PACK IN DETENTION

VALERIE "It's over Valerie, We've already crossed their territory!" Zelia informs me gently. I am scared shitless that we have had to cross through the Silverstone Moon Pack's territory. It would have been too tiring for Zelia to run all the way to Riverside Moon Pack's territory, so that is why we are now sitting in a bus crowded with humans. Zelia has informed me that since the bus has other passengers who are all humans, it would be safe for both of us to take it the rest of the way. She also reassured me that my scent would be faint and they may not be able to even identify it because I had left the Pack over six months ago, but to avoid all risks we had to be careful. The bus has now crossed over the Silverstone Moon Pack's territory, and I feel myself relaxing from that knowledge. "Breathe Valerie, breathe!" I whisper to myself. "You really don't want to go back to that Pack, do you?" Zelia asks me with a frown. I shake my head and she gives me a small smile, but it doesn't reach her eyes. She's trying so much to stay calm and collected! I know Evie has been taken by Archie's men and it has been done to get Zelia back, but I can't stop wondering how they were able to cross so many Packs' territories. Zelia is able to smell their scent in every Pack we crossed. I am growing angry that no pack has been able to stop them. I am angry most with the Silverstone Moon Pack's current Alpha for not stopping them. That imbecile! The only thing that I can do right now is to pray that Archie's men don't hurt Evie. I feel useless because was unable to protect her. They had taken her right in front of me and I was unable to even stop them. My old Pack was right...I am a weakling and right now, I can't stop the tears from falling down my cheeks. "Hey, don't worry, everything is going to be fine!" Zelia says, placing her hands on my shoulders in a reassuring manner. "I am so sorry, I feel like a total waste for not being able to save Evie. They took her right in front of me and I did nothing to help," I say in misery, choking on the taste of salt as my tears run into my mouth. "No, it is not your fault. You..." I interrupt her before she continues. "It is my fault since I was there!" I insist. "Yes, you were there, but this was going to happen sooner or later. Both Evie and I knew this day was going to come ever since we ran away from our Pack." "If I was a shifter, I could have done something." I lower my gaze in shame. "But sadly, I'm human." I observe, closing my eyes, wishing to meet my wolf sooner. "That is going to change," She says and smiles assuredly at me. I let out a strangled laugh and ask her, "Do you really still believe that?" "Yes and when you shift, you are going to be one hell of a strong wolf!" Ah, I wish that is the truth but I'm sure she's only saying that to make me feel better! I don't reply and I don't even know what to say to that. These past six months, she has continued to reassure me that I'm going to shift one day. She has been training me every single day, teaching me everything her father had taught her. So instead, I smile and look outside the window. "Only fifteen minutes left," Zelia whispers softly. I am shivering now, and it's quite unlike me. Beside me Zelia is calm, cool and composed. We are in the territory of the Pack she had run away from, and yet she isn't even the least bit scared to return. I think it is because of what she said earlier; she knew this was coming! We alight as soon as the bus stops. Zelia turns to the direction of the woods and she gets ready to shift, but I quickly stop her. "I know I'm only a human who is no match for all those wolves that are there, but Evie is not only my best friend, but also a sister to me and I'm ready to sacrifice my life for her safety," I say and look out at the woods hopelessly. "You won't have to be the sacrifice Valerie, you just have to protect my sister Evie," she says softly and a tear runs down her cheek. I swallowed loudly in worry. I would do anything to protect Evie. Zelia hands her clothes to me and shifts. She runs fast into the woods with me on her back, just like we used to always do. It was always a competition between Zelia and Evie to see who the fastest wolf was. I would always take turns sitting on each of their backs as they ran. I couldn't help but smile at the memory. Zelia and I hide behind a large tree as we watch the house before us cautiously. There are a lot of cars parked out at the front, which means there are so many people inside. I look over the cars and spot two that are very familiar to me. They are the same cars that took Evie, but the third one is missing. Looking further, I spot a house not far from it that has been burnt. There is nothing left of it but a single wall, that is covered in burn marks and is lying on the ground in a crumpled mess. "That bastard burnt my house!" Zelia says loudly as she spots what is left of the other house. We both peer around the tree, looking carefully for any movement, but we see nothing. There are no humans or wolves close by. The place seems deserted. Zelia instructs me to head towards the east, as she goes to the west. She informs me that there's something that she has to find. I make sure to slip behind trees as I walk, keeping myself out of the line of site of the house. But really, who am I trying to fool? These are shifters who we are dealing with. They can sense my presence in a second, and can kill me even faster. I used to try that in my old Pack so as to hide from their pranks, but every time they would still catch me. I notice a small structure not far, in front of me in the forest. It has also been burnt, but all the walls are still intact, just covered in a mass of blackness. The only thing missing is the roof. I have a sneaking suspicion and I know what it is that I am looking at. A closer look confirms my suspicions to what the building is. It is the Pack temple, or what is left of it. I walk closer and upon stepping inside the ruins, I see a collection of burnt corpses, and quickly shut my eyes tight in horror to the site. How could Archie do this? I take a deep breath and open my eyes slowly. I look at the silver statue in the center of the temple and see that what was the image of the Moon Goddess is broken, pieces of it lying scattered on the ground at its feet. A large Warhammer lies among the pieces of silver on the floor. It must have been what had destroyed it. Looking around, I let out an angered sigh. The temple is completely destroyed. Nothing can fix the roof or the burns in the walls, and there is no way the statue would be able to be recovered. How could someone do this to the Moon Goddess's temple? It was here for the Pack to worship and there is nothing left. I feel my limbs begin to tremble with my rage at what has been done to this place of worship. Archie is a truly heartless person if he could do this. I can't look at it any longer so I stride quickly from the temple. I look around the trees and I hear nothing. There is complete silence and I suddenly wonder why there's nobody guarding the Pack lands? I know there should be someone, and it leaves me feeling highly distrustful of the silence. I don't walk very far until I come to another building. It is much smaller than the first house and it is weather worn. I check the door only to find that it is locked. I don't have time, so I ignor it and continue ahead. I hear a child crying from inside the building as I walk past it and I quickly stop. I turn back to it and listen carefully. The voice grows clearer and it is joined by a chorus of voices. Is this where they keep the rest of the Pack as prisoners? The dungeon? Maybe Evie is in there. I remember that I saw the door was locked, so I can't get in that way. I walk around the building until I spot a window. It is covered by a hardwood board that has been screwed securely into place. It looks like it has only been placed here to stop the light from reaching inside. Archie must be a psycho! I find a hard stone and start hitting at the screws, but it isn't doing shit, therefore I go in search of a pointed one and I find it not far from the building. I try again but I get the same result. The board won't bulge. Suddenly a light bulb lights in my mind and I know what would work on the damn board! I run back to the temple and pick up the Warhammer. Damn, this thing is heavy. Somehow I manage to half carry and half drag it back to the dungeon. I go around to the front of the building and tried it on the door, but it doesn't even splinter it. I go around the building and to the window and I try hitting it harder on the wooden board, but still it does nothing, but I keep going. I have to succeed in breaking it if at all I want to save Evie and the rest! I am pretty sure by now, that all of Archie's men are hiding, because I am making enough noise to wake an army from hitting this damn board. There are noises coming from inside the building and I'm sure they are hearing the noise I am creating. I look at the board and see that there still is no sign of any damage. The wood still hasn't even splintered. I feel so weak and pathetic. I can hear Shawn, Jasper and Clark's voices in the back of my head, teasing me for being so weak. Their voices are enough to force my anger to its head. I grit my teeth and throw the hammer high over my shoulder, then slam it down with all my force into the wood. The wood of the board gives a loud creak and a deep crack appears in it where I've hit. I smile. Now I am hopeful. I continue to hit the window with all my energy, again and again...using the anger I feel at the voices inside my head calling me weak. A large hole the size of my head has been created in the wood where I continue to bash with the hammer. I hit it one last time with full force and the screw holding the corner of it breaks loose. Using my hands, I rip back on it and separate it from the window. The glass of the window has been smashed from me breaking through the board and I quickly slide through it into the darkness of the building. I land on all fours and look down in horror. The light from the window behind lights up the floor showing that it is covered in blood. I gulp loudly and slowly stand to my feet, ignoring the blood which is now on my palms. I try looking around, but it is too dark and I only have human vision. Werewolves can see in the dark, but I can't. I can hear noise drawing closer to me. I can sense that there are people inside the darkness and know that they are all shifters. They can clearly see me and probably sense that I am human. "Evie!" I call out at the strangers in the darkness. I get no reply except for a few inaudible murmurs. The murmurs drift off and I can hear my own breathing in the darkness. "Evie!" I try again and this time round, someone speaks. "Who are you?" A woman's voice asks me and she slowly steps out of the darkness into the light of the window. She is beautiful and seems to be the same age as my mother. Her hair is blonde and would have been lovely, but it is a mess now. It is filled with knots and covered in dirt. She is wearing a slim black dress that hugs her body well, but it has been torn in a few places. Dried up blood covers her shoulders and bruise marks have blossomed on her hands. "Luna?" a rough male voice asks worriedly. Is this lady their Luna? That would make her Archie's mother then. A man steps up beside the woman who had first stepped into the light and I look at him. He looks only a few years older than me. He is naked from the waist up. Dried up blood covers his hands and painful looking bruises mark the skin of his face. Slowly, more people came forward into the light. I study them and notice that they all look so weak. I begin to notice a horrible stench that is coming from the room. Only God knows how these people live in here! Everyone stares at me with strict eyes, but no one utters a single word. I look through all the faces carefully, searching for Evie. I see that a few children have been locked up with the adults. I even noticed a woman holding a child close to her chest. He can't be any older than one or two years and he has really cute rosy cheeks, but they are wet with tears. It must have been his crying that I had first heard from outside. Looking at all these people, I have no idea how many of them are here, but there could have been hundreds or more that have been kept in this dungeon as prisoners. The woman, who I believe is their Luna, comes forward and stands close to me. She places her hands on my cheeks in a motherly gesture. It is a touch I've always wanted from my mother. She then starts crying as she holds me. "Run child, you shouldn't be here!" she says softly. This unknown woman just called me child?! Wow! "Evie?" I ask again, looking around the woman and all the people in here. She shakes her head at that and says in worry, "She's not here, please go!" She pleads with me. I'm still not sure.... How can all these people stay here like this? If they fought, they could have freed themselves. The board I've just broken and the door is definitely nothing for wolves. I am still searching all the faces when the man who stepped up beside the Luna speaks. "How do you know Evie?" he asks curiously. I am about to answer him when the front door is slammed open and two large men barge inside. All the people spread out, making way for them as they walk right inside, but the Luna stands in front of me, shielding me. As they come closer, I noticed that one of the men is the one who forced Evie into the car. He was the one wearing that wicked smirk when he saw me. "Move," he says harshly as he stops in front of the Luna. His eyes are completely black now. "Don't hurt her Dominic, she's a human!" the Luna says in my defence. He doesn't seem to care. He pushes her out of the way and she flies into the crowd of people. The guy who was standing beside the Luna steps forward and takes a swing at Dominic, but Dominic beats him to it and knocks him down with a punch. Dominic then grabs my arms roughly and forces me to look up at him. I feel claws digging into my skin and tears well up in my eyes from the pain. "Sneaky little bitch, I liked the show you put out there," he says while smiling wickedly. I know right? It was a set up and all they wanted was to catch me red handed! I want to rip that smile right off his face. Bloody Lunatic! "Let's take you to Evie," the man standing behind Dominic says and both lunatics laugh loudly at their own joke. I don't try to stop them from taking me wherever they want to. I know they would take me to Evie and probably Zelia too. I wm hoping that they are both safe. Dominic keeps pulling me along until we come to the large building with all the cars parked in front of it, then pulls me quickly inside. I know Evie is here but Zelia had told me otherwise. With the speed he is pulling me along at, I can't quite keep up and I trip over my own feet. Dominic roughly catch my hair and keep my head and face upright by it. It hurts a lot, but I won't give him the satisfaction of seeing me in pain so I grit my teeth and hold back my tears. Still holding me by my hair, he brings me into the living room of the house and bangs me into a nearby wall. I cry out loudly from the hit. The pain is unbearable. Blood starts oozing from the corner of my forehead and I fall to the floor, my hair covering my face in a curtain. I can hear people laughing around me. Dominic drags me to my feet and brings me to the center of the room. My hair is still covering my face so I can't see them, but I can hear the laughter getting louder. "Well, well, well! Look Donald, see who came to rescue your daughter...A Weak little human!" someone says teasingly and the rest of the men grow hysterical with laughter. Here it goes again, 'weak little human'. I've had enough of this. Weak, Weak, Weak! Every time it's the same thing. I am not weak! I tuck all my hair behind my ear and lift my lashes. The first person I see is the same guy I had seen entering the Eatery yesterday. I can still hear the laughter that is at my expense but I ignore it. I keep my focus on the man in front of me. I stare straight into his eyes and he stares straight back. "Valerie," I hear Evie call out my name in fear and that takes my attention away from the dangerous guy right in front of me!