Luna Rising

FORTY-EIGHT

"Lippy, are you okay?" As I trembled, Dominic came to my side and wrapped me against his chest.

"Nick...I've seen scarier things, but meeting Demir, I felt weak and hopeless." Even when I cut his arm, Demir didn't seem disappointed. It was like he was only testing my magic on him.

To him, with my current state, I'm no match for him.

"Shh..." he hugs me tighter. "It's okay to be afraid."

I wrap my arms around him and inhale his scent as it helps calm me. "I'm not letting Demir take the child."

"I know."

"We have to protect Michael," I whisper and clench his shirt given the thought of an innocent child in the hands of his sinister father, who regards him as a tool.

"Don't worry. He is safe with us," Dominic says.

Demir could have been more enthusiastic about reuniting with his son. He didn't sound like a grieving parent who longs for his child to return.

He was looking for a tool.

But what could be to make Demir desperate to want the child?

"Uh, Lippy."

I look up from Dominic's chest and see Camila with Michael in her arms, standing behind him. I wipe my teary eyes and clear my throat. "What is it, Camila?"

"I think you need to see this."

I furrow my brows and share a look at Dominic. I got up and walked toward Camila. Her hand was under the child's shirt, and my eyes grew wide.

How could I miss this?

"What is it?" Dominic asked.

My chest tightened, and my hands curled into a fist as I unleashed tremendous power. My whole body shifted to my fox form.

I had used too much. It made my friends push back from the blood-boiling range cooking inside me.

"Master!" Kaze shouted.

"Master!" Saye, Arlo, and Jippies all cried out to me.

"Lippy angry," Takkar whimpered.

"What pissed her off!" Clayton asked, then gasped. "Shit, look at the sky!"

The sounds of roaring thunder and dark-grey skies were back because of my anger.

"How could he do this?" I gritted my teeth as my anger rose to an incredible amount that I wanted to do more than punch the bastard. "How could he? To a child!"

"Alpha, better do something, or else we are all fucked!" Malik cried out while holding Scylla in his arms. "How is she this strong?"

"Lippy! What is going on?" Dominic cried out to me, but I was preoccupied with ignoring the concern for him and the others. I left the farmhouse.

I bolted out like a jet and used my appraisal to search for Demir. He has gone far and found his location was accessible. My sense picked up his aura in a small cabin in a remote glacial climate that isn't a tourist attraction.

Good, then he wouldn't mind if I visited him.

Gathering my magic around my fist and landed a strike on his house. The sounds of broken wood collapse and create a puff of smoke from the impact. I land on the lake that is now iced from the cold climate.

I breathed hard, making my chest hurt and my heart race from this adrenaline as I waited for him to appear in the smoke.

I hear coughing in the smoke. "Well, that was unexpected," Demir coughed again, then smirked. "I only left a few minutes ago, and already you wanted to visit your favorite uncle."