The Chronicles of Moon

Will Power

The pack is humming with activity the next day. Moon never went back to sleep after her conversation in the middle of the night, and as she downs her second cup of coffee, she heads out to meet Colin in his office. She already told him about her conversation with Selene and Helios. He is equally as concerned for Bella as Moon, but time will tell how this will all play out. Today, they have other things to deal with.

Moon walks into his office without knocking and sees Chris looking tired and angry.

“He won’t break. I never thought he had it in him, but he won’t tell me anything.”

She pauses at the door, knowing they are speaking about Caleb. She turns on her heels, heading straight for the cells. She’s confident she knows where they are even though she has never seen them, but every pack has them. They are usually easy to find if you know where to look. Her pack house had a basement that had been converted into cells, and she assumes the same is true here.

Colin is quick to his feet, rushing after her. “Hold on a moment.” He says, grabbing her wrist and stopping her in the hall.

“What? I was only going for a little walk. You looked busy.” She bats her eyes smiling sweetly at him. He still isn’t keen on the idea of her going to see Caleb. He tried to avoid the issue when she brought it up over her first cup of coffee.

“You don’t fool me.” He says, still holding her wrist.

She steps closer to him, still smiling sweetly, “I’m not trying to fool you.” She says, giving him a quick peck on the lips. She tries to slip out of his grip, only making him hold her tighter and wrap his arm around her waist.

“I don’t believe you.” He purrs in her ear, making her shiver. She is well aware he is trying to distract her, but she refuses to let him as much as she would like to.

“You will not distract me, sir.” She coos back at him, looking into his dark eyes. That is her mistake because he kisses her making her knees go weak.

“Are you sure about that? You seem distracted to me.” He whispers when he releases her lips from his.

She still has her eyes closed, trying to pull herself back together, cursing and loving his effect on her. Her mind is fuzzy, and she can’t think straight now.

I thought you said you wouldn’t let anything stop you from seeing Caleb today. Kiara laughs at her. It’s odd that, for once, her wolf is not falling for his trap. Kiara is usually the first one to cave to him.

I’m not. It’s all under control. Moon huffs at the wolf.

Seems like it. She keeps laughing, making Moon glare at her.

She takes a deep breath opening her eyes, only to meet his again. “I want to go and talk to him, and I will. With or without you, so are we going together, or am I going on my own?”

Colin sighs, closing his eyes and resting his forehead on hers. “I really can’t change your mind about this, can I?”

“No, you said after I rested and recovered. I’m fine now, so I don’t see the issue.” She says softly, still humming inside with him so close to her.

“Fine.” Is all he says but the turmoil in his eyes when he opens them makes her doubt it truly is. Colin is kicking himself for agreeing to this. He doesn’t know what Caleb will say with Moon there and seeing him in the state he is in might make her think Colin truly is evil.

She won’t, and you are overreacting; have a little faith in her. She looks sweet and like something that should be protected, but she saved our butts more than once. She will be okay. Farrell puffs out his chest, confident in Moon and her love for them. She won’t break easily. She won’t turn on them like his family did. The scars of Colin’s past have never truly healed. He struggles to believe that people won’t abandon him so easily now, and certainly not her.

He lets her go taking a step back, and she takes his hand. “I can do this, and I will be fine no matter what; you don’t need to worry.” She assures him, and he nods slightly.

“Let’s get this over with then.” He replies, trying to suppress his feelings of dread.

***

Moon is right; the basement of the packhouse has cells at the far end. They walked for what felt like forever, and Colin was quiet despite her trying to talk to him about anything. She still is unsure what to do when he gets distant and closed off like he is now, but she refuses to let go of his hand, and he doesn’t seem to mind, so as they walk through the basement, she still holds his hand tight in hers.

Caleb is in the first cell they come to, and Moon stops herself from gasping or looking shocked. She knew he would be beaten for information if he wouldn’t talk willingly but seeing it is different than knowing it.

He’s shirtless, and his once-blue shorts are covered in filth and dry blood. His bare feet are nearly black from the dirt of the cell. He is suspended by his wrists with chains and shackles pulled so far above his head that he has to stand on his toes. That still doesn’t relieve the strain off his wrists as the cuffs bite into them, blood is running down his arms that are already streaked with stains and dry blood, dirt, and sweat. His eye is swollen shut the bruising all over his body makes it hard to know what is dirt and what is bruised. Open cuts leak blood if he moves.

“Look who finally came to see me. Took you long enough.” Caleb smiles, making his split lip open and bleed. “I didn’t give Chris the credit he deserves. He might be worse than Dalton. I think he enjoyed beating the crap out of me, big brother.”

The smell of damp filth and blood makes Moon regret the second cup of coffee. Her stomach turns, and she feels like she might be sick. Suppressing the feeling as much as she can, she stands tall next to Colin, who glares at his brother.

“I am here now, and you said you would only talk to me, so talk already.” Colin orders. It seems to work, but Caleb begins to ramble on.

“What would you like to talk about? Should we talk about our childhood and how you spent all your free time training and studying, thinking that someday you could win dad’s approval? Should we talk about how he would beat you or lock you in the basement when you failed him or annoyed him with just the fact that you were alive? Should we talk about how mom cried over you, begging him to let you live and send you away to school so you couldn’t bother him anymore? Should we talk about the fact that you were never allowed to return home, not even for holidays? Did you know mom would try to send you things, but dad had people confiscate the gifts before they could ever reach you? I bet you thought even she forgot about you.” Caleb laughs, sounding crazed. He is clearly not right, even in the best circumstances.

Colin clenches his jaw and free hand tight; Moon puts her hand on his shoulder, looking at him a moment before turning back to Caleb, still laughing like a madman.

“Shut up!” Moon orders loudly over his laughing. To her surprise, he stops instantly. “You can talk about Callie, and what really happened that night you tricked Colin into drinking with you. What did you do?”

Caleb looks at her. His features are lighter than Colin’s, but he looks so similar to him that it’s shocking they only share the same mother. He studies her and smiles.

“All right, little Luna, let’s talk then.”