Dark Moon

Chapter9

Isaac POV

He was growing impatient with Inara's stepmother as he waited for her to elaborate on the situation. But it seemed they were both in a quiet battle of wills. He cleared his throat to push Cheryline into speaking.

"Not here, and not now." She finally said as she looked up the basement stairs.

This response did far from appease Isaac. Voodoo was ready to rip off Cheryline's head and figure it all out alone. A part of Isaac was curious to see what Cheryline had to say and figured it would be less of a mess than allowing Voodoo to take control. "Fine," he growled, "then when and where!?" He blurted as he closed the distance to the short runt of a she-wolf. His eyes narrowed down on her.

Isaac may have been a high-schooler, but he was already over a foot taller than her, and his frame shadowed her like an ominous spirit about to take her to hell for her sins. Cheryline licked her lips nervously. "Tonight. Meet me outside on the porch; I will lead you to your mate...but you must not tell anyone about what you found here."

**********

Isaac decided he'd go to his father's office since he couldn't go to school. There was no way he could focus on his studies in this state. Taking the elevator at Weiss-Mann Industries, he makes his way to the top floor. It wasn't a massive skyscraper, but it had a little over 80 floors, and his father's office was on the 86th floor. His father also had a loft apartment on that floor. His dad didn't spend much time in the loft apartment, except on occasion when he wanted to escape Isaac's mother.

When he got off the elevator, he heard his father on the phone, "Yes, Alpha....no....no....ah, of course....no....no...yes." His dad noticed him and smiled, waving him to the leather sofa. Isaac complied and sat down.

"I will look into it and get you the best answer to help resolve the issue." He said with finality, "Talk to you later, Alpha." He added before hanging up, then looked over to his son.

"..so...no school today?" He asked, knowing full well that school was in session, but he did hear from Catherine, Isaac's mother, that he did not go. She wanted to know why and was very angry that their son skipped school.

"...a schoolmate is missing, and I wanted to help find her...I think I found how and where, but her stepmom thwarted me...there seems to be more to it than I understand...I'm not sure how to handle it all. She wants me to meet her later, and she said she'd give me more information, even take me to her..."He knew he was told not to tell anyone, but this was his father. He could trust him.

This was a lot more information than Keith was ready for, and he looked at Isaac with puzzlement. "Slow down." He said finally, leaning back in his chair. "Why is this girl worth all this effort?"

Of course his father would see there was more to it than just helping out a schoolmate. Isaac looked down and ran his hand through his hair. He closed his eyes and spoke, "She's my mate..."

Keith sat up straight and looked at his son. How? He wasn't even of age to be mated. His brows furrowed as he thought about this new bit of information.

"Something is very mysterious about the whole situation. Cheryline is obviously in on the kidnapping. But if I report her, we may not be able to get Inara back."

His father continued to listen and absorb what was said. It was interesting how even the Alpha was trying to figure out what had happened to Inara. Keith leaned back again, his fingertips touching as he thought. Alpha didn't even have a suspect, and his son had the case halfway solved here. He turned away from Isaac and looked out the window. A small, quiet laugh came from him as he looked out over the packland. "I think we need to let Cheryline continue to lead at this stage. You've done good work so far."

His dad swiveled back to him, and he waited, knowing his dad had more to say. Still, he wasn't sure how comfortable he was with meeting Cheryline at night. Who else was going to be there on her side? Was it going to be an ambush? He was a capable fighter, but he was still young and inexperienced.

"I will get tracking and listening devices ready before you meet her. We will learn all we need to learn before reporting to the Alpha. Not just to report, as usual, when something in the pack is happening, but he did ask about Inara. Apparently, he was upset when he learned about her missing this morning. He's grown fond of her help in the office. "

Isaac was surprised to hear about the Alpha's interest. He didn't know Inara worked with the Alpha. What did his father mean by his words? Did the Alpha ask for his father's assistance? If so, why be concerned with an office worker? The more he thought, the more he was sure his father was brought on board to look into Inara. But why? It didn't seem like a matter to bring a Sigma in on.

Isaac stood, "I will be waiting at home."

"Actually, son." Keith stood, "This seems better of a time than any." He came around his large mahogany desk, "Time to teach you about our history and our true duty."

*********

He stood outside the garage shortly after the sun faded completely behind the horizon. Sure enough, Cheryline showed up. Luckily, alone. Isaac watched her carefully, Voodoo's emotions overwhelming him to speak brusquely, "Well!" He barked to Cheryline. The woman flinched back slightly.

"Yes," she appeased, "We will be going...come on, then."

Isaac's eyes narrowed on her before following her to her car and getting in. He was surprised she did not take him inside to the false wall. Why weren't they going there? He fastened his seatbelt, then looked back over to her, "..wasn't she taken in that secret passage?"

"Yes, but that is a far walk to where she is located now. I'd like to get you back before sunrise so your parents don't send a search party. I already have enough heat from the Alpha, and I don't need Sigmas breathing down my neck, too."

Her words made him bristle. So Alpha is interested in his mate. Was she something worth making a chosen mate for his son? Why else would he be interested in Inara? Isaac tried to calm himself by focusing on the drive they were on. Cheryline was taking them out of the pack, and soon they were on back roads.

"Here..put this on." She handed him a black cloth bag.

Isaac scoffed, "No!"

The car abruptly stopped, making Isaac lurch forward and the seatbelt lock in place. Cheryline looked at him seriously, "If you want to see Inara, you will put this on. Her location needs to be concealed. I will not ask again."

Isaac bristled, and his eyes flashed to a golden yellow, "Fine."

He was not happy with having to put on the black sac, but he wanted to see Inara. He knew that if anything were a trick, he would fight tooth and nail to get out of it, but for now, he'd follow his father's instruction, even if he protested here and there.

Inara POV

The room she was put in was large with stone walls. There was a king-sized bed in the center of the room with a luxurious comforter of a beautiful royal purple color, a lighter pattern running horizontally along the comforter. There were two windows, one on each corner wall. Beautiful dark navy drapes cascaded from silver rods.

Was she in a castle? What was this?

The large wood door clanked as the metal handle was turned. A dark-skinned man with a bald head and dark eyes looked at her, "You're awake, my Queen."

What the f**k!? She began to complain and caused the chair to jump up and down. This is some twisted s**t, and she needed to get out of it. Inara's wrists were sore and bleeding from all the twisting and fighting she was doing against them.

"We will be getting you something to eat this afternoon, but we need to explain some things before we can do that." He came and opened the curtains. The fresh air rushed in, swirling through the room. Looking back, he saw her hands and gasped, "Inara!" He watched as a drop of blood fell to the ground, "You're protector will be upset with us. You must stop fighting the restraints, or you'll make it worse."

Inara fought more and snarled, making him wince. Did she hear a whimper, too?

"Please, my majesty, we are not here to hurt you. On the contrary, we are here to keep you safe. The restraints are not to harm you. They are there to keep us safe and allow us to do what we need to, to save you." He explained as he attempted to investigate her wounds.

The door opened again, and this time, Cheryline walked in. Inara felt the blood drain from her face, and her heart dropped. Cheryline came into the room with an authority that made Inara realize she was in charge of this all. The bald-headed man stood and bowed to her. "Miss Cheryline." He murmured.

Cheryline paid him no mind as she drew up a chair and sat before Inara. "As Brock just said, this restraining is to protect us..." She crossed her legs and straightened out her pants. "The Moon Goddess has chosen you to embody her spirit. You are the Queen of wolves. You have more power than you realize, and soon, you will recognized. Before we can allow that, we must train you, educate you, and keep you safe." She flicked an imaginary fleck of dirt from her knee. "We had to gag you because you can command us. We tied you with rope enchanted long before your birth. It was the only way to subdue you and your wolf. We blind you with the bag, so you had no idea where you were."

Inara just stared, her shock fading to confusion and disbelief.

"Our first Queen was killed. Those forces are surely still out there, and we do not want to risk losing our second." Cheryline finally added.

Inara was once more shocked. Not only was she kidnapped, it isn't her kidnappers who are out to hurt her. So much ran through her mind, and Inara was overwhelmed by everything.

"Now...if you promise not to fight and command us...just yet, we can get you out of all this and fed." She gestured to her bindings.