strained to hear where they were, focusing too much on maintaining her shift and finding her way back the pack, her pack.

All she could think of while she ran was surviving. And Asher. The fear of never seeing him again coursed through her in a violent jolt.

Asher, Asher, Asher. She thought in the form of a chant.

Scar? A new voice appeared in her mind, she nearly flinched at its intensity. Where are you?

Scarlett wanted to laugh if she could. She had been so terrified of shifting, terrified of the pain it inflicted, she had forgotten the few benefits of being able to. In the woods by Nan's house. We drove for about ten minutes before I shifted. I don't know exactly where I am.

She kept running while she waited for Asher's response, in the distance, she heard a howl and somehow, she knew it did not belong to Asher or anyone in their pack. They were chasing her.

Did you hear that?  Asher questioned.

It wasn't me.

On your left. Asher shouted in her mind, him joining her side. 

Relief flooded her senses and she couldn't tell if it belonged to her or Asher.

The pair continued to run as fast as they could until they reached Argent territory, where Alpha Argent, Carter, and Lilith were waiting for them. 

Asher shifted back to his human form, his father quickly handing him some sweatpants, whereas Lilith covered Scarlett with a robe as she shifted back to human.

Carter was the first to speak. "Where is Hunter?"

Alpha Argent, Asher, Carter, and Lilith looked to Scarlett. She stood with shaking legs, gripping the ties of her robe tightly. "Hunter is working with my father."

Lilith gasped. Asher let out a curse, but Carter looked betrayed, utterly betrayed. "That isn't possible."

Scarlett's heart broke at the gentle protest Carter held. As gently as possible, she told the group of them of how she went to check on him, accidentally intruding on his meeting with her father, about how he was assigned to this pack to see if he could find any information of her and her mother's whereabouts, and if it hadn't been for Hunter sending her father a photo that belonged to Asher of her and her mother, he likely wouldn't have found her.

The more she spoke, the more heartbroken Carter seemed. Asher, on the other hand, was angry, his jaw clenching. "I'm going to kill him."

Asher looked about ready to shift back and go after Hunter himself, when Alpha Argent pulled him back, turning his attention on him and Scarlett. "Don't do anything irrational. We need to devise a plan. They are still searching for Scarlett and they will not stop until their Alpha orders otherwise."

"Ash, Alpha Argent is right," Scarlett agreed, earning a look of surprise from both Asher and his father. It was the first time she had ever acknowledge him as the Alpha. "I'm just as pissed as you are but I can't lose you."

Now, the group of them were in a circle, trying to figure out their next best move. But their plotting was cut short when two wolves pounced. One pounced onto Lilith, the other on Carter. Because the two were in their human forms, fighting against them was difficult, but the pair froze when someone crept behind Scarlett, something cold and sharp against her throat. "That was a good attempt, Scar, but not good enough."

Asher was about to lunge toward her when Hunter tsked. "Move and I will slit her throat."

Alpha Argent grabbed Asher and pulled him to his side. It was the first time Scarlett had seen him scared, likely terrified of losing his son after losing his mate. 

"I thought you were dead," Scarlett hissed, the knife slightly piercing into her skin.

Asher's eyes widened at Scarlett's confession, forgetting she hadn't disclosed how badly she may have hurt Hunter.

Hunter chuckled and nipped at her ear. "I'm much harder to kill than you think, Scar."

Asher's eyes held fire within them when Hunter held her so intimately. His attention turned to a sound from behind him. Scarlett couldn't see well past him but she could see it was a girl with long red hair. She leaned down and stabbed a needle of wolfsbane in Carter's neck, and then Lilith's, both of their bodies going limp.

Scarlett's father finally came into view, glaring at Alpha Argent. "So you're the man who hid my mate from me and now wants to take my daughter from me."

Alpha Argent rolled his shoulders back, his head held high. "I make no apologies for protecting a woman and her child, Brennan. As for Scarlett, I have no intentions on taking her. It is her decision as to what pack she would like to be apart of. She has equal claim to both as the heir to the Blackburn pack and potential Luna to the Argent pack."

Scarlett swallowed, her throat bobbing. It was the first time she had ever heard her father's name, Brennan. It was also the first time she had heard her original last name, Blackburn.

Her father shook his head. "She is mine. She will be the Alpha to my pack. She will have Hunter as her consort. She will right all her mother's wrongs."

Alpha Argent glanced ever-so-slightly at Asher and Asher dipped his head low, as if the pair of them were communicating. Suddenly, Alpha Argent lunged at Brennan and Asher lunged at Hunter.

The blade in Hunter's hand glided across Scarlett's throat in an instant and blood began to pour.