The Moon Phase Trilogy | Protected
Twenty-Two

Skull had tried to guide them back to Grant and Noelia, but got lost. “Great! Now we’re even more lost than before. What are we going to do? We are never going to find the twins!” Shaun whined.

“Yes we are. We are werewolves, we can find vampires easily,” Ruby commented. “We sense them, it’s how we have always done it.”

The others just stared at her, “How do you know that?” Jayden asked with his head tilted.

“I’m the Patron of Wisdom. I have to know everything there is about our species, and the species around us.” Ruby took her hair out of her braid and fluffed it up before throwing it up into a messy bun. “Give me a second and I will have their scent.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath in. She hadn’t been above the basement in a few months, so her memory wasn’t the greatest. She felt Gemstone’s rumble in her chest and she relaxed, letting her shift and guide them back to the twins.

Gemstone opened her eyes and turned to face the others, ‘Follow me, I found their scent. I can sense their presence.’ She linked.

Ericka shook her head, not liking the random voice speaking to her. She barely enjoyed Dusk communicating to her the way she did. She looked to the others, who weren’t phased by the voice at all, “How are you all used to this?” She whimpered.

“Gemstone does it a lot. It’s how she communicates to anyone. It’s how we all communicate to anyone in our wolf form. It’s safer that way,” Shaun explained.

“Safer from what exactly?” Ericka raised her brows as she felt invisible ears twitch where her own were.

“Ruby will explain later. I’m really tired and just want to sleep. We need to find the twins and our rooms. Just follow Gemstone and we should be there soon.” Shaun whined.

Ericka knew when Shaun was really tired, she grew irritated easily. She sighed and felt an invisible tail behind her. ‘Dusk, what are you doing? Quit making me feel your tail and ears.’ She thought with a growl.

Dusk never answered her, she never really talked. Ericka didn’t think she could talk. “Do all your wolves talk to you?”

“Yeah, why do you ask?” Jayden asked as they followed Gemstone down the hall.

Ericka grew stiff, “No reason. Was just curious.” She laughed as she scratched the back of her head. I really hope she is just ignoring me and can actually talk to me. She thought with a whimper.

‘I promise, Ericka, Dusk does talk. She is choosing not to keep you safe.’ Gemstone reassured.

‘But how do you know that?’

‘I am the Patron of Wisdom, I have to know everything about everyone. I know everything about you and your wolf Ericka. Just give her some time and she will speak to you.’

Ericka sighed and kept pace with everyone else. She continued to try and get Dusk to speak, but eventually gave up, not wanting to annoy her anymore than she had been. She observed the halls they had been twisting and turning down, never memorizing where they were actually going.

“Are we there yet?” Shaun whined.

Jayden chuckled and Shaun glared at him, “What? You’re cute when you’re grumpy.”

“No I’m not!” She snarled.

Skull raised her brows, asking the question everyone was wondering and Ericka hoped it wasn’t true, “Are you two dating or something?”

Shaun laughed hysterically and Jayden shook his head, “No. Shaun is my cousin. Our packs are related. My dad is her dad’s brother.”

“Wait...so Jayden came from England just to protect me?” Ericka chimed in.

“Not just that, but that was the main reason, yes. I have other reasons that my father sent me here, but those aren’t to be discussed.”

“Wait...you have more reasons to be here?” Shaun gasped.

“Your dad didn’t tell you?”

“No, he doesn’t tell me anything. He tells my brother everything since he’s next in line for alpha,” Shaun grew jealous.

Ericka lowered her gaze, “Sorry to bring everything up...can we just keep moving and change the subject?”

“Yeah, what should we talk about?”

‘We are here, children. The twins are right around the corner. You are close to your rooms, so please be safe and be careful. You never know what lurks on this side of the building.’ Gemstone interrupted.

“What are you talking about?” Jayden asked, but Ruby took control.

“If you stay in your rooms tonight, you won’t find out.” Ruby commented and waved down the twins.

“There you guys are! We were worried we lost you guys and you ran into Atlas.” Noelia exclaimed.

The gang exchanged glances with raised brows, “Um...who?” Shaun asked.

Grant’s eyes went wide, “N--no one. My sister is always rambling. She never stops. Anyways, Jayden, here is your room. Ruby and Shaun, this is your room. And Skull and Ericka, your room is here.” Grant pointed. “Please be safe and stay in your rooms tonight.”

“Why is everyone saying that? Gemstone said it too!” Ericka questioned as she threw her arms in the air.

“Well, you know how Vampires and Werewolves usually don’t get along well? There is another species that really doesn’t get along with either of our species.” Noelia explained with a fangy grin.

Skull looked to Ruby, “Why is she so happy about that?” She whispered.

“I have no idea...” Ruby whispered back. “But it sure doesn’t sit with me well.”

“Me either...”

Shaun cleared her throat, “So, can we go into our rooms now, since you scared us to death?”

“I wouldn’t say to death, but still freaked us out a little,” Jayden commented.

“A little? Don’t you mean a lot? I’m a big baby when it comes to scary stuff!” Ericka whined.

Shaun snickered, “She really is, Jay. It’s adorable.”

Grant grunted and Noelia giggled, “You can go into your rooms. If you need us, just howl and we will come running.”

“Werewolves, I swear. Why did dad ever get involved with working with them?” Grant said, making it known he was unenthused with the others playful bickering.

“Grant, be nice! Daddy wants to see us anyway.” Noelia shoved him to leave and she left right behind him. “Sleep tight!”

The others nodded and walked into their rooms. Noelia elbowed Grant in the side, “Ow! What was that for?”

“For being rude. They are our guests. You really need to be nicer, big brother.”

“I am nice! Those fur balls can just get on my nerves sometimes.” Grant grumbled as he and his sister headed back to their dad’s office.

Noelia giggled, “How about all the time, Grant. You get irritated so easily, sometimes it feels like you are one of them.” Grant went silent and he chewed the inside of his cheek. Noelia looked at him, “Are you one of them?”

“N--NO! I’m all vampire!” He covered up and looked straight ahead. Noelia just shrugged as they continued on.

An elderly looking woman slithered out from the walls and stepped in front of them, a sly smile across her shriveled face, “Hello my dear younglings. What brings you on this side of the home?” she spoke sweetly and innocently.

Noelia squinted her eyes, “Atlas. Why do you insist on wearing that disguise anyway? Not a single person here knows who or what you are, besides us and our dad.”

Smoke appeared around the woman and engulfed her. When it dissolved, the woman was much younger and astonishing. She pulled her dark hair back and flashed her white eyes towards the twins, “Doesn’t matter, blood sucker. There is no harm in taking too much caution. Now, has your dad spoken to you about the other necklaces? Does he know where they are located?”

“No, we haven’t spoken to him about any of that. We were too busy tracking down Ericka for the first one.” Grant snarled.

“Once you find where the others are located, let me know. We need to find those sooner rather than later. Your uncle is more powerful than we all thought.”

“Who else knows of our uncle?” Noelia asked.

Atlas shook her head, “That doesn’t matter now. Just go see your father.”

“We were headed that way until you stopped us.” Grant rolled his eyes and bared his teeth.

Noelia gave him a strange, yet concerned look, “Grant, since when are you so angsty? You’re supposed to be the calm and collected twin. I’m supposed to be the temperamental twin. What has gotten into you, big brother?”

Atlas stared between the vampire twins and sighed, dissolving into thin air. The twins were too busy with each other to notice the Mother of Witches gone.

Grant growled, “Can we just find dad and talk to him?”

“Fine, but I will get to the bottom of why you are acting so strange. Almost like one of those fur balls we have to be nice to.” Noelia glared at her brother and walked back where they had come, heading towards the east wing of their home.

Grant had felt rumbling inside of him for a while, but he had always just shoved it down. It wasn’t like a vampire rumble, when he was gaining strength from accumulating a human’s blood. No, it was as if something was inside of him, wanting to force its way out to show the world what he really was. He needed to talk to someone who knew what he was going through. Someone who he felt a strange connection to, and when he saw them he felt a burning sensation on his chest. “Noel, you go ahead and talk to dad. I need to get some air. I’ll talk to dad later.”

Noelia just stared at her twin, “You haven’t called me that since we were kids. What’s wrong?” Her voice sounded sincere, but her face said otherwise.

Grant sighed, “I’ll explain later, okay?”

“A--alright. Just be safe, okay?”

Grant nodded with an innocent smirk, “I will, Noel. Promise.” He turned on his heel and went back towards the west wing. He really needed to speak to her, otherwise he was going to go berserk. He got back to where he had left the fur balls and knocked on one of their doors. His heart raced and it felt like it was going to burst in his chest. Someone answered the door and he looked down to them, with a nervous smile across his face. “Hey, Shaun...can we talk?”

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