Chapter 75 - A Prophecy

Lunaya.

“You fucking traitor!” Gunner screamed at the top of his lungs while glaring at Cole. Where did that come from?

“Gunner!” Lupus bellowed. Gunner snapped his head to his father and his face fell. A look of confusion and hurt came over him and he stopped shaking the bars.

“Dad?” Gunner said softly,

“What did you do, son?” Lupus asked him firmly,

“I... I didn’t do anything. What’s happening? You're with Cole?” Gunner mumbled, moving his eyes from his father to Cole and back again.

“Gunner, what do you remember?” Cole asked stepping closer to the cell door. Gunner growled and threw his arms through the gap in the bars and tried to swipe at Cole. When he missed, he grabbed the vertical bars and shook the door with all his might.

“Don’t you fucking speak to me you filthy fucking traitor! I'll kill you for this you bastard” Gunner roared. I am completely lost now. What is it that Cole has done? Either way my patience was starting to run thin.

“Gunner! Enough!” Lupus yelled,

“How could you, my own father! How could you side with him?” he half yelled half sobbed.

“Son, I don’t know what it is you think he has done, but I'm still on your side” Lupus replied calmly.

“He locked me in this fucking cell so he could take over the pack, that’s what. You've been the traitor the whole time, haven’t you?”

“Gunner what the fuck are you talking about?” Lupus aske exasperatedly.

“He’s the one that’s been working with Origin Wolf. He betrayed me, he betrayed this pack. And all for what? So that he could take over” Gunner hissed back with venom dripping from his words. Lupus looked at Cole for an answer, but Cole didn’t give him one. He dropped his head and his shoulders fell. Oh no. Cole said he did something bad, did he really betray his Alpha, his pack?

“You aren’t even going to deny it” Gunner grunted.

“Gunner, I...” Cole began,

“Don’t bother” snapped Gunner.

“Is it true?” Lupus asked, turning his full body to face Cole.

“No. Not all of it” Cole answered meekly,

“Explain” rumbled Lupus.

“The Alpha from Origin Wolf called the pack house about three weeks after the battle. I was still reeling from Dad’s death and I was angry, you know that. He asked if the rumour was true, if we had the Triple Goddess. I wasn’t thinking, I was just so damn mad. I didn’t mean to tell him, it just slipped out” Cole spoke very quickly,

“You told Origin Wolf she was here?” Lupus repeated back to him,

“Not intentionally. I swear it, I didn’t mean to. I didn’t think they would come here and demand to see her. I promise I haven’t had any other contact with them, not since that one phone call. I swear on my father's grave” Cole rushed out.

“Your father’s grave!” Lupus bellowed. He stepped up to Cole and wrapped his large hand around Cole’s neck. I rushed over to them and tried to pull Lupus’s hand away, but he didn’t even register my presence.

“Your father would be rolling in his grave if he knew what you had done! You betrayed her. You betrayed this pack!” Lupus screamed as he lifted Cole off the ground.

“I didn’t mean to” Cole spluttered.

“Lupus! Let him go” I ordered, but he ignored me. I looked to Elaine for help, but she stood with her arms crossed, watching the show with keen interest. Gunner was growling and shaking the bars once again. The whole lot of them were going crazy, and none of this shit is going to help find my daughter.

“LUPUS!” I roared. I finally caught his attention, and he turned his murderous gaze to me.

“We have more pressing matters right now, remember?” I growled and pulled at his hand once more. Lupus growled at me and then turned and pulled Cole close to his face and growled again.

“We will talk about this more later. In the meantime, she’s right. We have more important things to worry about”. Lupus threw Cole away from him and slowly turned back around to face his son. I could feel his anger rolling off him. This subject is definitely not over with yet. Cole got back to his feet and rubbed at his throat.

“Are you okay?” I asked him as I helped him to his feet, he shoved me off and huffed,

“I’m fine” he ground out.

“Gunner” Lupus snapped to get Gunner’s attention off Cole and back on him,

“Gunner, what do you remember from the beach?” Lupus asked him.

“The beach, why are you asking me about the beach?” Gunner muttered with deep frown lines running across his forehead.

“Answer the damn question” Lupus growled. He has definitely lost his patience now.

“I uh... I don’t know. I was in the water with Smith and Nat, but I couldn’t stop thinking about Zelena. I wanted to be with her, so I went back to the shore. After that it’s kinda blank” He was looking down as he spoke, recounting the memory in his mind. But as he finished talking, he looked up and around the space that we were all standing. He was looking for her.

“Where is she, what did you do with her?” he asked, concern and urgency filtered through his words.

“That’s it, that’s all you remember?” Cole asked him, Gunner snarled at Cole but nodded his head in response.

“Son, she isn’t here. She's gone” Lupus said, cutting right to the point. Gunner reared back and his eyes went wide.

“Gone? Gone where? Tell me what the fuck is going on, what has you gotten you all so fucking spooked?” he demanded and wrapped his fingers around the bars of the cell.

“You happened, you attacked her. You tried to tear her fucking throat open!” Cole burst out. His own anger was now shining through. I knew he cared about her.

“Liar” Gunner hissed.

“You want to hate me for taking a phone call, well at least I didn’t try to kill her” Cole growled,

“Stop it” Gunner spat,

“You don’t fucking believe me? See for yourself” Cole snapped back. He closed his eyes and then Gunner’s eyes went blank. They were flashing, which means Smith has already shown Cole everything that he saw at the beach. After a few seconds, Gunner’s body began to shake. He stumbled on his feet, blinking his eyes rapidly and then dropped to the ground.

“No. No I couldn’t. I wouldn’t” he mumbled to himself while shaking his head.

“What happened Alpha Gunner? Why did you do it?” I asked, stepping up to the cell door.

“I... I don’t know, I don’t remember. How could I do this to her. I love her” he mumbled as a few tears rolled down his face.

“Julien! Bring Artemis” Lupus yelled over his shoulder. I heard the door open upstairs and the stomping of feet. Gunner had curled his legs to his chest and had his head resting on his knees. I felt terrible for him. Which was surprising to me. I wanted to kill him earlier, and now I just want to hold him. How could he not remember something like this? There has to be more to it, it’s the only explanation.

“Whether you remember it or not, you did it. Now we need to figure out why” Lupus said with a low grumble.

“I wouldn’t Dad! I would never hurt her, not intentionally” Gunner cried out from his slumped over body on the floor.

“But you still did, didn’t you? We need to know why, and if you can’t fucking remember attacking your own damn Mate, then something else has to be going on” Lupus yelled back. Gunner lifted his head and looked up to his father. His eyes were red and raw, and his cheeks are stained with tears.

“Something else?” Gunner asked softly. No one replied to his question. All of us were now deep in thought. Gunner was damn sure that Cole was a traitor, that he betrayed him. Why did his mind go there if he wasn’t already thinking about it? Could Tri-Moon really have a traitor? And if they did, could whoever it is be responsible for Gunner’s violent behaviour?

I have no idea how long we all stood in silence for. Lupus stood against the wall with his arms crossed and his head down. Cole sat on the bottom step with his head in his hands. Elaine was at my side, also silently thinking. Gunner didn’t move. His arms were wrapped around his legs and his face was buried in his knees. Every so often he would sniffle or curse to himself, but he didn’t move from his spot. The door upstairs opened, and footsteps slowly made their way downstairs. Artemis appeared at the bottom step next to Cole and he moved his eyes around the room. He looked at each of us carefully, before his eyes met mine and he held them there. He lifted one of his large bushy eyebrows, and he looked at me with a knowing look, a look that made me feel extremely uncomfortable.

“Artemis” Lupus said stepping forward.

“Yes?” Artemis replied and finally moved his eyes away from me.

“Something may be wrong with Gunner, can you run some tests?”

“What wrong?” Artemis asked as he peered through the cell bars and down at Gunner. Though I couldn’t help but notice, he didn’t look very concerned or like he cared for the Alpha at all.

“He’s overly aggressive. And has been experiencing memory loss” Lupus replied,

“He is Alpha. Alpha always aggressive" Artemis said with frustration, his eyes once again finding mine.

“This is different. It's excessive” Lupus said trying to recapture his attention. Artemis was staring into my eyes, looking deep inside me. Elaine stepped forward and moved slightly in front of me, blocking his view of me, and growled lowly at the healer.

“Artemis!” Lupus snapped. Artemis turned back to Lupus without a word.

“Can you test him for something?” Lupus growled with annoyance,

“No” Artemis quipped,

“NO?” Lupus repeated. His anger boiled through his words and his chest puffed out as he stood up tall and straight.

“What the fuck do you mean, no?” he rumbled. Artemis didn’t respond he just turned on his heels and went for the stairs. Cole jumped to his feet and blocked the stairwell, keeping Artemis in the small space in front of the cell.

“You’re refusing to serve your Alpha?” Cole growled down at him,

“No” Artemis snapped back and pushed past Cole and went up the stairs. It became apparent that neither Lupus nor Cole was going to follow him, so I did. I rushed up the stairs and ran out the front door. Cleo’s wolf was standing by the door, looking at Artemis. Artemis was about thirty meters into the think of the trees, standing still, just looking out into the forest. It was like he was waiting.

“Artemis, please, we need your help” I said as I jogged over to stand in front of him. He looked at me and once again quirked his eyebrow. His lips twitched like he was going to say something, but he didn’t, and instead pressed them into a firm straight line.

“Please, can you help?” I asked him with a tilt of my head,

“I know your secret” he said ominously. I reared back and stared at the healer. How could he know that? Only those of us that were at the dinner should know. I didn’t think he was in the inner circle of Tri-Moon, privileged to that kind of knowledge. Or maybe... Could Elaine’s assumption be true?

“You’re a Prophet?” I said quietly. His lip twitched and a sly smirk spread across his face. My stomach turned, and in that moment, I knew I needed to be wary of this Were.

“What do you know?” I asked him. He stepped towards me and leaned in closer. His eyes went wide and turned pitch black, and then he spoke in an echoed monotone voice,

“Spawned by the one who gave us breath. Vanished from life but spared from death. The Ethereal one gives she who is promised. To wield the power of the Triple Goddess. Where the moon is three, two will come. Once the seal is made, destiny is done. With one comes death, pain and destruction. The other comes life, love and devotion. Peril will end and the wolf will thrive. But for peace to reign, only one can survive.”

Authors Note

Who or what is Artemis? And what do you think of his ominous prophecy? Do you think you know what's going on?