The Call of The Crescent

Chapter 5

Jake and I had been sitting outside the motel room for hours waiting for King.

He had assured us that he had a plan and would be back shortly, that had been at least four hours earlier.

Jake took a sip of his coffee, “You haven’t said much about the possibility of Riven being alive.”

“There isn’t anything to say, Jake. If he is, we need to find him.”

“You’ve just found out that your mate might be alive and you’ve got nothing to say?”

I sat forward, staring up at the stars, “I’m so scared, Jake, it’s been two years. What if he hates me? I was trying to move on, what kind of person does that make me?”

“You thought that he was dead, I’m pretty sure he isn’t going to hate you, plus he wanted you to move on.”

“He’s my mate, I should have known that he wasn’t dead, why did it take me two freaking years to figure this out? Who knows what he’s had to endure.”

Jake leaned over and squeezed my shoulder, “Harley, Riven loves you, he loves you more than just the mate bond. You know that most of us Alpha’s are insanely possessive, our mate is our property. But Riven? Nah, he loves you without boundaries and conditions. If he is alive and didn’t come for you it’s because he couldn’t. And he knows how much you love him.”I just don’t understand why I didn’t think of this sooner, I could have found him and been with him this entire time, the cubs could have been with their father,” I glanced up, seeing King coming towards us in the distance, another figure beside him, my wolf stirring uncomfortably as if this woman beside him was some sort of threat.

As they neared, I understood why my inner wolf felt that way, it was due to the mate bond between Jake and me.

He stood and I could sense the awe he was in when his eyes landed on the newcomer.

Not that I blamed him, she was the most stunning and exotic woman I had ever seen; beautiful long red hair hung down her back in waves, her strange emerald dress seemed something from another world, she wore a metal headpiece which sat high on her forehead, a beautiful matching armband sat on her bicep, a matching armour plate on her forearm.

“Whoa, she doesn’t look like she is from around here.”

Jake nodded, ironically enough looking slightly like a lovesick puppy.

I grinned even though the wolf within me was annoyed by this, I was happy about it.

The woman’s red lips curved into a smile, her icy blue eyes full of wonder as she reached us.

King gave an exaggerated bow, “Harley, Jake, this is a very good friend of mine, Minnaloushe, the witch princess of another realm. She has agreed to assist us, she is a sucker for a good love story.”

I shook her extended hand, “Another realm?”

She nodded, “Yes, we are a realm of witches and fairies. The Queen grants us one witch if we are deserving of such, King says that you would like to find your mate and I am hoping that my mother will be able to assist you with this.”

“I would appreciate that, how do we get this done?”

Minnaloushe smiled, “You come with me through the portal.”

I shrugged, “What are we waiting for? Let’s go.”

As we followed the flame-haired woman, Jake quietly spoke, “I’m Jake.”

I chuckled, nudging him with my elbow, “Doing a great job.”

He shot me a glare and ran to catch up to her, King falling back in step with me.

“You look both happy and jealous over that.”

“I am. I’m happy if he finds happiness, the wolf part of me isn’t, it’s that part of me that feels the bond so strongly.”

King shook his head, “This is one strange love triangle, doll.”

He was right, it was strange. I knew that I loved Jake, but as my closest friend and not more; but the fact that he was one of my mates made it difficult to differentiate.

I kind of hoped that there was a way for us to get rid of this bond one day, I felt like it would always be an issue between us for as long as it was around.

I smiled as I watched Jake with Minnaloushe, I couldn’t hear what he said but he spoke with such enthusiasm and it warmed my heart to see him like this again.

“Is she single at least?”

“I think so, I’ve never seen her with anyone. She could simply be private about it.”

“Well let's hope she’s single, it would suck for Jake if she’s not.”

“Is it wise for him to begin something with someone else while pining over you?”

I scoffed but decided not to say anything more on the topic.

I knew that he was right but I did not know how to fix any of this, if I knew how I would do it in an instant because Jake deserved to be loved and not just a second option.

Maybe the Queen would be able to help us break the bond? I wasn’t sure if this was a possibility, but it wouldn’t help to find out.

We had stopped behind a large container and my mouth dropped as I watched Minnaloushe wave her hands creating a beautiful sphere of swirling blue.

“When we get through, stay close. Our world is under attack at the moment so it is not as beautiful as it usually is. If I must fight, find cover and wait until it is safe to come out, we are all magical beings and it would be unsafe for the two of you to try and fight. You will feel some discomfort for the second it takes to get through the portal.”

I glanced at Jake as she and King walked through the strange light, “I feel like we may just die.”

Jake grinned, “As good a day as any.” he said before walking in, leaving me standing with a frown on my face.

Taking a deep breath I walked through.

Minnaloushe had been right about the discomfort, it almost felt like my inner wolf was being painfully ripped from my body.

Thankfully it lasted for a second, and then my feet landed on soft, mossy ground.

I glanced around at my surrounding in utter awe, it was much more than I had expected.

The trees were beautiful, shining plants hanging from the branches, the sky twinkled, the ground was covered in golden moss, small fairies flew around, and I spotted some rather strange animals walking around, some seemed to be much larger than what they would be back home.

“Welcome to Flora.”

I jumped as an extremely large panther joined us, she must have been the size of a horse, beautiful and sleek dark fur.

Minnaloushe leaned into the large cat, “This is Midnight, she is my familiar, also my transport.”

“So you just ride around on an oversized panther?” I asked, still in awe of what I was seeing.

“Yes, but there are too many of us to ride her, she will walk with us.”

Jake and Midnight were hitting it off well as he stroked her face.

“This place is beautiful, Minnaloushe.”

She smiled at me as she turned to walk, “Thank you. Please, call me Min as my friends do.”

My head spun like a top as I took everything in.

The birds which flew were vibrant magical colours.

The grass seemed to have a silver shine to it, and some of the tree trunks were a beautiful gold, everything in Flora looked so magical that I almost wanted to stay there forever.

The lakes running were crystal clear, pastel-coloured rocks lay beneath the surface.

We had taken about a total of ten steps when suddenly the cat began hissing, Minnaloushe stopping dead in her tracks, “Get behind something, danger is near.”

Of course as Jake and I backed away, we watched as a large troll-like figure barrelled out of nowhere and dropped Minnaloushe to the ground, a huge wolf the size of Midnight running into her; the two animals held nothing back as they fought one another.

The tolls started coming out from everywhere and King was conjuring spheres, shooting it at them, but nowhere near fast enough, while Minnaloushe fought with the largest of them.

I glanced at Jake and knew we both had the same idea.

He nodded and ran, changing into his wolf form as he moved.

I sighed and cracked my neck before closing my eyes for the shift.

I doubted that I would ever get used to the main of shifting, but I was thankful that it didn’t last long, and before I knew it, I was in my wolf form.

As a wolf, I was larger than what I had expected for a 5’10 human girl.

My sleek silver fur shone almost blue when I was under the moon.

I scanned the area and narrowed my eyes on a troll who held a bow and arrow aimed at Minnaloushe, howling I ran on all fours, leaping I reached him in seconds, knocking him to the ground I waisted no time in sinking my teeth into the creature, not expecting the strange and high pitched scream that escaped his mouth.

He had never fought a wolf before, his eyes wide at my appearance, he did not attempt to fight me and instead ran away.

Glancing at Jake it seemed he was having the same experience; these creatures did not know what we were. We scared them.

My eyes turned to Minnaloushe, she was surrounded by two trolls and it seemed that the trolls were winning.

I howled again as Jake and I both ran forward to help her.

Jake barrelled into the larger troll, and I was quite impressed at how well he fought against it.

One on one, Minnaloushe stood, flames flying from her hands and into the eyes of the last troll, as he turned I sprung, sinking my teeth effortlessly into his neck and dropping him once I heard the crack.

She grinned at me, “I thought I told you to hide.”

I stood up on my hind legs, “And miss the fun? I don’t think so.”

I shifted back to my human form, crouching down to avoid showing everyone around us my naked body.

King handed me his coat, he was always prepared for this. He had fought side by side with me on more than one occasion.

I glanced at Jake, also in human form and tying the trolls sash around his hips.

I noticed Minnaloushe eyeing him, “He’s a great guy, you know.”

She turned right after I caught the blush creeping onto her cheeks.

She called out to her cat, still in a fight with the wolf.

“Hang on, it’s a wolf, let me see if I can get it to understand me.”

I walked over as Minnaloushe once again called Midnight, allowing me space to get to the large wolf.

I looked up and froze as the wolf growled menacingly. 

Purple eyes.

“Riven?”

I was caught off guard as the wolf swiped at me, sending me flying.

Minnaloushe raised her hands, fire aimed at him, “No! It’s Riven!”

Jake helped me to my feet, “What did you just say?”

“His eyes, Jake, look at his eyes. It’s Riven!”

Jake turned with a frown, “Well why the hell does he look like that? And why is he trying to kill us?”

He was trying to kill us, he looked at us with no recognition and nothing but menace in his eyes.

Minnaloushe muttered something under her breath, suddenly creating a sliver of silver that seemed to work as he howled and retreated out of view.

A/N; And? What are we all thinking right now?

Is there any hope for Harley and Riven?

What do we think of Minnaloushe? Could you all see her with Jake? Do you think Harley’s inner wolf will be okay with this?

I hope you are all enjoying this book so far,

thank you to everyone who reads my work.