The Candles Will Protect You

Chapter 18

As the days passed by, I began feeling closer and closer to Ares.

The two of us spent as much time together as we could, enjoying each other's company.

With him, I felt like I could finally be myself, and no matter what I did, he would always be there for me and support me. It felt nice, finally feeling like I belonged somewhere.

He treated me with so much care, so much love, it would have been hard to just ignore or deny him. But I realised, I didn't want to do that anymore. The fear and uneasiness I felt at the beginning completely vanished, and dare I say it, I might have already been in love with him.

On the plus side, I even got to spend more time with Tiffany and Drake, I got to know Ares' friends better, and Selene already had a special place in my heart as well.

Ares and I started going to more pack events, we visited the children, even the elders. I was quite surprised at how welcoming they were, considering the fact that I was a human. They must have been so glad Ares finally found his mate, they didn't even care who it was, the people just wanted their Alpha to be happy.

Even though Ares still had a lot of work, I didn't feel so lonely anymore, because someone would come over and keep me company, which I was beyond thankful for.

It was one of those days, and I was sitting in the kitchen when I finally heard knocking on the front door.

Standing up with a smile, I walked over to open it. Unfortunately, my smile faded when I saw a man dressed in all black standing there, holding a weapon in his hand.

I tried remembering him, but he seemed unfamiliar. I didn't remember seeing him in any pack event we went to, but I shrugged it off, knowing I haven't met every single person yet.

"Hello, Luna," he greeted me in a deep voice.

"Hello," I greeted him back unsurely.

"I'm sorry to say this, Luna, but our pack is under attack."

My jaw dropped.

"What?"

"Alpha Ares told me to come and get you, so I could escort you to a safer place. Please, follow me."

"Where is he? Is he okay?"

I took a look around our surroundings, but everything seemed quiet and peaceful to me.

Though I knew that our place was separated, the attack must have happened where most of the pack lived.

"He's fine... For now."

I furrowed my eyebrows, then a gasp escaped my mouth when the man grabbed what looked like an injection and stabbed it in my neck.

My vision became blurry, and I felt my body giving up.

"Good night, Luna."

The last thing I felt was him picking me up, then my eyes closed and all there was left for me was darkness.

I wasn't sure what was happening to me after that. Was I having a nightmare? Probably. I never felt so bad and scared in a dream before.

I kept moving around, at least I thought I was, that's what I told my body to do, but no matter what I did, I remained asleep.

When my eyes finally opened, I shot up in my bed.

Wait a second...

I wiped my eyes with my hands, adjusting to the light and my surroundings.

I was in my old room.

My eyes widened, and I threw the covers off of my body. Standing up, I stormed out of my room, making my way to the kitchen.

When I stepped in the room, I saw my mother making breakfast, while my dad was reading a newspaper at the table, drinking coffee.

Mom turned her head towards me, then she offered me a gentle smile.

"Good morning, Rhea."

"Is everything okay?" My dad asked, looking at me with a worried expression. "You look a bit shaken up. Did you have a nightmare?"

I just stood there, glancing between the two of them.

"What is going on?" I whispered, my voice a little shaky.

"What do you mean?" My mother asked, putting the finished breakfast on the table.

"Where's Ares?"

"Ares?" Dad raised his eyebrows. "Who's Ares?"

"You can't be serious..."

Mom came up to me, a gentle expression on her features.

"Honey," she stroked my cheek. "Who is this Ares you're talking about?"

"The... the wolf..." I whispered, looking down at the floor.

"Wolf?!" Dad asked, surprised. "Darling, did you see a wolf?"

"You know I did!" I raised my voice, taking a step backwards from my mother. "You both know! I told you!"

They exchanged a worried look.

"Rhea," mom whispered, "dear, have you been taking your medicine?"

I started at her in shock. What was she even talking about?

"Medicine?" I asked back. "I never took any medicine."

My father stood up from his seat slowly, putting down his paper.

"Okay, honey, how about this? I will take you to your doctor's appointment, where you can tell Dr Sara all about this Ares guy, then we'll go grab some ice cream. Does that sound good?"

Staring at him with wide eyes, I couldn't hold back the humourless laugh that escaped my mouth.

"Oh, so I'm crazy now?"

Mom put an arm on my shoulder.

"You're not crazy, honey. You just have a wild imagination, that's all."

I clenched my jaw, then I brushed her hand off. I decided it was best if I left the house.

I walked to the front door, but after trying to open it I realised it was locked. I looked around, but couldn't find a key anywhere.

"Why is the door locked?" I asked, raising my voice.

My parents stared at me from the kitchen doorway.

"It's for your own safety, kiddo," my dad gave me a gentle smile. "We don't want you to hurt yourself."

"Hurt myself?" I laughed. "I actually can't believe you two."

They just kept looking at me in that sympathetic way, I actually began to doubt myself.

"Ares will come back for me," I crossed my arms on my chest. "I know he will."

An actual tear escaped my mother's eye, while dad had an arm around her shoulder, comforting her.

"Don't worry," he whispered to her. "She'll get better. I know it."

My eyes travelled between them, panic taking over me.

Did I actually make everything up?

Was I insane?