Forsaking His Luna

Rescue mission

Miriam

What was I thinking? I should never have agreed to this last mission, but the money was good, and no matter how much I had already in my bank account, I always had the feeling it wasn’t enough to provide for Lucas.

We had a happy life, just the two of us.

We moved to England when Lucas was fourteen months old, after finishing my sea rescue course. I applied for the British Royal Navy and got in.

My aunt Linda came to live with us for the first year, to help me raise Lucas while I was working.

When I became a swimming instructor at the academy and found a work-life balance, she returned to Portugal.

It wasn’t easy, but I couldn’t deprive her of her life any longer, even though she would never admit it. For as long as I needed her, she would stay.

I had to leave my parent's house. They supported me more than I could ever imagine when they found out I was pregnant.

But because I never wished to share who the father was, there was constant tension in the air. I felt in debt with them constantly, and never learned how to deal with the depression I was feeling at the time Lucas was born.

Mafalda was there for me in my darkest days and never left my side.

However, now we barely spoke. When she turned eighteen, she found out Diego was her mate.

Diego claimed her and made her Luna of the Mago moon pack. I would have been happy for her if it weren't for the fact that she didn't love him and that he was constantly cheating on her. She became a pediatric doctor and got married to Diego last year. I wasn't even invited to the wedding, as if I was a stain on her life. Not that I would've attended if I had been invited. After all, Diego kept harassing me at every chance he could. One day I was pretty sure she heard one of his advances towards me. He had the audacity to propose to me a deal to be his mistress. I slapped him, and as I was leaving the room, Mafalda came face to face with me. It was the last time we saw each other. I never went back to pack land. I was then lonelier than ever.

Leaving the country seemed the best way to do it, to run away from my family and my past.

So I went to England and started a new life.

Before the summer half-term started, I agreed with my mum that Lucas should spend the summer in Portugal. I wanted him to be close to our family and spend time with them, even if it was only during the holidays.

I should have stayed with him instead of accepting this Intel exchange mission north of the Atlantic.

Two hours before the attack...

I was drinking tea as I wrote another report on this mission. Even though it was top secret, paperwork had to be done.

Our route has been uneventfull so far as was expected since we were carrying a device found on an abandoned ship near Mallorca in the Mediterranean sea.

The mission was simple; carry the device from Mallorca to Canada by sea.

My general believed this had something to do with a supernatural crime organization that operated in Europe.

Soon after I was promoted to captain in the navy, I was called for a meeting with the special operations general. Apparently, I had failed in concealing my particular abilities when on missions. That seemed to come in handy for them, since they needed someone capable of tracking 'unexplainable' disappearances. I was surprised to find there was a division within the navy, that dealt with all the supernatural problems.

In the control room, there was me, Phoenix, my second mate, and Rowan my third mate.

As I finished filling in the report, Phoenix was charting the course every two hours, we couldn't risk having someone track us by keeping a pattern. As for Rowan, she directed the bridge team.

I was lost in deep thought about my son and our lives when Phoenix called for me.

"Captain, there seems to be an aircraft on our radar about 150 miles away. Should I notify the RAF for air support?" I moved from my seat immediately, getting up and checking it for myself.

"Show me." He pointed it out.

"Here."

"Rowan, get everyone in defensive positions. Be ready to be approached. This is not a coincidence. Pheonix, notify the RAF immediately."

"Yes Captain!" they answered in unison.

I kept looking at the radar, their speed and direction showed that they were clearly after us.

"Captain!" Phoenix called from the transmission panel. "Apparently there's a storm. It's not safe to come to our coordinates, they'll have to go around it."

"s**t!" I took a deep breath and looked him in the eyes, "Do you know what that means?"

"Yes Captain, protect the cargo at all costs. You have to leave the ship in the submarine." I shook my head.

"Let me make this clear, First Mate, the Captain never abandons the ship. I'll stay behind. Make sure you and Rowan are off this ship in less than 10 minutes. Everyone else stays in position, get me the Sergeants on the intercom, and I'll deliver the orders myself. GO!"

"Captain, please, your son..."

"Phoenix, I am your Captain. You do as I say. I can take care of myself. Rowan?"

"Yes, Captain?"

"Make sure Phoenix gets in that submarine."

"Miriam, please, don't do this..."

"Phoenix, for the last time, GO!" After a moment of intense eye contact, he nodded.

"Yes, Captain!"

"Good, now go! Don't waste any more time! You know we cannot fail." He turned to recover the device from the safe hidden under the carpet floor.

"Miriam, please, look after yourself." Rowan hugged me, and I nodded, remembering how much I hated goodbyes. In a way, Rowan reminded me of Mafalda, which made it even more difficult to say goodbye.

Once Phoenix had the device stashed in his jackets inside his pockets, he got up and hugged me.

"You better survive this, Miriam! Or I'll kill you."

"Jokes at this time? Really?"

"I am serious! Promise me!"

"I do if you promise to look for Arthur, Lucas needs at least one parent if I don't make it."

"s**t Miriam!"

"Promise!"

He straightened his shoulders, took a deep breath and finally answered.

"Yes, Captain, you have my word."

I nodded, and they left.

As I prepared myself for the approach directing orders to the rest of the crew, a can of gas fell from the vents.

They infiltrated the ship with the help of one of our own. It was the only explanation.

Shortly after I lost my breath and collapsed.

I woke up shaken by the sound of an explosion above me. The ground shook, and the chains that held me from the ceiling rattled. I slowly opened my eyes, trying to gather my consciousness.

I could only see the face of the man that had pulled at my hair and slapped me. He was pinned to the floor by a black boot on his neck.

“You piece of s**t!” - the man who held him spat. I slowly lifted my eyes to see who it was. He had very pale skin, blue eyes and black hair, very good-looking, he wore only black clothes, he reminded me of... but it couldn't be... I was delusional... With no badges and no military rank exposed, my first guess would be that he was a mercenary.

He bent down and grabbed the man by the neck, holding him above the ground.

“Looks like I’m going to have fun with you!”

“No, you’re not. Alpha wants him breathing.”- that voice... I knew that voice. Who was it?

“Killjoy...”- My gaze followed the guy in front of me, he dropped the man on the ground, and I could see he was turning purple.

As I was looking down, I felt the chains that held me up loosen the hard grip on my wrists.

I looked up, and nothing prepared me for what I saw.

A ghost from the past, an old and brief friend, Cody?!

“Miriam...hang on, we’re getting you out of here.”- even if I could reply, I didn’t know what to say.

Arthur’s face came to my mind, and I looked all around the room without realising it. Could he be here too?! The emotion overrode my senses, and I felt weak.

He dropped the chains from my wrists, catching me as I fell.

“How di-”. - he looked at me and shook his head.

“Save your strength. I’ll explain later. I’ll tell you everything. But right now, we have to go.”

He started to run as he carried me. That was the last thing I remember before all became dark.