(About 90 minutes earlier)(Cassie POV)Could I be pregnant? Surely not. But...maybe?Aaron and I have definitely enjoyed each other the last few months. And apparently, thanks to Granny Apple, that has been unprotected enjoyment. Now that I think about it, the signs have all been there. Mood swings; things tasting weird; heightened sex drive.But I would know if I was pregnant, wouldn’t I? Missy would know? “I have a lot of talents, Cassie, but pregnancy detection is not one of them,” Missy speaks up.Paige, Megan, and Josephine are all watching and staring at me. “Sweetheart, it would make sense…” Josephine starts to say.“Maybe we should buy you a test on the way back to Blue Moon…” Paige suggests.“No!” I protest. “We are surrounded by guards from multiple packs, and they are just as bad at gossiping as anyone else. If we stop for a pregnancy test on the way home, Aaron and my parents will have heard about it before we even walk back through the door. I need to be sure
(Aaron POV)I punch my fist into a wall in my office, creating a large hole. “THREE DAYS! IT HAS BEEN THREE F----ING DAYS!!!!”No one says anything. What can they say? We are all feeling the pressure and reality of the situation.I felt like my life came to a halt the moment that Maggie called me and told me that Cassie had been kidnapped, along with Paige and a baby. It was only after we had Maggie picked up and brought back to Blue Moon that we discovered that the baby was her nephew… and a possible werewolf.We immediately turned Blue Moon’s large conference room into a war room, and there has been a flurry of activity in and out of it ever since. Most of the alpha and beta wolves that attended the bachelor party were retired, and they immediately dropped everything and came to help us with the search. Given that Alpha Mike is Cassie’s brother-in-law and an important ally, he also came to help, leaving his beta in charge of White Howlers. Of course, Cassie’s parents and Alb
(Three Days Earlier) (Cassie POV) I notice the kidnapper pull down her hood and turn herself to look at Paige. Paige gasps. “Shelly?????????” Shelly? Who is Shelly? “Miss me?” Shelly taunts. I glance at Paige in the rear-view mirror. She looks both pale and confused. Shelly waves her gun in my face, basically using it as a pointer. “Get on the interstate. I’ll tell you when to pull over. We have a car waiting for us in about 20 miles.” “Shelly, why are you here? What is going on?” Paige asks. “I thought it was finally time for you to have some one-on-one time with your beloved stalker.” “What? You…. You are the stalker?” Shelly gives us an evil smile. “Who else would it be?” “But… why?” “Oh, little sister, have you really not figured it out yet? Goddess you are naïve. I thought for sure you would have grown up and gotten a little smarter by now.” Shelly starts digging in one of the pockets in her hoodie. She pulls out two silver bracelets and hands one to each
(Paige POV)It has now been hours since Shelly turned out the lights and went to bed, leaving Cassie and I handcuffed to chairs. Neither of us have been able to sleep, nor do I think either of us want to.Occasionally, I can feel Cassie’s eyes on me. I cannot bring myself to look back at her. Nor can I bring myself to speak. It is my fault that we are in this situation. Not only was it my stupid idea to ditch the guards, but it was also my stalker… my sister… who kidnapped us. At this point, other than the overwhelming guilt, I do not feel much else. I am not scared and I am not worried. I am just… numb.I spent the entire time in the trunk of the sedan trying to figure out what clues or signs I had missed. I must be just as naïve as my sister says that I am, because I have not been able to come up with anything. Shelly is my older sister. Like the rest of my family, she abandoned me after the Peter-Bailey situation came to light. However, we were pretty close growing up,
(Jason POV) As promised, Alpha Paul arrived at the packhouse within three hours. Aaron, Blake, my dad, Alpha Mike, and I all met with him in Aaron’s office. Alpha Paul wasted very little time with pleasantries. He asked us to tell him what we had learned about the kidnapping so far. It may seem odd that we were willing to share our intel with him, but we had discussed it before Alpha Paul arrived. Alpha Paul had a good reputation in the werewolf community, with many trusted and common allies. And —most importantly— we were desperate and running out of options. Once we told Alpha Paul the basics of what had happened and what we knew, he told us the story of the Moonlight Six. He admitted that the story he had pieced together had some inconsistencies and some holes, but he believed that the rough outline was generally correct. According to Alpha Paul, ten years ago, a group of she-wolves attended a summer camp together. They were all assigned to the same cabin for the summer,
(Aaron POV)Jason was the first one to verbalize that we needed to talk to Granny Apple again, but he was not the first one to think it. The problem was that Granny Apple was barely functioning right now, and I was not sure whether she would be able to give us any useful information. However, at this point, I don’t care whether Granny Apple is functioning or not. I don’t even care if she is able to put full sentences together. It has been three days —THREE F---ING DAYS— and we cannot leave any stone unturned. My office is large, but it is too small to accommodate any additional people. I mind-link one of my guards to ask Granny Apple and Albert to meet us in the small conference room. I then invite everyone, including Alpha Paul, to follow us in there.Once everyone is settled in the small conference room, I invite Jason to take the lead.“Granny Apple,” Jason begins, “there are a few things that have been bothering me. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?”“Go ahead,”
(Alpha Paul POV)As we await word from Alpha Aaron’s team about whether they will be able to locate and bring in Synthia Robles and her son, Bobby, my mind races.I have studied the Moonlight Six for months. I have made it my personal mission to find out everything that there is to know about the who, what, when, where, and why of their lives. Many of the things that I have learned about them have been upsetting, disgusting, alarming, and nauseating.I did not think that anything about them could surprise me anymore. And yet, when Granny Apple said that Shelly was dating a wolf named Bobby, I was shocked.“Bobby” is a common name, so of course I know that it is possible that Shelly is dating a different “Bobby” than the one who inspired the Moonlight Six. However, I learned early on in my research that there is no such thing as a coincidence when it comes to the Moonlight Six. I have also learned to trust my gut, and my gut and my wolf are both convinced that Shelly’s Bobby is th
(Cassie POV) We have now reached Day 4 of our kidnapping. I am still clinging to hope that Aaron will be able to find and rescue us, but that hope is quickly diminishing. Part of that is because Shelly seems more and more unhinged every day. She keeps talking about some random “Bobby” and company that she expects to be coming. At this point, I seriously wonder whether Bobby and this company she keeps referring to are pure figments of her imagination. I do not know at what point she will snap and do one of the crazy things she keeps talking about. At least she keeps giving us small amounts of food and water.... although we cannot be sure how long that will continue. Paige and I have still barely spoken to one another; we are terrified that Shelly will use something we say against us, or as provocation to act out some random fantasy that she has. Even without talking, though, I know that Paige and I have the same thought: we have to do whatever it takes to get out of here.