August's POV-
The ride out of town mainly stayed silent, but eventually, Jody started making small talk until he finally said something that caught my attention.
"Are you taking her back home with you?"
I looked over, but Jody wasn't looking at me. He had his eyes on the road, and I tried to just be as pleasant as I could in this situation. It's hard when every once in a while, I can see that vision of Emerald catching a glimpse of Jody. I can even feel how she felt when she noticed him, and it was painful, to say the least.
"She's my Luna. I don't have much of choice."
He nodded his head, but I could tell by his body language that he was either just as uncomfortable being alone in a car with me or the thought of Emerald leaving was upsetting him.
"Do you have parents here, Jody?" I asked him, and he did finally look up at me.
"Yes, but we aren't very close. It's crazy, really, because we live in the same pack and the same town, but I haven't seen or heard from them since I moved out. Which was almost two years ago, by the way." He said with a chuckle as if it didn't bother him.
I furrowed my brows at him and didn't understand this at all.
"Why not?"
He looked at me and grinned.
"Why do you think?" He said, and I genuinely felt surprised.
"You're telling me your parents won't talk to you because.."
"Because I like a dick? Yes, they say it's embarrassing. I guess I can't blame them, though. I think they've always been a little embarrassed by me."
"Does Alpha Paul know about this?" I asked him, and he rolled his eyes and shook his head at me.
"Everyone knows now, yeah. Alpha Paul wouldn't even let me try out to train to be a scout or even a damn watchdog. I'm not saying I'm the toughest wolf around... I don't know; it seems silly now, but when I was young, it was like my dream to be a soldier."
I felt confused and angry hearing this. I had met Alpha Paul on several occasions, and he always came off as a charming and understanding Alpha to me.
"I don't understand.." I said lowly, and Jody gave me a sympathetic look.
"Don't have many gays in your pack?" He asked me sarcastically.
"Actually, I do, and they're treated no differently than the rest of the pack. There's a boy named Henry, and he's.. well, you know. Anyway, he is overtraining the younger boys now who are just now getting their wolves, and he's great at it. He's more patient with them than I ever was."
Jody gave me a shocked look as if he didn't believe me.
"People don't care that you have some gay guy teaching boys about their wolves?"
I gave him a disgusted look.
"Why are you saying it like that? Of course, nobody cares, and Henry is a lot more than just some gay guy. He's family to me, and he will be a great Omega one day when he gets a little older."
"Wow, that's awesome, no offense, but you don't seem like the tolerable type." He said, laughing.
I raised an eyebrow at him and felt a bit annoyed that he'd say that, but I didn't let it show.
"I'm tolerable of the people I care about, and I care about everyone who is in my pack. I don't see why I should care who people are mated to, I'm not the moon goddess, and I don't make the rules. She obviously knows what she's doing."
Saying this made me think of Emerald immediately and how perfect the moon goddess had made her for me. I hoped Emerald thought the same way about me, but right now, I know she just wants to hurt me.
"Hey, can I ask you something?"
I looked back at Jody and nodded my head.
"Where are Emerald's parents? I know Helen adopted her, but the only thing I know is that she brought her from your pack." He said, and I wasn't sure how I was supposed to answer this.
"I'm not sure who her parents are or were anyway," I said back, and he gave me a sad look.
"So they are dead?" He asked, and I sighed and ran my hands through my hair.
"Most likely, yes. Look, don't tell her I said this because she's angry enough with me as it is, but I found Emerald. She was alone in the woods outside of my territory."
Jody slammed on breaks, and I had to brace myself to avoid being slammed against the dash.
"What the fuck?" I said to him aggressively.
"Sorry, sorry. I just..I... I didn't know that." He muttered and started to drive the car a little slower this time.
"So, does she remember them at all?" He asked, and I felt like I should've just kept my big mouth shut.
"Not that I know of. She was really young when I found her." I said to him.
"Did something bad happen to her?"
I gave him a stern look.
"Why?" I asked him coldly.
"Because when she came here, she was still young, but she became popular fast because she already had her wolf. When my family first met her, I heard my parents talking and saying something bad must've happened for her to get her wolf so young."
I nodded my head before looking back out my window.
"I don't think I like your parents," I said, and Jody laughed.
"They're not wrong, though. Something bad did happen to her. She was sick when I found her, and If I hadn't brought her to the pack when I did, she.. she probably wouldn't have made it."
A sharp pain went through my chest, picturing Emerald's tiny body in the hospital bed. Her small arms were strapped down, and her small chest was working full force to pump blood into her body.
"Damn, it sounds like her parents are worse than mine," Jody said, and for whatever reason, him speaking this was like a click in my brain.
"You think her parents had something to do with it?" I asked him, and he shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't know, but I wouldn't be surprised either. I've learned that you really can't trust anyone or their intentions. Not even if they share the same blood. You have to get lucky and find someone like Emerald."
"You care about her?" I asked him, and he gave me a severe look.
"I'll put it to you like this, Alpha. I wouldn't have made it if it weren't for her. I was just in a dark place and felt completely alone, but she just lit this light for me and showed me the way out, ya know?"
I chuckled, hearing how ironic his words sounded, and when he turned down an old road that looked like it hadn't been used in a very long time, I could smell Emerald's scent. It was thick and smoky. I could see her motorcycle parked not far away, but she was nowhere in sight.
"Do you know?" I asked him, and he shot me a weird look.
"Do I know what?" He asked, and I took that as a no.
"Look, it might be safer if you just wait in the car," I said, and he stopped the car and put it in park.
"You know she might stay calmer if she sees me," Jody said, and I clenched my hand feeling jealous because I knew he could be right.
"Just, don't freak out, okay? Whatever you see, stay calm and let me handle it." I said before opening the door and slamming it shut behind me.
Jody got out of the car, and I looked around, but I didn't see any storm drain. Jody walked past me and crouched down before sliding down a very steep hill. I did the same, and when I got to the bottom, Emerald's smoke consumed me like a thick cloud.
I could see the entrance to the storm drain, but with every step we took towards it, a bright flash of green would come from the tunnel and then disappear again, showing nothing but darkness.
"What the fuck is that?" Jody asked me, and I motioned for him to stay put.
"Stay behind me, okay? She can be a little hotheaded when she's like this." I said, and I could picture Emerald with green flames consuming her head when she saw my memory.
Jody walked a reasonable distance behind me, and when we were close enough to the dark tunnel, I could smell that she was in there.
"Emerald?" I called out loudly, and another bright flash of green lit the tunnel. And for a slight second, I saw her standing looking my way, and then darkness consumed her again.
"Emerald, come out here!" I yelled at her, and again a flash of green appeared like a lightning strike, and I could tell that she was now closer to the entrance before darkness blocked my view of her again.
"GO AWAY!" she screamed, but it wasn't Emerald's voice at all.
"Holy shit, what the fuck did you do to her?" Jody whispered, but I waved my hand at him to tell him to hush.
"COME OUT HERE NOW!" I screamed back at her in my Alpha voice.
A deep throaty growl echoed from the storm drain, and Emerald slowly approached the tunnel entrance. She stood at the very edge, her hair was a wild mess, and her clothes had multiple burn holes in them. I could see her snapped fingers twisted in the wrong direction and the blood that was dripping down her knuckles. Her arms looked bruised, and one elbow had bone jutting out from the skin.
Seeing my Luna so hurt made me feel weak in the knees, and I desperately wanted to go to her and help heal her.
"My sweet girl.." I cooed to her and took a small step forward.
She growled and bared her teeth before taking a step back into the dark tunnel. You couldn't see anything now, and the only thing that told you she was still there was her one bright green eye. Then as if she were replaying the first time we met, a line of small green flames began to appear to block the storm drain entrance.
"Is she..doing that?" Jody asked and moved closer to me.
"Yes, and those flames are real and hurt like hell, so unless you want those eyebrows singed off, I suggest you stay back," I said to him, and he gasped and took several steps back.
'Emerald, please, I'm so sorry.' I linked to her, but the flames grew higher, and the air started to heat up around me.
This wasn't going to be easy as the first time. She wasn't a puppy or a scared girl. She was a Luna and a scorned woman who would burn me alive if she got the chance. She would only be able to hurt me so much, though, before it started to pull her too, and a part of me wanted to take that chance, but after feeling what she did to herself earlier.
'I can handle pain, remember?' She linked back to me and hearing that it was her voice and not Anala's brought a complete body relaxation over me.
'Please, my Luna, I will do anything.' I said to her, but again a low growl echoed the tunnel's concrete walls, and the flames grew higher, almost covering the entrance fully.
I whimpered loudly now that I couldn't even see her anymore. I could feel her anger towards me festering, and I could feel that she had no desire at all to see me.
I turned to look at Jody, whose eyes were trained on the flames. I went to him and grabbed his arm before dragging him closer to the entrance. He started to try and yank back from me, but it was the same as carrying Emerald.
" Jody is here, and he wants to see you!" I yelled, and almost instantly, the flames grew smaller until they were just tiny and could easily be stepped on and put out.
You could see her bright green eye as she walked closer to the entrance. When she did, the flames disappeared altogether, and when she stepped outside the storm drain, you could see the tears spilling down her face. She was sniffling like a small child and ran to Jody.
She threw her arms around his neck, and at first, he hesitated to hug her back because he looked over at me. I rolled my eyes and looked away, and I'm sure he was hugging my mate back. I could feel how comfortable she felt with him and how her anger turned into pure sadness, and I finally turned around when I couldn't stand hearing her loud wails anymore.
"Shh, it's okay. Nobody is mad at you; everything is fine." Jody said, and it took everything in me not to rip his throat out when seeing him brush her curly hair back.
"I just want to stay here with you!" She cried into his chest, and I had to walk away.
I had to, or I would've made the situation worse. My chest was hurting, and I held my tears back and swallowed the lump in my throat as I tried to climb back up the steep hill.