Prologue: Death Trip

Prologue

Death Trip

“I need a vacation.” Naya was talking on the phone, while looking at the city through the window of her office. “I thought about going to DreamStone, but I know it would be a dead end. No one who visits our island wants to leave.”

“Why don't you go to Greece? There are so many wonderful places to explore, and the children will love it.”

“I don't know. They're used to the cold...”

“Because they don't know the heat yet.”

Naya clenched her lip with her tooth. Her son was four, and her daughter was three. They were precious children. Children of a Luna. There, in Alaska, all the werewolves revered, protected and cared for them, what would it be like for them to live a few months without all this attention?

“You're taking werewolves for your own safety, Naya!” The Alpha warned from the other side.

Naya smiled tenderly.

“Adam, you don't leave my thoughts, even when you're far away?”

“When we're talking and you're silent, I need to know that you're not asleep and drooling on your desk.”

Naya's smile widened.

“I'll take your suggestion. I'm going to Greece, but no werewolves.”

“That's not a smart decision.”

“Don't worry, my husband's going with me.”

This time, it was he who remained silent.

Naya looked at the watch on her wrist.

“Are you still there?”

“I'd like to go with you, Naya, but my son and my niece are at my house. I have to go. Don't be stubborn and take werewolves for your safety, and the children's.” Adam said and hung up.

Naya called her secretary and asked her to arrange a trip to Greece for her, her husband and the children.

When the secretary left to carry out her orders, she received a message on her email and opened it.

A travel agency was offering the last three places on an excursion to Lord Howe Island. The ad said it was a one-off opportunity, caused by a family giving up, and was scheduled for seven days. She believed it was a sign that she should go and immediately confirmed her ticket and those of her children. She couldn't take her husband, but he didn't care. The Alpha had manipulated his mind so much that he had lost his identity. He was a good businessman and handled the affairs of his oil company efficiently.

Naya went home and began preparing for the trip.

...

The children were excited, running around in the sand on the deserted beach. Naya thought that there would be a lot of people on the plane, but the guide who met her at the airport said that they were on another plane, and that she would meet the other people on the island. However, it had been three days since she had arrived there, and she hadn't seen anyone apart from the hostel staff and some wildlife, who looked at her and her children curiously.

She was looking at the horizon on the beach when she heard her daughter's cry.

“Mommy!”

She turned around, imagining that she must be fighting with her brother, but her heart froze when she realized that they were surrounded by creatures that looked like humans, but made the hairs on her body stand on end. What on earth were the vampires doing there? Naya looked more closely and realized that the vampires weren't the only ones accompanying the werewolf. The disgusting creatures that had been watching them, that walked around naked, that humans couldn't see, that were silent and that their numbers were growing at an astonishing rate, were there too, but like all supernaturals, Naya didn't care about them. Those creatures didn't take part in anything. They just watched.

One of the vampires was holding her daughter, and she didn't see her son. A werewolf, with the same features as Afla, came out from among the vampires with a debauched smile, accompanied by a woman with blonde hair, and approached, and Naya could detect that there were humans among them. The humans were pointing guns at her.

“You'll go down in history as the dumbest Luna ever.” He said with contempt.

Naya sensed what he was.

“You're a disgusting Sigma!” She concluded, but was puzzled. “But there's only one sigma...”

“Yes. I'm Dester, Alpha's uncle.”

“What do you want here?”

“I suffer the curse of the Sigma and have no children... I've come to get my daughter. She'll be useful.”

Naya took up an attack position.

“I'll kill you if you dare touch a single strand of her hair!”

“You'll kill me?” He said and placed his hand theatrically on his chest. “I'm too scared.”

Naya began to conjure the elements, when she heard a gunshot and felt something thin penetrate her body, right into her heart. She looked inquiringly at Dester.

“Sedative. You need to calm down, Luna...”

Naya took a deep breath. She would kill them all before the sedative took effect, but other shots rang out, and many needles penetrated other parts of her body, sending the poison through her bloodstream, provoking the immediate wrath of Luna, who fell to her knees.

Dester approached.

“Don't fight. I could have taken the girl and left without you noticing... But I wanted you to know something... Your daughter is also a Luna. I'm going to raise this girl to be brilliant and not an idiot like her mother. I hope you gave her your last kiss, Luna. You'll never see her again.”

Naya's eyes turned yellow and Dester laughed.

“Are you asking the werewolves for help? There aren't any werewolves on this island. You don't even know where it really is and...” Dester stopped when he heard a different noise behind him and looked back.

Wolves! An entire pack was growling dangerously at the vampires, who were preparing for a fight.

Dester looked at the woman.

“Stay here and contain her, Sarah, or I'll send you back to hell!”

The battle that followed was traumatizing for Naya. The vampires were torn apart by the sharp, relentless canines of the wolves. They tore off parts of their bodies, and for forty minutes a war was waged between wolves and vampires. Dester tried but failed to stop the wolves, who avoided killing him. The vampires wounded some of the wolves, but they were stronger. When they were all torn apart in a circle surrounded by the wolves, hundreds of other vampires emerged from behind the trees. Naya felt tears run down her cheeks.

“Run!” She shouted with all her might. There was no way they could fight all those vampires. They were only 21 wolves. Naya didn't want them to be hurt even more. The first battle had tired and wounded them. They had no chance of winning.

The wolf leader of the pack looked at her in doubt, but Naya was firm.

“Run now!”

The wolf howled and ran into the trees and disappeared, followed by the other wolves.

Dester approached Naya, who was unable to support herself on her knees and felt that she would soon fall unconscious.

“The Alpha is going to find my daughter. And he's going to kill you.”

“He won't find us. I'm a Sigma.”

“But my daughter isn't a Sigma. He'll be able to see through her eyes.”

“Why do you think it took me three years to come and get her? I pulled this witch out of hell, and she has the knowledge of a Bruma.” He said and showed Naya a ring he had taken out of his pocket. A green stone ring. The Bruma ring.

“How did you get this?” Naya asked, believing that Bruma must have given it to him. There was only one in the world.

“I stole it. Did you know that this ring absorbs the Bruma's powers? When they're very young and don't know how to contain their powers, this ring absorbs them, so that something devastating doesn't happen... And my witch friend, you can use this absorbed power. The Alpha and you will never find the girl.”

Feeling that everything was spinning around her and that her time of consciousness was running out, Naya looked around.

“Where is my son?”

Dester smiled evilly.

“The vampires were thirsty.”

Naya felt despair grip her heart, and without strength, she collapsed.

...

Naya felt a pleasant scent, and then was lifted off the sandy floor by strong arms. She tried to open her eyes, but couldn't. She was placed on a soft surface. She felt the needles being removed from her body. She heard voices. Soon after, fresh water was put to her lips. She sipped all the liquid and felt her consciousness return. But she didn't want to open her eyes. She had lost her children. She didn't want to go on living. She felt someone hold her hand and she forced herself to open her eyes.

Maxwell had his mouth pressed into a line and his eyes were worried and indecisive.

“Why didn't you let me die?” She asked, with the image of her son being sucked up by hundreds of vampires in her mind.

“Because you need to make a decision. Now.”

“How did you find me? You're Dester's accomplice!” She concluded. “You command the vampires! You bastard!”

“Maybe that's why there were so few turned vampires before I was born. I can't see what they're going to do until their intent dominates their hearts. I saw their intention for the boy. You're not far from Ireland. Yet it took me seven hours to find this place. I stopped the vampires, but I don't think I was fast enough.” He said quickly.

Naya managed to sit up.

“What do you mean?”

“That we have two problems with your son.”

“What problems?

Maxwell looked unhappily at Naya.

“There's no less impactful way to tell you this, Naya, but he's not going to make it. I was too late.”

Naya felt her eyes cloud over with tears.

“Where is he now?”

“He's in a cabin, with a werewolf doctor...”

“That water I drank... it's the healing water, right? He's a werewolf. He has the right to drink it.”

“We'll never deny him that, Naya. He's already drunk the water, but... the poison of many vampires... the delay in coming to his aid... Your son's body will not resist until the water takes effect.”

“So... He's going to die?”

“This is where I talk to you about an alternative.”

“The other problem?” Naya asked as she put her feet on the ground and realized she was on a ship. “You said we had two problems...”

“I could try to turn him...”

Naya stared at him in amazement, so intensely that Maxwell fell silent.

“You want to turn my son into a vampire? Is that possible?”

“I don't know. I've turned werewolves who weren't born that way into vampires, but your son was born a werewolf, it might not work...”

Naya looked at the sea thoughtfully.

“You want my son to be your guinea pig?” Naya knew how dangerous this could be for the werewolves. “Why haven't you done that yet?”

“For two reasons, Naya. The first is that vampire law forbids me from turning a child. It's never been done before, and the results could be disastrous, and the second reason... I need someone who loves him to give consent.”

Naya stood up.

“Did anyone consent when you turned hundreds of humans into vampires?”

Maxwell looked regretfully at her.

“Yes, Naya. Every time I fed on them, I made that offer. They had two options, die immediately... or be my food for a few years, and one day be like me.”

Naya felt tears rolling down her cheeks.

“But none of them are like you, Max. I'm disgusted with myself for having once loved you.” She said and looked away. “Take me to my son.”

Maxwell took Naya's elbow and helped her to the cabin where the child was. Even in that tragic situation, that small touch made him want her. She had never yet admitted it. But she said it when her heart was bleeding. She loved him.

Naya approached her son's bedside and, kneeling down, tenderly ran her hand through his hair.

“Forgive me, my son. I can't condemn you to live a lifetime as a creature you reject, and I can't condemn our species to be vulnerable... But I promise you something. I will never forget the four wonderful years you gave me. I had everything, and now I have nothing.” Naya said and stood up. “I can't be Luna anymore, my son. Because I'm revenge now.”