The Moon Goddess' Chosen

The princess seemed to be frantically looking for something.

“Just a second… I can’t find my phone,” Lina yelled back.

Honour facepalmed, ‘Why would a werewolf even need a phone?’

A few minutes later, she emerged from her room, with her hair a little messed up with a slight film of sweat on her brow. Lina jogged through the common room and joined the girls in the halls.

Crysta was tasked with leading them through since she knew the way to Wyatt’s room best.

“You have a pack link that allows you to speak to anyone through your mind. You don’t need a phone,” Honour wasn’t letting this go so easily.

“What if I met with a hunter and needed to communicate with them a little more?” Lina countered, “And why does it matter if I can’t leave my phone behind?”

“It doesn’t bother me but this is the first time I’ve seen you go fret this much about it. Is something wrong?” Honour asked.

.....

Knowing her best friend, she noticed immediately when a dark cloud of concern crossed Lina’s face.

“No, there isn’t—”

“There is something wrong. What’s the matter? We can talk to Wyatt through the mind link if you’re that worried about him. We could…”

“No, Honour. That’s not it,” the princess cut her off, “Stop trying to read my mind. It has nothing to do with Wyatt.”

“Well… if it’s something you can worry about when you’re on your way to visit Wyatt in the hospital, then it has to be important,” Honour raised a brow at her, “Right?”

“Well, I’m not sure how to say this. A message arrived this morning before the games but I didn’t want to think much of it then. Do you still remember that movie star…? The one that plays in that in that survival series I used to like so much…”

“Ah, Jack Boggle! And I wouldn’t say you ‘liked’ that show. You were obsessed. You would be glued to your tablet for hours watching episodes that you’d already seen a few… hundred or thousand times. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen you watching that thing for a while now,” Honour recalled.

“Thanks for that… ‘overly descriptive’ reminder of my obsession,” Lina sighed, “You haven’t seen me watching the show because I stopped watching it. About a year ago, I told Jack to stop sending me episodes because I no longer had time to watch the show.

He got really mad and stopped talking for about two months. The next time I heard from him, he’d calmed down and was instead curious about why I’d stopped watching.

Something about making the show more engaging so that they wouldn’t lose more fans as they’d lost me. I told him there was nothing wrong with the show and that it was simply everything different going on in my life.

Surely by then, he must have heard of my sister’s disappearance… so I didn’t dive deep into what was happening in my life. We talked for a while and I told him about how easily Madeline figured out the rogues were also actors.

Ever since then, he would send a simple message a week and I would reply… sometimes taking two weeks. Messages of his progress and the changes they were hoping to make. Sometimes, he wanted my thoughts on the matter and I would give him my honest opinion… which he liked very much.

But recently, those messages stopped. I didn’t think about it because I take too long between our talks that it’s easy to forget. This morning though… a message came. And it was all sorts of weird.”

“What was the message saying?” Bree suddenly asked. The girls were gripped by the story and severity in Lina’s voice.

“He was asking if we could meet again. Here at the royal games… That’s not the weird part though. He wanted to see me alone.” Lina explained.

“Let’s see the message,” Crysta asked, getting defensive.

The princess didn’t hesitate in unlocking her phone and displaying the message on the screen. It read:

Dear Lina,

I know it has been a long time since I’ve spoken to you. Technically, four weeks, three days… seven hours, twenty-eight minutes, give or take a few seconds.

But during that time, I’ve been doing something of my own.

Sort of like a personal challenge if you know what I mean. I’d like to meet up with you… alone if you don’t mind. The Eastern Lobby of the Great Arena at dusk…

Don’t be late.

Jack”

There was silence for a while after Crysta had read through the message. Madeline was the first to break the tension, “He sounds bossy.”

“Yeah, even more than usual. He also didn’t mention his series or his anything about the current state of his acting career. Maybe I’m reading too much into this.

But he’s never sent a message and ended the communication without telling me about something amazing he’s done or some amazing place he’s been to,” the princess pondered.

“Maybe it’s that personal challenge thing that he has going on,” Bree tried.

“I would like to think that as well but… He’s always had an eye for the flashy stuff. The personal challenge part was nothing like him at all either,” the princess groaned, nearing her mental limit.

“Maybe he chose to turn over a new leaf and pursue something more real than his fake show?” Madeline tried.

“I would like to believe that. It would be good for him… but his show was his life. After failing to become a hunter, that was what he fell back on and he was good at it. When we find something we are good at, it’s hard to let go,” Lina explained… from experience.

“Oh… okay…”

As they rounded a corner, Crysta came to an abrupt stop. Lina, who was directly behind her crashed right into the delta’s larger body.

“Crysta, why did you…” Lina’s instincts kicked in and everything slowed down as she stepped around the delta to get a better view of the situation. When she did see what had stopped Crysta in her tracks, she relaxed.

Standing at the door to Wyatt’s room was a man with dull crimson eyes. At times, one could confuse the colour for maroon or brick red.

The alpha stood with his hand at the knob for a moment, frozen in thought, his face a myriad of emotions. After a short moment, he sighed and his hand then flew to the back of his head. He then turned away from the door, facing the other side of the hall ready to leave.

The alpha ruffled his hair in frustration.

“So you want to see him?” Crysta’s voice broke the silence.

The man turned around to see who had spoken.

“What are you doing here?” Liam spat with venom in his voice.

“We are here to see him too,” Lina said to him, “Why don’t we go in together? I’m sure he has missed his best friend.”

Liam stood frozen for a moment before turning away from them, “You go in. Tell him I said ‘hi.\'”

Lina was in front of him before he could take another step forward, “No… You’ll tell him that yourself.”

The alpha snarled, “Step aside, princess. I’m leaving.”

“No… Wyatt wants to see you. He’s in pain. Why won’t you grant him that much?” Lina asked him.

“Did Wyatt say it himself? That he wanted to see me?” Liam stared the princess in the eye. When she wouldn’t answer him, he sidestepped and walked past her, “Didn’t think so. Don’t go assuming anything.”

After a short silence, Lina walked to the door and swiped the card they’d gotten from the receptionist. Inside the room, the bedridden alpha was sound asleep behind a draw of azure curtains.

The machines beeped rhythmically and showed stable vital signs. Honour walked forward and placed a hand on the man’s forehead, “He’s a bit feverish.”

“Isn’t that a normal thing for someone in his condition?” the princess asked.

“I would like to say that it is… but, I don’t know. He should have healed. He’s a werewolf and an alpha at that. Was he bitten?” Honour asked.

“Yes, he was,” Lina approached the sleeping alpha and gestured to the spot on his torso where she’d seen the horrid bite mark.

“Send me a pair of scissors,” the young goddess asked gesturing to a pair of steel scissors in a kidney dish. The princess passed them over to her.

The girl lifted the hem of his shirt and started making a clean cut up to the spot that Lina had gestured to.

When they pulled the shirt up, they found fresh clean bandages. There was no sign of a wound. In fact, the man looked absolutely healthy. If it wasn’t for his slightly pale skin, they would have thought he was healed.

“Did I worry you that much?” a male voice startled the females.

Lina nearly leapt away from the alpha they had woken, “Damn it, Wyatt. You scared me.”

The man chuckled, “I’ll take that as a life achievement. You guys were awesome out there. I also highly underestimated Bree’s abilities. She was clearly meant to guide you through the Trials.”

“How—” the alpha cut the princess off by gesturing to a screen opposite his hospital bed.

“The screens go on during the matches and anyone that has the strength to watch gets to see everything as it goes down,” the alpha responded, “How did it feel like to run blind?”

“It was… irritating and troublesome. If only I could have a word with whatever genius thought that was a good idea for a game,” Lina groaned.

“You looked fine to me. Don’t lose hope yet. There are still two games left. You will definitely win those ones,” Wyatt replied, “Who knows? Maybe this time I’ll be able to watch from the audience and not in this hospital bed.”

“Are you sure you’re feeling better?” Honour asked him this time. There was a hint of worry in her voice that Lina found a little confusing.

“Yes, Honour. I am fine although I didn’t think I would cause ‘you’ any worry,” the man smirked, “Am I really that charming?”

“I wasn’t the one most worried about you. You should see the person we met outside,” Honour replied, intentionally dodging his question.

“Oh? Who was that? I need to meet the most valuable person in my fan club,” Wyatt smugly asked.

“It should be obvious who your number one fan is…” Crysta trailed off, leaving the guessing to the alpha.

His whole act collapsed at the realisation of his potential visitor. He looked to Honour and when next he spoke, he’d lost every bit of jolliness in his voice.

“L-Liam. W-why didn’t he come in?”

“I’m not sure… but he made it sound like you didn’t want him to actually visit. Like he would have come if you’d specifically called for him,” she replied with a sigh.

“Hmm… I see,” Wyatt’s eyes wandered to the white sheets that covered his lower body. Suddenly, he wasn’t too happy.

“What happened between the two of you?” Crysta searched for his eyes. Wyatt and Liam had been best friends for as long as any of them could remember. Seeing them apart like this… not just for a few days, but for more than a year, was nothing short of unsettling.

“Well…”

.....