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

carefully put Teddy in his bag, and once he was secure it

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

scooped Finnick into my arms and held

I wrapped my jacket around him to

further.

the house and into

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

fear.

way there, Finnick let out a soft sound of worry.

the forest, Mommy?” he

said. “I’m so sorry we have to go there, I know you

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

I decided. “The man we saw today. He’s very bad and very dangerous. So we have to go somewhere

Collins wasn’t a good man,

done to me.

him the question I know he didn’t want

Let’s leave.

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

to

fine on foot, but there was a short interval just before midnight when there would be no guards around. This window was

away.

my pace

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

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

needed to rely on the flashlight to see. I used the 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

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

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

we began our walk through the forest.

two of us were too afraid to speak. We continued on for an