His Breath of Fire

Chapter Twenty-One

    The coming weeks have been repetitive, the students still attend high school and we have pack training every night as well as the weekends.  Easton and I spend every waking moment we can together, and our bond is getting stronger every passing day.  The weeks have seemed a little too peaceful for the stress of an upcoming war, and I can’t help but feel that it is the calm before the storm.

    Calm down, Bren, I can feel your stress from here, Easton voices in my head as I’m sitting in my last class for the week.

    That’s kind of hard to do at the moment, Easton, I sigh, leaning back in my chair.  Something’s going to happen soon, I can feel it.  Blaidd and Blaise are on edge too.

    Gabriel is tense too, Easton admits, and I know his wolf can be very vocal when he’s stressed.  But stressing about it won’t help anything.

    The bell rang and I gathered my belongings, choosing to ignore Easton until I saw him in person.  As I was grabbing my things from my locker, his warm arms wrapped around my body and sparks flew at the contact.  He pulled me flush against his front, and I leaned my head back against his strong chest.  “Everything’s going to be alright, Bren.”

    “You don’t know that, Easton,” I answer, turning around to face him.  “The scouts haven’t brought back any useful information yet, and I can feel him planning something.  We can’t prepare for something we don’t quite understand.”

    “You have to stop stressing about it.   Everyone here will protect you and your mother.  You’re not alone in this anymore.”

    I didn’t respond as we headed towards Easton’s car.  Since we had marked each other, my mother and I have officially moved into the packhouse.  Technically, I have my own room, but I spend the majority of my nights in Easton’s room.  We haven’t mated yet, but I can feel the mate bond strengthening.  It’ll only be a matter of time before we can’t deny our bodies anymore—not that I’m complaining.

    Mara is still a pain, taking every moment to torment me and has also tried to turn some of the pack members against me.  It worked, for a moment, but eventually they have come to realize she is just a bitter woman.  I’m still trying to keep an eye on her as well, seeing that I have a feeling that she is planning something too.  Interestingly enough she wasn’t at school today either.

    We drive up to the packhouse and the first thing I notice is the guards surrounding the area are missing.  Something’s not right here, Blaidd murmurs, and I just nod my head in agreement.

    “Easton,” I whisper, afraid to raise my voice any higher in hopes that this isn’t real.

    “I know,” he answers, his body tense as he’s now on high alert. 

    We pull up to the packhouse and it’s a little eerie with how quiet it is when this place is typically full of life.  Hesitantly, we exit the car, glancing around and extending our senses to pick up any sound.  Soon the rest of the high school weres will be home, so we just need to figure out where the rest of the pack is.

    I closed my eyes so that I could stretch my dragon’s powers out, looking for auras anywhere on the grounds.  Gasping, I opened my eyes and started sprinting towards the one I saw, and I heard Easton running after me.

    Turning the corner, I see her, lying on her side.  “Mom!” I yell, skidding to a stop on my knees by her side.  “Mom, wake up.”

    Her normally pale skin looks even paler, and her rounded stomach is sticking out from where her shirt started rising up.  I placed my hands on her side, closing my eyes so I can transfer some of my power to her and give her energy.  Not only do I need her awake, but we need answers.

    Slowly her color starts returning to her, and after another minute her powder blue eyes clash with my mint ones.  “Bren,” she breaths, letting out a small sob as she picks herself up from the ground.

    “Mom, thank goddess,” I murmur, pulling her into a hug and she wraps her arms around me as well. 

    “Kaida, what happened?” Easton asks after we pull away from each other.

    “Your father,” she answered, looking at me.  My eyes widened in shock and I fell back onto my feet from my knees.  “He came and attacked the pack while Alpha Robert and a few members went out to make an alliance with another pack.”

    Her eyes clouded over as she thought back to the attack.  “He brought witches—a lot of them.  They took out members one at a time.  They drained the ambient magic from the area, making it so that I was weakened.  Before they could though, I put up an invisibility bubble and hid my scent before moving to another area so he couldn’t find me.

    “When he came to the room I had just left, he was angry beyond belief.  It seems that the witches are enhancing his powers, making him stronger than he was before.  Before he left, he found your room.  I’m so sorry, Bren, but he knows you exist.  He’s going to come for you.”

    “Kaida!” a voice calls out, and we see Paul, Lucas, and all the high school weres coming.  Behind them Robert and some of the warriors reach us, and everyone is confused as to what is happening.  “Kaida, what happened?”

    “My father,” I answered, my tone emotionless as the group stepped back in shock.

    “Where is everyone?” Robert asked, and you could see the anger rolling off of him in waves.

    “He took them, I-I don’t know where,” my mother answered, holding onto Paul for dear life.  “Somehow they were able to block the ambient magic and I barely was able to save myself, let alone anyone else.”

    Seeing Robert was furious, Easton stepped forward and instructed, “Paul, take Kaida to the infirmary.  She needs rest, especially for that little one growing inside of her.” Paul nodded, and in a blink had my mother in his arms and sped off to the infirmary.  “Everyone, spread out and see if you can find anyone Luke and the witches might have missed.  We have panic rooms and escape plans in place for a reason.”

    The rest of the group nodded and spread out and Easton grabbed my hands, causing me to look at him.  “Bren, I know this is a lot but I need help finding other members right now.  Can you use your dragon powers to find out if other members are spread out throughout the territory?”

    I took a deep breath, then closed my eyes to search for other members.  This is the duty of a Luna, to put aside her feelings for the sake of the pack and I will not disappoint them.  The pack’s territory was large, so it took a while to search the grounds.  “There are about ten people by the lake, twenty by the old packhouse, and fifteen in the city.”

    Easton nodded and then mindlinked the groups, telling them to come back now that it was safe.  He reached down and helped me up, but then Lucas came running up to us looking very nervous.

    “Bren, you need to see this.”

    In his hand he held a piece of paper, and hesitantly I unfolded the paper.  “I found it in your room.” Anxiety spiking, I glanced down at the words scribbled out and my breath caught in my throat.

    Bring Bren and Kaida to me, or the pack dies.