Running Red: Lost Moon

Chapter 20: Snowfall

Andrew paced as his anger burned hot in his chest. He had heard rumors, but they were only rumors. He didn't think they were true. He didn't think someone would be stupid enough to even try this. His feet stopped moving as he glared out the glass window. The sun was bright and the sky a cheery blue and Andrew wanted to break something. They had dropped in unannounced this time at the urgency of one of the Mediator Council members. There had been rumors of packs with mediators that hadn't been approved.

He had met alphas and others who thought just because he was a mediator he had to bend to their whims. And this one wasn't any different.

No.

He didn't bend to anyone.

Certainly not to some power grabbing asshat. Mediators were here to maintain the balance between the human world and the supernatural world. He was not here to make everything work out for one individual and their crazy power hungry causes.

Andrew could feel a snarl pulling at his mouth.

A hand on his shoulder had him smacking it away. His other hand burned with phantom pains. Tate cleared his throat as he shook his hand. "You can't fix everything, Andrew."

"I can damn well try."

Tate sighed. "We still have four more to check up on."

"How is she doing?"

"Sleeping. Now, at least." Tate scratched at his jaw, the sound of his nails scraping over stubble had Andrew glancing at the other man. "She said she was taken from her family's home. It's been a year since she was taken. Well, she thinks it's been a year. But they treated her well even though she was there against her will. She kept stressing that part."

"It won't change anything. Does she remember anything?"

"She does. And this is the weird part." Tate said as Andrew turned to fully face him. "Every time she tried to tell me more, she defaulted to 'I don't know.'"

Andrew rubbed at his forehead. "We might need more help."

"We need to sleep and shower and you need to call Rhea back."

Andrew quickly yanked his phone out of his pocket. He flipped it open and checked his voice mail. Tate could barely contain his grin as Rhea's voice explained in detail what had happened at Levi's new school. Andrew gave a loud sigh as he snapped the phone closed, cutting off the electronic female voice for his inbox. Pointing an annoyed finger at Tate he grumbled, "I blame you for this."

"Don't look at me, I mostly skipped school. He gets the anger from Celest. I've seen her make grown men twice her size cry. And Levi takes after her. Which is a good thing, she's got a good head on her shoulders."

"And yet you still find ways to piss her off."

Tate gave a grin as he shrugged, "I do my best." The sound of his phone ringing had Tate pulling it out of his pocket. "I'm going to go take this but you need to call Rhea back."

"Yeah, yeah," Andrew called out to Tate before he could leave the waiting room. "He's still impulsive and always throws himself in front of his friends to protect them. I wonder where he got that from?"

Tate gave a grin as he tapped two fingers against his temple in a mock salute. "Who knows?" He was walking down the hall when he called back the person who called him. Placing the phone to his ear he asked. "What's wrong, Michael?"

"Something weird happened today." Michael's voice was quiet. He could hear the sound of two people talking in the background and a distant jingle of a store bell. "I was sitting at the register when this teenager came crashing into the store. He looked... roughed up and like he was being hunted. Couldn't have been a year or so younger than me."