Of The Moon

Chapter 6: Her Royal Guard

Sam's POV

My baby sister has been missing for almost three weeks now. I feel like part of me is missing. My heart is shattering. Our parents are devastated. We all thought we had kept her safe. No one knew what she was, no one! I still can't understand how this happened. I was asleep in the room next to her the night she disappeared. I never heard anything. I felt her loss immediately though.

Now there's a boulder on my chest, ice in my veins, and rage in my mind. I will find her and when I do, those responsible will pay. Jagger will take great pleasure in ripping out their throats. I won't stop him.

When she was born, I was already seventeen. My wolf had told me she was coming more than a year before my mom ever got pregnant.

My wolf, Jagger, is special. He is a light gray wolf with a white diamond on his chest. I am told that his markings are those of a royal guard, but our family is not from any royal bloodline. We are Beta's. We aren't sure why Jagger looks the way he does. Jagger is bigger and probably stronger than most Alpha wolves, but he knows his place isn't leading a pack. We are the muscle for those leaders.

Since Angel went missing, Jagger has been losing his mind right along with me. This isn't good. I'm afraid that if we don't find her soon, we will cause more and more damage to this earth. Jagger had been so irritated that he couldn't sense Angel or Bay that he had mowed down paths through the woods. Trees uprooted and thrown to the side, craters where there was once plush forest. He is heartbroken, we both feel like we have failed.

We are beginning to lose hope of finding her. We have always been able to find her. Jagger and I could always feel where she was, until three weeks ago, that is. Goddess, I miss her!

Our parents decided to tag along on my search for her this time. I'm not sure who they are more worried about, Angel or Jagger and I. I wish we could settle down enough to reassure them, but honestly, I'm worried too. I've never felt this way before. We are out of control.

As soon as I began losing hope, I heard her (Sam...Jagger..) it was Bay. She sounded weakened, grabbing my dad by the shoulder to halt our steps. I responded (Bay! Where are you? I've been looking everywhere!) My heart was racing. I could barely form thoughts. After a long pause she finally spoke again. (We will be safe soon. I have no clue where we are but we are getting out of here. I'll contact you as soon as I can.) She was gone. She didn't wait for my response, just pulled away and shut down the link.

My parents were looking at me waiting for me to explain, "Bay just made contact". My mother's smile put some of my heart back together. "I knew she was okay!" My mother's eyes filled with tears. Only this time her tears were those of relief. I told them what all Bay had said. We decided we should make camp for the night and, hopefully, by morning we would know which direction to go.

Jagger had calmed down since hearing Bay's voice. I'm sure he'll be on the war path again soon if she takes too long to contact us again. In the mean time, I'm going to try to get some rest. We haven't slept much since Angel went missing. We needed a decent night of sleep or we wouldn't be worth anything to Angel and Bay.

Twelve hours later...

The next morning, I woke up to my mother staring at me. I worry about our mom. She hasn't been the same since we left our first pack. My parents won't tell me what exactly happened that night, or how they found out the hunters were after us. I don't know why it's such a secret, but they don't speak of that day at all. I jumped as I tried to clear the sleep from my eyes. I finally got some much needed rest. "Have you heard from her yet?" My mother asked me as she handed me a thermos of what I hoped was coffee. "Not yet but.." I paused. " Yes, I can feel her now!!" I said excitedly. Jumping up and beginning to clean up camp. We knew which way to go now. We are coming Angel!

West. We had to go west. I'm not sure how far west, but not one of us really cared. We had to find Angel. She needs us and we need her.

We have been walking west for five days now. We're getting closer but still too far away. "Ouch.." I cried, grabbing my head. "What's wrong son?" My dad asked, grabbing me by the arm to stabilize my last few stumbling steps. The stabbing pain had lessened slightly. "I think someone is trying to mindlink me outside of the pack..." I grimaced. It felt like a hammer to the brain. "Let them in, maybe it's about Angel?" My mother said hopefully. I opened my mind (my name is Bane. I am the Wolf of King Daxton. Your sister. She is with us. Shift at the gate. They are expecting all three of you. When they see your crest, you may pass through with your parents. She is waiting for you.) How in the hell did she make her way to the king? How the hell does he know of my markings? (Thank you, my king! We will be there before nightfall.) "She is with the king! That was his wolf!" I said with relief to my parents. I cant believe the King Wolf was just speaking to me in my head. His wolf's name is Bane...I am honored to have spoken to him. We were all jumping around and laughing. Finally, finally we know she is safe! Here we come, Angel!

We pressed on to the kingdom. Just as night was beginning to overtake the day, we approached the kingdom. Jagger howled in my head, pacing. He could tell she was there. Not long now and we will be able to breathe again.

As we approached the gate, I shifted, Jagger stepping forward. No questions were asked as the gates began to open and the guards stood to the side. My parents stayed on my flank. Mom in the middle. Dad had his arm around her protectively.

"We will do no harm, Brother. Welcome home." A young man, slightly taller than me, built like a house. He had a fire in his eye. I recognized and shifted to my human form, "Beta". I bowed. "Oh, none of that. Here, in the kingdom," he gestured around him, "you are of the same rank as me. If not a bit higher really. As you will guard her highness herself, the Queen." He finished with a smile and reached out his hand " My name is Max. It's nice to meet you all. I will take you to the king and his mate." I shook his hand, then he began walking away from us. We all just stared after him for a moment.

"What is he talking about?" I said aloud. Both of my parents looked at me, eyes wide and shrugged. "I guess we'll have to follow him to ask." So we did. He must have realized we weren't following at first, so he had stopped and turned around to find us. I was getting to the bottom of this. I want to see my sister.

"Look, I have no clue what you were going on about! We are here to see my sister! Angeline Whyte. I have to see her now!" Jagger growled out the last bit. He's just as mad as me. I know my eyes are glowing. This Beta just looked at me with a smirk. "As I was saying, I'll take you to the King and his mate, Miss Angeline." This time he said things a little slower. Letting us all absorb what he had said. I wouldn't be surprised if my mouth dropped open. I looked at my parents in disbelief. They wore very different expressions. My mother's face was of love and hearts. My fathers face was stormy. Why is he angry? I mean, I know she's his little girl, but she's twenty. Twenty isn't little anymore.

Wait a minute. Did the king take her from us? My brows drop and my claws sprout. At the thought of someone stealing our sister, Jagger is ready to take the thrown if that's what it comes to. He growls low and angry. Menacingly. He is pissed. "Did he take my sister? Did you take my sister?" I was trying to hold him back. He wants to shift and decimate anyone who gets in his way. "No, we wouldn't do that" he responds before his eyes glaze over as he mindlinks someone.

(Sam...Jagger. Calm down. I am okay. Please allow Beta Max to bring you to me.) I heard Angel's voice in my head. Just hearing her helped settle us both down. (Okay Angel but he better get on with it!) I replied to my sister.

"Follow me. She is in the Kings quarters. Just through here and up a couple flights of stairs." Max said as he walked away again. I heard my father growl beside me. Following him, we walked through what looked to be a very large common room with a couple of couches and chairs facing a giant television over a stone fireplace. It was cozy I guess, but not what I'm here for. We started up the stairs. Three flights later, we turned down a hallway and I could sense Angel and Bay even stronger now. Thank the goddess!

At the end of the hall there was a set of heavy double doors. One door slowly swung open. "Sam..momma...daddy..." with tears in her eyes. Angel began running. She was unsteady on her feet. I launched forward and brought her to my chest. "Thank the goddess you are okay. You scared us. Jagger did not take this well." I told her as I held her tighter (you were just as bad as me and I'm an animal.) Jagger sounded less than impressed with my assessment of him. Angel reached up and touched my cheek, "I am okay. I missed you all so much. I couldn't even talk to Bay for what seemed like forever. I'm sorry we couldn't contact you. Jagger, I missed you too!" As she finished speaking I could feel Jagger finally relax. "Thanks Angel. Jagger and I both needed that " she only smiled at me and moved on to our parents. We may have monopolized her time so far, being slightly selfish. I don't even feel bad about it.

My mother's sobs as she held her daughter brought more tears to my eyes. Something like this can never happen again. I'll never forgive myself if it does. I'm going to move into her bedroom. Jagger can sleep at her feet.

I caught a smell. It seemed familiar but we couldn't identify it. As Angel wrapped her arms around our father, I saw his eyes change. His wolf was surfacing. "Did he already mate you!?" Uh oh. Sargent was pissed and now Jagger was pushing for control. "What?" Angel looked shocked. " No! Why would you think that!?" Sargent didn't pull back. He growled. "Your scent has changed. What did he do?" As he growled out the last part, he directed his attention back toward the double doors Angel had come through. There he stood, our King, and if Sargent or Jagger had anything to say he may end up our former King relatively quickly. "No stop it. Stop it right now." Angel's eyes were glowing. Bay let her Alpha command out to placate our wolves. "There is a lot to discuss, but you will not cause any harm here. Especially not to my mate!" Bay growled low and dark, she didn't leave room for argument. She grabbed mom's hand and walked toward said 'mate.' Jagger may have been put in his place but I'm still her brother and I'm feeling pretty deadly. "Explain then Bay. Why do you smell as if you're with child?" Those were our father's words. Apparently, he's not placated either.

"Careful daddy. I am in no mood." Bay continued, "now, if you'll both behave yourselves, I'll turn this over to Angel and Dax to explain. Don't make me get angry, be nice to my mate." She stared between us until we both agreed to cause no harm. Only then did she return control to Angel. I didn't miss the smirk on the King's face as he heard Bay defend him with her own Alpha command. Then a face-splitting grin showed on the king's face as he looked between Angel and our mother. Angel began introducing everyone.

I was barely listening until she spoke my name. As I made eye contact with the king, he did something I never thought I'd see. He lowered his head slightly, "welcome home royal guard Samuel Wyte. You are hereby the royal guard to your future Queen, Angeline Wyte." As he spoke my chest swelled and Jagger howled out loud with his new-found power. He continued "It is an honor to meet my mate's family. I have waited so long for this. If you will, please come and have a seat. We have a lot to tell you." As he turned to go through the double doors once more, he held his hand out for Angel and she took it almost immediately.

A certain part of me was glad it seemed she would give her mate a chance. I remember arguing many times with her on the subject. She had said for years, when the time came, she would have to reject her mate. She would only bring him trouble and pain. I think maybe I can handle this as long as Angel and Bay are happy. If he hurts them, I will kill him. He just gave me all the power I needed to protect my sister. I plan to use it!