When the Stars Align

Chapter 11

"Ha, shows who actually has the power in this place. Maybe now you will finally learn to know your place as a pet. Michael is your owner and there is nothing you can do about it. So I suggest you be the pretty pet he has invested in and stop fighting your purpose in life," Emmit said as he locked the cage.

Diana never once looked at Emmit nor Luke, she just stared off into the distance as if she was lost to everyone. Emmit just rolled his eyes and left the cellar. Once Luke was sure no one would be entering anytime soon, he stood on his haunches and brushed his paw against hers through the bars yet there was no reaction from her. This began to worry him greatly, including Jackson. "Diana," Jackson whispered through the mind link. Nothing, not a sound nor a flinch or even a blink of an eye.

"Has she ever come back like this before?" Luke asked as he kept touching her in hopes of giving her comfort.

"Covered in blood? Yes, as sometimes we are hired to fight or hunt. In shock or emotionally detached? Never in all the time I have been with her. She has always had a fighting spirit so for her to come back almost a shell. I'm terrified of what she could have possibly been put through," Jackson quietly said as he looked at Luke with a worried expression.

"Okay, I am going to keep trying to bring her comfort. Maybe that is all she needs right now till she comes out of wherever she has gone in her mind. Hey, Diana, it's me Luke the new fox shifter that was brought in," Luke mentioned before focusing on the werecheetah he strangely had a connection with. He hoped if he kept this up it would eventually bring her back. "Diana, wherever you have gone, it is safe for the moment to come back. I promise, there are no more hunters here. It's just the pack, your pack," he tried coercing her out of her mind.

For a moment he thought there wasn't anything in his power to help her. But then he saw it. Diana twitched her paw. Widening his eyes he reached back to her, placed his paw on hers, and called out, "Diana?" Again it took a moment but this time she curled her paw around his. "Oh Diana, I'm here. I promise I am here."

"Diana, what happened? Even in broken words please tell us what happened and if you are injured. I'm worried girl," Jackson pleaded.

"Master.....fight....won....shift," she spoke in such a detached voice it was chilling to hear.

"Okay, then what happened?" Jackson asked as he pressed his forehead against the bars. Something told him this was going to be a total shit show.

"Touch....bad...fight....lose...win....shift....bad........bad girl," Diane whispered before closing her eyes.

"What does that mean? I mean, is it what I think it is?" Luke asked as tears pricked his eyes.

"If I understand correctly, the high roller who has invested in our Diana, had her fight against either an animal or shifter. She won the fight and at some point shifted to her original form. This master must have touched her badly. Either he beat her or.....," Jackson began to decode the message before trailing off.

"Or she was touched inappropriately. That's what you were going to say right?" Luke seethed out as his mind blanked out. The only thing he could feel was terror and fury.

"Yes," Jackson whispered. "She fought off the touch and was losing at first before something caused the cards to shift and her win against the master. They must have called back up and beaten her while calling her a bad girl."

"These sick fucks! I swear to the Gods and Goddesses that I will free us from this fucking imprisonment and will bring the wrath of hell upon this place and the whole organization!" Luke promised as a burning fire seemed to have ignited in him.

"Well whenever you come up with a plan, clue me in on it. I will do anything to get her out of here. Even if I have to sacrifice myself. This poor girl has been here far too long. She once said that she had to get out. Her father was waiting for her. She was all her dad had left," Jackson promised as the same burning passion ignited in him.

"Then we will do everything we can to protect her. For now, we rest and restore all energy," Luke muttered as he looked down at the beautiful cheetah in front of him."You said she talked a little about her past. Is there anything you can tell me about her? For some reason, I feel like I know her from somewhere."

"Sorry, I can see you care about her but I won't be breaking her trust in me. When she wakes you can ask her yourself," Jackson said as he lay down in the cage. "Goodnight my friend."

"Yeah, goodnight," Luke said absently. Taking a look around the room, he noticed all the shifters had fallen asleep. With a sigh, he too curled up in a ball and thought about his brothers and how much he missed them. He thought of all the crazy adventures he'd gone on with them in order to protect their kind. He'd put himself in some peculiar situations but there was always a way out. Now, he was lost more than ever.

As time went by of him lost in his own mind of the past, Luke didn't realize the drugs in his system had finally worn out. His mind was fully relaxed as he was on the brink of falling asleep yet an unexpected thing occurred. One that just might be their salvation.

"Luke, can you hear me," called the voice in his head causing him to jolt wide awake in surprise. "Luke! Can you hear me?!"

"North?" Luke asked doubtful to hear his brother's voice in the link that was supposed to be destroyed by the drug given. "Is it really you, North?"