Resisting the Moon: A Royal Shifters Novel (9 page)

I threw up my hands. “And the only people who would be able to help are dead,” I said angrily. “What’s worse is that I still have to tell my parents. My mother’s going to be heartbroken.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched him reach for me again, before stopping short and clenching his hand into a tight fist. How was I going to handle disappointing him every single second of every day? It hurt to know what I was doing to him.

“Let’s bury your aunt and uncle before we call them,” he said. “That way, they’ll know they’re resting in peace.”

We were standing in front of Amelie’s house, staring at the front door. The burial was complete, and now we had to uncover the whereabouts of my cousin.

“Do you want to take a break, or continue our search and go through Amelie’s house?” Sebastian asked, concern etched in his voice.

We didn’t have time for breaks. The longer Amelie was gone, the smaller her chance of survival became, especially with the full moon coming up in a week’s time. I didn’t want to imagine what would happen to her if we didn’t find her before then.

“Let’s start searching,” I replied.

Amelie’s room was upstairs and that was the first place I went. Everything was still in perfect order, all bright and airy in light blue and white. It was only the downstairs that was in shambles. I sat down on her bed and pulled a pillow into my lap.

Sebastian came into the doorway and stopped, staring at me.

Taking a deep breath, I gazed around her room and found a picture of us from years ago. We had our arms around each other, smiling from ear to ear in our graduation cap and gowns. Sebastian must’ve followed my gaze because he walked into the room and picked up the picture.

“You’re so beautiful,” he murmured, before passing it to me.

I smiled. “Thanks. Amelie is as well.” I glanced down at the picture. “All the guys followed her around. She loved breaking hearts.”

“What about you?” he asked.

My smile faded when I looked up at him. “My life was a little more complicated than hers. I had more responsibilities.” From a young age I’d been slated to be our alpha’s mate. Everyone knew I was off limits.

Sebastian’s gaze narrowed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

I waved him off. “It’s not important.” I slid off the bed and put the picture back on her desk. She’d always had little trinkets and colorful stones she’d managed to collect over the years. Her desk was decorated with all sorts of gems.

“What’s that?” Sebastian announced from behind. I turned to see what he was referring to. And there, on the corner of the desk, sat a brown leather journal with a smooth blue stone sitting on top. Sebastian stared at it like it had three heads.

“It’s just Amelie’s journal. Maybe she wrote something that’ll help us.”

I reached for it and Sebastian shouted, only it was too late; my hand had already closed over the blue stone. A jolt of electricity surged through my veins and it was as if I was taken away from my body. Sebastian yelled my name, but I couldn’t get back to him. I was stuck in a world only I could see.

Memories flashed through my mind, but they weren’t my own. They were Amelie’s. I could see my aunt and uncle smiling, then it changed to blood. I saw their deaths, heard their screams as the other wolves ripped them apart. I wanted to close my eyes and shut it out, but I couldn’t. I was trapped. The voices of the wolves were all jumbled in my mind, but their faces started to come to me. Ever so slowly, they became clearer.

“Tyla!”

Gasping, I was thrust back into my own mind, the blue stone skidding across the floor as Sebastian knocked it out of my hands. He lifted me to my feet, cupping his hands against my cheeks. “What the fuck? Are you okay?” His eyes were wild, flashing back and forth between human and wolf.

I nodded quickly. “I’m fine. I don’t know what happened.”

He glanced back at the stone. “I do. That rock is covered in magic. I tried to stop you from touching it, but you beat me to it. What did you see? It’s like you weren’t even here anymore.”

Swallowing hard, I could taste the bile burning my throat. “I don’t think I was. I could see into Amelie’s memories. She watched the wolves tear her parents apart.”

Sebastian growled.

“I was about to see the wolves who took her until I was thrust out. We need to see who they are.” Clutching his hands, I pulled them away from my face and rushed to the stone. Before I could grab it, he tackled me to the floor, pinning my arms above my head. My body was too weak to even fight him off.

“Tyla, stop! I don’t know what kind of magic this is. We don’t know if it’s good or bad.”

I tried to move my arms and they wouldn’t budge. “What does it matter if I can find out who took her? Whatever the reason for it being here is, it’s obvious someone was meant to find it.” Her journal still sat on the desk. “We need to read her journal.”

Huffing, he loosened up his grasp and I still couldn’t fight him off. “The stone made you weak. I’m barely holding you and you can’t fight me.”

My heart raced. I knew I was close to something; I just needed to get there. “Please, Sebastian. I don’t know what’s going on, but it feels right. You have to trust me.” Jaw tense, he glared over at the stone and reached for it. “What are you doing?”

“I want to see what you saw.” I held my breath and waited for him to touch it. He took a deep breath, and when he touched it . . . nothing happened. Brows furrowed, he held it in his hands and studied it. That was strange. He helped me to my feet and sat the stone on the desk. “I wonder why it’s not working now,” he said.

I reached over and scooped up the thick journal, flipping through the pages. There were entries from thirty years before, when we were in Finn’s pack. “I don’t know. Maybe it was only supposed to work one time.” If so, we were screwed.

“I think we’re done for the day,” he suggested. “You can barely stand. I’ll rent us a cabin out this way so we can come back tomorrow. We’re obviously not going to get much more done today.”

Nodding, I held the journal firmly in my grasp and picked up the stone, not expecting anything to happen. But that wasn’t the case. I was sucked back into its magic. And this time, I may not have seen the three wolves who took Amelie, but I
did
see someone else.

Sebastian

T
yla was still passed out by the time we got to the cabin I’d rented, so I carried her inside and laid her on the bed. Taking one last glance at her, I shut the door to the bedroom and retreated downstairs. I pulled out the stone and set it on the kitchen table. Why hadn’t it worked for me?

Sliding my phone out, I dialed Seraphina’s number. She was one of the Royal Pack elders, and a wolf who had the magic of a witch.

“Hello,” she answered.

“Seraphina, it’s Sebastian.”

“Oh dear, you don’t sound so good. I take it there’s bad news.”

Sighing, I sat down on the couch. “It’s not good. In fact, I have to call Sophia and Erle as soon as I get off the phone with you.”

“Where’s Tyla?”

I closed my eyes and concentrated on her in the room above. She was still breathing heavily. “She’s upstairs sleeping. We found her aunt and uncle ripped apart in the woods, with no sign of Amelie.” She gasped. “But that’s not what I’m calling about. Something else happened and I need your help. Have you ever encountered a blue stone with linking capabilities?”

“Like what exactly?” she asked.

“We found a smooth, blue stone on top of Amelie’s journal. When Tyla touched it, she was thrust inside Amelie’s memories. The downfall is that it drained Tyla’s energy and completely wiped her out. That’s why she’s unconscious upstairs.”

“What all did she see?”

“The first time she touched it, she could see her aunt and uncle’s death. But then I stole the stone away because I thought it was hurting her.”

“Did you see anything when you touched it?”

I picked up the stone and examined it. “No. I’m holding it now and it’s not doing a goddamned thing.”

“Interesting. And from what you said, I’m assuming she touched it more than once?”

“Yes, but I don’t know what she saw the last time. She’s not awake to tell me.”

The line grew silent while I listened to Seraphina mumble to herself. Even she seemed to be puzzled. “Can you send me a picture of it?”

“Sure.” I snapped a picture and sent it over. “You should have it now.”

Seraphina cleared her throat and sighed. “It looks just like a normal moonstone. Granted, any kind of stone can hold magical capabilities, but it would take someone a lot more powerful than me to do a linking spell on it. My question is, why would anyone want to link Amelie’s memories to it in the first place?”

“That’s what I’m wondering. I don’t get a bad vibe from the stone, but someone obviously wants this connection to Amelie. We just have to figure out who it is.”

“And I have no doubt you’ll figure it out. The only suggestion I have is to let Tyla get as much from the stone as she can. You might get the answers you’re looking for.”

I let out a humorless laugh. “I would if it didn’t zap her energy. She’s comatose right now and I have no clue how long it’ll last.”

“It’s because she’s not strong enough. If you were mated, like you
should
be, she’d have the energy of a royal.”

“That’s not likely to happen any time soon. She fights me every chance she gets.”

She burst out laughing. “That comes from her mother. Just give her time.”

I could feel the rage brewing just underneath my skin. “Unfortunately, time isn’t on my side.” We said our goodbyes and I took a deep breath before answering the call that came through next. It was Tyla’s parents. Her phone had been buzzing nonstop for the past two hours.

“Sophia,” I greeted.

“Oh, thank God. What’s going on? Where’s Tyla?” she asked breathlessly.

“She’s fine, just passed out at the moment. It’s been a long day.”

“Did you find Amelie? What about my sister? Is she okay?” Her desperation was evident.

I felt sick knowing the bomb I was about to drop on her. “Is Erle around?”

She sniffled. “Yes.”

“Can you put me on speakerphone? I’d like to talk to you both.” She did as I said and I could hear Erle in the background. “We didn’t find Amelie, but we found signs that she was taken. Whoever did it used some very powerful magic. Thankfully, we might have some clues to help us.”