Chapter One Hundred and Six
Catherine ignored the irony of what she was doing as she ran around the room packing a few change of clothes and her toiletries. She rifled through the bathroom cabinets, pulling out any medical item she might need to help Juno. Her friend didn’t tell her what happened or why she was crying. She didn’t need to. Whatever it was, nothing would stop her from getting to her.
She put her phone between her ear and shoulder while she continued to pack. Graham’s phone rang until the voicemail picked up.
“Fuck!” She heard the beep. “Graham, this is the thirteenth time I’ve called. I don’t know where you are. I called your mom but she hasn’t heard from you. I’ve called Nat, Toma, Lucas, Theo and even Mark but either you all are planning a surprise party at the most inopportune time or you have a lot of explaining to do. I don’t know what the hell you’re doing but Juno needs me. I’m leaving Blackmoore. I’ll be back tomorrow, probably before you,” she said, unable to hide the frustration in her voice. “Bye.”
She threw her phone into her purse and ran through the door. She fumbled with the Mustang’s keys and flinched when it roared to life. She yanked the seat all the way forward and pulled out of the driveway in the same way Lucas had only a few hours earlier.
So consumed with her need to get to Juno, she didn’t consider the three gates she would need to get through. As she pulled up to the first gate, she realized Graham had probably given instructions to not let her out of packlands.
Catherine’s mind raced as one of the guards stepped out. His eyes widened when he realized it was Beta Graham’s car. He sauntered around the front of the car and Catherine lowered the window. She plastered what she hoped was an easy smile on her face but his eyes told her he didn’t buy it.
“Good evening, Miss MacTavish,” the guard greeted. He leaned a hand on the window frame and peeked inside the car. His eyes fixed on the bag in the back seat. “May I ask where you’re headed?”
“You can ask, but I may not tell,” she said with a light laugh.
His eyes shot back to her. He looked over the roof of the car and she followed his gaze to the other guard observing the interaction with his own dubious expression.
“Beta Graham gave us instructions to make sure no one came into packlands while he is gone… Nor let anyone leave.”
“Anyone or just me?” she asked, her frustration leaching into her voice. “Look, I’m just going for a drive, is all. I want to visit a friend in Sterling. It’s fine.”
“How about we give him a call then and double check?”
“Go for it,” she hissed. He walked away toward the guard station. “If he picks up, tell him I want to talk to him too!” she yelled.
The guard nodded his head while he waited for Graham to answer his phone. A moment later she heard him describing the situation and realized he was leaving a voicemail. Catherine’s grip on the steering wheel tightened. This was stupid. Every second she was wasting here was another second her friend was alone and, possibly, in danger. She huffed and shoved the door open. Both guards turned to her in surprise as she stalked toward them.
She grabbed the first guard by his shirt and pulled him down closer to her face. “You will let me leave. You will tell the other guards at the next two gates to let me through without stopping me and wasting more of my time. You won’t call Graham again, nor will you tell him I’ve gone.” The guard’s face slackened as she spoke. His pupils turned to pinpoints, expanded across his entire eye and then shrunk back to normal.
“I hope you have a good drive, Miss MacTavish,” he told her with a smile.
Catherine smiled and then her gaze snapped toward the remaining guard whose mouth was ajar at what he’d just witnessed. “And you…”
An hour and half later she was gunning the Mustang through the last gate of safety. She sped through the roads of Sterling and turned down one of the country roads leading into the woods. As she drove she could see the neverending streams of light connecting people and the earth. They zagged together, interwove, split apart, brightened and dimmed. The tether she was focused on, led her deep into the woods, past where there were any lights or paved roads.
The Mustang bounced across the gravel as she followed Juno’s tether deeper and deeper. The road started to thin and become a one-lane. She felt trapped, claustrophobic. She checked her phone, it was nearly five in the morning and though she knew the sun would be up soon, no light would reach the ground thanks to the thick canopy above her head. In the distance she made out a dim light. She sped up when she realized the tether was leading her there.
She parked in front of a cabin. Though all she wanted to do was sprint inside, she took a moment to analyze the air around them. The energy she saw was only for the birds in the trees, and the trees themselves. The only person around was Juno. Catherine stepped out and walked carefully up the sidewalk and onto the cabin’s creaky porch. The door was slightly ajar. She pushed it open and cringed at the shrill sound the hinges made.
1/2
“Juno?” she called into the darkened room, lit only by a single lamp.
She noticed something move on the couch and her fear spiked until she recognized Juno’s ash blonde hair.
“Juno,” Catherine breathed in relief.
She rushed over to her friend but halted a couple feet away when she scented the tang of copper. She stepped around the couch. Juno’s hair covered her face. She fiddled with her fingers in her lap. Catherine noticed her normally manicured fingernails were cracked and caked with dirt.
“Hey, Kitty,” Juno whispered, shame filling her voice.
Finally Juno glanced up and Catherine gasped. Juno’s lip was split. Her left eye was swollen shut. Her nose was broken. Bruises littered her skin and blood matted sections of her hair. Her clothes were ripped, exposing cuts and more bruising along the rest of her body. Catherine sank down in front of her friend, unsure where she could touch her without causing her more pain.
“Juno… What… Who did this to you?” she asked, fighting the tears stinging her eyes as she took stock of her once vibrant, animated saviour.
Juno tried to smile but winced when it caused the split in her lip to reopen. Juno raised a shaky hand and dabbed the fresh blood there. Catherine looked around and spotted a box of tissues. She held it up and Juno nodded down at her lap in thanks.
“Talk to me, Jun,” Catherine begged. She raised her hand up and moved the blood-matted hair behind her right shoulder. Catherine gasped again when she saw the crescent shape of a mating mark along her friend’s neck.
Juno looked up, her soft blue eyes red from her ordeal. “I met my mate.”
rendering to Destiny
