My Miracle Luna
Their Gemini Wolves Chapter 71

{Lanie's P.O.V.}

After we found out about everything that happened at Blue Lake and how Eric and Ash had been multiple steps ahead of us the entire time, I knew that my visit to the future was coming true. Rylee had been taken, and with her being pregnant, I was terrified that something would happen to her. Though, one thing that seemed to have changed was the fact that there were no additional clones.

It was hard to say with absolute certainty that who I met in the future was a clone because things felt off. But it honestly could have just been me freaking out over being somewhere I had never been, let alone in a different time. I told Chad what I had seen, even though I knew I wasn't supposed to. But I couldn't just idly stand by while my sister was in the hands of the crazies and not say anything. I was pretty sure that my telling would change something, but if it meant finding Rylee and everyone else sooner, then I would take the punishment.

"Lanie, Wyatt is asking if you remember seeing a building or some other landmark during your brief trip to the future?" Chad asked me as he was on the phone with Wyatt.

"I honestly can't remember. I remember a lot of trees and you hiding behind some brushes, but that's all. I don't remember seeing a building of any sort," I answered him as I thought back.

"Did you hear that?" Chad asked Wyatt over the phone before putting the call on speaker.

"That could literally be anywhere!" Wyatt shouted. I just shrugged my shoulders, not knowing what else to say.

"Wyatt, I wasn't exactly paying attention to where my powers took me in the future. I was too busy freaking out!" I shouted back at him.

"Lanie was there for all of a few seconds. You can't really expect her to have seen everything, Wyatt," Chad said in my defense.

"You're right. I'm sorry, Lanie. It's been three days since everyone was taken, and we still have no idea where they went. Even our personal bonds with everyone are of no use. Not being able to track them down whatsoever is making me think that the witch on their side must be masking everything with dark magic," Wyatt admitted.

"Have you considered asking Svetlana?" I suggested. They both got quiet, and Chad stared at me. "What?"

"I'm trying not to rely on her too much right now," Wyatt answered finally. "The moon goddess wasn't very happy with me the last time I asked Svetlana for help, apparently."

"Who cares what my mother thinks! Rylee and countless others are in trouble!" I exclaimed. Chad looked at me, surprised. "What!? Just because she's the mother of all werewolves doesn't mean she can just pass judgment on him. Or us, for that matter!" "Ummm, yes, she can," Chad argued back.

"No, she can't! She has no room to judge anyone on anything! What has she done for us recently that gives her that right? All she's done is say what she wants to say, but I haven't seen or heard her do anything! Who is she to judge Wyatt for asking a dark witch for help? Had she just gotten involved then, none of this would have ever happened!"

"Lanie, William already explained how the higher powers aren't allowed to get involved," Wyatt pointed out.

"Well, maybe they should! Things are so f****d up in our world, and all the while, they just sit in the kingdom and watch it happen! Think about it-Rylee and her family, me and Lexie, J's family, and all this crap going with Eric. All of this could have been stopped, but she and the other gods and goddesses chose to let it happen! And for what, to teach people a lesson? Please!" I scoffed and crossed my arms. "It's one thing to be a neutral party, but what she and other gods are doing is nothing short of absolutely nothing! Even the humans' God felt the need to wipe out half of the human race when things got so bad!"

"Lanie, how do you know that?" Chad asked me.

"Anna."

"Oh."

"If the humans' Almighty God is willing to kill his children, then I think our gods and goddesses should be able to do the same if it calls for it! My mother should have known what kind of werewolf Eric was, even back then, but she chose to let him live. That one decision destroyed Rylee's life, caused her to lose Lexie and me, and it ruined our lives as well. William told us that choices we make can affect our lives and the lives of those around us, did he not?" Chad nodded, and Wyatt agreed over the phone. "The same thing applies to them. Only their decisions affect our entire species!" Chad tilted his head and raised his brows in realization.

"Wyatt, she has a point."

"I couldn't agree more."

"Okay then! Call Svetlana! Have her use her dark magic to track down this dark witch helping Eric and Ash. Unless my mother wants to get involved, she has no right to say anything."

"You got balls, Lanie. Some big brass balls. Neither one of us would ever talk about our moms that way. Especially if she were a goddess," Wyatt told me.

"Well, unlike you two, I don't really know my mother now, do I? I don't know the moon goddess or Megan," I said without remorse.

"I guess I have a dark witch to summon. I'll let you know something as soon as I get a hold of her," Wyatt said before hanging up. When the line went dead, Chad looked at me with a raised brow.

"What?"

"Are you really that resentful towards the moon goddess over everything that has happened?"

"YES! And I'm not ashamed to admit it. I don't even care if she hears this. She needs to know that this whole thing about not getting directly involved is complete bullshit! She made her choices, and now she has to live with them. Just like we do too. I won't deny that this whole clone thing was a stupid idea, to begin with, but the one person who has no right to say anything to anyone about choices being made is her."

"Lanie, she's still your mother. She's technically our mother."

"Exactly! She's the mother of all werewolves, which means she should be making decisions that HELP us live long and prosper. But she doesn't! She just watches s**t hit the fan and then has the nerve to talk s**t!?"

"Lanie, I think you're being too harsh."

"No, I'm not. It's just like raising a child! You would never allow Killian to make a stupid choice that could affect his entire future, would you? Or allow someone to harm him for their own personal gain?"

"Of course not. What kind of parent would I be if I-" he paused and looked at me when he finally understood what I was trying to say.

"Exactly."

"But Lanie, it's different for the gods and goddesses of the supernatural. They don't just have one child; they have millions. Selene literally has millions of children, and she has to look after all of them. She can't just snap her finger to create a utopia for us just because there are a few bad apples."

"I'm not saying she has to! I'm saying she should try to be involved in her children's lives if she actually cares about their well-being! If she had just made the choice to get rid of Eric, then everything that has happened over the last twenty-plus years would have never come to pass! Rylee would have grown up with her family! Lexie and I would have grown up in the kingdom! All those people that Eric murdered would still be alive! And all of the pack members that he's currently holding hostage-goddess only knows where- would be home with their families!" Chad sighed and just rubbed his face.

"Okay, I get it. I see your point. But none of that matters right now. What's happened has happened, and now we have to find Rylee and the others," he told me. I nodded my head and finally let it go. I stood up from my seat, went over to him, and sat on his lap to calm down some more. He wrapped his arms around me and tenderly kissed my cheek.

"Do you think Svetlana will be able to find Rylee and the others?" I asked him softly.

"I don't know, but I hope so," he answered.

"Hey!" someone shouted as they burst through the door.

"What is it, Brent?" Chad asked.

"It's Jackson! He's back!" Brent announced with a huge smile.

"What!?" We both shot up out of our seats and ran out of the office. We followed Brent to the main living room, where Richard was helping Jackson sit on the sofa.

"Jackson!" Chad called out as he quickly kneeled in front of him. "You look like s**t, old man."

"I feel like s**t," Jackson replied.

"I don't understand. How did you escape?" Richard asked him.

"It wasn't easy, but they were transferring me and a few others, and I was able to break away. I had to fight quite a few rogues, but I was able to get to freedom relatively quickly." "What about Rylee?" I asked him.

"I didn't see the young Luna. We were all held in different cells. I know I saw the Beta of Blue Lake. He was captured by the dark witch when he followed his mate who had been kidnapped." "Yeah, Wyatt told us that his sister had been taken and that his Beta went after her," Chad informed him.

"Jackson, what else can you tell us?" Richard asked.

"Not much. Eric does have more followers than we anticipated. And I saw the dark witch that is helping them. She's powerful. She's the one who created the tornadoes that kidnapped everyone."

"I don't get it. Why didn't Eric send people to recapture you?" Brent asked.

"I don't think he cares too much about one missing wolf. I mean, I'm a retired Beta. I don't think I can offer much to him. He probably just wanted to cut his losses." I looked at Jackson and was confused because if there was one thing that Rylee said about Eric, it's that he's not one to give up easily. The fact that he took pack members that are ranked or are related to ranked members must be for a specific reason. He wouldn't just cut his losses the way Jackson was saying. I bit my bottom lip and looked back at Jackson, studying his face carefully.

"Can you at least tell us where you were held or take us back there?" Chad asked.

"I'm sorry, no." Jackson's answer threw us off, and I saw the moment Brent, Chad, and Richard made eye contact with each other.

"Don't worry about it, old friend. Let's get you to the pack hospital," Richard said to him and had a few Omegas help Jackson to his feet and escort him.

"Richard, a word please?" Chad said as soon as Jackson was out of the room. "Brent, go get Mav and J. This will be an all-ranked members meeting." Brent nodded his head without hesitation and left to find Mav and J. I found Lexie in the crowd and gestured for her to come with us.

When we all went into Chad's office, the air was tense, and I could just feel the weight of the uncomfortable silence that filled the room as we waited for Brent, Mav, and J. When they finally came in, J and Maverick were holding hands. Seeing that made me smile, and it was clear that they were heading in the right direction.

"What's going on?" Mav asked as he and I took their seats.

"You heard that Jackson is back, right?" Chad asked.

"Yeah, Trent told me via mind link. What's up?"

"Well, we asked him a few questions, but one of his answers doesn't make sense," Brent replied.

"What do you mean?"

"Chad asked him to tell us where it is that he escaped from, but he said no," I told them. Maverick and J both looked at me like I was the crazy one.

"What do you mean he said no?" I asked.

"Are you sure he didn't say he didn't know?" Mav asked.

"No, man, he said no. He didn't even hesitate or even try to think about it. He just flat out said no," Brent told him.

"Even if he had said he didn't know, it still wouldn't make any sense. Jackson is a Beta wolf by blood. He's trained to look at his surroundings and think on his feet. It doesn't matter that he's retired and no longer in his prime. Those skills are in his blood until he dies. His claim of not knowing wouldn't make sense. And his flat-out refusal to tell us where he was being held worries me," Richard explained.

"Something else he said didn't make sense. He said that Eric would just cut his losses with his escape. But from what I've heard, Eric isn't the type to just give up or cut his losses. Not after the things I've heard him do. Poisoning Rylee's dad, kidnapping our souls for money, forcing himself onto Megan, and faking his own death to avoid the death sentence. Jackson's answers don't make any sense," I pointed out.

"Hold on, are you guys trying to say that isn't really Jackson?" Brent asked.

"No, babe," Lexie said to him. "They're saying that Jackson is lying."

"What?! What reason would Jackson have to lie to us? He's the former Beta of this pack!"

"There's only one reason for Jackson to lie about why Eric didn't chase after him and why he would refuse to tell us where he was being held," Chad insisted. We all looked at him, and we all knew what he was thinking.

"No, man. It can't ... He wouldn't ..." Brent stammered. Everyone could see the look of betrayal in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, brother, but it's the only explanation that makes sense."

"As much as I hate to admit it, I'm inclined to agree with Chad," Richard confessed.

"RICHARD!? He's your best friend! He was your Beta!" Brent shouted.

"I know, and it pains me to think that he would betray us. Betray me. But as Chad said, it's the only explanation that makes sense for his responses to our questions."

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Maverick asked. Richard and Chad nodded. Maverick huffed and slouched back in his seat in shock. J held his hand to comfort him.

"NO! NO! I refuse to believe that Jackson is the mole! HE WOULD NEVER BETRAY OUR PACK LIKE THIS!" Brent screamed.

"I'm sorry, Brent, but it seems that is exactly what Jackson did. And until we can prove his innocence, I'm going to have to place him under arrest," Chad told him. He looked to Richard, who also nodded his head.

"ARGHGH!!!" Brent snarled and punched a gaping hole into the wall. Lexie ran over to him and hugged his neck to calm him down. He tried to push her away, but she wouldn't let him. Lexie held on tight, and Brent finally broke down and hugged her back. He fell to his knees and cried. Lexie looked at me, and I could see the tears in her eyes too. Chad covered his face with his hands, and Richard hung his head back while resting his hands on his hips.

"We have to figure out where they are," I said to everyone in the room.

"Unless we can get Jackson to tell us, we have no idea where to start looking," Chad replied without lifting his head.

"Lexie?" She looked up at me. "Do you think you can transport Chad and Brent through time to see where Jackson has been?" Brent and Chad both raised their heads and stared at me.

"I can try, but I can't promise anything," Lexie responded without confidence.

"If you can't, then we go to plan B," I said.

"What plan B?" they all asked at the same time.

"We take a page out of Eric's playbook," I replied and looked at everyone. "We leverage him."

"How?" Chad asked me.

"He has a mate, doesn't he?"

"Lanie, we can't! She's innocent!" Lexie shouted at me.

"How do we know that? How do we know that she's not in on it too?! If Jackson could betray us, why couldn't Nina?"

"I've known Nina since we were children. She would never do such a thing. But I can tell you that if she were to find out about Jackson's betrayal, she would never forgive him," Richard replied. "And Jackson knows that better than anyone." "Then, if Lexie's powers can't help us, we threaten to tell Nina. But we have to try and get Jackson to tell us of his own accord first. If we can't, then we bring Nina into it," Chad suggested, and we all nodded.

"I can't believe he would do this to us," Brent sobbed. "It's like being betrayed by your own parent!" Lexie hugged him again, and I looked over at Chad, who was just as hurt as Brent was. I would never forgive Jackson if he really was the mole.