Moonlight Run

Fourteen

A pair of fitted jeans later paired with a crop top, I was ready to head to Jonesy’s place to meet with Pipa and Bianca. Our village was a bit too remote for Uber or Lyft service, but we did have an independently owned shuttle company that ran Thursday through Sundays. After I was dropped off at Jonesy’s I texted Pipa to let her know I’d arrived.

“We’re upstairs!” She replied.

The upstairs loft area of Jonesy’s had two pool tables, a couple pinball machines, and a dartboard. I found Pipa bent over a pool table with Bianca and two men I didn’t recognize.

“Hey!” I said as I approached.

“Well looky fellas, it’s a party now.” Pipa said with a laugh. “Guys, this is Isadora. You can call her Isa. Isa, these are our friends for the evening, Thad and Holden.”

She nodded to the two men next to her, who I quickly realized looked to be teenagers at best.

“Hi there,” I smiled at the two boys, and leaned over to Pipa. “Um, Pipa— are we sure Thad and Holden are even old enough to be in a bar?”

She giggled in my ear and said, “Probably not. Poor boys were drug into town by their dad. He’s in the Run tonight.”

“Their dad?” I was struck by her revelation.

Pipa took a long swig of the beer in her hand. “Oh, didn’t you know? There’s no age cap for the men that participate in the run. And Thad and Holden’s dad is a widower.” She looked over at the boys. “How old did you guys say your dad was, boys?”

“42, I think.” The one named Holden spoke.

“Forty freakin two.” Pipa laughed. She leaned in closer to me again and this time I could smell her inebriation. “The council would sooner have us wed and bred by old ass perverts than let us find our mates. Isn’t that swell?”

I looked over to Bianca while Pipa turned her attention back to her new friends. “Is she going to be okay?” I mouthed quietly to her. Bianca motioned for me to step aside.

“I don’t think she’s coping with Lily’s situation well,” Bianca admitted. “Earlier tonight she was saying crazy things about skipping town next month when she gets her heat again. Trying to convince me to go with her, saying “we’re all f****d anyways”... and she’s been hitting the bottle pretty hard tonight.”

I cringed. “So, are we gonna try to get her home then?”

Bianca sighed. “I’m fine with letting her drink herself through it, if she needs to. But she’s liable to end up in bed with either one of these ass clowns if we don’t intervene.”

“You’re not wrong,” I agreed. “Any chance she told you what happened last night…?”

“Yeah, she explained to me what Dimitri had said to you. I’m sorry if it seemed like I was upset with you. Phoebe and I both know that he’s—”

“Oh, that.” I cringed. “That’s not what I meant. Not that I’m not glad to hear we’re okay, but… no. Um, Pipa kind of had her own situation going on last night. And I’m really worried about her now.”

“What happened?” Bianca asked with a look of concern.

“I…” I sighed. “I don’t know if it’s my place to tell.”

Bianca frowned, continuing to stare at me with an expectant expression.

I sighed again. “Okay, but she’s probably gonna freak out later when she finds out I told you.”

And then I explained to Bianca how Alpha Phineas had called Pipa into his office, and the choice he laid before her.

“f*****g pig,” Bianca rolled her eyes, as she looked past me to Pipa. “I’m not even that surprised. You know he did the same thing to Becca Rivera?”

“Wait, Becca? Like, Nikolai’s ex, that Becca?”

Bianca nodded, crossing her arms. “Yeah. I guess Becca had it in her head that when she turned twenty-one she was sure Nikolai was going to be her mate. And then when she did, and then he wasn’t, Alpha Blackburn told Nikolai he should end the relationship because it was a waste of both their time.”

Shock spread across my face as I recalled how Nikolai had told me only the night before about ending his relationship with Becca because he didn’t want to drag it out. He never mentioned that his father had urged him to.

Bianca continued, “And then Becca goes to the Alpha to plead her case, promising that she would be a worthy Luna for his son, mate or not.And do you know what Blackburn says? That they could have his blessing if she could show him just how worthy she was.” She huffed. “Do you catch my drift? That guy is a sick prick.”

“Oh my god.” I shook my head in disbelief. “I mean, I’d heard they had broken up, and that it was because they didn’t end up being mates, but I definitely didn’t know that part.”

I had to contain myself from telling Bianca that I’d heard the story from Nikolai himself. But I wasn’t sure I was ready to share the developing nature of our relationship with anyone yet. Especially Bianca, given how close she and Phoebe were. I could only imagine the fallout if it were to get back to Dimitri that his best-friend and I had been spending our time together.

“Last I knew, Nikolai didn’t know,” Bianca said with a frown. “The Alpha compelled Becca from ever telling Nikolai. The only reason I even know is because Becca was my roommate. I picked her up from the packhouse when it happened. And then like a week later there was this big blow up with Nikolai — That’s a story for another time, but the short version? She completely snapped.” She paused to take a drink of the glass of water she’d had on the cocktail table beside us. “But hey, I guess if I slept with a guy’s dad so that I could be with him, and the guy still didn’t want me? I might snap, too.”

My mind was going a mile a minute, and I knew she must have been referring to the night Becca locked Nikolai in the basement with her. I bit my lip and nodded. “Yeah,” I agreed. “I don’t imagine something like that sits well.”

I suddenly felt nauseous and very much regretted coming out tonight. “Hey, um, why don’t we try to get Pipa out of here? Maybe she’d be up for drinks back at her room at the packhouse?”

“Good luck pulling her off of them,” Bianca nodded past me. I looked over my shoulder to see Pipa getting a piggy-back ride from the one named Thad, and smacking his bottom as he ran around the pool table.

“Well, dammit.” I groaned. “This is going to be fun.”

After twenty-minutes more, and nearly dragging her out of the bar, Bianca and I had managed to get a highly intoxicated Pipa strapped into her passenger seat. Bianca’s car was only a two seater BMW, so I would have to grab a ride back to the packhouse.

“I can always pop the trunk if you’re not claustrophobic?” She suggested with a laugh.

“No, it’s alright. Really, I’ll just call the shuttle service.”

Bianca nodded. “Suit yourself. I’ll text you when I’ve got her tucked in,” she added with a wink.

I chuckled. “Sounds good. Thanks Bianca.” I shut her passenger car door. Pipa was waving to me out the window like a small child. I sighed as I waved back at her.

After they pulled out of the parking lot, I dialed up the shuttle service on my phone again, but this time I got a busy signal. I tried two more times with the same result. I let out a breath of frustration and headed back into Jonesy’s place, hopeful I could find another way back to the compound. Surely someone in that bar must be sleeping in the bunkhouse tonight.

I walked up to the bar where Freddie Jones, the man himself, was pouring out drafts.

“Hey, Jonesy!” I called.

He turned around with a smile, but narrowed his eyes at me.

“Isa, my girl. How are ya? Heard you were at the center of some trouble in here last weekend. You wanna tell me about that?”

I laughed and shrugged my shoulders. “What can I say? Boys like to fight over pretty girls. Can’t see how that’s my fault now.”

“Well, you would be the prettiest one worth fightin’ over.” He winked at me. “What can I get ya kiddo?”

“Um, I was hoping you might know where I can get a ride, actually. Shuttle line’s ringing busy, and everyone I can think of is at the packhouse already.”

He let out a whistle. “Not sure how much help I can be with that for a while now. Still got more than an hour until we close up here. But if you want to stick around ‘til closing, I can give ya a lift after I’m done shutting down?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I’ll keep looking until then. But, I guess I’ll be here if it doesn’t work out.”

He smiled reassuringly, sliding me over a glass of water. “Let me know if you need something in the meantime, okay?”

I thanked him and hopped down from the barstool, looking around the crowded bar for a familiar face. But I didn’t see much of anyone I knew well enough to bum a ride off of. I took my glass of water to a cocktail table in the corner and decided to scroll quietly on my phone for a while. The noise and music of the bar blended into the background for a while, as I liked and swiped through various social media accounts.

All of a sudden, I was snapped out of my scrolling session by a series of whooping and clapping. I looked up from my phone to see what the commotion was about, just in time to see the backsides of two familiar individuals I didn’t particularly care to run into tonight.

Dimitri and Phoebe had just walked into the bar. And Dimitri was holding Phoebe’s left hand out in front of them, showing off her new ring to those who had surrounded them.

I thought to myself that this was totally my kind of luck lately, as I turned my body almost entirely around in my chair to face the exterior wall, hoping with every last nerve that I wouldn’t have to interact with either of them. I sighed with relief as I heard a familiar voice, Cyrano’s I believe, suggest that they go upstairs for a game of pool.

After I heard the crowd moving away I relaxed, and I began to turn around in my seat, looking up towards the loft to make sure they had all safely headed upstairs. I did so just in time to meet eyes with Nikolai, who was leaning over the loft’s railing with a drink in his hand, staring directly at me with a smirk. He raised his glass to me and nodded his head in my direction, then held up his finger as if to say ‘Don’t go anywhere’. When he disappeared from view, I knew he was on his way down.

A panicking feeling rose in my chest and I realized suddenly I really wasn’t ready to see him after the awkward almost-kiss at the apartment this morning, and even more so after the uncomfortable revelation Bianca had disclosed just before his arrival. So I wasted no time grabbing my purse and heading out the front door of the bar.

I began walking in the direction of the packhouse. I was about halfway through the crosswalk when I heard the door open and close behind me and his voice call, “Isadora! Hey, wait up.”

I hesitated for a moment, debating on stopping. But then I quickened my pace instead, breathing heavily as I willed my feet to move faster beneath me.

“Hey!” He had caught up beside me. “Wait, where are you going?”

He reached out and touched my arm and I spun around on the spot.

“Home.” I said. “I just… I can’t be here right now. I can’t do this,” I motioned towards the bar behind him. “Not with them there, and definitely not with you there either.”

I sighed and took a step back from him. His confused expression quickly turned to one of alarm, and in the next moment I was being whipped by the arm, unsure what was happening as I was thrown to the ground on the other side of the street, sliding on my side against a trash can. I opened my eyes and as everything came to view again I saw Nikolai still crouched in the center of the cross-walk, his arm extended outward against a white pickup truck whose hood had caved in at the impact.

Nikolai groaned as he stood to his feet, but he didn’t seem to have any obvious injuries.

I gasped, realizing he had just thrown me out of the way of the truck. He might have just saved my life.

“Oh my god, Isa, are you alright?” A voice called out to me from my right. I looked up from where I lay on the street corner to see a familiar face above me. It was Jay, the new friend I’d made last weekend.

I took his hand as he helped me to my feet, and I looked again to the situation in the crosswalk. The truck’s driver side door was open, and I realized it had been Jay that was driving.

“Jay,” I said. “What are—”

“You could have killed her!” Nikolai had Jay by the shirt collar before I had a chance to speak, and quickly pinned him up against the brick wall of the corner store beside us. He sniffed the air near Jay and bellowed, “You piece of s**t… rogue!”

“Nikolai! Stop!” I said. By now a small crowd was gathered on the corner by the bar, unsurprising as the impact of Jay’s truck smashing into Nikolai sounded like a shotgun blast.

Jay quickly brought his knee to Nikolai’s stomach, and Nikolai winced. As he did, Jay took the opportunity to apply a series of body shots into Nikolai's abdomen.

I backed away, shouting, “Stop it! Both of you! Please!”

From across the street, both Cyrano and Dimitri came to Nikolai’s aide.

“Stay back, I’ve got this,” he said through gritted teeth. His blue eyes flashed an even brighter shade, and I could see that his wolf was trying to break out.

Jay circled him, wiping a bit of blood from his nose. “You need to go back inside with your friends, pretty boy. Why don’t you let the girl go home?”

“She wouldn’t have made it home, thanks to you. Why don’t you learn how to f*****g drive?”

Jay started laughing. “You think that was an accident? Oh no, pal. I was hoping to hit the creep that was following her.”

“Jay, stop!” I pleaded.

But then Nikolai lunged forward at him again, and then the two were grappling on the ground. I continued to beg the two of them to knock it off, and when they were each on their feet again, I saw my opportunity, and I leapt in the middle of them. But I wasn’t quick enough. Nikolai’s fist had already extended from his body, and it caught me right in the side. I bowled over. Jay caught me from behind, steadying me as I gasped for air.

“Isa! Breathe, Isa!” I felt dizzy as I fell back into him. Nikolai stood agape, stunned by what he had done. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” he was scrambling towards me. But it was Cyrano who had reached out to pull me from Jay’s arms. He had just put his hands on my forearms, and pulled me in his direction when I heard Jay’s voice, and the way it changed.

“TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF OF HER.” And as I blinked in and out of consciousness, I watched Cyrano’s face fall blank with expression as his eyes glazed over, and he let me go, stepping back away from me robotically. What Jay had just done was unmistakable. But it wasn’t possible…

I heard Nikolai bellow in response, but I quickly faded into the black. When I awoke again, I was in Dimitri’s arms. He wore an expression of fear as he lowered me onto something. I could only vaguely sense my surroundings, but I was pretty sure that I was in the backseat of a car.

“Stay with her!” I heard him shout. I could hear Phoebe’s voice give a reply, but I couldn’t tell what she’d said back. She wasn’t happy though. I felt my chest heaving a little less, my breath was returning to me. The blow from Nikolai had knocked the wind out of me like nothing I’d ever felt before.

A few minutes later, I heard the car's doors opening again. Someone was moving me. I could feel my neck being lifted up, and when it was laid down again I opened my eyes, and I could see Nikolai’s face over mine. My head was in his lap. Cyrano was in the backseat with us, too. He’d squeezed under my legs.

“You’re going to be okay,” Nikolai said, wiping the strands of my hair from my face. “Slow breaths.” I felt him lower my shirt that I had not realized he’d lifted up to begin with. “We need to get your ribs checked out, but you're going to be okay. Just keep breathing.”

The ride was quiet for a while until Dimitri spoke, “What the hell was that Nikolai?”

Nikolai sighed. “Isa and I were just having a disag–”

“I don’t care about whatever’s going on with you and Isa.” He said, but there was a hint of annoyance in his voice that suggested otherwise. “I meant the other wolf... Who was he? You saw what he did to Cyrano— You saw what that was.” He said. “How is that possible?”

Nikolai shook his head. “I don’t know. I need to speak to my father.”

“Since when do Rogues even have Alphas?” Cyrano said quietly.

“They don’t.” Nikolai replied simply. “There has to be another explanation.”

“Well, if Rogues have Alphas now, and their Alphas can control our wolves, too— we’re in serious shit.” Dimitri said.

“Like I said, there has to be another explanation.”

“I’d love to f*****g hear it.”