The Hooded Luna:Happily Ever After

“And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”~ John 8:32

See what I did there? Tell me if you saw what I did there....

Phoenix slowly opened her eyes and groaned as she sat up. Her head was pounding and it hurt to think. Her eyes landed on Peter who was standing over her with a worried look etched on his face.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” She asked frowning. Peter smiled and hugged her tightly. She ignored the initial confusion and let herself sink into his arms. He pulled away and scratched the back of his neck nervously.

“Sorry.” He coughed out. She opened her mouth to say it was okay when she realized where she was. She slowly looked around the cage and swallowed slowly.

“Why-why am I in here?” She asked fighting the urge to panic.

“What do you remember?” Peter asked frowning.

“I-I don’t know it hurts to think.” She whispered keeping her eyes on the bars. Peter looked between her and the bars curiously before sitting down beside her.

“Look at me.” He said softly. Her eyes filled with tears and she shook her head. He gently took her face in his hands and turned her face to look at him. He smiled and she found herself losing herself in his eyes. She smiled thankfully as she realized he’d helped her calm down.

“What’s wrong?” He asked curiously. She took a deep breath before explaining her time in the cage to him. He smiled sadly and slowly nodded his head in understanding.

“I’m sorry.” He said softly.

“For what?” She asked frowning. Before he could respond the cage beside them popped open and she watched as her friends were thrown inside.

“You’re awake.” Alex said smiling at her. She nodded and let her eyes go over to Kenzie who had her head buried on her knees. Phoenix crawled up to where the cages met and gestured for Luca to bring Kenzie closer to her. He did as asked and Phoenix slowly ran her fingers through Kenzie’s hair.

“You’re going to be okay.” Phoenix whispered. Kenzie chuckled humorlessly and looked up at her with teary eyes.

“This brings back memories huh?” She asked softly. Phoenix smiled sadly and leaned her head on the bars.

“Yeah.” She said dryly. She looked back at Peter and smiled slightly.

“So why are we here?” She asked realizing she zoned out.

“Simple really. They’re all here because of you.” A new voice said. Phoenix looked up and frowned at the guard in front of her.

“Am I supposed to know who you are?” She asked rolling her eyes. He chuckled and shook his head.

“No, but you will.” He said chuckling coldly. He opened the gate and Phoenix weakly stood up. A pain shot through her body as she tried to turn into her wolf and she screamed as she dropped to her knees. She grabbed her head in her hands and whimpered. Peter ran up to her and took her face in his hands.

“Shit I’m sorry. I should’ve warned you.” He said softly.

“What’s wrong with me?” She whimpered trying to get the pain to subside.

“I think they gave you something to keep you from turning into your wolf or using your powers. They did it for your friends but for you, they had to like triple the dosage considering how powerful you are. I didn't know if you'd wake up it's been two days.” Peter mumbled wiping the tears from her cheeks.

“Enough talking let’s go.” The guard growled walking inside the cage. Peter stood protectively in front of Phoenix and shook his head.

“You aren’t taking her.” He growled lowly. The guard rolled his eyes in annoyance and walked up to Peter. Peter looked like an ant compared to him and under different circumstances, Phoenix would’ve laughed.

“It’s okay.” Phoenix whispered standing up.

“They torture us when we go out there and you’re already in pain so no it’s not.” Peter said shaking his head.

“Move.” The guard growled. Peter shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest. The guard chuckled coldly before punching Peter. Phoenix gasped as the guard kept punching him.

“No stop it.” Phoenix pleaded. The guard ignored her and though Peter could hold his own the guard had at least 200 pounds on him. Phoenix jumped on his back and kicked the back of his knees bringing him down to his knees. She snapped his neck and watched as his body fell to the ground with a thud. She ran over to Peter and took his face in her hands.

“Are you okay?” She asked softly. He groaned as he tried to sit up and Phoenix helped him.

“Never been better.” He said smiling.

“Good.” She said before punching him in his arm.

“Don’t do that again.” She whispered, throwing her arms around him. He chuckled lightly as he hugged her back.

“No promises.” He said softly. She pulled away to scold him when she remembered the situation they were in. She wrapped Peter’s arm around her shoulder before helping him to his feet. She walked up to the guard and grabbed the key from his body before going to the cage that had everybody else locked inside. She opened it and watched as they all stepped out. Alex and Luca took Peter from Phoenix and she frowned as she realized somebody was missing.

“Where’s Mateo?” She asked softly. Everybody looked at Alex and he shook his head before looking at Peter. Peter rolled his eyes and took a deep breath before walking up to Phoenix. She looked at him skeptically as he took her hands in his.

“Phoenix.” Peter said softly. They’d all taken turns explaining what they knew and Phoenix hadn’t said a word since they’d finished and frankly they weren’t sure if she was breathing. So far what Phoenix had managed to piece together was Michael was alive. There was of course other information but that was the one that stuck with her oh and also that Mateo was working with him so there was that too.

“Mateo wouldn’t-he wouldn’t-and Michael can't be-” Phoenix cut herself off and shut her eyes tightly as she tried to remember how to breathe. She wanted so badly to defend Mateo but the pieces were beginning to fall into place.

“I’m sorry.” Kenzie said taking a step towards Phoenix. Her eyes opened and she shook her head before taking a step away from Kenzie.

“We need to go.” She said coldly. Alex swallowed back the need to reach for her and nodded his head in agreement.

"Wait, where will we go? There are going to be guards out there and we don't have any of our abilities." Peter pointed out. Phoenix took a deep breath and nodded her head.

"And they'll be sending a guard down here since he hasn't gone back up." Phoenix added. She looked at Kenzie sorrowly as she realized what they had to do.

"We need to go back inside." Phoenix said voicing her thoughts. Kenzie's eyes filled with tears and Luca took her hand and squeezed it gently. She looked up at him and took a deep breath before nodding her head. Everybody went into their separate cages making sure to close the doors. Phoenix put the key back on the guard's body before sitting in the corner of the cage. She closed her eyes and leaned her head against the wall as she lost herself in her thoughts. Her eyes flung open as somebody wrapped their hand around her throat and lifted her up. Her eyes met Mateo's and she felt her heart sink. He dropped her on the ground and stepped away from her as she coughed as she tried to force air into her burning lungs.

"So it's true?" She whispered looking up at him.

"Let's go." He said ignoring her. Her eyes went over to Peter to see him being held against the wall by another guard. Mateo kept his eyes on Phoenix but waved his hand and the guard tightened his group on Peter's neck.

"Okay." She said standing up. Mateo roughly grabbed her arm before pulling her out of the cage. She frowned when she realized the guard's body wasn't on the ground anymore.

"Why are you doing this?" She asked following Mateo out of the basement. He looked at her from the corner of his eye but didn't respond.

"Mateo." She said stopping. He growled under his breath and turned to face her. He grabbed her arm again and started to pull her after him.

"You're hurting me." She whispered trying to pull her arm away from him. He looked down at her and her words caught in her throat as she finally registered the cold look in his eyes. She stayed silent and let him drag her down the halls. They came to a stop in front of the Don's office and Mateo knocked before stepping inside. She was hit was a sudden wave of nostalgia but it quickly changed to dread when the chair turned around and Michael was sitting in it. Mateo pushed her further into the room and stepped in before closing the door.

"I've missed you." Michael said smiling. Phoenix's eyes filled with unshed tears as she looked at him. Her mouth suddenly felt like sandpaper and she took a step back as he stood up. His smile grew at the fear rolling off of her and walked around the desk before sitting on the front of it.

"What?Nothing to say?" He asked tilting his head to the side in curiosity.

"I mean you should since you tried to send my soul to hell and kill me." He said crossing his arms over his chest.

"I killed you." Phoenix croaked speaking up for the first time. Michael chuckled and clapped his hands making Phoenix jump.

"She speaks." He laughed.

"Yes, you did. I didn't enjoy that." He said pouting.

"Have a seat and I- sorry we will explain everything." Michael said sitting back in the seat and gesturing for Phoenix to sit down. Before she could deny the seat Mateo grabbed her arm and roughly sat her down before sitting in the seat beside her. Michael smirked as he looked between the two of them and clasped his hands on the desk.

"Well, then I guess it's time to explain."