Stone Heart

Chapter 5- Images

Daniel told me that I couldn't go anywhere where he wasn't. I mean, what's the worst that can happen? This place was so guarded and it was bad enough that I was going to live in such a beautiful, yet sophisticated mansion. I felt so out of place and I'd much rather it felt like... home. Now I would have Daniel's most trusted warrior, Eric, breathing down my neck twenty-four seven; It felt suffocating.

I'll just take a walk and hopefully feel a bit more free.

"Where to, Luna?" Eric asked in a gruff voice, looking straight ahead. He was probably in his early thirties and he was very buf.

"Uh, out. Please, call me Chloe," I responded while walking down the hallway that led to the back door.

"Yes, Luna Chloe."

"No, just Chloe please."

"My apologies, but I can't do so. Alpha Daniel's orders." I sighed, of course his orders would be obeyed over my requests.

We walked out into a beautiful garden. It was so green and full of life. Different flowers adorned different places and there was a water fountain in the the center.

"Is there a library around?" I asked Eric who had his hands behind his back and was standing in a stiff pose.

"Yes, Luna. I could show you the way if you'd like," he responded.

"Yes please." With that, we went through another building around the main one. We came across double doors and Eric opened one of them, waiting after me.

"Thank you." In response, he nodded his head. There were huge shelves with hundreds of books in each. I ran my fingers along their spines, mostly just admiring their beauty and old age. I picked one out, after checking it out from a very nice, old lady and made my way out again, Eric in tow.

I sat in a bench that was under a huge, old oak tree and next to the fountain. Opening up to the first page, I looked up to see Eric standing like a statue next to me.

"Um, Eric?" He turned his head to look at me, expecting an order I suppose,"You can sit down or take a break and relax." He smiled and sat next to me, his pose a bit more relaxed, yet still alert.

I began to read the story of two lovers, one being an army soldier, who fought for what they wanted. Eachother. As I read more and more, tears were shed because one of the character's father died, protecting his family in a horrible unexpected attack. It reminded so much of the way my father died. A rogue pack attacked our pack and my father was the one guarding one of the borders. I remember pleading my dad not go.

"Daddy, please don't go tonight. Tell Alpha Carter your tummy hurts and he'll say it's okay. That's what I did with school," I said as I looked up at my father who was tucking me in bed. He chuckled and carressed my hair.

"Are you confessing to lying about being sick? And no, that's not how it works for us, Cupcake," my father replied as he leaned in to kiss my forehead.

"But Daddy, I'm scared."

"Don't be, silly. I'll be back by tomorrow morning and I'll take you out for ice cream. How does that sound?" A smile found my lips as I eagerly nodded.

"Goodnight, Cupcake," with that, he turned the light off and shut the door.

"Goodnight, Daddy. Please come back," I whispered. With tired eyes and a yawn, I fell asleep.

I woke up to people screaming outside. As fast as my little feet carried me, I made my way to the window to see why people were screaming so late at night. I made out my father's wolf's features and saw how he was fighting off a huge, brown wolf.

"Daddy!" I yelled with tears running down my pale face. He couldn't hear me. I watched as another wolf attacked him from behind and tore him to shreds. Limb by limb and as he did so, he kept his eyes on me the whole time. I ran downstairs to him, or what was left of him. No more screams, no more wolves. I was alone in the dark, surrounded by a pool of my father's blood.

"Daddy! You promised you'd come back! You promised we would get ice cream! Daddy no!" A figure emerged from behind a tree. It held up a bottle of whiskey and slowly drank from it.

"Daddy deserved what he got," he said and with that, he walked away into the dark forest.

"Luna! Are you alright? What's wrong?" I looked up to see a very blurry, concerned and alarmed looking Eric. Tears were pouring from my eyes as I started hiccuping and sobbing uncontrollably.

 I stood frozen. I couldn't let anyone know about my father, it was too painful. With the back of my hand, I wiped away the tears and tried to return my breathing back to normal.

"The guy in the story," I quickly lied and smiled. "I get carried away reading, sorry for the false alarm." With a small, nervous laugh, I returned my attention back to the book. From the corner of my eye, I watched Eric look at me intensly, searching for my lie. He realized he wouldn't get it and with a sigh and a shake of his head, he turned his gaze forward.

My attention to the book had gone with the wind, so I got up to make something to eat. After the ladies who were in the kitchen said I wasn't allowed to do anything that involved working in any way, Eric and I were given a chicken salad with a glass of orange juice. A question came to mind and I decided to ask Eric.

"Where is everybody?"

"They live in a different house, the pack house." That made sense. I nodded my head in understanding.

"Is there a phone somewhere near I could borrow for a minute?" I asked in a polite tone.

"Why would you need to use a phone?" I heard a deep voice call from around the corner and soon, Daniel appeared. He had a curious yet hard look on his face.

"I was thinking I could call home and let my mother know I'm alright. I promised her I would call and it's been da-"

"No," Daniel cut off in a stern voice.

"What? Why not?" I asked with a frown.

"If they tracked the number down, they find you and if they find you, they'll try to take you away from me. You finish the puzzle," he said in one breath. I finished the puzzle and let's just say there would be a lot of blood.

"Bad kitty, " I muttered under my breath.

"What did you call me?" He asked with a perfectly raised eyebrow.

"Who called you?"

"You called me."

"I don't even have your number."

"Don't act dumb."

"This is how I am, are you saying I'm stupid now?" I asked. His eyes widened and he held his two hands in front of him. Of course I knew he didn't mean it, but I wanted to steer him away from the kitty subject.

"No I- that's not- I didn't-" he started.

"Save it, kitty- shiz- Danny- fudge- Daniel!" He looked at me with amusement and a smirk.

"Danny huh?" He asked. I felt the blood rush up to my cheeks.

"You know what I meant," I called out weakly.

"I like it, kitten" he said as he walked up to me and pulled me close. I forgot how to breathe for a second there.

"Then 'kitty' it is," I said with a smirk of my own.

"Call me 'kitty' one more time and I swear I'm go-"

"Kitty."

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**Author's Note**

Hey guys! I just wanted to thank all of the people who are reading this story, voting and commenting. I actually was going to delete this story because I felt that it wasn't interesting, but you guys motivated me to keep writing so thank you so much! Don't forget to vote and comment if you liked it.

-MariFer