THE LUNA CHOOSING GAME - Season 7 Episode 35

“What are you doing here, Jane?” I demanded. “What do you want?”

I had mixed feelings, seeing my sister alive and well before me. Last time I had seen her, she had been falling off a balcony, death imminent.

She wasn’t the little girl that had followed along in my shadow anymore, I knew that. She had proven time and time again that she only meant pain and hardship for Elva, me, and everyone else who dared to care about us.

I shouldn’t care at all whether she lived or died.

But… I still did.

Despite everything. Despite how she tried to kill me, how she had been so close to succeeding…. she was still my sister.

I wanted her in jail, facing punishment for all of the terrible things she had done to me and to others. But I also wanted her alive.

Seeing her… tears welled in my eyes. I blinked them back, needing to be strong in this moment. Nicholas had just proposed, which put me in line to be the next Luna. I couldn’t hide now. I had to stand tall and show myself worthy of such an honor.

*This is a private party,” I said.

Jane laughed a little. “Too private for your own sister to attend?”

*Who are all these people?” I asked, ignoring her dig at me.

Nicholas squeezed me. He kept one arm around my waist as we faced off against my sister. He turned toward me, while keeping his gaze on Jane, as he said, “Bears.”

That explained their height, I supposed. Most of them seemed well over six foot. Only Hawk was closer to Jane’s height. Though he was no bear, but a sorcerer.

At the same moment, guards flooded into the ballroom from the staircase. Jane made no threats. She simply watched it happen.

Odd.

My nerves prickled. Something was going on here more than a simple assault.

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*Jane,” I said, more commanding. “Tell us what you want.”

*To tell you a story,” Jane said. “Of a missing bear princess, who was brought with her twin sister across the border and hidden within wolf territory. They were stolen, denied their true heritage, and forced to live in squalor. And for what? For fear of their strength.”

“What does any of this have to do with us?” I demanded.

*Piper,” Nicholas said, a soft warning in his voice.

On the stage, Julian moved from beside his parents closer to the edge, as if he was angling to jump on Jane if necessary.

Hawk clocked him before Jane did, and clucked his tongue as he shook his head. Julian stayed where he was. *This has everything to do with us, Piper,” Jane continued. “Surely not even you are so fool as to not see the obvious.”

I could see what she was saying, but it was too farfetched.

“We were twins, and we grew up in foster care,” I said. “But I have a wolf, Jane. Not a bear.”

*No, Piper,” Jane snapped. “What you have is both. That’s why we were taken. Why we were hidden. They feared us, as wolf-bear hybrids.”

No way. “I don’t know what kind of lies you’ve been fed, Jane, but that’s just not true.”

“It is true, Piper. And I’m ready to take my place on the throne, once and for all.” Jane’s face twisted into an angry snarl.

She raised her hand, and the bear-shifters roared. They transformed, one after the next, into massive bear forms, all dark fur and claws.

The guard growled in response, some of them shifting into their wolf forms.

They barked and snapped at each other, but didn’t attack yet.

Everything felt like it was standing on the edge of a knife. One move, and the whole thing would slice to pieces.

“We can talk about this, Jane,” I said. “We don’t need to go to war.”

*The time for talking has come and gone, sister. All that is left is action.”

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Jane dropped her hand. The bears pounced. The wolves intercepted.

Innocent nobles ran screaming.

*Piper!” Veronica called, rushing toward me, while all the other candidates hurried to escape behind the guard.

Most of the royal guard, rushed to protect the King and Queen, pushing them back into safety.

Nicholas and Julian stayed by my side, fighting as they would my own personal security.

I wanted to help, so tired of being helpless.

“Miracle!” I cried within myself. I felt her, deep down, inching closer to the front of my mind, but in the end, she did not surface. She merely sat there, unable to help.

And she wasn’t alone.

A different presence was with her inside of me. Something large and strong.

“Miracle?!”

Miracle’s voice came into my thoughts, “Accept who you are…”

I didn’t understand! I clutched my head, suddenly having an overwhelming headache.

A battle raged around me, filled with roars and growls and teeth and fur.

I struggled to stand upright.

Hands grabbed my wrists and forced my hold away from my head. Jane stood there, smirking at me.

“You know the truth,” Jane said. “Your wolf knows. Quit being such a coward, Piper! Fight for your true heritage?”

I just wanted to marry Nicholas and help bring an end to this war. I didn’t care about my lineage, or power, or whatever else Jane wanted me to care about.

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“Go away!” I snapped at her.

That wasn’t the answer she wanted. Her face scrunched up. Her voice turned vicious. “If you cannot see for yourself which side you should be on, then I will make you see.” She looked over her shoulder. “Hawk!”

At once, the man in the bird mask swooped in, grabbed both me and Jane by the shoulder.

In a startling and disorienting swirl of color, everything shifted and changed.

I heard a wolf howl. Nicholas? Why was it growing farther and farther away?

Nicholas! I tried to cry but for a moment… somehow… I felt as if I had no mouth.

It was too much for me to comprehend. My head pounded. My skin felt as if it was being ripped apart.

I tried to hold onto consciousness, but everything was going dark around the edges. I was losing myself, losing

everything.

And after too brief a moment, the world went black.

I awoke with a throbbing headache. My back hurt. I was lying on a brick floor.

Groaning, I lifted my hand to my forehead as I sat up and opened my eyes.

I was in some kind of basement, locked in a tall but narrow cage. There was another cage beside mine, with a different prisoner inside.

Blinking a few times, my eyes took a long time to adjust to the dim light. When they finally did, I recognized my fellow prisoner.

*Joyce.” My voice was raw. I coughed after saying the name. I glanced around for water, but of course, there was

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“Hello, Piper,” Joyce said sadly. “They’d threatened that you’d be joining us soon. I’d hoped that Nicholas would have been able to stop them.”

So Joyce was also here unwillingly. That was good to know. I hadn’t wanted to believe the worst in him, but after everything that had been done to him, I hadn’t been sure he’d ever break out of his brainwashing.

Rubbing my head, I glanced around. “Where are we?” I asked him.

Joyce sighed, as if he dreaded the answer. “We’re in the North, Piper.”

“The north?” He couldn’t mean.

“We’re not in my father’s kingdom anymore,” Joyce said. “We’re far beyond reach of any rescue.”