Rejected Mate and Following Fate - Awakening Book novel Chapter 106

Getting close to the manor is easier than I thought it would be. Domi was right about the fact the valley is almost like a deserted prison camp. Everything around the manor is still and empty while the valley has all those who are no longer loyal to their alpha, pushed away. Separated by electric fences, speakers playing nonstop the silent frequency to stop the vampire weapon being used against them. The whole place is eerie, like a deserted army barracks and strangely dark despite all the spotlights hanging from posts. None are on.

It’s almost like the aftermath of a battle in itself and if it weren’t for the distant chaotic noise of a real war going on, it would be as silent as the surface of the moon. There are no birds, no small animals, not even any kind of patrols and all the security cameras are facing the ground.

It feels like life has slipped away in what used to be a bustling busy home filled to the brim with an eager pack. Most of the windows are boarded and with only the moonlight as illumination, the place looks like a haunted house in some spectacular horror remake.

“I don’t like this.” I murmur to myself as Sierra and Carmen turn human and come to my side, pushing Radar and my other flanking wolf aside. We stand staring up at the dark building, no longer afraid of danger when the nothingness surrounds us. You can sense the fact that there is nothing here to be afraid of.

“Are they even in there?” Carmen steps in front of me and peers long and hard at the top west tower and its balcony. The room that belonged to Juan and we see not a single light in the entire place flickering through boards and curtains.

“He’s there. I can feel him. He is hiding like the coward he is, locked away tight with his few.” Sierra’s venom rings true, and I find myself staring at her for a long moment and truly questioning what she knows right now. There’s a change in her now we are here, and it makes me nervous to think she is suddenly unpredictable if she has the knowledge we are no longer bound.

If she knows, what will she do? Her death won’t affect me and that scares me more than anything. Her desire to see Juan die….it trumps even her need to survive. I know how strong her will to put things right is, and her devotion to ending this.

“You’re right. They’re in there. At least a dozen of them or more last time the crows saw him venture out with his men and I can almost guarantee they know about the vampires too.” Leyanne nods towards one sole camera which has a small red light blinking in the dark. I stare until my eyes adjust and realize it’s moving, spanning the area and functioning normally. Maybe the rest are dead, but he still has one eye on his surroundings. The camera room was always operational from inside those walls and I shiver with knowing we are being monitored.

“So we just sit and wait? And do what? Play eye spy? Wave?” I snap, out of frustration, annoyed that while our people are out there, we’re standing here like none of this affects us. I know Colton thinks this is for the best and eventually they will come this way, but this just feels weird and wrong. Like we’re hiding from the fight.

Luna!

I’m side struck away from Carmen out of the blue, taken by surprise as I’m caught by another wolf and pulled down to the ground. Covered with a heavy brown furry beast as he bears down shielding me. Panting heavily, my heart skyrockets through my chest and I squirm on the dirt as I try to come to terms with what just happened. There’s noise of scraping claws, gnashing teeth, and yet I am concealed and can only wriggle to get purchase from the wolf on top of me.

Luna. Are you okay?

The wolf protecting me asks via the link in haste, moving enough for me to scurry to my feet and get behind him, to be immediately flanked by other guards where I can get a look at what’s happening.

My guards are fighting off three wolves from our old pack. They look haggard and feral, but I still recognize them as some of the subpack which used to run as perimeter sentinels when we lived here. It’s not hard to see they are not in the best physical shape and are quickly subdued by my own and pulled to the ground to be restrained as Carmen and Sierra shield me from the front. They seem disorientated and the wave of bitter hate flows freely around them like a thick smog.

“Are they Juan’s men?” I blurt out into the chaos of noise they’re making. Grunts, growls and excessive heavy breathing as they are held down, and it’s now I can even see how thin and unkempt they are in wolf form. They don’t look like they have eaten in weeks. Shabby and pitiful and when they are finally held taught, my wall of wolves moves aside so I can get a better look.

I dust myself down as our prisoners turn to human and it’s now I can see exactly who they are. They are the offspring of loyal followers to Juan. Sons of his close command and yet all there of them look broken and exhausted and not exactly cared for. Filthy in naked skin and have sunken eyes and weary faces that have seen better days.

My Guard all turn to human form too and Radar pulls the closest one to him with force, holding him in a grip with arms folded across his back as he bears down on his spine with a knee. Holding him still with that grim expression of a pissed wolf all over his face.

“Who are you to attack our Luna? Do you want to die?” Radar snarls into his ear while a crushing crack as he applies force to his ex-pack mate’s spine makes me flinch. In soldier mode Radar is known for being ruthless. He can be brutal and violent when riled and I am seeing hints of him in war mode. It sends shivers down my spine.

“Luna? Pahhh….. We don’t have a Luna, nor an Alpha! Deserters who turned their back on us and left us to suffer…. Don’t insult us.” Aiden, the wolf on the ground snarls right back despite being held tight but makes no attempt to break free. They three are outnumbered by our dozen and it seems smart enough to know fighting won’t end well for them.

“I’ll show you what suffering is right now.” Radar leans in again with anger but I step forward and tap him on his shoulder to loosen his grip before he does anything to him. A sudden surge of guilt flowing through me because what Aiden said isn’t completely wrong and I know Radar won’t hesitate to break his bones. We did leave them, and they have suffered. I don’t blame the ones left to roam free for hating us and believing we abandoned them. Radar relents a little and sits back on his haunches with a sulking hint of grudged obedience, giving Aiden room to breathe once more. I exhale heavily and try to calm my swirling nerves, knowing as Luna I really need to take command here.

“Get up and die by the hands of vampires? None of us are healthy enough to do very much. Isn’t that obvious by how quickly you took us down. We are living like wild wolves nowadays, hunting and foraging to survive. Juan uses the frequency to keep us weak.” He shifts enough to nod at one of the speakers up high and I turn and lock eyes on what he’s motioning towards. Confusion at his words invading my thoughts.

“What?” I quiz and glance back and forth trying to understand. “What do you mean?”

“You don’t feel it? I guess you haven’t been here long enough yet. The frequency, it has another pitch in the notes and exposure over time dampens our strength and ability. He’s making sure we can never take him down and are too feeble to even escape this place.” Taemin rolls enough to stare at that same speaker and in unison Carmen, Sierra, Radar, and I all turn and stare at the black box hung up about forty feet in the air and scrutinize it for a moment. A sudden tense quiet as we all take a moment to digest this.

“So your saying the villagers are all weak right now, and that …. up there….will weaken the rest of us before long?” I blanche and scrub my fingers through my hair at my temples, suddenly worried and instantly afraid. My heart lurches into my mouth and Radar and I gawp at one another as a problem suddenly hits us.

“Nailed it. We have no strength, and our speed is almost nonexistent. Look at us…we can’t even heal properly, we’re all sick. Juan really knows how to hurt his own kind.” Aiden loses all fight and seems to cave into a disheveled heap under Radar, a long sigh as he gives into the fatigue overtaking him.

“Oh my god.” Carmen verbalizes my gut reaction. A moment of panic sets in and I glance around at my comrades, meeting equally shocked expressions as all our minds go to the same place.

Colton, we have a problem

I link him in desperation as visions of vampires taking down our strongest flood my mind and am suffocated by the sudden nausea and fear that we just walked ourselves into a trap set by Juan. He can’t regain power over his people, but he surely won’t mind seeing them all die.

He’s pumping out a tone to disable wolves, yet if we turn it off then the frequency to counteract the vampire’s weapon will also be useless. It’s a no won either way and now as the noises drift toward sus on the wind of a full throttle war being raged in the valley, I start to wonder which side is actually winning.