Chapter 7 Chapter 7

CARLA

“Dammit!” I tossed my comb at the vanity mirror in my room, shattering it instantly. I was burning with rage. How the hell did I manage to make things even worse than they already were?

Now Ronan knew about the pregnancy. And what's worse? Everyone in the freaking pack was now aware of it. That was good. That wasn't good at all.

Last night, I overheard him talking with some members of the Council, telling them that if the child was his, he would elevate Sara to the position of Luna and if it wasn't, then he would kill her.

I never liked Sara to begin with - never have. However, I had never had a more intense desire to get rid of her permanently than I had now. I would never let her take my place. NEVER!

However, sitting around and just thinking about it wasn't going to help me in any way. I needed to take matters into my own hands, to grab the bull by the freaking horns - and I knew just the person who could help me with that.

Getting dressed, I headed over to see my mother. If there was anyone who could help me deal with Sara, it was her. As soon as I arrived at home, she ran over to hug me and invited me inside.

“How's your new life going?” My mom asked as I took a seat on the soft, slightly creaky, couch while she headed into the kitchen. “Must be fun being Luna”.

“Not as fun as people make it out to be but it's definitely worth it” I responded as I stared at the wooden pendulum clock hanging on the wall. The perpetual scent of polished wood and flowers made me miss home a bit. The palace felt lifeless for the most part.

After a couple of minutes, my mom emerged from the kitchen with a tray with two cups of rosy tea on it. She placed it on the small round table in the middle of the living room, shifting the flower vase that usually stands on it.

I took a cup and sipped the tea and she did similarly before she broke the silence.

“So what brings you here?” She asked.

“Geez, can't I come back home when I want?” I chuckled.

“Well of course you can. But still, you just got married not too long ago. Coming home so early might send the wrong message, y'know?”

“Yeah, of course I do” I sighed, taking another sip.

“So what exactly is bothering you?” She asked, staring at me like she was trying to read me. She always did have really good intuition.

“Well…. it's Sara” I answered. Her forehead immediately creased. As a general rule in our family, Sara equalled bad news.

“And what exactly did she do this time?” She asked.

“Turns out she's pregnant” I said. My mom almost spewed the tea she was drinking.

“Pregnant?!” She barked. I simply gave a nod. “I knew it. I knew that girl would be trouble. Oh, why the hell did I think it was a good idea to separate her from that fool, Jason?” She rested her forehead on her palm.

“Where is she? I need to convince her to get rid of the baby” she said.

“That won't be possible” I bluntly replied.

“Yeah I know she's stubborn but I'm sure I can force her to…”

“She ran away” I cut her off. There was a heavy silence for about three seconds - almost like she was trying to process the information I just gave her.

“Pardon?”

“Sara ran away. Ronan has sent his men all over Lupinia to search for her” I said. The look on my mom's face was priceless - so much so that it actually made me laugh. She looked like she'd seen a ghost.

“This isn't funny, Carla. If she returns, most likely, the Council is going to appoint her as the new Luna” she said - and right on the money too.

“That's exactly what I overheard Ronan discussing, which is why I'm here. What do we do?” I asked, now feeling more sombre.

“We have to make sure she never comes back” my mum blurted immediately, almost cutting me off. “We can't let her return. We can't”

Well, that much was obvious to me. It was how to go about it that had me puzzled. No one knew where the fuck she was.

“I know that, mum. But how do we find her? And what do we do when we find her?” I asked.

“If she's in Lupinia, we can hire some men to look for her” she suggested. That was no good. Ronan's men were already looking for her and given that they were the best sniffers in the pack, our men wouldn't stand a chance.

“That won't work. Ronan’s best sniffers and hounds are already on the hunt for her as we speak” I responded. “We need something faster”.

“Faster…faster…” my mom muttered repeatedly under her breath with a focused look on her face. That was the face she made whenever she was thinking hard about something.

“I got it!” she finally blurted after almost ten minutes of repeating her “faster” mantra. My eyes lit up as I leaned in.

“What is it, mom? Let's hear it” I prompted her.

“Melbourne” she muttered, staring at me like she could see through my soul, “Melbourne the Skin-walker. She can find Sara easily”

I felt a bit shaken as Melbourne didn't reside in the pack. She was a nomadic witch that currently lived in outback - where rogues were rampant and running wild.

“I don't know, mom. That means we have to leave the pack - that might be too dangerous” I suggested. My mom immediately slapped me on the shoulder.

“Get your act together!” She scolded, “You're about to lose your position as Luna after everything we did to make sure you got it and you think a little road trip is dangerous? Are you seriously going to let Sara take everything away from you?” she asked.

Putting it that way, she did have a valid point. I didn't really have a choice. If I wanted to retain my position as Luna, I needed to get rid of Sara by any means possible. A little trip to the outback wa

s nothing.

And with that, I strengthened my resolve.

“Mom, let's go find Melbourne”