Chapter 5

Luna Kate POV:

Argon turns down off the main road onto a small dirt road. The road is rough, and it seems to go straight into the woods. Going to see the Weeping Wolf cannot be this easy, or anyone could find her. I feel there is a lot more to this than just pulling up in her driveway. I know there is a journey coming, and I am at the point of doing it alone because the two wolves in the SUV are making me very nervous for my daughter and me. I wish I could read their minds and see their intentions. If they were true Imperial wolves, I could see into their mind. Something is off.

Argon looks at me, and I can feel my stomach sinking. I feel as if I will be sick and like maybe Belle and I should have come alone. The only problem is the spiritual realm did not give me direction. I was told to come here by the realm, but with no explanation about how or why. At least I know why now, and I have to depend on these two for how to get there. I do not like it one bit. I have to believe that if the Weeping Wolf saved so many children that she would not put Belle in danger.

Belle, being Belle senses my uneasiness and unbuckled her seat belt. She climbs between the two front seats and into my lap. She lays her head on me and snuggles with me. “Are you okay?” I ask her.

“I am, we are almost there, and I want to be close to you,” Belle says. She does not want to be close to me, but she knows I want to be close to her. She is here for me. She is such a special child.

“That is sweet,” Argon says. Belle does not acknowledge him at all. I have never seen Belle just ignore someone, but she refuses to even look at him. She only looks at me. I know she senses something about him. I have to get her alone so we can discuss it.

“We are almost there,” she whispers to me. She sits up and looks out the front windshield of the SUV. She looks around, observing everything.

“Are you sure?” I ask her. I look at the GPS, and it says another two hours.

“Yes, we need to stop and shift into our wolf. We will have to run to her. We cannot drive to where she is at, mommy,” Belle says.

“We can drive it; we do not have to shift and run. It will slow us down to run with a child,” Argon says.

“We have to run,” Belle says again. She pulls on the door, but it is locked. She is frantic and wants out of the car. I unlock the door, and Argon locks it back.

Argon reaches over and touches Belle. She pulls away from him and looks at me. “Do not let him touch me,” she says. I knew there was something off with him. He pulls away from her and looks at me.

“She does not want you touching her; respect that. Stop and let us out now,” I say.

“I am sorry, but I do not think we have to shift and run. We can drive all the way there. I know where we are going, trust me,” Argon says sternly.

“As your Luna, stop. We will shift and run. You can do whatever you want, but Belle and I will be shifting and running,” I demand. Argon acts as if he does not want to stop. Jason reaches up into the front and touches Argon on the shoulder.

“Your Luna said to stop the car, now stop. We will shift and run the rest of the way,” Jason says.

Argon pulls over, and we get out. I take Belle by the hand, and we start walking toward the tree line. “It is this way,” Argon says. Argon and Jason are walking to the left of where we parked.

“No, she is calling to me. It is this way,” Belle says.

“You should listen to the adults. You are just a child,” Argon snaps at Belle. I step in front of Belle.

“Why don’t you stay here and wait with the SUV? It is obvious you do not need to go with us,” I say.

Jason steps in between Argon and me. “Keep him in check or stay the hell away from us, both of you,” I say. I take Belle by the hand, and we begin to walk toward the tree line.

“We do not have to shift yet, but we will soon. Can we walk for a while?” Belle asks.

“We will get there sooner if we shift and run. Is there some reason you are worried about going to the Weeping Wolf?” I ask her. She looks back at Jason and Argon. Argon is making her nervous.

“I do not trust him. He wants something from the Weeping Wolf, but I cannot see what it is. He is hiding it from me,” she says. She is looking at them as they walk toward us. She pulls my hand and wants to walk in front of them.

“Which one?” I ask her. We are walking a little ahead of them but not enough for her liking. She is pulling me to walk faster, and they both are walking faster to catch up with us.

“Argon, I cannot see inside his mind. I think he is lying about the Weeping Wolf and his life with her. I do not think he is one of us,” Belle says.

“Could the two of you give Belle some space? She is nervous about meeting the Weeping Wolf and wants to take her time,” I holler to the two wolves behind us.

“Yes, Luna,” Jason says. Belle looks back at Jason and smiles at him.

The two back off, giving Belle some space. She seems to breathe easier with Argon further behind her. She looks back every now and then to make sure he is not close to her. I want to know why he makes her so nervous.

We walk right up to a thick part of the woods. “I told you this is not the way,” Argon says.

Belle walks along the thick rows of trees. The trees intertwined with one another. There is no way to get through the trees. “We cannot climb it either. We should have gone around all of this, but no one would listen to me,” Argon says. His attitude is steadily getting worse.

Belle ignores Argon. She walks the thick trees while Argon throws a tantrum like a child. Jason comes close to observe Belle. “What is she doing?” Jason asks.

“She is being Belle,” I answer him. I roll my eyes at Jason. He has been around Belle enough to know she can do anything she sets her mind to, and he should know that without question.

We stand back, giving her room to work, while Argon continues taunting her and going on and on about how much time we have wasted. I want to smack him around and make him shut up, but when Belle figures this out, it will be all the vindication I need.

“Found it,” Belle exclaims. She pushes a small patch of the tree, and it opens into the forest. Argon immediately shuts up and joins us as we go through the tree line into the most beautiful forest I have ever seen in my life. The forest is glowing and multicolored. It is unreal. It cannot be real.

“It is like a fairytale or something magical,” I say.

“The Weeping Wolf takes care of everything here. She maintains the forest and everything in it,” Jason says.

Looking around at the trees and the thicket we just made our way through, I realize the Weeping Wolf is not just a wolf. She is a witch, just like my mother. There is no other explanation for the beauty that I am seeing. She created this for the children.