© 2015 SilverStream22. All Rights Reserved

Chapters are going to be 400-600 words less (I usually write 2000+ words) but the content will still remain juicy, I promise. 

~ Stark ~

"So you seriously can't remember anything?" a tall dark haired Lycan sat across me with his blond twin.

"Yes."

He clenched his fist. "Not even when you cut my hand off?"

I blinked. "I did what?"

The blond one, I think his name was some sort of genre of music, spoke up. "Draver tends to hold minuscule grudges for a long time."

The red haired women who sat on either side of me crossed their arms. 

"Where exactly are the Anosovas?" Iris questioned, glancing ever so often at me.

Draver leaned back in the sofa. "Gathering those Lycans from the other Royal families. Where have you been? Not including yesterday, you've been gone for the whole day, The Moon Goddess hasn't returned you and now all of the sudden you're here."

She frowned, clearing her throat. "It's not something I'm at the liberty to discuss-"

Katya came hurdling down the stairs, heading straight for Iris.

"Get her out!" she shook Iris' shoulders. "You have to get the Moon Goddess out, right now!"

I set my palm on the small of her back. "What's wrong, what happened?"

She didn't meet my eyes, clutching her head. "He has him! He-he- ugh!"

Draver's eyes widened and he moved around the coffee table. "Calm down, you're having an anxiety attack, your temperature is skyrocketing."

"He has my brother!" she wailed, pulling away from us.

"What? No, those triplet idiots are getting the other Lycans-" Castor began but Katya shoved him back when he tried to approach her.

"No!" Katya screamed, "He has him! Erebus has Mikhail!" 

Lorena instantly jumped. "It's alright, we'll rescue him."

She fervently shook her hand, dropping to her knees. "No, no, no. He's the vessel. Mikhail is the vessel for Erebus- that bastard must've turned my brother into a vampire. He made Mikhail kill his mate and her pack."

My gut twisted as I felt partly responsible for her agony. After all, I had helped the enemy even if I knew not that they were the enemy at first.

Everyone seemed to be too shocked to reply to her breakdown.

Alric whispered something to Iris and she nodded, moving forward. I caught her arm. "What do you plan to do to my light?"

She gently pulled my hand off her arm. "Don't worry, I'm just going to ease her sorrow. I can heal her psychologically by numbing her neurotransmitters in her amygdala, but I'm not sure if it'll be a long lasting affect."

"Don't get near me," Katya snapped shakily. "I don't feel- I don't feel right."

A sparkle of blue-white appeared, bright and blinding. As if automatic, a filter like sheet dropped over my eyes like a pair of shades and I was able to see while everyone else covered their eyes.

She was beautiful, like a rising moon. The entire house seemed to darken yet she shone brightly. Her black hair long and wild and her white dress etched with wolf patterns that seemed to come to life was all I was able to catch before she pulled her white cape over the shuddering body of Katya and they vanished into thin air.

"Was that...?" Alric muttered, dropping his arm from his eyes.

Iris grimaced. "Artemis, the Moon Goddess."

________________________________________________________________________________

~KATYA~

I shoved away from the Moon Goddess, not wanting to feel her comforting warmth- not after she let this happen to Mikhail.

"How could you?" I snarled. "You're supposed to look out for us, but instead you let Mikhail be snatched up by Erebus!"

She gave me a pained look. "Listen to me, Katya-"

"No, you listen to me!" I demanded, roughly wiping away my tears. "I've had enough, my life has been torn apart piece by piece all because of you. I hate that I'm a werewolf, I hate that I'm a Royal, I hate that I'm endangering everyone in my life and I hate that you made me feel as if I was strong enough to protect everyone around me when now my brother has killed his own mate and her pack and if I don't show up back to my old pack on the winter solstice, Rosemarie is going to be the first one killed!"

The Moon Goddess sat down on a tree stump and I realized where we were: the waterfall lake.

She crossed her legs beneath the billowy fabric of her dress. "Continue. I can tell there's more you must release."

I took a deep breath, cursing myself for having a calming sensation through me- a result of being near her.

"I want you to possess me. Just like how you do with Iris. No more games- no more tests. I can- I can handle it." 

My stutter had her pitying eyes on me. "You're not ready."

I slammed my fist against the tree trunk beside me. "It's not like I have a choice, damn it."

"I've always admired your persistence." she commented softly. "We'll practice. You and I before we leave to the United States of America."

"Just say America." I muttered wearily, my body exhausted from the amount of stress piled on to me.

"Any other requests, Luna of the Lycans?" she prompted.

I could feel my eyes watering. "How much longer do I have to be strong for?"

She paused as I sat down, leaning my back against the tree stump as I pulled my knees up to under my chin.

"Well, it's about five days-"

"No."  I bit my lips as the tears spilled over. "How much longer do I have to wait for him to have his memories back?"

She dropped her hand on my head, petting me as if she was petting a wolf. "That is up to you. There are two curses on him, from what Kendra has told me. One for loving you and getting over Kathleen while the other is for him to forget his past. However, there's a problem with layering curses: without careful attention, the curses could cancel each other out. Your love for each other is breaking through his memories. It's only a matter of time before the right phrase will set his memories back to what they once were and soon his curse involving Kathleen and you along with his memory being restricted will vanish."

I let out a sob, grabbing a handful of her white chiffon dress. "It hurts so much to know that he doesn't remember and when Stark says that the voice inside him fights so hard...what happens if Stark gives up?"

She got off the stump and pulled me up. "You may not have much in common, but persistence is a quality that you both have. And as for not seeing your brother, he is being veiled by your kidnapper. I cannot find him when he's under the kidnapper's sphere of control."

With that, she tossed her cloak over me and we both appeared in the open expanse of the Anosova backyard where everyone was animatedly talking about my brother and Erebus.

They all seemed hesitant to approach me, including Stark. But I think it was for a different reason. While everyone had their eyes trained on me, gauging my response, Stark was avoiding his gaze but occasionally glancing at the Moon Goddess.

"You and I shall practice unifying tomorrow morning." she whispered before materializing away.

"Are you calmed down now?" Lorena glided towards me, gathering me into a motherly hug. I gripped the fabric of her cream blouse tightly before pulling away.

"I'm good. I've spoke it over with the Moon Goddess. She said we'd be training tomorrow."

"About damn time."

I looked down below the patio to see a flood of new and familiar scents hit my nose. 

"We've brought your army." Mother smirked, standing besides my three brothers.

Kristos, the one with the hole in his stomach, launched himself at Kendra when she came out with Evgeny bearing finger sandwiches. Kendra landed a swift kick to his thigh. "Damn it, don't touch me!"

"Oh, almost forgot." Alric turned to Stark after gesturing to the wide array of Lycans from all the different families along with the families themselves and their butlers. "I know you probably forgot your training to properly end a vampire, but hey you're a good fighter anyways. So this is your army as well Mr.Alpha-of-the-Lycans."

Stark blinked before scanning the crowd. "Oh..."

"No response?" Iris pouted.

"I think I'm feeling an anxiety attack of my own." He then sighed, pressing two fingers to the sides of his temple. "Well fuck. I need some ice cream."