Chapter 157

Chapter 157
Allie:

“Green?!” I shouted over the blare of the siren. The gym had stopped when the blast commenced, and then all at once it broke out in a bustle of commotion as people ran off to their battle positions. 

“Allie!” He called to me. Connor grabbed my arm, dragging me over to Green. The usually kind and jovial face was replaced by a hard set jaw and focused eyes. 

“Take her to the bunker-“

“Bunker?”

“Don’t let her leave until they retreat,” he grabbed me and placed a kiss on my cheek as he, Jeremy, and Blue all headed out of the gym. 

Connor kept his grip on me, Lalley taking the other arm as I attempted to follow after him. He couldn’t just leave like this. 

“Green!” I called to him, but all I got was a pained look as he kept marching away to fight. To fight. 

The worst images filled my head as I thought of him coming back to me, hanging on by a thread. Covered in blood, deep wounds, ragged breath. Leaving me to deal with all of this on my own. No great future for us anymore, only hollow, deep dark nights that would swallow me whole in the end. 

“GREEN!” I screamed, yanking my arms free from Connor and Lalley. I ran after him, launching myself into his arms. “You come back. You come back to me.” I ordered him before giving him a kiss that would keep me sane while I waited. 

He kissed me back hand on my cheek with his hand, and I memorized the taste of his lips, the feel of his breath on my face, and the calloused hands that were soft. All of this would return to me tonight, I willed it to happen. 

“Go,” I told him, breaking away, turning back to Connor and Lalley as they escorted me to the pack house. 

Though they wanted to take me on a more direct route, I made sure that we stopped by the clinic, and Jess ran out to me. 

“You’re okay, oh, thank God! All right, where are they? Wait, wait, what-what are you doing?” She asked, looking over my shoulder at the two guards who now decide my fate for me. 

“The Luna has to go to a bunker, for the mothers and children,” Lalley told her. 

“Come on, let’s go,” I grabbed my sister, but she didn’t budge. 

“Allie. I’m helping in the clinic,” she took her hand back. 

“Jess,” Charlie called to her beyond us. 

“What do you mean? No. Come with me. You should be with me,” I argued with her, only out of selfishness alone. My sister was doing the right thing, she was being helpful. Meanwhile, I was going down to a bunker for whatever reason. 

I hated the thought of being shut away while everybody else that I loved, that I cared about, we’re out here, risking their lives and helping others, and I was just supposed to go down to some bunker and wait it out? 

“I’ll stay with you,” I told her. I didn’t have as much training as she did, but I knew enough, basically, how to bandage people.

“No, you will not,” Connor forbade it. I turned to look at him, and his expression was the same one he had back at the gym. I wasn’t going to get my way in this.

“It is your duty to go downstairs,” Lalley grabbed my arm. 

“Jess. I’m sorry to interrupt what I’m sure is a very heartfelt goodbye, but I have one of my own that I need to make,” Charlie told us. 

Jess turned to look at him, and Lalley and Connor took the opportunity to start leading me away. All I could see was a quick brush of lips as he turned and walked out the door, two swords strapped to his back. 

“This isn’t right!” I barked at them as they led me downstairs. 

I had never seen the stairwell before or the hallway that they dragged me down. I never saw that either, all of this was like some secret conspiracy to keep me tucked away inside. I was furious at the moment, but I couldn’t be furious because Green was out there fighting, which only made me angrier. 

They took me down another hallway behind a wall, an actual hidden entrance. This hallway was different from anything else in the pack house, with steel-plated walls and cement floors. None of the finery or hominess that the rest of the building exuded. 

“Luna, I do understand that you are upset, but the alpha will not be able to protect you out there. He needs to focus on everybody else, so you must stay here. It is our duty to keep you and everybody else safe,” she told me. 

The door to a safe opened, and inside, sitting on dozens of bunkbeds with shelves of rations and water and bandages, there were children, dozens and dozens of children with mothers who were expecting, sitting there holding their hands, crying their eyes out because mom and dad were upstairs fighting. 

Fine, if I couldn’t go out and help out there, I would at least help in here. 

“The Luna!” one girl whispered. 

“It’s all right, everybody. This is what they’ve trained for. We’re going to stay here and wait it out. I don’t want anybody to worry,” I told them, and the murmurs followed around the room. The children seemed calm by my statement, but the women who were waiting to see if their husbands would come back were less enthused. 

“Is there any form of entertainment down here?” I asked Lalley. 

“No. Just the essentials,” she said, looking around at the dozen bored faces that needed something to distract them from what was going on outside. 

“Can we get entertainment?” I looked at the kids, many of whom were still sniffling at the thought of never seeing their parents again. 

My mind went back to my mate, who was out there, no doubt already in the thick of battle, and Jess, who was cleaning up after everybody.  

“Do you guys like stories?” I asked, and many kids perked up and came closer. “When I was a kid, one of my favorite stories was Peter Pan. Do you guys know that one?” 

I looked around and saw their curious faces and sat down, some of them coming close. I told them about Wendy in the nursery, flying high off to Neverland and the scary Captain Hook. How Peter saves her…

I don’t know if it was for them or me. About halfway through, I realized how similar it felt to what was going on outside. If I knew anything about what was going on outside. I didn’t know what the coven was doing or thinking. My stupid vision had said this wouldn’t happen, and yet here we were. I couldn’t understand why. I couldn’t come up with a reason. 

We stayed there for hours, children falling asleep to my stories or running off to play games. I found myself in one of the bunks, resting my head. My eyes refused to stay open, to stay alert so I could wait for news of him. Instead, the traitorous lids sealed shut, and I drifted off.