The Forbidden Child - Alpha’s Lost Luna

Chapter 9

***Jane***

It was dusk when we pulled up to the location of the party, the last rays of the sun going down over the edge of the trees with pink and orange puffy clouds as a backdrop. The smell of smoke from the bonfire was evident in the air, and we could hear the voices of people nearby.

We left my little red Shelby with about 30 other vehicles in a makeshift gravel parking lot, and made our way through the trees and down into a small clearing with a huge bonfire in the middle. There were small logs placed all around the fire for people to sit on, but it looked like some also brought their own chairs. Nearby there were tables set up with food, drinks, and a keg. It looked like some of the adults from the tribe were surrounding the alcohol, monitoring who had access to it. On another side there was a makeshift wooden stage with some speakers set up and a karaoke machine that about 10 to 15 people were currently surrounding, and belting out tunes with.

“I’ll see you girls later, these pipes need to be let loose!” Melanie said as she dashed off to the karaoke machine.

El and I made our way over to the food tables to grab a plate, I noticed a man standing at the end of the line. He was a little taller than me and had long raven black hair. He wore simple jeans and a red plaid puffy flannel jacket. He watched us as we approached, never taking his eyes off of me.

“Hey, isn’t that the guy from earlier? The one who rushed over to your dad's house?” I asked.

El looked over at where I nodded my head to see who I was talking about. “Oh yea, that’s elder Alo. He lives next door and has known my dad forever.”

“Well, I think he’s staring at me. Should I be worried? Is he going to start yelling at me like your dad did?” Last thing I needed was a scene in front of all these people.

“I wouldn’t think so. He’s a good guy and helps out with dad a lot. He’s actually kind of quiet and doesn’t speak much. Let’s go find out what’s going on, we can ask him about it when we're done here.” El suggested. As much as it creeped me out, I also wanted to know why he would just stare at me.

It didn’t take long for us to find what we wanted to eat and soon we were walking up to elder Alo, plates in hand. “Hi Alo, thanks for helping with dad earlier.” El said. He stopped looking at me to speak with El.

“It took longer than normal to calm him down. Something upset him very much.” He said and then looked at me. “You upset him, didn’t you.” He accused me.

“Hey, all I did was knock over the coat rack, he’s the one that started accusing me.” I said

“Why do you look like Serena? Why are you here?”

“First off, I don’t know why I look like this Serena person, I’ve never met anyone by that name. Second, I’m here because I moved here with Amy Holt. It wasn’t my choice.” While it’s true Amy made the decision, I wouldn’t have been in Salem much longer anyway. I had gotten the scholarship for the Paravetiti Academy before her father passed away.

His eyes opened wide in shock. “You are Amy’s child? The one found under the willow tree?” How did he know that?

“Yes?”

“I must go.” And then he turned away from us and walked back to the parking lot. As El and I watched him disappear into the trees, another group of people were walking into the clearing. There were about five of them, all guys, but two looked over in our direction and waved. El waved back at them as they started to make their way over to us. Both were tall and well built, one had dirty blond hair and wore board shorts and a tee with a billabong logo on it, while the other had lighter brown hair and wore black athletic pants with a dark blue shirt.

“Hey El, you're looking good tonight. Was that you I saw up at the pack house earlier?” The blond one said. Oh these must be more of the footballers Melanie said she lived with.

I noticed El looking bashful at the compliment she just received. “Yea, I was going to breakfast with my sister. Tony, Jeremy, I’d like you to meet my friend Jane, she’s new to the area.” Well not that new, I’ve been here a few months now.

The blond one reached his hand out to shake mine, “Tony,” he said. Then the brunet did the same. “Jeremy.”

“So, you both are part of the football team too?” I asked them. They both gave me a quizzical look, and then looked at El.

“Of course they are! Melanie was telling her earlier how she lives in the house with all the other Packers, from the team, you know?” She answered for them.

“Ohhh! Yea that's right, the Packers football team. Yea were the best ass kickers in town.” They both snickered at that. I raised a single eyebrow at that. Something felt fishy here.

“Do you want to go over there to sit and chat for a bit?” Tony asked El.

El looked at me and said, “You going to be okay if I go?”

“Sure! I’m fine. I’ll see ya later.” I was totally not fine.

“Don’t worry El, I’ll take care of her.” Jeremy said while smiling at me. He had cute little dimples in his cheeks when he smiled. Then El and Tony walked off closer to the bonfire and sat down while Jeremy and I still stood over by the tables.

“So, you're new here, huh? What brought you to this small little hamlet?” Jeremy asked.

“Oh you know, death of a family member, family gets job at local health clinic, move into said dead family member's house. The usual,” I said sarcastically.

“Just the usual, huh.” He smiled again at me.

“Yea.” I smiled back.

“Well, if you ever need someone to show you around, I’ll happily volunteer. In fact, if you're not busy tomorrow, I could show you around town?” Awww how cute, I think he has a crush on me.

“My dear Jeremy, I do believe you’re asking me out.” I said.

He briefly turned away from me and ran his hands through his hair before answering me. “Well, yea. . .I mean, if it’s okay with you?”

“Unfortunately I’m going to have to turn you down.” He looked rather disappointed. “You see, El and I have orientation tomorrow, so our day is already booked.” His face lit up again at hearing that. Realizing he had another chance.

“Oh, okay, well will you be free after that? Or we could plan something for a later date?” This boy certainly was eager. I was about to answer him when his face kind of went blank for a moment, and then looked a little scared. He glanced back at me and started to walk away. “Uh, actually, I think I’m busy, umm, I gotta go now, sorry.” And then he ran off. Well that was strange. I wonder what I did to scare him off. Oh well, he seemed too young for me anyway.

I finished what little was on my plate and tossed it in the trash before I made my way over to where El and Tony were sitting. As soon as I got within about 10 feet of them, Tony jumped up and ran off too. I looked at El with a scrunched up face.

“The guys are acting a bit weird. Jeremy ditched me too. Want to sing Karaoke with Melanie?” I asked her.

“Sure, let's go.” She linked arms with me and we walked over to the staging area.

Once we got over there Melanie was already on stage singing, and then pointed to El and I to join her. We got up on the stage and started singing “All the Single Ladies” with her, dance moves and all. Once we were done, we got off stage and someone else went on for the next song. Melanie gave me the book with the list of all the songs and made me pick one to sing by myself next.

I chose “I want to Know What Love Is” written by Jones Michael Leslie, and then waited for my turn. Once the last person was done, I got up on stage and took the microphone and looked down at the screen.

“I've gotta take a little time, a little time to think things over, I better read between the lines, In case I need it when I'm older.” The wind blew in my direction and I thought I smelled coconut and sea salt. My head whipped up and my eyes scanned the people that were starting to gather around listening to me sing.

“This mountain, I must climb, Feels like a world upon my shoulders, Through the clouds, I see love shine, Keeps me warm as life grows colder.” Even though so many people were looking at me, it felt like there was one set of eyes I should be able to find. My heart began to pick up the pace as I could feel him looking at me, I don’t know how I could, but I did.

“In my life, there's been heartache and pain, I don't know if I can face it again, Can't stop now, I've traveled so far, To change this lonely life.” Off in the distance, leaning against a tree in the dark I found Kai. He was standing alone watching me sing.

“I wanna know what love is, I want you to show me, I wanna feel what love is, I know you can show me.” I belted out while looking at him. Suddenly it felt like we were the only ones there. I sang the remainder of the song while looking at him. When it was done, someone else came up on stage and broke the connection finally, taking the mic from my hands. Causing me to look away from where Kai was for a moment. When I looked back he was gone.

Getting off the stage I walked back over to Melanie and El. “OMG you were so good Jane! How long have you been singing? Have you been trained or something?” Melanie gushed over me.

“Umm, no, no training. I’m sorry, did either of you see Kai here?” I asked while looking around for him.

“Kai? No, no I haven’t seen him all night.” Melanie said. “Me neither.” El answered as well. “Did you want to see him?” El asked.

“Umm, I don’t know, maybe? I thought I saw him while I was on stage. I think I’m going to go get a drink.” I said as I started to walk away.

“Okay, do you want company?” El asked.

“Nah I’m good.” I said and then walked off. Leaving the girls with the rest of the karaoke singers.

While making my way back to where the drink table was, I noticed that the party was now much bigger than when we first got here. I bumped into someone trying to get to the table and as soon as they saw me they jumped away and apologized. That actually happened a few times, was there something wrong with me? Before I could reach the table, I saw Kai again talking with Jeff off to the side.

I changed the direction I was walking and made a beeline for him. Coming up to them Jeff turned and smiled at me. “Hey there beach girl! I heard you up on the stage earlier, you got some pipes on you!”

“Uh thanks Jeff. Glad you like it." I looked at Kai and felt like I’d melt just staring at his eyes. “Hi Kai.”

“Hello Jane. Nice to see you again.” His voice was like butter and sent shivers down my spine. I found myself moving closer to him, trying to inhale more of his scent. But before I could he started to back away from me. “Sorry, but I need to go speak with someone. Have a good evening.” And just like that he was gone again. I felt hurt, I didn’t care about everyone else who seemed to jump away from me, but it hurt more when Kai left.

“Uhh, sorry Jane, we just have some business we need to attend to. We'll catch you later though. Hope you have a fun night!” And then Jeff ran off after Kai. I stood there for a minute unsure what to do. Then I thought I heard Amy's voice coming from a group of adults who were hanging around by the alcohol. Oh no. Please no.

I walked over to where I thought I heard her and sure enough, there she was drinking and laughing with two guys eyeing her like their next meal. It was then that she saw me. “Jane! Come over here!” I hesitantly approached where she was. “Jane, awwww my little Jane. Are you having fun! Everybody, I want you to meet my Jane. Jane! This, is everybody!” She half yelled and then took another drink of her cup.

“Amy, how much have you had to drink?” She looked at her cup and then at me.

“This? Oh this is nothing! I’ve only had two, three, cups?” She said while downing the rest of her current cup's contents. “And now I need another one!” She yelled again, tossing the cup into the air.

“I’ll go get you one Amy.” One of the guys said. “Oh aren't you sweet.” Amy said while falling all over him.

“No, I think she’s had enough.” I said as I pushed my way into the group and placed one of Amy’s arms over my shoulder and one of mine around her back.

“Awww, see! I told you she was a good girl. I’m supposed to be taking care of her, but look! She’s taking care of me! It’s okay little Jane, go play! I’m fine!” Amy tried to remove herself from my grasp and I struggled to get her to cooperate with me. Suddenly I noticed the party got a lot quieter, and smaller. Where did everyone go?

“Jane! Oh thank goodness, Jane, we have to go.” Melanie said, appearing out of nowhere.

“Yea I know, we need to get Amy home. Can you help me get her to the car?” I asked. Melanie and El were both there and started to help me with Amy.

“Awww girls, you don’t have to take Amy, we can watch her. Right Amy, we’ll make sure you get to bed. In fact, we can make sure you all get to bed.” The guys started to surround us, and there were more of them than us. Melanie turned to them and I swear I heard a growl escape her lips. Suddenly they all started to back away and let us pass. I looked at her strangely but she ignored me and started pulling Amy towards the parking lot.

“What the hell was that Melanie? Did you just growl at them?” She looked over at me with her I don’t give a crap look.

“Yea, so. It got them to back off didn’t it. Come on, let's get Amy home.”

It took us a little bit. But eventually we were able to wrangle Amy into the back seat of my car. I’d have to find out later how she got here, if she drove we could come pick her car up later. Once we were home Melanie and El helped me get Amy inside and into her room. Amy immediately crashed on her bed and passed out. Taking her shoes off her, I did the best I could to make her comfortable, and placed an empty trashcan near her incase she needed it.

I started to close her door when I fell against the frame and almost passed out, that was strange. I walked back into the living room where I found Melanie and El on the couch talking. “I know we were supposed to have this girls night and all, but I’m really tired all of a sudden. Can we have a rain check? I just want to curl up in bed.” I asked them.

“Sure, of course. You two do need to get up and go to orientation tomorrow. We can do this another time. It is kinda late though, do you mind if we still crash here?” Melanie asked.

“Please, not a problem. As I said before, the guest bedroom is down there, and you're welcome to anything you can find in the house to eat or drink. I’m sorry to bail, I just feel exhausted for some reason.” I don’t know what was coming over me, it seemed like at the same time I was dealing with Amy, I just lost all energy. “I’m gonna go take a quick shower, there are fresh towels in the linen closet if you want to take one too. Goodnight.” I said while yawning and walking to the bathroom. They both said goodnight as well.

After closing the bathroom door, I striped off the beautiful dress and placed it on a hook and dragged myself into the shower. Letting the warm water run down my body, I quickly washed my hair and body and got out. Wrapping my body in a big fluffy white towel I stood in front of the mirror and took all the makeup off that Mel had put on me, making sure to do my nightly routine. Once that was all done, I picked up my clothes off the floor and my dress from the hook and walked across the hall into my bedroom, shutting the door.

Slipping on a pair of shorts and a tank top, I barely remembered to open a window for fresh air before I crashed into my bed. As soon as my head hit my pillow I was out.

~ I walked down the long hall again. The night air warm against my cool skin. Soon I stood in front of the double doors, my hands pushing them open. My heart beat faster as I knew what awaited me on the other side. I could smell the intoxicating scent of chocolate, cinnamon and sandalwood again, yet I still resisted him.

“Come to me, my little one.” His voice was deep and powerful, compelling me to move closer to him. I refused to look at him, to give in so easily “Look at me.” His strong voice commanded me yet again, the same as last time. I now stood in front of him but an arms length away. But it was easier to resist him this time. Something had changed. I no longer felt desperate to do what the voice commanded or to throw myself at him. Only curious to find what was before me. “LOOK AT ME” He commanded me again more firmly. And I looked.

I turned my eyes upon his blood red ones, in an almost defiant yet still curious way. He was most definitely beautiful, but he was no Kai. Thinking about Kai gave me new strength to face this mystery man before me.

Tonight he wore a black suit, with velvet embellishments, and a red tie and vest to match his eyes. Curious that a dream would have him change nightly. Wait, a dream. This was a dream? “You are MINE, and only MINE!” he said as he moved to grab me. But I backed away. A look of shock came across his face. “How are you able to do this?” He asked, confused. “You mean back away from you? It’s just a dream, my dream. So I should be able to do what I want in it, yes?” I asked. “Yet I’m curious, every night for the past week I have been dreaming of you, but who are you?”

A look of acceptance came across his face. “Ahhh, you are awakening. The time is almost here.” Awakening? But I was sleeping, hence the dream. He then rushed to me and closed the distance, using his cold hands he brushed away my hair from my neck, causing me to gasp and my heart to jump. “But you are not yet marked. Soon my dear, I will have you in my arms for real, and then the only mark you will bear will be my own. And the prophecy will not come to pass.” I was finding it harder and harder to struggle against him as a desire for him began to build within me. “Yes, that’s right, you are mine, and you will push all others away, only obeying me!” He said while holding me in his arms.

He bent me over slightly, giving him better access to my neck. I could feel his breath on my skin, causing me to shiver when I heard a loud crash that startled both me and the mystery man. He stood me back up and was almost instantly as far away from me as possible, a look of fear on his face. I looked to see what he was staring at and wished I had not. A huge lion had broken down the doors and stood staring at the mystery man. I gasped in fright, causing the lion's attention to be brought forth to me. He leaped and in one movement placed himself between me and the mystery man, and let out the most ferocious roar I had ever heard. I screamed in fright of the beast in front of me. ~