41: Safe

Celeste's POV

The door closes behind me and I watch Xavier run into the woods, probably off to meet the guys wherever this attack is stemming from. I wait for him to disappear into the treeline before I begin my hunt. 

The pack house is already quiet. Everyone either having left it or having locked themself into one room or the other. My heart thrums in my chest, a sense of anxiety having started to consume me. 

Delian went to the packhouse this morning? Chances are I was already gone by then; Xavier and I having packed the picnic in the early hours and leaving after a training session together. I try to calm my heart rate, needing to focus. I take a deep inhale. The packhouse is always so crowded with different scents. Despite the lack of visible people, their scents still crowd my nose. Delian smells like wildflowers, like dirt from a freshly played at playground, like grass on a cool summer day. I try with all my might to make out the scent.

"Delian?" My voice fills the house, unsure. Unsteady. "Delian, are you here?" 

No response. 

I trail along the hallway downstairs, trying to catch her scent. Nothing. Upstairs is the same. Worry churns in my gut. 

'Xavier?'

'Are you okay?' His voice is calm and immediate. I imagine he hasn't gotten to the guys yet. To the rogues. That itself brings me another wave of anxiety. I push it aside. 

'I can't find her.'

'Go to my office, Celeste.' I sigh, frustration building in me. He doesn't seem to get that she's lost. She was looking for me and now no one knows where she is. There's rogues attacking and we don't know if she's okay. 'I have five warriors looking for her on the pack grounds right now.' That brings me a small sense of relief; to know I'm not alone in my search for her.

'And?'

He's quiet for a minute. 'Nothing so far.' 

A queasy feeling fills me. I open several doors. My room, the library, Xavier's room. "Delian?" Nothing.

'Celeste, go to my office.' I ignore him, my determination growing. 'Please, Celeste.' 

'Xavier, I need to find her.'

'You need to stay safe. I won't be able to focus if I'm worrying about where you are and if you're okay.' I bite my lip, opening another door at random. 'Please, little one.' I stop in my spot. That stupid nickname.

'Fine,' I give in, turning around to go to Xavier's office door that I had passed by already. 'I'm in your office. Stay safe.' 

'Remember: lock the door first then press the button under my desk. Close the blinds.' 

'Okay.' I cut our link, locking the door behind me. The office is quiet. It smells like Xavier, and leather. It feels wrong to be in here without him.

I go to the window first, grabbing the draw string for the blinds. The pack is emptier than I've ever seen it. Usually from the window I can see the training grounds full of warriors or other pack members. When training sessions are over, people tend to wander around. Walking the grounds with their loved ones or on their own. I pull the drawstring to a close when something stops me. A smidge of red by the training center. I squint. And then she comes into view. Delian leans around the corner of the training center. I reopen the blinds, pushing the window open. "Delian!" Her head snaps to me. 'Xavier, I found her!'

'Celeste, you're supposed to be in my office.' His voice comes through, quicker than our previous conversation. 

'I am! She's outside!' She hugs the wall of the training center. I wave my arm, trying to get her to come closer. She glances around, staying to the wall. "Delian!" 

'Celes-' 

My heart pounds. 'Xavier?' He doesn't answer. 'Xavier?'

'Stay in my office!' I bite my lip, looking at the small child. She's not far. I could go get her, really quick, and be back to the pack house in less than five minutes. I can hear growling in the far off woods now. Delian seems to as well, her head darting towards the woods. I don't respond to Xavier. He needs to focus. To be safe. 

I go back to the door, unlocking it in a hurry and running down the stairs and out the door. Outside is almost as quiet as inside the pack house, minus the growls and occasional barks or yelps coming from off in the distance. I make my way to the training grounds as quickly as possible. "Delian!" Her head snaps to me but she stays put. The closer I get to the training center, the more Delian begins to look around. The growls are loud out here and I'm sure they're scaring her. "Delian!" I pull the small girl to me, crushing her into my chest. "Goddess, you had us all so worried!" I pull her back, brushing her unruly ginger waves down. Her face is red, flushed with recent tears. "Are you okay?" She doesn't answer. My gut churns. "Delian?" Her lip wobbles. 

"I'm so sorry, Luna!" She throws herself back to me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders as a cry escapes her lips. 

"It's okay, Delian. You're okay." I rub my hand up and down her back, trying to get her to calm down. Her tears continue to fall. I turn my head, glancing back at the packhouse. "C'mon, we need to go." I pull back from her, rubbing my thumb over her tear streaked cheek. "You're okay, Delian. C'mon." I pick her up in my arms, lifting her weight from the ground. 

"Not so fast, Luna." I stiffen. The voice is unfamiliar, coming from behind me. I whip around to see one of them coming from around the side of the training center. I can tell it's one of them by its disturbed appearance. A greyish tint covers its skin, its hair only visible in patches of grey and black coming randomly from its skull. Its lips are thin and dried, dryer than I've ever seen a person's lips. Like all the water has been sucked from them. My hold on Delian tightens as her tears increase. 

'Xavier-'

"Don't link anyone or I'll kill the girl." A growl I've never heard before escaped my own lips. 

'Over my dead body,' Ancillary snarls in my head. 

Delian begins to mumble something into my neck, over and over. I can't quite make out the words. 

"We searched long and hard for you, Luna." There's a sneer in its words, a taunting at the title I don't even have yet. "Now put the girl down and come with me. We can make this nice and easy." I flick my eyes to the pack house.

'Celeste, are you okay?' Xavier's voice reaches me through the link. I don't answer. I can't. 

A tuting brings me back to the creature in front of me. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." I'm fast. I could. I'm faster than most wolves I know, faster in wolf form but I have Delian with me. The pack house isn't far. Delian continues to cry and mutter into my shoulder. "You were a good help, child." Its comment is directed at her and finally I make out the words she's mumbling. 

I'm sorry.

"Delian?" Her cries turn into sobs and I know. I know she's helped them. I also know damn well that they threatened her. Somehow, some way, they've scared this little girl into helping them. 

'Celeste, answer me.' There's a slight panic in his voice. 

"It's okay," I whisper against her hair. "It's okay."

"Put the girl down now." I don't. I tighten my hold, eyeing the pack house. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." 

I turn on my heel, making a b-line for the pack house. Only another one of them emerges from the other corner of the training center. My hold on Delian tightens as I bump into it, falling to the ground. My shoulder hits the dirt hard, an ache tingling from my shoulder down my arm. Delian squeals in my hold. I try to push myself up, keeping the frightened young girl in my arms, only to be stopped by a kick to my back. The sudden hit echos in my brain, bringing back briefly memories of Christopher and the other kids from my old pack. I shake off the memory. Not now. I can't. Delian-

A hand yanks my hair, pulling me up. Delian falls from my hold with a harsh cry. "Don't hurt her!"

'Celeste!' Xavier. . . 

The second fetcher tightens its hold on my hair and a whine leaves between my lips. I jab my elbow back at it only for it to catch my arm with its second hand. A tuting brings me back to the first fetcher. My breaths come out heavy. My eyes find Delian who watches this with tear soaked eyes. I try my best to glance towards the pack house and back to her. "Luna, luna, luna." I ignore its taunts. 

'Run,' I mouth the word to Delian. A harsh yank on my hair exposes my neck and I fear for my life. 

Xavier. . . 

Delian stares at me, tears falling down her red cheeks. I glance as best I can, my neck now strained, to the pack house. 

The fetcher holding me yanks my arm further back until I feel my shoulder about to pop. I let out a small scream before biting my lip. 

"Delian, go!" There's a command to my voice I've also never heard before. And she listens. Turning on her knees and pushing herself up and into a sprint, she runs for the pack house. 

"It's not the girl we're interested in, Luna."

I growl, Ancillary pacing internally. 'Shift,' she tells me. And she's right. 

I breathe in, trying to steady my heart. I feel my bones begin to crack, pop, and reshape. A sudden, outside, pain pinches my neck. A burning sensation fills me and my shift stops. A pained gasp escapes me as the liquid enters my veins. The tuting fetcher stands in front of me, a needle in his hand. The burning consumes me, the edges of my vision going black. 

'Xavi-'