Two Sides of The Moon - Chapter 1: Chapter 1

I was told that I slept twenty-six hours after the battle ended. The shadows had finally scattered in the wind, screaming in fear at the sight of me. Jaden spoke proudly about it, but when I looked back at that moment, I wasn't sure if it really was me, or the Echo in me.
The following week was long. We mourned those we lost and celebrated the victory by spending time with our loved ones. To be honest, it didn't feel like we won the war. We only won that one battle, and the second one would not be that easy. Not when the enemy knew that the Echo of Hades was now walking the Earth.
We spent a lot of time rebuilding the little town, dealing with the prisoners and taking care of the poor, possessed humans. Most of them already knew about the supernaturals, so it was easy to explain what had happened, but not everyone was in the loop. Those people had to have their memories wiped, which wasn't an easy task taken the fact that they were scared and confused enough, and then they were asked to drink a potion that made them forget the past day.
But eventually, everything went back to normal.
One night, we all stood in front of the Hall in silence. It was dark, but the street was lit up with torches. It was cold, but Jaden was resting his arm on my shoulders while we listened to his father.
"...and we may have lost the portal, but not our meaning. We are still guardians of this land. We still owe our lives to Spirit Walkers who gave us this place to build our homes when we had nowhere else to go."
The people around me mumbled in agreement, nodding their heads. I had a tiny smile on my lips as I watched their pride. Rayleigh was silent for a moment as he stood on top of the stairs, his eyes sweeping over us.
"You deserve to know the truth – you already do know it. The Echo of Hades is real, and it's right here with us. The enemy knows this too, and while we don't know who they are, they know who we are." He was silent again, and a crooked smile appeared on his lips. "And now they know how hard we bite and think twice before returning here."
The crowd broke out in loud cheers. I was feeling emotional. I was happy that none of them hated or feared me, and that I was still one of them, but I was worried at the same time. We nearly lost already, and the enemy would be more careful next time... These people were taking huge risks just by letting me stay there...
"And once they do, we are ready!" Rayleigh yelled over the noise. "Today, we are no longer the pack of Blue Moon, we are the alliance of the Blue Moon!" More cheering ensued, but even louder this time. "The packs of Midnight Grove, Hollow Oak, Black Thorn and us Blue Moons have reached an agreement and we are now officially joining forces to protect ourselves and this land."
"Well, what is left of Black Thorn," Jaden muttered, making me sad. After being possessed for such a long time, the Black Thorns needed a lot of time to recover and heal. I had seen them, and just like Jack, they all were infested with shadows. They had to live away from everyone else so that the infestation couldn't spread. At least they now had an actual roof over their heads – Jaden's pack had turned one of their old barns into a shelter for them.
Rayleigh held his hand up to silence us all. "Blue Moons, you are used to sharing your home with newcomers as our small pack of four grew to a hundred in size, and I'm expecting that same hospitality towards the three new packs we are going to share this land with from now on. Especially with our old enemy, Black Thorn. They were victims of Thorn's wrath and what he did to us doesn't even compare to the horrors he put his own people through. You are to treat them as equals, and the same goes with our good friends from Grove and Oak."
Everyone nodded.
"I should make something clear," Rayleigh continued, "We are an alliance. We follow the same rules, but the packs are still led by their own Alphas, and Black Thorns are currently led by their Betas. You are to treat the leaders with the respect they deserve, even if they're not your Alpha."
Then, he turned to look at Jaden. "And you are to treat them with respect even if the Alpha and his Betas are a bunch of rambunctious teenagers, because they, too, risked their lives to protect our people."
Everyone turned to look at Jaden, Arch, and Tilly. I could see some suspicious glares, but most of them had seen the trio fighting, and I could tell the attitudes towards them had changed drastically.
"Our little town is growing fast now, and we have to start to prepare for the second attack, so go now, rest, and spend some time with your families. Tomorrow we will begin warding this place with the help of the Spirit Walkers and building new homes for our new allies."
Jaden didn't remove his hand from my shoulders as we started making our way to the safe house. I guess it had a lot to do with the fact that I would be leaving the territory the next day. I had to return to the orphanage because the caretakers couldn't keep hiding the fact that I wasn't there, and the officials were getting suspicious. As much as I hated the idea of leaving this place, I couldn't ask the caretakers to keep lying to their bosses. They'd lose their jobs if they found out.
Later, when we were getting ready for bed, I watched Jaden trying to remove his shirt as carefully as possible. But when he lifted his arms to pull the shirt over his head, I could hear the tiny sound of tearing fabric.
"For fuck's sake," he sighed quietly, frozen to his spot with the shirt halfway pulled over his head already. "Ollie? Could you...?"
I chuckled when I got out of bed. Little by little, I nudged the shirt off him. I admit that my eyes lingered on his body for a moment. Once the shirt was off, he threw it in the corner with an annoyed sigh and sat down on the edge of the bed.
"It's fine – you can't help it," I said as I sat down next to him, caressing his naked back.
Arch and Tilly spotted us from the next room and came to see what was going on.
"Is everything all right?" Tilly asked, and I pointed at the shirt in the corner. Her expression turned sad. "I see... I lost two today... They were my favorite..."
I tried my best not to seem too amused. I felt sorry for all of them, but it was a bit funny at the same time. They were growing. Now that their true spirits had woken up, their wolf forms had instantly become pretty massive, but their human forms were going through rapid changes as well. And their old clothes just couldn't keep up anymore, especially the ones that were a bit too small already.
Arch crossed his arms over his chest, and the sleeves of his shirt basically blew up. He looked down at them and let out a sad sigh.
"I have nothing to wear tomorrow," Jaden sighed.
"You can have the rest of my clothes," Arch said while plucking the strings off his torn shirt. "I have no use for them anymore."
"But your clothes are so..." Jaden trailed off, hesitating for a moment, "...lame."
"Well – have fun going to school naked," Arch snorted. "Or in your father's clothes."
They all wrinkled their noses. Their parents were willing to give them better fitting clothes until they stopped growing, but none of them liked the idea. Spoiled princesses, all of them, but I still loved them all.
I stopped to stare at them as they started teasing each other about the unfitting clothes. I did love them all. It killed me to think that for now, this was our last night together. The past couple of weeks had been filled with stress, danger, and fear, but because of these three, I got through it just fine. I had gotten used to sleeping with the three massive wolves during the past week. Of course, I missed the kids at the orphanage but... I didn't belong there anymore.
I belonged here.
Tilly and Jaden got into a wrestling match, but Arch stayed by the door. As I watched, he turned to look over his shoulder, staying completely immobile for a long time. I jumped out of the bed after I nearly got kicked by my own mate while he tried to get Tilly off his back, and walked to Arch. He didn't seem to even notice me until I placed my hand on his arm.
He turned his sad eyes towards me but didn't say a word.
"He's safe," I said quietly, and he nodded. "He just needs more time."
"I don't get it. His whole pack is with us now... Why isn't he still coming back?"
"You know why," I said quietly, turning to watch just in time to see Jaden throw Tilly out of the bed, but she landed on her feet and jumped back in so hard the bed creaked in misery.
"He doesn't want to see me," Arch murmured.
"He just needs more time," I repeated gently, wishing there was a way to make him feel better. Well, make them both feel better.
I had gone to see Jack two times during the past week, but he refused to turn back to human, so all I could do was keep him company as long as he let me. He had found a small cave by the lake a few miles from here and built his nest there. I felt sad whenever I thought about him, but as long as he refused the help, there wasn't much I could do.
Arch let out a deep sigh and walked out of the room. I could feel his spirit, so I knew to leave him be. I turned my attention to the wrestling match and sighed as well.
"You're going to break the bed," I spoke, but the fight didn't end until Tilly had managed to push Jaden on the floor. She cheered loudly, posing like a champion. "Your shirt is ruined," I noted, looking away when I saw a hint of her bra through the holes.
She looked down and sighed.
"How can you two have so much energy?" I chuckled, helping Jaden up from the ground.
"I don't know," Tilly muttered, spreading her hands in front of her. They were shaking. "Ever since the spirit woke up, I... I don't know..."
"Same," Jaden nodded, sitting down on the bed next to her.
I hesitated for a moment but then stepped in front of them. I placed my hands on their shoulders and closed my eyes. Their spirits sure were restless. The wolves were the same, but still so different than before. I checked them both for possible shadow infections, but they were clean.
I honestly had no idea how I did the things I could now do. I knew how to get rid of the shadows and heal the spirits without ever having done those before. It was like... Like I did those things just by thinking about doing them. I knew what I wanted to do, and it just happened. Like an instinct or something.
It was so confusing... I tried not to think about it too much because I feared it would drive me crazy.
"Maybe we should go for a run tomorrow," I suggested. "Before I leave..."
Jaden growled lightly at my words, and I knew it happened out of pure instinct. He was not happy about me leaving. I placed my hand on his cheek, already knowing there was nothing I could say to make him feel better.
"This sucks," Tilly muttered and stood up. "Stupid humans..."
She walked out of the room, leaving me alone with Jaden, who was scowling at me.
"There's nothing I can do," I whispered to him.
"You belong in this pack," he started, but I placed my finger on his lips.
"Yes, of course, but I can't ask Natalie and the others to keep lying about where I am. We will see at school, and I can visit you on the weekends."
"Not good enough," he said, but his voice was lacking strength.
"It's only a year or two," I said, but that made him feel worse. It made me feel worse.
"Stupid humans," he mumbled.
"Let's just get some sleep, okay?" I smiled at him, climbing into the bed with him.
I cuddled against him, feeling sleepy and content despite the thought of tomorrow. His presence and warmth made me feel nice and cozy, especially when he rested his hand on my side, but he didn't seem to feel tired at all. Every time I looked at him, he was watching me, his expression blank and eyes sharp.
"You should try to get some sleep," I whispered, placing my hand on his cheek.
"I'm not tired," he replied, just like I expected.
I breathed out and smiled a little. "I'm still your mate even though I can't stay here."
The look in his eyes became much softer after I said that. He moved his head and kissed my palm, keeping his eyes on mine. The past week had brought us so much closer. I was going to miss him back at the orphanage, but... a small part of me... I don't know. I kind of needed that space. And I felt like a dirtbag for feeling like that, especially since I knew he could feel that too.
Maybe that was why he hated to see me leave.
His expression turned sad right away. The bond between us was sometimes a cruel thing.
"There are no secrets between us," I whispered. "But you also know why I need a little more room, right?"
He stared at me for a moment, before he sighed, "Yeah..."
"These past two weeks have been quite hectic," I continued, caressing his cheek. "You and I have been together only for a few weeks, and most of that time we spent trying to survive."
"I get it, you don't have to explain anything," he said softly. "I'm not worried exactly. I can feel your heart. You chose me."
"And I'd choose you again," I smiled, pressing my lips gently on his.
He let out a content sigh when he kissed me back. When I parted our lips, his expression had turned sleepier, and his spirits were relaxing.
"I'm still worried about that Echo," he muttered.
"Natalie and Mike are going keep teaching me to control it," I said reassuringly.
"How? They have no idea how to deal with it," Jaden said with a frown. "So far all you've done is meditation."
"For your information, meditation helps," I chuckled, and he rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, right..."
"You should try it too," I said, and he snorted, nearly baring his teeth at me, but I gave him a stern stare. "Do not try that with me."
He squinted back at me. "What about what he said?"
"What who said?" I asked, knowing very well what he was talking about.
"Hades."
"About what?"
"About your mom."
I instinctively shook my head. "Not now," I just said, refusing to even think about the woman who gave birth to me.
"Hmmh..."
He didn't press the issue. I was awfully aware of the issue, but I was more than happy to ignore it right now. Hades believed that my feelings towards my mom would be the base for the corrupted side of his Echo to build on. He believed that I had negative thoughts and feelings about my mom, and his Echo would use them, make them stronger and eventually fill me with hate and anger.
But he was wrong. I had no feelings towards my mother. No positive, nor negative ones. She was air to me.
"I'll be fine," I told him. "As soon as I've found the rest of his Echoes, everything will go back to normal."
"And who decided that it's your job to get them back?" Jaden asked. "Hades is an asshole for making you do his bidding. It's too dangerous! I say we get rid of that Echo and let someone else go run his errands!"
"Jaden, please..." I sighed. We'd had that conversation way too many times already.
"No. You said it yourself, there are three Shadow Walkers out there who know exactly who you are, and they can use Hades' powers."
"Mine is stronger."
"Is that you or the Echo speaking?" he asked.
Before I could reply to him, there was a knock on the door. I turned to look over my shoulder and saw Aurora standing there in her pajamas.
"Time to sleep now," she said sternly.
"You took the words right out of my mouth," I said, looking at Jaden.
"Fine," he sighed in defeat. "But I don't like this at all."
"I know," I told him, and Aurora cleared her throat.
"Fine, fine, no talking," Jaden muttered, pulling the covers over us.
"Goodnight," Aurora said, and I heard her walking away.
"Goodnight," I whispered to Jaden, and after a short moment of silence, he whispered it back to me.