Voices were the first thing I heard when I woke next. My brain felt foggy so I took my time to wake up.

"I told you to not come here."

It was Phoenix. His voice was a harsh whisper across the room.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay." A voice whined.

Jess.

I felt my body freeze from waking up, choosing to keep my eyes closed. Why was she here? Her attention to my mate infuriated me.

"I am fine, it's none of your concern."

"Well, when I heard you were in the hospital for so long I had to come to see you." I could practically hear her pout. "What's going on? I can smell the Omega all over here."

He growled and I heard footsteps shuffle. I peeked an eye open in curiosity just as my room's door shut. I was surprised to see Phoenix had dragged her inside, his hand on her neck pinning her to the wall. His face was inches from her and she stared up at him wide-eyed.

"How many times do I need to put you in your place?" He growled. "First you ruin her dinner, then you directly insult her and me and question why she is even here. If it wasn't for Charlie that day I would've intervened and you wouldn't like what I had planned."

"B-bu-bu-"

He growled, flexing his fingers around her throat. "I will not tolerate that kind of behaviour or abuse in this pack. Try me again and that's strike three and you'll have me to deal with. It seems the punishment last time wasn't good enough for you the next will be banishment. She already beat you in training so I do not understand why you feel the need to push it. The sooner you find your mate the better it will be."

She whimpered and they stood in silence. My gaze was transfixed, wide-eyed as I stared at them. I hadn't moved, fearful of the outcome. All the times I thought he wasn't going to defend me, it turns out he was defending me without realising. This man was more a mystery than I thought.

He released her and she stumbled to her feet, eyes staring at the floor. He grabbed the door handle and opened it slightly which made her follow the action.

"Why do you care so much about her? ...Why is she even here?" She hesitated, avoiding his gaze.

"Jess." He growled, hand pinching between his eyes. "Get out."

She bowed her head and scurried through the door. It closed with a rather large smack that had me jumping in fright. The room was tense but when his hazel eyes turned to me they lost the harsh glare.

"Sorry I woke you." He smiled, approaching my bed. "How are you feeling?"

I licked my lips, observing the room. It was daytime now and I noticed one of the cannulas had been removed leaving a pink mark behind. I just had one left now, which lead to an IV bag.

"Better." I nodded.

He smiled in return, his hand coming to grab mine. Against my own submission, I moved my hand away. His smile dropped and he sighed when he realised I didn't want him to touch me. The awkward tension rose again, and I avoided his gaze.

"Can I get you anything? Hungry yet?" He asked.

"I could eat something." I shrugged.

It was true. Although I had a couple of drips in me, the thought of food sounded great. I hadn't eaten in days. Plus I knew I wouldn't be leaving here until I ate something.

Phoenix nodded and turned to leave the room. I watched him go quietly, the door softly shutting behind him. I let out a shaky breath and leaned my head back.

I had so many things on my mind I wasn't sure where to start. I had so many questions about Phoenix's behaviour, and why he was suddenly so open to me. I needed to tell them about how I got here, about all the women suffering in cages. It had been days since I escaped, I hoped they were okay. I wanted to know where my brother had gone, Molly too. Where Sean was, was he alive? He had to be alive, right? I wanted my parents, to talk to them and hug them too.

The door opening drew my attention back to Phoenix, his foot held it open as he looked at me. "I brought some people with me, hope you don't mind."

I narrowed my eyes in suspicion as he then walked in further with some food on a tray. I was drawn to the croissant at first until I saw familiar combat boots step through the doorway. Immediately I was stricken with relief, tears building in my eyes as his grey eyes found mine.

"You're alive." I cried.

His eyes softened and after a glance at Phoenix, he made his way over to me. I reached my arms up and clung to his shirt as I cried. I was so happy he was okay. I was already unconscious before I could see what happened to him.

He pulled away from the wet embrace to hold my cheeks in his hands. He let out a small chuckle and wiped at the tears.

Shaking his head he smiled. "Of course I am. Gonna take more than some nasty rogues to take me down."

I breathed a laugh and took his hands into my own. He sat in a chair beside me, giving me a small wary smile.

I could feel the pinpricks of eyes on me and knew it was Phoenix staring. I glanced at him briefly to see him barely holding his composure. He cleared his throat and set down my tray of food on the swivel table beside me. His eyes were flashing as he stared at my hands in Sean's before he excused himself and left the room.

I sagged at the tension release and turned my eyes to see Molly and my brother standing on the other side of me. I gave them both a smile but something on Leo's neck suddenly caught my attention.

"You're marked." I pointed.

Molly blushed and Leo chuckled, his hand rubbing at his non-marked shoulder. "Yeah, we are."

"When?" I wondered.

They shared a look. "The night before you went missing."

I chewed my lip at the mention of it but nodded my head. "Well congrats, official sister-in-law."

Molly smiled at me, falling to sit on the bed beside my legs. "Thank Sherbet... I've missed you so much. I just wanted to rant and squeal but you weren't there for me to do that. Even the twins aren't here."

I froze at the mention of the twins, knowing I had left them there. The guilt was eating away at me and I swallowed down the regret.

"I have so many things to say... to ask. I can't sit here anymore, I need to go and help them." I breathed, trying to wriggle out of the clothes

Sean grumbled and steadied me by the shoulders. "It's not safe. You've just healed you need rest."

I growled at him, Cel supporting my actions. His eyes widened and he dropped his hands in defence. The door opened once again and Phoenix came back in. His hard gaze found me straight away and he stood at the door of my bed beside my brother. They acknowledged each other with a nod of their head.

"I felt the power shift, what's going on?" Phoenix asked, crossing his arms.

"They need me. You don't know what it was like there." I sighed.

He grimaced but nodded. "I see."

"Please Phoenix. We need to help them."

"I have to agree with Sean Nova, you're not strong enough yet." Molly smiled sadly.

I snapped my gaze to her, then eyed my brother who seemed to have the same thought. I was angry. Angry at them thinking I was a weakling again. I had made it here alive, hadn't I?

"You all think I'm weak," I growled. "You don't know what it was like there, the things I had to do..."

Phoenix sighed and moved to pull a chair to my feet. "Then tell us."

I clenched my jaw just as another familiar face entered my room. His brown eyes brightened at seeing me awake and he sauntered over to pat Phoenix on the back.

"What's happening, gang?" Charlie asked.

I frowned at his chirper mood but was grateful he was here to release tension. "I need to get out of here."

Charlie's eyes were questioning and he took notice of the frowns on everyone's faces. "Then why don't you?"

I was shocked at his dismissal of the opinions. He chose to support me instead of knocking me down as the others did. He turned to look down at Phoenix and I followed the same trail. His hazel eyes studied me, a blank canvas on his face I tried to desperately read.

"Explain the story first." Was all he said. "From the beginning, what happened? We need to be prepared."

I was partially ecstatic that he was on my side. I smiled in astonishment, a flurry of butterflies in my stomach when the mask dropped and he smiled back.

"Well... we were attacked. And I was injected with something that made me weak and pass out. I thought they killed Sean..." I began, grasping the sheets beside me. "When I woke I didn't know where I was or what happened. I didn't have Cel, I couldn't feel the pack link or anything."

"Us either. We thought they killed you." Charlie grimaced.

I shook my head. "I was in a cage. All of us were. A silver barred cage with nothing but a blanket. I was with a girl called Primrose and she had been there longer than me. She helped me understand a little but basically, there were about 40 women and girls of all types rammed into cages in a clearing. The men all had small wooden huts and when we woke the newbies like me got interrogated."

Phoenix grumbled. "For what?"

"They asked for name, pack and status. Then dismissed us." I shrugged.

They stayed silent so I continued.

"We could have time to stretch in the morning before being put back in the cage. If you did so much as look at one of them wrong you paid for it..." I winced at the memory, of claws sinking into my skin. "They-they raped those girls a-and beat them..."

I blinked back the tears. "I tried to defend myself, I really did. But he hur-hurt me and I c-couldn't fight. S-so I ran and r-ran..."

My brother came to my side and took my head to his stomach. I clung to his top, his familiar scent washing over me. Home comfort and nothing else reminded me to stay calm. When I leaned away he pressed a kiss to my hair and pushed it to the side.

"You're here now. It's okay." He smiled softly.

I nodded and avoided looking at my angering mate at my feet. I was sure the metal pole of the bed was bent by now, going by how hard he was crushing it.

"I overheard them talking at night." I sniffled. "They get drunk and start getting loud, that's when most of the abuse happened too. They want to take down packs, they want to weaken us. They want to take all the women and declare war, threatening us all."

"They want power," Sean grumbled.

I nodded at him. "The day they tried to hurt me, I was dragged out of the cage in the rain. He injured me quite badly but I was able to run after getting him back. But then I found myself losing consciousness from the fight... I met someone, someone who knew me."

"Raven," Phoenix stated.

My eyes flashed to him and I swallowed at the intense look in his eyes.

I nodded. "She helped me escape, gave me a healing break of some kind so I could get away. She's trapped there, just like everyone else. She spoke in weird riddles but I just know she doesn't want to hurt anyone."

Phoenix held my gaze but nodded. "I believe you."

"You do?" I asked, shocked.

He just nodded again and turned to Charlie. They had a silent conversation over their mind link before turning back to me.

"Before we go running out in the woods. There's someone you need to meet." Phoenix stated.

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Who?"

"Your brother."

•••

Aaaaahhhhh hello, I'm getting sick life sucks lol two kids + sickness = no thank u

Anywho,

Hope you liked it. Thank you all soooo much for everything.

I hope to complete this book over the next few weeks so I can enter the Watty awards haha would be soo cool. I've been on Wattpad for over a decade and they're always fun to take part in so fingers crossed I can complete Novas story in time for September

What's your favourite part of Lost Luna so far?

The drunk part is one of my faves, it was so funny to write. But also the one where Nova meets Phoenix in the office.

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