Page 12 of Unbelievable Faith
“Leo, stop. Just listen to him. You know he’s right.” Nova was trying to get their brother to calm down but then the next thing Luna heard confused her even more, “You’re not supposed to be here yet. I should’ve known you wouldn’t let him come alone though. Fate is always changing but it looks like we’re all right where we were meant tobe.”
Who was Nova talking to? Leo? Michael? The other man with the harsh voice that she didn’t know? Who wasn’t supposed to be here? Luna would have preferred none of them were. She’d have preferred fate hadn’t dealt her this hand and that Michael never had to come and rescue her. She’d have preferred if her parents were still alive and that she’d never heard thename…
Panic swelled in her chest and she fought, trying to break free, “Maddox.”
“No. No.” Michael’s voice was right there and his grip was strong, “He’s gone. He’s gone. He can’t hurt youanymore.”
She jerked and thrashed. She needed to get away. She needed to run. The panic filled her veins but she wasn’t strong enough to do anything about it. She whimpered and her wolf slunk back down into thedarkness.
“You’re safe. You’re safe.” Michael kept saying the words over and over and when she finally stopped fighting he gripped her tight and sighed, “What’s the status on the other girl? We’re still missing one and we need to get the hell out of here before the ones that fled regroup and come back withreinforcements.”
Fled. Reinforcements. Still missingone.
“We’re still waiting on word from the other team.” A voice she hadn’t heard before said then and she wondered how many people she didn’t know were seeing her in this awful, beaten, bloodystate.
In her bruised and exhausted brain it took Luna too long to realize what Michael was saying. Leo was here. Luna was here. Nova was here. But they couldn’t leave yet because they were still missing one.Maya.
Oh God, she remembered all of the threats Maddox had made. It was always Maya he threatened. Her teenage sister who had never known when to back down, even from a fight she couldn’t win. She was headstrong and stubborn and fierce as hell. She’d gotten every ounce of the DeLuca Alpha blood and she’d been a fighter since she was old enough to walk. Maddox had said that he would hurt her. He’d said that he would kill her. Oh God, he couldn’t have actually gone through with it, couldhe?
She tried to think. She tried to remember what had happened. It was all such a blurry mess. She was so weak. She pushed harder at her memories, begging her wolf to help her, to give her some strength to remember, to heal, to get throughthis.
She’d agreed to mate Maddox to save her sisters. He’d dragged her upstairs to get ready for the ceremony and… Yes. She remembered asking to see her sisters. He’d sent his friends to retrieve them. Only before they showed back up, there had been an attack and he’d thrown her back into thebasement.
The attack must have been Michael and his pack. But where was Maya? Someone had gotten Nova away from her guards. Leo was here, from wherever he had been. But Maya was stillmissing.
Had her guards killed her when they heard the attack? Had she tried to escape? Had she gotten away? She hadn’t been dead before the attack. She knew Maya had been alive then. She knew because she remembered Maddox sending three guards to retrieve her teenage sister and she’d been worried, so damn worried, that Maya had been putting up afight.
Her breath caught in her chest but before she could panic again she felt Michael nuzzle her hair, “Shhh, it’sokay.”
It wasn’t okay though. Maya wasn’t here. Maya was missing. Mayawas…
“We got her.” The same voice finally spoke again. “Rafe has her and they’re heading back to the Moirae lodge with her. She’s going to need to see thehealer.”
Relief and then concern swelled inside of her and Luna fought with all her strength to get her eyes open again. She needed to wake the hell up already. She was stronger than this. Leo and Nova were here but Maya was hurt. Her family neededher.
She squinted at the bright lights when she forced her eyes fully open this time, “M-Michael…”
“Hey baby.” He gifted her with a soft smile. “You’re coming around. That’s good. That’s realgood.”
“Put. Me….” She had to clear her throat to finish, “Down.”
The soft smile disappeared in an instant and his brows furrowed, “Not achance.”
“Ineed…”
“To rest. You need to rest and relax and heal. Stop fighting it. Just let go and let me take care ofyou.”
“But…”
“No buts. You’re mine. You’re safe. Stopworrying.”
She frowned at him even as she felt her eyes droop shut again. He was right of course. She was safe. She knew it. Just like she knew that she should let the darkness take her under instead of battling against it. She needed to heal and the best way to do that was to sleep. But he was also wrong because she couldn’t stop worrying, ever, not about herfamily.
He was her mate. He should know that. He should feelit.
Before she could argue with him, Michael was talking to the others again, “If Rafe’s team isn’t bringing the girl back here. We should get going. I need to get Lunahome.”
Home. She might have smiled if only she could have found the strength. She knew he wasn’t talking about her home. He was talking abouthis.
