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.

“But we have to put him

agreed. We carefully put Teddy in his bag, and once he was secure it was time for shoes.

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

scooped Finnick into my arms

wrapped my jacket around

further.

the house and into

out to light our way. I glanced around and made sure we were alone. Luckily,

fear.

there, Finnick let out a soft sound

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

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

have to go?” he

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

lie. Asher Collins wasn’t a good

had done

the question I know he

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

he tried to wiggle in my arms. “Not before

closer to my chest, and

said simply, and he fell silent. It was for the best. Finnick would have been fine on foot, but there was a short interval just before midnight when

away.

my pace and kept

after, we made it there, and to my delight, there were no guards. around. I

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,

pitch-black around us, so we 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 of the forest

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 use a knife when I was a girl, but I’d

through me. Putting Finnick in this much danger wasn’t fair, but I had no

walk through

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