The Kidnapped Soul of Luna

Chapter 2 - The Morning After

“Alpha, we have a problem. HER again,” said Alexander’s Gamma, Linda, succinctly through their mind link.       

He sighed and wiped the clay slurry off of his hands. He was not up for this today. “What now?” he replied testily drying his hands on the towel in his lap. Alpha Alex was the head of the Susitna Pack. The werewolf community was secreted away from humans in all corners of the world. His pack was based in the wilds of Alaska. They were just far enough away to be discretely hidden, but close enough via private roads so could go into the human communities as necessary for food and art supplies, as well as manage their businesses and galleries.

“She is refusing to shift for the visit,” Linda informed him. “In fact, she’s claiming that she doesn’t understand what shifting is.”

“What the hell?” Alexander said to his wolf, Anton.

“Beat’s me,” replied Anton. “I can’t get through to Paxi at all. Something is keeping her busy down there. Maybe they are fighting.”

Alexander mind-linked his Gamma once more, “It has been a week since Logan has seen her. He has been asking. She has to shift.”

"Well, she’s hysterical. It might be a good idea to put off visitation.” Linda replied sadly.

F*ck! thought Alexander, standing up to go down to the cells to handle this himself. He covered his sculpture with plastic to keep it from drying until he could get back to it. He didn't want to go down there. It was so painful to visit her, his mate, in her prison. But she had to shift and let Paxi take over. It wasn’t safe for Logan to visit his mother when she was in her human form, not after she had tried to kill them all in an attempt to take over their bank account and disappear to Goddess knows where. Once her mission and motives were discovered, they found a trail of bodies that she had left behind her in her ambition. She was a homicidal maniac, unfit to be free in the world of wolf or man.

Usually, in the werewolf world, the wolf was the more aggressive half of the individual. But in Kylara’s case, the opposite was true. Her wolf, Paxi, was the most wonderful, intelligent, and loving being that Alexander had ever known. It was Kylara who was murderous, cruel and greedy.

Alexander entered the cells. He could hear her frantic screams from here. What was this new tactic she was using?

Alexander wasn’t exactly sure what he had done wrong in life to deserve Kylara as his mate. Paxi had certainly gotten a bad pairing, wolf-to-human, as well. He growled out loud at the thought, indignant on the Paxi’s behalf. What was the Moon Goddess thinking? He wished he could ask her. The Moon Goddess was supposed to be a loving mother, choosing a mate that was made just for you. Why had he been stuck with her? An Alpha is usually paired with a strong and loving woman destined to become the Luna, or mother, of the whole pack. Kylara only loved herself. He had to stop thinking about it before he got depressed again. The last two years had been torturous for him.   

He walked past the simple stone cells with silver bars… silver handcuffs hanging from the walls for the most dangerous rogues. He went to the end of the hallway, where a large suite had been created for his captive mate. The cell had been transformed into a studio suite with a comfortable bed on the left with a private washroom beyond it, including a shower. There was a couch and TV in the center area, and a small kitchenette on the right. They had to keep it simple so she couldn’t create weapons, so the kitchen only had a small stocked fridge, a microwave, and plastic spoons and paper plates. Most of her meals were provided anyway, so she didn’t need much.

There was one wall that consisted entirely of silver bars to keep her contained and also to provide guards with the needed ability to keep an eye on her. The bathroom had a closed-circuit camera that only Alex himself could access, which gave her a small amount of privacy, but not so much that she could devise an escape or build a weapon. She had fought against the camera, trying to disable it, but then he put her into a regular cell, with no toilet at all, until she agreed to his terms once again.

Paxi, as a wolf, didn’t need most of the creature comforts. They were actually there more for Logan’s benefit than anything else for when he went to visit. At three years old, he wouldn’t have understood why his mother was in a prison cell. Now that he was five, and a little more aware of his surroundings, Alex just wanted him to have access to comfortable visits with Paxi when he needed a mother’s love.  

After Kylara had killed Alexander’s parents, she had come after him and Logan, with hate and murder blazing in her eyes. He had been lucky that the gun, loaded with silver bullets, had jammed, giving him enough time to disarm and capture her. Alexander had little love left for the b*tch. He still felt the mate bond, but she had broken his trust and his heart. If it weren’t for the bond between Anton and Paxi, he probably would have killed her long ago. 

Paxi loved their pup, Logan, so much and had convinced Alex to negotiate these supervised visitations between her wolf and their child. Kylara was never to be mentally present during these visitations. She was supposed to shift and give up control to Paxi for the duration while a guard stood at the ready inside the cell “just in case.” In exchange for that, she would get some of the luxuries that she asked for, usually vodka or gin.

“Help me! Please!” came the cry from inside the cell once Kylara saw him. “I just want to go home. I won’t tell anyone about this, I promise. Please just let me go!” she begged.

Kylara was haggard and weak looking. She was a lazy person, by nature, preferring to get others to do things for her. She had never exercised, even before all of this… barely taking part in the regular training regime of the pack. She was only 23, but she looked older, too skinny and no muscle definition. She also looked like she hadn’t showered in a week. Her greasy strawberry blond hair hung down past her shoulders. She had obviously been crying and the tears had left streaks of clean skin running down her filthy face.

Alex looked over at his Gamma. Linda was the extreme opposite. Tall, dark, muscular and keenly intelligent, she leaned against the wall, one foot casually crossed over the other. She straightened up to greet Alex formally.

“Alpha,” she said with a nod. “Thank you for coming down here.”

Kylara looked at Linda with panic and distain. She called out to Alex again, “Please, Mister, I didn’t do anything.” She came forward, right up to the bars, grabbing them in both hand and then crying out in surprise and pain as the silver burned her. “Ow ow ow! Ouchie! That hurts!” she yelled shaking her hands.

“Ouchie?” Anton, Alex's wolf, repeated sarcastically through their link?

Alex rolled his eyes and sighed. He was not up for this today. “What are you after, Kylara?”

“Oh my Goodness!” His Luna said frantically pointing at Linda. “She called me that name too! That’s not me… I mean, I’m not her! I mean, you have the wrong person, I swear!”

“Kylara,” Alex tried to keep his anger under control. “We have an agreement. It is time for you to shift so that Logan can visit.”

“What does that even mean?” she demanded. “What agreement? What is shifting? Who is Logan?”

Alex’s eyes turned black as Anton fought to come out and put this evil woman in her place. How dare she pretend to not know her own son! Alex couldn’t contain the growl that burst forth as he paced in a predator fashion toward the bars.

Kylara looked genuinely frightened of him as she screeched backed away toward the back of the cell until her back was against the wall. Her body wracked with sobs as she slid her back down the wall to a squatted position, hands over her face, screaming, “Oh God no! Please don’t hurt me!”

“What the hell, Kylara, when have I ever hurt YOU?” He screamed back at her.

She cried for a minute before crawling her way onto her knees and standing again. Her legs were shaking.

"Whatever this act is," Alex said to Anton, "she is definitely committing to the role."

“Let’s make her shift so I can talk to Paxi,” Anton replied, but she was talking again.

She pulled her shoulders back and said with a false bravado, “I’ll pay you! Anything you want!” She dropped her shoulders and added, “Pleeease!”

Alex decided to bite, “And how much do you think your freedom is worth, Kylara?”

“I’m not Kylara. And… and… how much do you want?” She said, trying to calm herself as she prepared to negotiate, “$100,000 dollars?”

Alex rolled his eyes at her.

“$500,000 dollars!” she blurted out quickly.

“Oh please,” he said.

“A million!” she up’d the ante again, “A million dollars!”

He just stood there shaking his head at her.

“Just tell me! How much? Please! I can have it for you by the end of the day.”

“Really! Kylara! You are pushing me too far with this farce!” he yelled. Alex summoned his Alpha power and commanded her, “SHIFT!”

She stood there for a millisecond, looking at him with scared, confused and frustrated eyes, and then she began screaming, this time in pain, as her body began to shift against her will. The cracking of bones seemed loud, even to Alex’s practiced ears. Somehow during the process, Kylara seemed to pass out and fall to the ground. It went on a little longer than usual, almost like a teenagers first attempt at shifting and then, finally, Paxi stood up before them, quaking a little.

“She’s gone!” Paxi linked to Alexander and Anton.

“Good, I’m glad to see you are in command again, Paxi,” said Alex.

“NO! I mean she’s gone,” Paxi explained. “Kylara is completely gone! This person isn’t Kylara. She isn’t even a werewolf, or at least she wasn’t, and she is freaked out!”