The Luna Sage

Chapter Ten: Into the fire

I only slept long enough that when I woke, we were pulling into the garage at the back of the Packhouse.
Adam, refusing to let me out of his sight, carried me across his chest, leading the other Wolves and giving some of them jobs to handle.
He placed me on the Infirmary floor, Bev and Kaleb stepping out to join me. Adam set me with a hard eye, his hand stopping the elevator door from closing.
I felt his concern and rage, I ducked my eyes, unable to handle the feeling.
"Kaleb will stay with you, you go anywhere, he has permission to stop you." He said through his teeth.
I nodded. "Yes Alpha." Bev led me down the hall to her office with Kaleb shadowing me. 
I took a seat at her file cabinet, Kaleb standing against the wall beside me while Bev started to take pipette samples of the vial I gave her.
I kept quiet while she worked, occasionally looking at the security camera feeds, seeing the Groundskeepers locked up and stripped naked, bruises and cut marking their faces and bodies.
Harlen sat in the corner, his knees brought up to rest his chained hands over them. Lippett's paced back and forth, his Stain had started to wain, his natural essence breaking through and he started to show signs of withdrawals.
He was sweating and shaking, scratching at his own skin often enough to have drawn blood in some areas.
I noticed Harlen would yell at him, his Stain expanding to cover Lippett's, only then he would sit down for a few minutes, before he'd get up and start again.
He did it three more times before Harlen had had enough, he stood quickly behind Lippett's, wrapping the chain that connected his wrists around his throat and slammed back into the wall.
Lippett's clawed at the chains and Harlen's hands, gasping for air as his eyes and  veins bulged.
Thomes and Valik were in the room then, pulling the two apart. Valik sent a solid boot to Harlen's ribs, kicking him painfully into the corner and watching him slide down it unconscious. 
Thomes sent his forehead into Lippett's nose, knocking him out and throwing him over his shoulder, moving him to another cell.
"Shit!" I shouted, launching to my feet as I watched Valik go to turn when Harlen jumped at him, latching onto his upper arm with his teeth. I heard Valik yell in pain through the door as I yanked it open, throwing myself down the small hallway and to the left as Harlen had shoved Valik into it, throwing wild restrained-punches.
"Valik down!" I shouted, Val met my eye and dropped instantly, Harlen looked at me slowly and with hatred, I smirked at him as I threw my hand up, sending a whip of a magic into his chest, throwing him backwards into the end of the hall.
Valik grabbed him by the hair and dragged him back into the room, securing his chains to the wall so he hung up, having to stand.
I stepped to Valik, checking his wound, it was deep but his Wolf healing was already working and it had stopped bleeding.
"Go, see Bev." I ordered, he looked at me with hard eyes.
"It's fine." He shrugged my arm off.
"Please, you don't know what else he's got." I sneered, throwing a disgusted look at Harlen's bloodied face, he spat something at me, a piece of his tongue I realised.
Valik huffed a laugh and led me out of the room as Thomes exited the cell he'd put Lippett's in.
He was wiping something off his neck.
"What the hell happened to you?" Both Valik and Thomes asked each other, making me giggle.
"Seems our prisoners are hungry today," I patted them both on the shoulder and then pushed them towards Bev's office, mind-linking with Jonathan to send two more guards to take over.

Bev confirmed my suspicions of the essence mixtures used on the Stained humans, it was slightly different to the one coursing through Harlen's veins, but were the same as Lippett's.
Lippett's and the vial Samson had given me had traces of Harlen's DNA, making me believe it was how they set the 'controller' for the whole thing.
Samson and his Kioren friend Monte were cleared by Adam enough to join us in the Packhouse Mess Hall.
Adam sat beside me, occasionally feeding me pieces of the stew Liam had made, it was delicious, but a nervousness kept my stomach in knots and I didn't eat much.
"From what I can tell, it's your essence they're using for compulsion." I explained to Monte when he'd started to get frustrated.
"But, how? Wouldn't I have noticed?" He slammed his fist against the metal table, clattering cutlery and his eyes quickly looked at the Wolves that surrounded him before looking at me.
"They'd just need basic DNA, a hair, saliva. Everything carries your essence." I said. "They can extract it from a simple potion or even human science if you know how." Bev was someone who knew how. 
"Okay, so what? How are they using it to control people?" He retorted, digging his spoon into the stew and then dropping it again to look at me.
"From what I can tell, they've isolated the dominance of the Alpha essence, the compulsion of Tricksters and then they use a base DNA as the controller. So whoever is leading that group of Stained humans, their blood will be in the potion." I played with a piece of bread while I spoke, breaking it apart and stacking it on itself for no reason other not wanting to look at anyone.
It was a crazy theory, but Bev had shown me the results and Witch had whispered her disgust.
"How do we stop it?" Someone asked, I was feeling a way of despair I didn't recognise the voice.
Feeling my faltering, Adam wrapped his arm around my waist and pressed his lips into my head.
"I don't know." I whispered to whoever asked, I could feel the tears threatening and I moved quickly, heading out the Mess Hall doors before Adam could stop me.
I got into the elevator but not before Valik stopped it and stepped in behind me.
"Shift change." Was all he said.
I chuckled through my tears.
Valik let me walk freely through the forest behind the café, letting my feet guide us.
I'd changed at some point into track pants and a singlet, since the Packhouse was airconditioned, but I shivered after a few minutes of being in the winter air.
Valik shrugged off his jacket and put it on my shoulders without a word, slipping back behind me.
I smiled at him weakly and found my way to the Fae pond.
I sat down at the small puddle of water, watching the tiny white fish swim around and ripple the surface.
Valik stood behind me a few feet away, watching me.
"How's the arm?" I asked, turning to look at him over my shoulder. 
He and Johnathan weren't all that similar after I'd spent time with them both. Valik was more rugged and battle-hardened, whereas his brother was soft and almost elegant looking.
Valik looked at the crescent shape scarring that had started to appear.
"Bev said it was clean." He shrugged, something ebbed in his essence, drawing my attention. "What?" He looked behind him, but when he looked back at me, his expression was blank.
My heartbeat picked up a notch at the sight.
"Valik?" I asked gently, slowly getting to my feet. I let magic flow enough to see his essence choked around his body, a darkness ebbing around it making my eyes wide.
Infected. Witch hissed.
The bitemark. Harlen's tongue. What if he'd done that before he'd bitten Valik?
My eyes met his and I couldn't find his essence anymore.
I turn and ran.
Sending out a panicked pulse through my bond to Adam and trying to mind-link Kaleb, a horrid feeling welling in my stomach when I couldn't get through.
Something hit me, sending me sideways into a tree.
Can't  get a break huh? Soul-Miranda huffed at me as I pushed myself to my feet, my ribs and hip screaming in pain.
I looked around, seeing nothing in the darkness or stars that clouded my vision. Throwing out my hand, I forced a ball of light to shoot above the treetops, illuminating the area.
Harlen stared at me. Chains and manacles hung from his wrists and ankles, he was covered in sweat from withdrawals.
I stepped back instinctively when he smirked at me.
"You think they can stop me?" He shot a look behind me, I didn't turn. I let my magic scan behind me, retracting like it had been burned when it felt two Stained Wolves, I instinctively threw a shield around the area Harlen and I stood in, feeling the Beta and Warrior try to advance.
Valik. Thomes. I called their names through a mind-link, feeling something stopping the connection. I fought the urge to look at them, feeling tears fight through as I fed another wave of magic into the shield as they pounded against it.
"If you hurt them-"
He cut me off with a hard, vicious laugh, stepping towards me so quickly I didn't have time to react as he grabbed my throat and tossed me behind him.
I rolled through a rose bush and a gravel path, cutting into my skin as I landed painfully. 
I was slow to my feet, when I was on all fours, Harlen sent a solid foot into my stomach, flipping me to my stomach.
His strength was equal to a Wolf's. He wailed on me with his fists, hits rocked my body, breaking something and I coughed blood from somewhere.
Witch screamed at me, sending a flood of magic into my depleted void. 
I gasped at the feeling, numbing my pain and forcing me into a crouch, away from a kick to my side.
I dove forward, rolled and turned, using a burst of magic to shield me from his swinging fist.
He bounced off and fell to the ground from the pulse I sent back.
I stood and looked at him, breathing heavy.
Fuck, he's powerful. I growled, feeling Witch and Soul-Miranda try to draw more magic but my void shook, unable to handle the amount needed.
I clenched my fist and started to circle Harlen as he finally stood, setting his eyes on me.
He scoffed at me, bringing his fists up. 
I used the moment to drop the shield and let the light fall down in a bright flash, hoping to blind him as I turned and ran into the forest.
I used my boost of speed and threw myself through the trees, praying I was going the right way.
I stopped suddenly when I hit the gate.
Thomes jumped on my back, making me yell and try to throw him off.
He snarled at snapped at me as I turned to throw him into the trees. He slammed, his grip loosening enough that I could move  away from him.
"Thomes, stop!" I shouted, but he ran at me. I managed to dodge his swipes, thankful he wasn't as quick as Bev, I was able to duck and kick his legs out under him.
He fell, but recovered before I could get far into the forest again, heading back towards the Packhouse.
I ducked past a large rock, hearing Thomes shout as he hit it.
I turned, summoning enough of a shield to hopefully hold him for now.
He stayed pinned, his eyes going blank.
Stay. I heard a horrifying whisper, diving into a thick bush grouping as I heard Harlen follow the whisper. I stayed low and calmed my breath as well as I could as he passed me, going to examine Thomes, hissing curses as he went.
I stayed silent for a few moments longer, my mind too panic to be able to form a mind-link.
I could feel Adam's anger and worry, I tried to push through the block between us, finding something solid stopping me.
Witch yelled at me to calm myself.
When I tried, I was yanked out of the bush by my hair and thrown to the ground, my head slamming into a rock, making my vision blacken.
Something ripped my shirt and I tried to scream only to receive a punch to the face, silencing me. 
I left the sickeningly familiar tongue run against the side of my face.
"Where's your lover now, bitch?" He cooed in my ear, making me try to squirm away only to be struck again. I felt his hand go to my waistband, trying to tear them off.
I kicked as wildly as I could, trying to force magic out only to have it fail before even forming in my void.
I tried to scream but Harlen's sweat and blood-covered hand fell over my mouth, muffling my attempts as he ripped my pants.
Something exploded through my chest, a heat so powerful I managed to make a noise through Harlen's hand.
I felt something snap, followed by another and I fell into a darkness, something else taking hold of my body.
Witch vanished, being dissolved in a blinding light that made me squint into my void.
Mother has chosen. She soothed as I screamed for her, being pulled into the light and wrapped in a warm, fur-like blanket that instantly calmed me and filled my void with something powerful and endless.