Alpha's Blind Luna

 novelbin

He took the phone from my hand but I didn't let it go. My eyes locked with his as he looked up at me, confused as to why I wouldn't let go.

"I know you're upset. This might make it worse. You need to understand that you aren't the only one in pain. You aren't the only one who loves him. He may be your mate, but he is also a friend, a son, a member of the pack and family. It's not just you in pain."

He growled and pulled the phone out my my hands. I watched as Vale phoned Auri. It was understandable how upset and angry he was but this was bigger than him as well. The fact that he still couldn't feel anything through the bond seemed to be a good sign.

Auri proved that she could be far away but still made Logan feel her pain of her dying. The death of a mate could be felt anywhere. No matter how far away you were. We continued to find that out the hard way. Bryan was in Europe when Denise died. He said he felt every bit of it. Not the pain beforehand but her death for sure.

Bryan picked up Auri's phone. His usual smirk nowhere on his face. The lines and the dark circles meant they were most likely running on fumes at this point.

"Hec...ah... Vale, what can I...”

"Get me my mother, Bryan."

He sighed. “Vale, she's not speaking to anyone but Pipsqueak. Not mindlink. Not signing. Nothing. She's..." His eyes turned to me and his mouth dropped further into a frown.

"I don't care what the fuck she's doing. She's going to talk to me. He's my mate, Bryan!"

Bryan sighed again and walked the phone out of the house. He held it up and the camera flipped to look out over the ocean. Auri was sitting on the rocks, smoking with an entire cigarette pack shoved in the straps of her top. She wasn't paying attention to anything but the waves.

"Mom!" Vale nearly screamed at her and I leaned away from him.

She looked at Bryan, shook her head, and turned away.

"See. She won't speak..."

“Pass her the fucking phone, damn it! If she doesn't want to talk, fine. But she sure as hell is going to listen." Vale was getting more and more hysterical despite me trying to calm him down.

Bryan walked closer and turned the camera around before holding out the phone. "Auri...you need to talk to him."

There was no movement or reply that we could see. Vale was getting angrier by the second.

"Mother, tell me what the fuck you are doing! Tell me why you're just sitting there when my mate is gone! On your watch! Your fucking pack member and you're sitting there smoking like a fucking lazy..."

Suddenly, the phone moved. Auri's face came into view but she whipped her middle finger up at the phone. My eyes widened as I took in her face. The lines in her face were deeper, the frown plastered on her face. Dark circles seemed to dig deep canals under her eyes but it was her eyes themselves that caught my attention. Her face disappeared moments later, as the phone was being lobbed through the air. It spun and you could see Bryan grab it before it fell onto the grass.

"Damn it, Auri. This would be the third fucking phone." Bryan growled, pulling the camera back up to him. "I'm sorry, Vale. We are doing what we can, I promise. It's useless for us to just trek around the globe for him. We are relying on Pipsqueak to follow the trail but it's not easy. We are trying to narrow down a final destination."

I swallowed, hard. "Bryan, she's..."

He nodded, rubbing his eyes before pinching the bridge of his nose. "Yeah. I don't know where she got them. But I think that's the only thing getting her through all this. It's too much. Too many memories...of situations repeating. She pulled her sole focus to this and for that she..."

"You're talking about her eyes, right? What was that?"

"Nova, Vale. The original Nova. One of the side effects of it was that it gave you eyes that looked like the Milky Way. It looks different on your mom because she is blind. It's much more prominent." I answered him.

Vale only got angrier, his ears turning red. "She's taking the same shit my dad did? That everyone we are dealing with..."

"No, Vale. Right now, it's 2.0 going around. She has 1.0, the eyes prove that. The new drug got rid of that side effect. It's different enough to not have the lasting side effects that the new one has. I mean, your mom took it for years. She...knows what she's doing." I looked at Bryan, who didn't seem convinced.

He turned the phone's camera around again, discretely this time. Holding it at a downward angle, Auri came into view. She was putting the box of cigarettes down on the table. Taking the one she currently had between her lips, Auri put it out. I turned, hand over my mouth to not make a sound, as she put the cigarette out on her arm. There were so many marks littering her arm and I started to shake. The door slammed shut to the house and the phone flipped back.

"She's been doing that every day she hasn't found him. Since we found his car."

Vale growled. "So what? She can't feel pain. It just makes a mark."

I shook my head. "No, Nova 1.0 makes her feel pain at a normal level. It swaps it with her emotions. She feels every single one of those as long as she is on it." Closing my eyes, I ran my hands through my hair. "You'll get back to us as soon as you have something?"

"You have word. Big or small. Pipsqueak is going through all of it. Stay safe over there. Get the job done so you can come back soon."

I nodded, as did Vale. "Bryan, I'm counting on you."

"Yes, Alpha King."

The call ended, leaving Vale and I in different states of shock. He started to collapse but I quickly reached out, grabbing him and setting him on the end of the ridiculously small bed. His head dropped into his hands. I knew he felt bad for the way he acted. The anger now dissipated into just shock and pain.

"I shouldn't have said all that to my mom. She...she's in pain...you were right. You could see it on her face. Fuck. I even called her mother." Shaking his head, he started sob silently.

We silently stewed in our own thoughts before he cried out in pure sadness and pain. "I can't even protect my own mate! What the fuck am I doing?"

I sighed and squatted down in front of him. "Vale, look at me."

He didn't look up right away but eventually raised his head.

"Your mom is doing to everything in her power to find him. She's the person who knows what it's like. She is going to find him. Give her time. You have the best team working to find him. You know she would go to war for her family."

His eyes started to shine. "But what if...what if they..."

I shook my head. "If they wanted him dead, he already would be. They had the chance but they didn't. Instead, they took him. Which means we can get him. But he wouldn't want us to abandon this mission. Let Pipsqueak, Bryan, Simon, and your mom take cause of this, alright? We will join then after we stabilize what's going on here. Focus, Vale."

"You're right. I just..."

Standing, I patted his back. "I know. It's a lot. But I have faith and so should you. For now, tell me what the fuck we are going to do."

Taking a couple breaths, he nodded. Standing up, Vale started to pace my tiny room. I leaned against the wall by the window, waiting for him to say something. It was a good five minutes before he threw up his hands, he mumbled something too quiet under his breath. My assumption was that he was chatting with Naresh about a plan.

'You remember when we first found out that Auri was taking Nova?'

My head tilted to the side. 'You mean when you took over and shifted us?'

Rydere chuckled. 'No. I didn't do that till after we found out about the stupid BloodHunter vampire Logan was siding with.'

I hummed, not sure I quite believed him.

'She was so nonchalant about it. Like it was no big deal. But later on, she confessed that she was scared of what it was doing to her. Making her lose her sense of self.'

Nodding, I closed my eyes. Trying to think back to all those years ago. 'She was so upset at Bryan for drugging her. He is probably more upset over this than we are. But those marks...'

'We can't lose her again, Hector. I refuse to lose her again. I don't...I don't think I'm strong enough for that.' Rydere's confession made my heart constrict.

Suddenly, I was struggling to breathe. My head felt light headed at the thought of losing Auri not only to Nova but this crusade for Ezekiel. She would do it. In a heartbeat she would give her life for any of her children. Even Týr, being as he was now. Auri would do anything to protect them. When Auri died, I almost lost Rydere. I didn't know if I could continue without her either but the thought of losing both of them shook me to the core.

Swallowing hard, I tried not to let the tears fall as I looked up. My mind was dipping into the darkness and I needed to pull myself out. We couldn't think about it. Right now, we had a job to do. As much as I wanted to go home, we couldn't yet. I needed to listen to my own damn advise. Everything in me right now buzzed that I needed to hold Auri close. To be by her side and help her. She needed me but right now, Vale needed me more. Taking a deep breath, I opened my eyes. Vale had stopped pacing and was nodding his head.

Turning to me, he smiled. "I have an idea. It's something and we can do with just the two of us.”

Cocking my head to the side, I waited for this plan when I felt the prickle and push against my mind. Wrinkling my nose, I let Vale into my mind. He smirked, one that made me feel a little uncomfortable. 'We...well, you...are going to sneak them out in two days.'

"Me?!"