The Moon Phase Trilogy | Protected
Eighteen

A week had passed since Ericka had been drugged and kidnapped and she had finally woken up. She was in so much pain that she could barely move, but her dreams that had turned to nightmares followed her thoughts. “You’re finally awake, I’m glad.” a girl in the cell next to her smiled.

Ericka looked over and saw a girl around her age, chest length brown hair in a side braid, she was tan and dirty. Ericka wanted to see how long she had been there, but she thought it would be too inappropriate to ask such a thing. “Where am I?” she asked through her teeth, as she slowly tried to sit up.

The girl stopped her from moving, “Don’t move. Give me a moment to help you. You are in a cell somewhere in the forest near your hometown. This place used to be a warehouse for some large company, but now it’s abandoned and the creatures that took over, made it a dungeon and a test center for their captives. Your friends will be back any day now. Shaun was making a plan to come and save us,” the girl explained.

Ericka was taken back, “How do you know my best friend’s name? Who the hell are you? Why would they be saving you too?” she snarled. The rumbling inside her tried to make her calm down, she had a strange feeling her wolf knew something she didn’t about the stranger in the cell on her right.

“Just relax, Ricky. I will explain everything when they can’t hear every word I s--” she was cut off by the clicking of heels. Ericka was astonished she knew her nickname and was confused by it too.

“King, keep your mouth shut,” a pale girl spat. She looked strangely familiar, but Ericka couldn’t figure out where. “Bluhm, Asher will be coming to get you in a moment, so you better get up,” she hissed. The girl that went by the name King snarled and glared at the girl.

“Arian, what did I tell you about talking to the prisoners?” Asher scolded and someone that was half the height of him followed at his heels like a pup following their parents.

“Sorry sir,” the girl lowered her head submissively. “Ira, let’s leave him with these two. We need to go get the table ready anyway,” she said and the girl that was following Asher poked her head out from behind him to see Arian. She nodded and Ericka noticed they looked an awful lot alike. She couldn’t make out their features or anything, since they stood in the shadows, trying to stay hidden from the light.

King snarled at Asher and grabbed the bars of her cell, “If you do anything to kill her, you will be answering me to,” she growled.

Asher just chuckled, “Ruby, you really think I’m that scared of you anymore? I have surpassed you in ranking,” he mentioned. Ericka continued to listen to their conversation quietly. The girl’s name was Ruby King, she had heard that name in one of her dreams for some reason.

Ruby gritted her teeth and narrowed her eyes, “Where is Jayden, Asher?” She left the other comment alone.

Asher laughed, “How should I know? I haven’t seen him since last week. Who knows what the twins father has done to him,” his smile was sly and evil.

“He had a damn week to fulfill the task. He’s not still with them,” Ruby snarled, knowing Asher was lying. In the background, Ericka kept to herself and had questions, but would ask them later on.

“Ericka, you are coming with me now. I am going to fix you up, my dear,” Asher smiled towards her. Ericka knew by the tone of Ruby’s voice it was a lie and grew hesitant. She felt her wolf wanting to lunge and attack Asher.

“Leave me alone,” she said weakly and her wolf slowly took control; her body shifting to an ash black wolf who was angered and irritated. Asher just smirked and shifted to his own two legged wolf.

~*~*~*~*~

Jayden and Shaun were heading back to the warehouse with a plan of action, whether Ericka was awake or not. “You remember the plan right, Jay?”

“Sure do, now I just hope she’s okay and awake,” Jayden spoke between his teeth. He was going to strangle Asher if he did anything to her like he had Shaun and Blu. He didn’t think he could take it again, on his future true mate. He could feel Light want to take control and stretch his legs, but he kept him in control. He looked to Shaun as they were almost to the warehouse. “Do you want to let them take control?”

Shaun looked at him and gave a small whimper, not wanting to show Blu to the world. She could feel Blu’s pain and fear, “You can, but Blu is scared to. She is more traumatized than I am...and it’s only been a week. Not really sure when she’ll be alright showing herself again. I just hope it’s not forever,” she grew softer as she spoke.

Jayden looked over to Shaun and was worried, “I won’t shift if you aren’t comfortable. It’s not fair. I’m sorry he did that to you...” Shaun shrugged and kept on walking, “Jay, it’s alright. I’m sure he’ll come to his senses one day,” She said as she put her hands behind her head, “Let’s get this plan going. I can see the place from here.”

“Race ya!” Jayden grinned as he was already starting to run. He could feel Light wanting to be free and he gave in. In mid run, Jayden turned into Light and his fur was beautiful and not a piece of fur seemed to be out of place.

“That’s so not fair, Jay!” Shaun shouted behind him as she followed, trying to catch up. She wanted him to skid to a halt and what he halted in front of came into view for her. It was a large, electric fence around the warehouse. “Shit...now what are we going to do?” She could feel Blu wanting to give a try, but Shaun wouldn’t let her. It wasn’t that Blu wasn’t ready, it was that Shaun wasn’t ready. “Knock it off,” She growled under her breath.

~*~*~*~*~

Dusk was in control and she was ready to kill Asher. Her fur was pitch black and Asher could hardly see her. “You little shit! Get back here!” He growled. Dusk continued to play hide and seek in the shadows with Asher, enjoying herself. Ruby watched in her closed cell, chuckling to herself. She couldn’t believe how powerful Dusk was and she had just revealed herself to Ericka.

‘I’ve heard about a young girl this powerful, in stories and myths, but I didn’t think it would be so soon...’ Ruby thought as she continued to watch. She could feel two visitors close by and she had a feeling she knew who they were, but they weren’t getting any closer. ‘Shaun? Jayden? You there?’ Ruby’s wolf, Gemstone, was in her spot. She was almost the size of her cell and she was very calm, but she was being protective in this state.

‘Ruby?’ she heard back from Shaun. Gemstone gave a soft smile and her tail flicked as she heard that the others got back safely.

‘Yes, but you can call me Gemstone. I am in control right now. Do you guys have a plan to get in here?’ She thought. Gemstone knew of the plan to get them out, but the fence was a new obstacle.

Gemstone could hear Jayden chuckle, ‘No, but we will figure it out. It shouldn’t be that hard...right?’ He thought and Gemstone sighed. ‘Jay, you and I both know it could be very hard to figure out. Ruby, or um...Gemstone, we will get back in there even if we have to break this electric fence,’ Shaun thought, very determined.

‘We will see you in here soon then. Just try not to harm yourself in the process please. We can’t have more people getting injured,’ Gemstone thought and shrunk down to a normal sized wolf. ‘Please be safe my children...’ she thought only to herself as she curled up in a ball to sleep.

Meanwhile, Dusk was still playing hide and seek with Asher. She could tell Ericka wanted control back, but she needed to wear down Asher so Ericka could take him on herself in human form. “I’m done with your little game, Ricky! Daemion, if you would please. Skull, we are going to need your help too!” Asher growled, shifting back to his human form. Dusk had realized he meant business and this was not a fooling matter.

“Asher sir...Daemion is out cold...and we both know um...I can’t shift...” the one Asher called Skull replied. Dusk observed the person’s features and they looked to be a young woman. She memorized every detail of how they appeared and knew there was something wrong with her, something was off. The girl wore a skull mask that covered half of her face and it seemed to be that she always had her black hood up, covering everything else.

“What happened to him?!” Asher growled. Dusk growled back, watching the girl grow nervous and frightened.

“I--I don’t know, sir. I left the room for a second to get something and I came back to see him out cold,” Skull replied, lowering her gaze to the ground submissively. Dusk walked over to the two and stood in front of Skull, proactively. She looked back to see the girl shocked.

“Leave her alone, Asher,” a familiar voice snarled. The attention turned from Daemion to Jayden and Shaun, standing behind Dusk and Skull.

“Leave who alone, little brother?” Asher smirked and grabbed Dusk by the scruff, lifting her up off the ground. His strength was impeccable. Dusk whimpered and growled. Skull just stood there and watched.

Jayden growled, shifting to his wolf and lunging at Asher, making sure not to harm Dusk in the process. Asher swung Dusk, throwing her into a wall, shifting intently after that. Skull immediately went to help, and Ruby looked to Shaun, who was already in the process of shifting. Ruby went to Skull, to make sure Dusk wasn’t injured too badly, or paralyzed. With Asher’s strength, no one could be too careful with checking.

Suddenly, a loud gunshot went off and a very slim, pale, man stood at the entrance of the building where the others were. He wore an angry expression across his handsome, yet pale face, “What is going on down here?” He asked calmly. His black hair was slicked back and it sat at his ears. Fangs subtly showed over his lower lip and blood was dripping from his right fang.

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