Embers Of The Moon (Book 1)

Chapter 36

Anna giggles happily as she swings her now ten-month old baby around in circles with her. "Whheewww, there goes the airplane, Vrrooooommm!!!" She laughs happily as she hears Jesse coo out. "Woooooooo Oooooo DADA!!!!" She looks over her shoulder as she stops spinning around when he starts to wave his hands around wildly and happily. Anna furrows her brows in concern, as thrilled as she was that her husband had returned from a last-minute emergency business trip; he only left yesterday morning and was not due back home for at least another three days. "What on earth?" Anna murmurs to herself. She instinctively pulled Jesse tightly to her chest as an awful feeling started to build in her stomach.

'Anna, take Jesse and get as far away from the pack house as you can, and let Aiden and Sarah know where to meet you.' Travis quickly communicates with Anna through their link.

Anna takes off, running towards the pack house with Jesse, as she sees Sarah coming out the back door. They meet about halfway between where she was in the field and the house. "What is going on?!" Anna demands firmly as she hands Sarah Jesse as she looks over Sarah's shoulder and sees Aiden coming up from the training grounds.

Sarah looks at Anna, hesitating for a moment before she glances back towards the pack house. "It is the supernatural council they are accusing Alpha Travis of having been committing acts against their code and allowing his pack members to knowingly do the same." She shifts nervously from one foot to the other as Aiden finally makes it to their sides.

Aiden puts his hand on the small of Sarah's back. "We need to move now on Alpha's orders." His voice is calm and quiet. His eyes, however, show regret at leaving without his Alpha as he glances back towards the pack house.

"You are crazy if you think I am going anywhere without Travis. You both should already know that. You are Jesse's godparents, and I am asking this as your Luna: please take him and protect him until we have this resolved. But before you leave, what the hell do you mean by supernatural council and their code??" Anna asks as she steps off to the side, placing a slight distance between them.

"Luna, Anna, please." Aiden sighs, hanging his head in defeat. He knows his cousin is stubborn. He shakes his head, remembering the many arguments that she and Travis have had over this and how pointless trying to change her mind once it is made up can be.

"They are a group made up of one of each supernatural class, like a vampire, werewolf, witch, etc." Sarah answers, looking from Jesse to Anna. "They are saying that he has betrayed them to the witches and rogues. As well as partnering with the humans and plans to allow a bastard rogue to assume the role of Alpha when he steps down." Sarah barely whispers the last part as a tear slips from her eye as she clutches Jesse tighter to her chest protectively as she watches Anna's eyes flash from golden amber to black to blood red, then back to black in rage as realization hits with the severity of the situation at hand.

Anna looks at Sarah and Aiden with a deadly, calm, rage-filled gaze. "Protect our son until we come for him; you know where to take him, Sarah." With that, Anna darts off, flash-stepping into the main building, where she hears voices raising each second that goes by. Anna pauses around the corner leading into the common room, glad she left the mirror on the floor in the corner, having yet to place it properly, allowing her to see into the room.

Anna sees Travis standing proudly and protectively in the doorway that leads from the commons to the rest of the house, blocking the path. "You have no business here." She hears him state firmly and with authority radiating from every syllable he speaks. "What proof do you have to back your blasphemy and pointless accusations?"

Anna's eyes snap to an old, bald man who was a tad shorter than Travis but emitted as much authority as Travis but in a much more intimidating fashion. "It seems to me that you have gravely misjudged your situation here, oh dear Alpha Travis," he sneers at him. His small, narrow black eyes even caused Anna to have a shiver run down her spine, and that was when she realized he was a vampire. "You do not have the ability to rebut this situation here before you. We have been watching you for the past year and have already made our judgment. You have harbored a marked hybrid whore who was pregnant with another alpha's bastards, not to mention took in witches to help defeat opposing packs. All are punishable by the death of the presiding Alpha and the disbandment of the pack."

Anna freezes as she feels her blood run cold in her veins. Punishable by death??!! They have got to be joking, right? And not to mention, how the hell did they know what happened to her and the truth about Jesse? Something smells rotten, and it was not the fact that the ugly bald bastard challenging Travis was old enough to have rotted in the ground probably five to six times over, and Anna was determined to figure it out.

"Then do as you must with me, but leave my pack and family alone; it is all my fault and my doing. I should be the only one held accountable." Travis steps towards the bald man, his fist still clenched, a challenging sound to his voice.

Something snaps inside Anna when she hears Travis say that. She feels a mixture of rage, anger, and even a touch of abandonment at the fact that he would so willingly leave and not even try to fight to stay with her. What the hell was that? "Oh hell, fucking no, they will not do as they wish with you! You will not be handing yourself over like a fucking offering or a piece of fucking meat. You are mine! WE HAVE A SON REGARDLESS OF WHAT THESE ASSHOLES SAY." She snarls as her eyes flash dangerously as she looks ready to rip every one of them, including Travis, apart. She jumped around the corner, coming up behind Travis and moving to stand next to him. Her fists balled up, glowing red as her fangs extended. She emitted a low growl and hiss from deep in her chest.

Travis jumps and pales as he looks towards Anna. "I thought you were on a trip, love. Why are you back?" He tries to hint at her to leave, immense concern flowing through him as he glances back at the council members, waiting to see their reactions to her blatant disrespect towards them.

The bald one glances towards Travis. "Well, is this not a pleasant surprise here? My, my, my." He grins, exposing his aged, yellowing fangs that only accent the appearance of his age. "Mrs. Stinson, I hear it is now; it appears we have come to have a horrible situation at hand here, my dear. However, I do believe sense you are here, unlike we were led to believe we may be able to come to a mutual agreement that may benefit us both." His grin turns to a wicked smile as all five members who were present start to laugh with an eerie hollow sound that leaves Anna with that deep pit of unease in her stomach again.

Anna moves to stand next to Travis as she narrows her eyes at him. "I could care less if anything benefits you or your so-called council of the supernatural, whatever you claim to be. You do not even show enough respect to introduce yourself to me when you are trying to negotiate with me, so why should I care enough to try to respect you long enough to listen to anything you say?"

Travis would have paled even more if that were even possible. "ANNA!" His head snaps towards her.