Alpha King’s Lost Luna by Aubrey Pepper

Chapter 9 Attack

CA SSANDRA

When I entered my son’s room, I half-expected him to be awake, but he was

fast asleep.

He had his arms wrapped around his favorite teddy bear, Teddy, and for a moment, I didn’t want to wake him up. He seemed so peaceful, and I was about to put him through so much stress.

But not as much as I would be if we went to Anemond.

So, I leaned down and gently touched his arm.

“Finnick,” I whispered, and when he didn’t rouse, I said his name again. After a moment, his nose crinkled and his eyes blinked open.

“Mommy?” he said, and he yawned lightly.

“Sorry to wake you, baby,” I said, and I gave him my most apologetic smile. “We have to go.”

“Go?” he repeated back in a confused voice. “Go where?”

“I’ll tell you on the way there,” I explained. “For now, we just need to get ready,

okay?”

Finnick nodded, though his gray eyes were concerned. I pulled the covers aside and helped him down. We walked over to the closet, and we got him dressed.

After I zipped up his jacket, I picked out a couple of fresh sets of clothes and packed them in a small backpack.

“Put this on,” I instructed him.

“Can Teddy come?” he asked hopefully, and he glanced over at the stuffed bear he’d left on the bed. I studied the toy carefully. We were running low on room, but Teddy was his favorite toy. I couldn’t ask him to leave it behind when I was already asking so much of him.

to put him in your backpack, okay?”

his bag, and once he was secure it was

and after we were fully dressed, I did a quick scan of the house. It seemed like I had remembered everything we needed. I glanced at the clock. It was

into my arms and held him

tight, baby,” I said, and I wrapped my jacket around him to

further.

him out of the house and into the

our way. I glanced around and made sure we were alone. Luckily, everyone else seemed to be asleep. I held

fear.

there, Finnick let out a soft sound

to the forest, Mommy?” he asked, and his tone was

“I’m so sorry we have to go there, I know you don’t like it. But I need you to

we have to go?” he pressed. I considered my

were right before,” I decided. “The man we saw today. He’s very bad and very dangerous. So we have to

Asher Collins wasn’t a good man,

he had done to me.

reply, I asked him the question I know

firmly. “I’m not afraid. Let’s leave. I’ll protect you. I

in my arms. “Not before we pass the sentinels. Just stay here

closer to my chest, and

It was for the best. Finnick would have been fine on foot, but there was a short interval just before midnight when there would

away.

pace

made it there, and to my delight, there were no guards. around. I let out a sigh

a compass, and a knife with me. Retrieved

an expert navigator, but I knew enough to get us through. We needed to avoid the forbidden section of the forest, so I had to find us a shortcut that would get us out of Wegalla, If I timed things. correctly, we could be on the other side of the forest by the morning.

meantime, I needed to take every precaution to keep us safe. Now that I couldn’t shift, I needed to keep my wits about me and keep us from making too many sounds or running into any predators.. Luckily for us, my father had taught me how to

This was his first time entering the forest, and I could tell he was scared because his palms were wet. I felt pangs of guilt go. through me. Putting Finnick in this much danger wasn’t fair, but I had no other choice. I

we began our walk through the

for an hour in complete silence, carefully maneuvering through the sp