The Moon Phase Trilogy | Protected | Book One | ORIGINAL

Thirty-Two

Ericka was thrown down in another cage in a dark cave. She anticipated hard ground or metal, but instead she fell on soft, itchy hay. Her eyes were wide with fear as the large beast just stared at her in cage. She scrambled backwards to and felt behind her. Her hand burned from the touch. She pulled back instantly. "Please, what do you want with me?" Tears filled her eyes as her skin sizzled from the muzzle she still had on.

The beast shifted to a human and Ericka saw the hurt in his eyes. "Let me take that off of you." He spoke soothingly. "I am a friend. A spy. He doesn't know that though."

"For who?" She winced from the muzzle moving slightly as she spoke.

"Someone you trust." He took the muzzle off gently, touching the metal as little as possible. His lips went to Ericka's ear, "You father."

Ericka froze, "Y--you know my f--father?"

"Leave her be!" The man in the crow mask cawed.

The beast turned human stood up straight, brushed himself off and turned around. "Sir, I will go check on the pups."

The leader gave a sharp nod and stood aside for the man to leave. Ericka watched the interaction. "What do you want with me? I'm not all that special," she hissed.

"You are special. More than you believe, Ericka. Zandyr wants that pretty necklace of yours, but I have no need for that. What I want is your wolf."

"You can't have her! She is a part of me!"

"I'm not going to extract it out of you, princess. I don't have the powers for that. I want to give you more animal DNA, just like I did to your sisters."

Ericka's heart stopped. Her breathing paused. Her body froze. More DNA? There has got to be more to this. There just has to be. She thought to herself in a panic. Her ears picked up the screams of her sisters and everything started back up. "GIVE ME MY SISTERS BACK!" She snarled. Her face burned more with every word she spoke. She winced, and the man standing in front of her grabbed her by the arm.

"You are never going to see them or your friends again. Not unless you cooperate with me." He threatened in her ear. He stuck her with a needle at the base of her neck, injecting a thick black liquid in her blood stream. He threw her down rough on the ground and left, locking the door behind him.

Ericka wanted to say something. To protest, but she realized it was no use. She wanted to see her family and friends again. She wasn't about to have them die because of her stupid choices.

Suddenly, she felt tingles throughout her whole body. She could feel Dusk struggling inside of her. As if she was being mixed with another animals DNA. She began to panic and pace. What did he do to me? What did he do to Dusk? She thought. She groaned slightly, as her body began to ache. She could feel Dusk want to shift, to make the pain ease. Ericka wasn't sure if she could in the cage she was in. She looked down to her pendant and noticed it's power weakening. "Dusk, it's not a good idea. Stop it."