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.

we have to put

We carefully put Teddy in his bag, and once he was

we were fully dressed, I did a quick scan of the house. It seemed like I had remembered everything we needed. I

my arms and held him close.

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

further.

him out of the house and

made sure we

fear.

way there, Finnick let out a soft

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

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

go?” he pressed.

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

total lie. Asher Collins wasn’t a good

had done to

the question I know

he said firmly. “I’m not afraid. Let’s

sweetheart,” I said quickly as he tried to wiggle in my arms. “Not

held my son closer to my chest, and Finnick

a short interval just before midnight when there would be no guards

away.

quickened my pace and kept walking.

there were no guards. around. I let

we made it a good way in, I set Finnick down and reached into my pack. I’d brought a flashlight, a compass, and a knife with me. Retrieved them all, and after I put the knife in my

light to check the compass. I wasn’t 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

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 use a knife when I was a girl, but I’d never had to use

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 couldn’t let the nightmares of Anemond come back to me, not again, and I wouldn’t

walk through

the two of us were too afraid to speak. We continued on for an hour in complete silence, carefully maneuvering through the sp ikey trees