Black Moon’s Pack. 6:45amDerek woke up a bit agitated from a dreamless sleep. He had thought that perhaps he would receive some kind of information on the whereabouts of Emma in a dream. The idea sounded funny to him afterward, but he couldn’t deny that the idea had been stuck to his head like glue before he had slept off at midnight. But that wasn’t only the thing that had gotten him tied up in knots. There was a knock on the door, and he nearly screamed out in frustration. That was another huge part of his anger! Someone had interrupted his sleep! Perhaps, if he had slept more, he might have dreamt. “Derek, are you there?” he heard his mother call out to him from behind the door and sighed, cursing himself as he stood up from his bed for beginning to believe in dreams. He would leave that part to his little sister, Eva, who always thought that she saw Emma in her dreams. Why can’t he see her for god sake? They are mates!“Were mates…” he heard Maru mutter, and sighed. “Good for
“Derek, do you have any idea where Leo is?” Maya asked Derek immediately he stepped into the large family sitting room. She was sitting beside Curtis on the longest sofa in the room. “We have not seen him since yesterday night. Did you send him on an errand or something?” she questioned, her eyebrows furrowing in slight worry when she saw the unsure gazes that were exchanged between Derek and Anthony. “Guys, what is going on?” That was Curtis. He had noticed the movements too and was beginning to believe that something was wrong. Something that obviously involved Leo. “Well…'' Derek started, wishing his mother had followed him here to do the explanations he wasn’t sure how to go about. She had taken a detour to Eva’s room to see how the latter was doing. Maya grabbed her thigh tight, unable to stop herself, hoping that whatever news that Derek was about to break didn’t go in the lines of ‘I’m sorry, but Leo is dead, or kidnapped…’“Leo isn’t around.” Derek finally said, shrugging
"I can live with being on a small boat with no privacy for seven long days, the sun turning me into a lobster girl, and mosquitoes feasting on me, I really can," Emma informed the closest passenger beside her, a twenty something year old lady who she had gotten into a discussion few hours ago after the plane had taken off the tarmac in England. "But I swear to you, if I hear one more complaint or disgusting sexual innuendo from Mr. I’m-So-Hot-Every-Woman-Should-Bow-Down-To-Me, I’m just going to shove the idiot overboard. His constant licking his lips and saying he likes the idea of mother and daughter gives me the creeps."Emma cast a glance of pure loathing at Miles, the annoying idiot in question. She’d met a lot of narcissistic pigs while in her seventeen years old life, and a few at the college, even in high school amongst her peers, but he took the cake. He was a great brute of a man, with wide shoulders, a barrel chest and an attitude of superiority that irked Emma. Even if sh
According to Annabel, Miles and his two fellow mining engineers had been in the village prepping a trip to the edge of the Andes in Peru, in search of potential new mines for the corporation they worked for. Two men researching a supposedly extinct plant had arrived from Europe seeking a guide to go up a mountain in the Andes as well. An archaeologist and his two grad students were heading to the Andes looking for a rumored lost city of the Cloud People-the Chachapoyas. All of them had decided to pool their resources and travel upriver together. Two of the guides, the archaeologist and his students and three porters would be in the lead boat soon after they landed, just ahead of them with a good deal of the supplies. Trapped on the plane’s first class with eight strangers, Emma didn't feel safe. She wished the plane could land already, where they could go their separate ways.Annabel shrugged. "It's a little too late for me for second thoughts. I made the decision to travel together
Emma took a breath. At this late date, she wasn't going to resort to violence over sexual harassment no matter how much of an ass the man was. She could ignore Miles until they went their separate ways. He was the least of her problems now."I thought he was supposed to be so experienced," Emma mentioned to Annabel a few minutes later, her voice equally as soft. "They claim to be mining engineers who've traveled to the Andes countless times, but I'm betting they flew over the peaks and called that going into the rain forest. They probably don't have anything at all to do with mining."Annabel gave a quick nod of agreement, warmth lighting her eyes all the same. "If they think this is bad, wait until we get into the jungle. They'll be falling out of their hammocks and forgetting to check each morning for venomous bugs crawling into their boots."Emma couldn't help but smile at the thought. The three engineers were supposedly from a private company seeking prospective mines in the miner
Annabel shuddered violently, but she didn't make a sound. Her skin turned bright red, as a thousand tiny bites swelled into fiery blisters. Gary rummaged through a satchel he carried and drew out a small vial. He began smearing the clear liquid over the bites. It wasn't a small job as there were so many. Jubal held the woman’s arms pinned so that she couldn't scratch at the maddening itch spreading like waves across her body.Emma clutched the woman’s hand tightly, murmuring nonsense. Her previous suspicions came roaring back to life. The tiny little midges had gone straight for her friend. She didn’t know why, and it was troubling her. Hadn’t they come for her? She turned aside to thank the old woman who had somehow saved them in a way from the weird insects whose abode were in the rainforest but she was shocked when she didn’t see the woman.She could also see the shock on Gary’s face, although the man refused to comment. What the hell! Emma cussed. She thought she had left all for
Annabel nodded and swallowed the pills, chasing them with water. "Don't trust anyone, Emma. Any one of these people can be our enemy. We must go our own way as soon as possible."Emma bit her lip, refraining from saying anything at all. She needed time to think. She was seventeen years old, to be eighteen by tomorrow, but she had never felt terrified as she was now. First, it was the county where she had found out that paranormals like werewolves and witches were real, and now this. She had no idea what to think again. Even though she thought that Annabel was so delirious to the extent of referring to her as her daughter, she couldn’t help the feeling that there might be a hint of truth in what the latter had said. Her instincts were never wrong. But it scared her the most. Evil in the mountains?? What mountain and what is the evil?She wished she could turn back time. She wouldn’t have offended her father to warrant him throwing her far off to England for her studies. That way, she
Emma shrugged. "That's understandable. Practically everything in the rain forest is out for your blood. I've heard the rumors, of course, and Annabel told me that it wasn't the Incas who destroyed the Cloud People, or the Spanish. The locals and descendents whisper of a great evil who murdered in the night, sucking the life from them and turning families against one another. The Cloud People were fierce in battle and gentle in their home life, but they supposedly succumbed one by one or fled the village to the Incas. When the Incas came to conquer the forest people, apparently most of the warriors were already dead. It's rumored that the Incas living here suffered the same fate as the ones killed by the marauding evil. Their bravest warriors died first.""That's not in the history books," Ben said.Still, she had the feeling he wasn't surprised, that he'd heard that whispered version. There were many more stories, of course, each more frightening than the other. Tales of bloodless vic