Chapter 6

Luna Kate POV:

The three of us follow Belle’s lead. Argon stays back from us and is acting strange, but at least he is staying away from Belle and me. Jason seems to notice and keeps looking back, watching Argon. “I do not trust him at all,” Belle says. She is not talking to me. She is telling Jason that she does not trust Argon. Now I know he is not to be trusted.

“Why did Alpha Erick want me to bring Argon?” I ask Jason. Jason looks down at Belle. She keeps looking back at Argon. I trust her instinct more than anyone, more than my own feelings and instincts. She can see things in people that even I cannot see.

“He wanted another wolf watching over you and Belle. My instructions are if something happens, I am to get you and Belle to safety. Argon is to fight,” Jason says. I can see that even he is worried about that scenario.

Something tells me that Argon would hang me himself and take off with my child. I do not see him protecting us. I do not trust his sob story one bit. “I do not think Argon would go out of his way to protect Belle or me. I am not sure how he convinced my husband that he would protect us, but I think he is a liar,” I snap at Jason.

“He would not help us, but that is not why he wanted to come. I can see the darkness in him, and it is scary. I cannot read his thoughts, but I can see the darkness in him,” Belle says. Argon must realize that we are talking about him. He speeds up and gets closer to us.

“Are you guys ready to shift into our wolf or are we going to walk the entire way?” he asks. For someone who did not want to shift into a wolf and run any part of this, not he is anxious to shift.

Belle ignores him. “Maybe we should shift so we can get there sooner,” Jason says.

“And miss all this beauty. This is magical. I will never see anything like this again in my life. Let me enjoy it please,” I answer, holding my hands out. The forest is unlike anything I have ever and probably will ever see again. I should not think that considering all the fantastic things I have seen in my life, but the multicolored forest will probably take the cake.

“Only imperials can see it this way; to everyone else, it is just a forest,” Jason says.

Well, that is interesting. “We will shift soon, Jason,” Belle says. She did not respond to Argon, but she did Jason.

I point to a purple tree with orange leaves. “Hey, Argon, what do you think about that blue tree? Have you ever seen anything like it?” I ask him. He looks at the purple and orange tree.

“It is amazing,” he says. I raise my eyebrows at Jason.

“Someone is a liar. Is it you or him or both?” I ask Jason.

“I know that tree is not blue, and I know that I am here to protect you and Belle on the orders of my Alpha. Luna Kate, I will protect you and Belle even if you do not trust me,” Jason says.

“Very well, we will see what happens,” I say.

“We can trust him,” Belle says. I know Belle thinks we can, but something is off; there is just something that pushes me to be very afraid of him. I hope I am wrong. Argon, however, Alpha Erick was wrong about him. He is going to try something. We have to be ready for whatever it is and when it happens.

Jason and Belle begin to walk in front of me just a little, and Argon seems to be catching up to me. I am not sure why Belle is taking Jason and walking ahead of me, but I know there is a reason. I try to link to her to listen to what she is saying to him, but she is blocking me from her mind. She knows that upsets me, but I have to trust her reasoning. Maybe she does not want Argon to hear what she says to Jason. Whatever it is, someone will spill it to me later.

“Where are they going?” Argon asks me when he finally gets up beside me.

“I guess they are just walking,” I answer. I lie. I know that is not what they are doing. If they were just walking, then we would all be walking together.

“It seems like we have been walking forever,” Argon says.

“Yes, well, I am sure we are getting close to her,” I say.

Argon stops. “How do you know?” he asks me.

“I do not know anything. I only know that we are going in the right direction, unlike the direction you were trying to get us to go,” I say.

Argon touches my shoulder. I pull away from him. “I was not the one that set the GPS,” Argon says. He is correct; he was not the one that set the GPS or said he knew where we were going. He only started acting strangely later. Is someone interfering with this journey? Who? Rainwater?

I rush toward Belle and Jason. I take Belle’s hand and pull her ahead of Jason, leaving Jason and Argon behind. “What were you and Jason talking about? I could not hear you. You blocked me out, Belle,” I interrogate her.

Belle does not like it when I or anyone interferes with her way of doing things, but sometimes I have to remind her that she is still a child. I have to remember that this child can do a lot more than other children, and we must maintain some sort of control over her.

“I was asking about the Weeping Wolf and Argon. That is all. I told him I did not trust Argon, and he said he did not either, but I do not know mommy; I am not sure about either of them. They are both hiding something,” Belle says.

I look back over my shoulder and see the two of them talking—Belle tugs on my hand. “We need to shift now,” Belle says.

I let Belle shift first, and then I shift into my wolf. She is still so small as a wolf. She leaps onto my back, and I run as fast as I can with her guiding me toward the Weeping Wolf. Our minds are linked as we run, and she tells me ahead of time what is coming and where to turn. The Weeping Wolf is telling her what to say.

Argon and Jason are running behind us. Neither dares to run too close to us. Belle will probably have a come apart if Argon gets close to her again. “STOP!” Belle yells. I stop running. Argon and Jason stop too.

She jumps down off of my back and runs toward another thick line of trees. This time she goes under the thick trees. “BELLE!” I yell for her.

“I am okay,” she says. I try to find a way into the line of trees. I start to panic when a part of the tree line parts and lets us come through to the other side of the thicket.

On the other side of the thicket is a small cabin. It almost glows. We shift into our human form and stand outside the cabin. I walk toward the door, but there is no way to open the door. I move over to a window, and there is Belle with the elder wolf. The elder wolf has her back to me, and Belle is listening to her with great interest.