A True Luna

Adrian

Adrian Sarks sat alone in the small hospital waiting area, elbows on his knees, hunched over with his head down, he was exhausted. Everything he worked for up to this point could be jeopardized because of this if things didn’t go according to Dr Howards’ plan to fix it. The girl had been out cold all night and most of the day, the Doc had said she just needed oxygen and some rest, but that wasn’t what worried him. She had to have seen what went down on that street, she definitely saw him shift, but how conscious was she was the question. These things rarely happened, least of all in the middle of the street. There were laws in the city, half the population was human, and he had worked very hard to establish the treaty for the neutral zone and the protections for his people. Apparently, all it took was one arrogant Alpha wannabe and a group of drunk warriors from East Lake to throw all that out the window. That’s why he hated pack mentality and Alphas in general, to many of them with false senses of power and entitlement. No one had to earn their place, after a few generations these wolves just thought they were owed respect and treated everyone “beneath them” like trash for no reason other than who their parents were.

He thought about Evee, “I knew hiring her was a bad idea” He had grumbled it to himself but he was pretty sure Layla would’ve heard him, he wasn’t far from the room. He replayed the meeting with Layla a few weeks ago after the interviews were finished in his head:

Layla jammed her fists into his desk, “I’m telling you Addy there’s something about her, my powers aren’t all flashy like yours but I’m accurate as hell and you know it!”

Adrian sank back into his chair “Layla I told you to stop calling me that, it was cute when you were 10, but I’m 38”

She rolled her eyes at him, “Adrian, I know power when I see it, she might not be a wolf but she’s something, something I’ve never sensed before. I don’t want her to stay here and end up serving one of these packs, I’m surprised she’s lasted this long.”

“They don’t enslave the gifted anymore Lay, you know that.” Adrian said as if she was exaggerating a ridiculous story.

“Oh no? You think what they do isn’t enslavement? Yeah sure, now they just “save” people from “horrible accidents” and brainwash them into thinking they owe something to these power-hungry insane Alphas. Forced to work for a cause that has nothing to do with them.” Layla was getting manic; she had never gotten over what happened to them. Adrian put his hand on her arm wanting her to calm down. “I know what they do, but you need to think of the liability for us, what if she gets hurt, or dies? What if she exposes us, it’s to risky, and you don’t even know what she is, what if whatever gift she might have dooms us all, did you ever think she might be dangerous?”

Layla narrowed her eyes at her brother and took a deep breath. “Be worried if you want, that’s understandable, but don’t doubt me brother. She doesn’t even know she’s gifted, I really think it’s a good idea to have her on our side, for us, and for her. I wouldn’t forgive myself if she left here and they got her Addy, don’t put that on me just because you’re scared of the unknown.”

Adrian snapped out of his memories when he saw the nurse leave the hospital room frantically yelping into her phone for the supervisor to send for Cali. Cali was as close a friend to him as a witch could be to a wolf. He made sure no one bothered or attacked her, she gave him spells and provided counsel in all matters mystical when needed. If they needed her to come back, it was a problem. Cali had added a solution to Evee’s IV that should have fixed this problem by clouding over her memory so she wouldn’t know what she had seen in the alley. He stood up and began to walk toward the room as Layla exited, she stopped him just outside and closed the door.

“Christine saw her memories, the IV didn’t work.” Layla looked nervous and afraid, she maintained eye contact with the floor as she spoke. “I don’t even think we can convince her it was a dream, she said it’s clear as day.”

Adrian looked up at the ceiling and drug his hand down his face to the back of his neck. “We’ll wait for Cali then I guess, see if we need to talk to her and go from there.”

Layla looked up at her brother, barely whispering “I’m sorry.” Adrian couldn’t be mad at her it wasn’t all her fault, he took the risk too. “It’s alright, just wait here for Cali ok, I need to go check on Celeste. The last thing I need on top of an exposure risk is an injured princess.”

Layla narrowed her eyes at him and opened her mouth to speak but he raised his hand to her. “I know, I know. Rant at me about the “false royalty constructs in pack mentality” later Lay, fact is she’s the daughter of someone who has the power to seriously screw with what we’re trying to do here.” Layla crossed her arms and leaned against the wall huffing in his general direction as he walked across the hall and into the opposite room.