Thorn Ch. 23-27

"Stupid woman insisted on making a large lunch for you both, and if that wasn't enough she had already spent the night finishing your engagement gift. You'd think she had never heard of buying a gift or the supermarket, but that woman shops online like a champion."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm not buying some cheap online knick-knack for my new Alpha, and definitely not for this one." She gave me a small nudge and a huge smile. "Sit down next to me. Thorn go do something else. You can come back for lunch. I'll give you your gift then. Scram."

"Just a little reminder Aunty, I am still your Alpha, you could ask. Show a little respect."

"Could, but then you could say no. So bugger off." She grinned "but give an old girl a kiss hello first."

"Hello Aunty." He leaned down and gave her a kiss on her forehead. "I'll leave if you have one of my favourite biscuits to tide me over till lunch."

"Told you he'd expect some." Harmony crowed at her sister. "Get him the tin and walk him to his car then lock the door on your way back in, don't want any eavesdropping when we tell this lovely girl all the great stuff we going to be telling her."

"Yes Ma'am." Mel bowed sarcastically and then with a roll of her eyes said "Thorn we have our orders, kiss ya woman goodbye, we've seen it all before so ignore us, then come out and get the damn baking. Told me to bring my baking and then I find the house is bloody full of hers." She left the room with a little attitude.

"Love it when she gets all feisty like that, can't have her acting like an old woman." Harmony laughed. "I pick a fight, or order her around a bit and she bounces right back. Makes a damn good caramel slice though."

"Stop over doing it and making her worry then. Did you have one of your moments?"

"Moments schmoments. I just got a little tired is all and she tried to bustle me off to bed. I told her if she expected me to rest, here was the only place it would happen. I love this room." Luna looking around could see why. One wall was bright purple and the opposite was entirely glass. There was a huge canvas on the purple wall that was a field of lavender and stood in the picture was a light grey horse, clearly a tribute to Cher Ami.

"We loved building it for you. Alex said you'd sit here looking out over the pack lands. Aaron said that was bullshit you'd be too busy spying on the pack to see the lands at all."

"Well I hear the boy is mated so I guess he'll be providing a lot less for me to see." She cracked up at her own cheekiness. "Still remember the day he ran down that path carrying his clothes and Jillian's dad hot on his heels."

"It wasn't her dad that got to him though, thanks to a tip off."

"You sure do move quick Alpha. I let you know all hell was about to break loose and you, well your wolf, you were there almost before I finished telling you."

"Oh God, you were with her together weren't you?"

"How did you work that out when nobody else ever did?"

"You just radiated your shame. I almost felt your guilt myself."

"Yeah well all three of us were young and single, and fuck I'm sorry that you have to know it."

"It was always going to happen. Is she pack?"

"Was, she met her mate and joined his pack."

"Good because if she was with both you and Aaron, Kate and I may have killed her if she looked at either of you."

"Not funny Luna."

"Oh believe me I wasn't joking. You know how you felt about the whole Marcus thing? I'm feeling very keen to confront Jillian right now, and I reckon I can count on Kate feeling the same way."

"Let me know when it is time for me to come back, I may not be as fast in human form, but I always arrive in time for lunch." Thorn bid farewell to both woman, Luna of course got a kiss as instructed.

"Quickly before Mel comes back, lean close or she'll hear." Luna moved closer as bid. "You met Michael this morning, he mention my sister?"

"Both of you. I liked him a lot."

"Yeah I like him a lot too. But I know he likes her more. They may not be mates but they're a good pair. I was testing him you know. I was sure they were mates and they were lying to me because she felt obliged to look after me. Well I enjoyed our night together but I hated being proved wrong. I'm running out of time. I need you to get the two of them together. She won't cope when I'm gone without him."

"I promise I'll find a way to help them. Can I do anything to help you?" Luna spoke softly her hand in the older woman's.

"I've made my peace with it. I've had a good life. Better than many ever thought I would. Longer than anyone predicted. I go knowing my family are happy and strong. I go knowing what awaits me. I am luckier than most."

"You aren't suffering are you?" Luna wrinkled her nose as she realised this woman had been acting healthier and stronger than she was to her sister, and that Thorn hadn't called her on it, but must have known too.

"I am in no pain. I get tired and a bit dizzy. Stupid really to feel so weak. Women are the stronger sex you know. Wolves, especially female wolves are stronger than the men in our lives will ever give us credit for." She patted Luna's hand "You make sure your Thorn never forgets you are a strong woman."

Mel came back into the room "Bloody stirring already Sis?"

"Am not, a strong man needs a strong woman. He may think he wants her to be easy but he'd be bored silly."

"Yes well I may not be able to sit down next week when he sees what I bought myself yesterday." Luna laughed as the two women looked at her eagerly. "He knows I love motorbikes. He refused straight away to let me ride his, so I've bought my own."

"There's being weak versus being strong, and then there's being determined versus being dangerous. I'm not sure he'll understand straight away so you may be right about the sore behind." Mel acknowledged. "Just be careful not to push too hard, and when you pick your battles remember to keep a balance. The alpha in him will need that."

"I loved to ride my horses. The freedom. The feeling like I was flying. Is your bike like that?" Harmony asked a dreamy look on her face.

"Yes. It is exactly like that." Luna grinned.

"Okay we have some stuff to say and honey some of it will seem a bit more than you want to know. Some of it will seem like total bullshit and well some of it just straight up crazy. Thorn knows we have our gifts, he knows we have some stuff to tell you but we haven't told him what we need to say. He would be torn between wanting to know more and wanting to protect you. Are you ready?"

"You're his mother's aunts, and have gifts like she does. I know you would only tell me things I need to know for Thorn and the pack. I know I saw some of Mel's thoughts the other day while in Thorn's head so I know he knows some of what you will be sharing with me. I trust you both. I am ready."

"Oooh I told you I liked her." Mel jumped up and down and clapped her hands. Then she sat near to her sister and Luna and picked up a small book which she sat on her lap from a small table. She picked up a glass and held it out to Luna. "If you want to fully know what we have to share I suggest you drink this, it will make it easier."

"Alcohol? The girls tell me d&m's don't need it but sometimes I disagree." Luna took a sip smiling.

"Not alcohol. This is a tonic that will help you relax. If you got too stressed Thorn would freak out and come back firstly, but also you wouldn't be open enough to see what we need to show you."

"Oh okay. I thought you were just telling me some stuff about the future of the pack." Luna drank more of the sweet liquid. "I have to say when I used to read about witches potions I never imagined them all tasting so good" she giggled.

"Guess she's a light weight. That stuff is kicking in fast." Harmony laughed.

"Not the potion just her. She is so open and honest. Thorn told me she was like that right from the start. Even with everything she has been through she is so full of love and purity."

"I'm right here. I can hear you. I'm almost finished this magic drink so whenever you ladies want to get on with it, I'm ready."

"Well first we know many things about what will come, but we also know what has passed. We have a message for you from Harley. He came to me before you mated with Thorn and asked me to apologise to you. He was so burdened with his guilt, so broken by his failure to protect you. Was so fuelled with his rage at what he had allowed to happen, he lost sight of the fact by ending his life he left you alone to face even worse. He begged me to tell you it was never your fault. He cried as he spoke of seeing you with his father, the fear and shame on your face. He told us that the next house you went to he watched over you..."

"It was him wasn't it that warned me? I heard him talking to me, I woke up and just knew I had to get out of the bed. I climbed out the window and was sitting out there when they came in and finding me missing talked about what they wanted to do to me."

Images of the two men filled her head as Luna remembered them clearly. She had been moved to this house as her first official foster home. The family that lived there consisted of a woman, her husband, her teenage son and two other foster kids. She had been living there a few months, not feeling sure of anything and always on edge, but that day had been a good day. She had made a friend and she had come back to the house happy. When she walked in there was a small party in progress and much alcohol had been consumed. She picked up one of the younger children and carried her through the house. Chatting to her about a book she clutched. There was the scent of weed in the air and her instincts kicked in. After putting the girl to bed and reading the book to her, she had moved to her own room quickly. She had taken a long time to fall asleep and the unease had set her dreams into action. She dreamed of that night, and saw Harley at the door but instead of just staring at her in shock and disappointment he had yelled to her. Ordered her to get out, get out of the bedroom. He had pointed to the window and told her to hurry. In a panic she had woken up feeling the urgency to do exactly that, she had grabbed a sweatshirt and her cell phone and fled. It was only a minute or two after she had got out that she heard them come in. In a moment of clarity she had recorded them. They talked about sharing her, turning her into a slut just like her mother. The man and his son laughed and not too worried about her disappearance plotted what they would do to her over the next few months. "He saved me."

Luna remembered walking into the darkness, in shock she had escaped rape again. She had nowhere to go but she found a doorway at the back of a church and waited there till morning. She took herself, with her recording, to the agency and was placed in another house that day. It was a group home rather than a family home. Though it was not much safer. That she had discovered pretty quickly.

"That was the second time he saved you Luna, it wasn't the last. Harley loved you like a big brother. He never blamed you, he blamed himself at first, but then decided he would become your guardian. But you have Thorn now so he can let you go."

"He helped then, and again when you fell in with a bad crowd and the girls lured you into a trap. He helped again in that garage. He lent you all the strength he could to pull over that tool chest. But he knows you no longer need him. He wanted to make sure you knew he loved you, he never blamed you, and he wanted to say goodbye. He also asked you to do him a favour."

"I loved him too. He was my only family. My best friend. I would have done anything to keep him with me. I wish I had been stronger then. That I had stopped him. Is he here now?"

"He is always with you Luna. He hasn't left your side since his passing."

"Oh gross. Harley I hope you closed your eyes!"

"Well that got the boy blushing red and laughing hard. Guess he never closed his eyes," Harmony teased. "The favour Luna, is to forgive him."

"Harley I don't need to forgive you, I have nothing to forgive you for."

"Not him Luna. Your father." Harmony added quietly, "He wants you to forgive your father."

"No." Luna spoke, not loudly but with a blunt sound that echoed with her finality. She crossed her arms, "Ask me something else, anything else, not that."

"Luna listen we've seen things, Harley, Mel and myself. We know things, and he wouldn't ask if it wasn't important. If we thought he deserved your judgement, your hatred we wouldn't be asking this of you."

"Hatred? I don't hate him. He is nothing. Hate is energy I don't waste on him. He left me behind."

"Oh Honey he didn't leave you. He was taken." Mel wiped a tear from her eyes as the pain of Luna's abandonment rolled off her. Her belief she wasn't enough for her father. "He was stolen away by evil far stronger than your goodness. He begged for release, he pleaded for you. He cried himself to sleep with your name on his lips more times than we can count. He did not leave you."

"Is he dead? Has he come to give me a message too?" Luna's eyes on the floor and her face averted, showed how she did not want to deal with the answer to this question. Feared he would be gone. It didn't matter how many years she told herself she didn't care, didn't need him to want her. It didn't matter how many times she had told people she didn't care where he was. There was always a little girl inside her hoping her daddy would come for her. Was it too late?

"No Luna, he is alive. You will meet and it won't be easy. You've both suffered greatly. But forgive him for what he hasn't done so you can let him be what he will become." Mel turned Luna's face towards her own "He can't be your daddy now, you're all grown, but he is a good man, he has overcome much, you will grow to like and respect him. You will enjoy each other's company. And he will love you. You will love him. And someone else will love him too. Their union will fill you with joy. Their happiness will heal them. Forgiving him will help heal you."

"I am not broken. I don't need him to heal me. I will hear what happened. I will not hold it against him that he was not there for me, if as you say it was not his choice. I know that would be wrong. I will give him time and get to know him as an adult. I will give him a chance. I cannot promise more than that."

"That is a fair answer, you will make a remarkable alpha," Harmony nodded before continuing, "Harley is happy with that answer also. He has a young girl with him. She is your sister. Your father has had two more children since he was taken. He has then been treated terribly and they have been taken from him also. The girl with Harley was murdered by a boy under the orders of the ones who took your father from you. Harley will keep her with him, he will be her big brother, her protector as they leave this world together. She has asked you to tell her daddy she loved him. She would have loved to have had a big sister like you. She likes watching you laugh and wished she had a chance to learn to do karate with you. Her name is Keira."

"I wish I had gotten to know you and love you Keira. You stay with Harley he will look after you until we can meet." Luna spoke into the silent room. The room felt heavy with the tears of the three women. "He'll need you to look after him too. He gets lonely sometimes so give him cuddles and sing to him. He likes that." Luna felt a touch on her hair and looked to see both Mel and Harmony were not near her. The stroke of a hand through her hair was repeated. As she closed her eyes to try and focus on it she heard his whisper "It will be a long time before we see you LJ, but it's time for us to go. Be happy. Goodbye Luna."

"I will be happy knowing you are happy and have Keira with you. Goodbye my brother, my friend. Goodbye Harley."

Luna almost felt the moment they left, it was hard to explain it but she had never sensed him near until she felt him no longer beside her. "He's gone."

"Yes baby he is. We should take a break. It got pretty heavy pretty fast." Mel suggested.

"I don't need a break. We need to keep going before Thorn comes back."

"I think she is right Mel, and the worst is done. I also feel Thorn will not like being cut off for too long and that drink didn't just relax her but reduced their bond."

"You gave me a drink to break our bond? How could you do that?" Luna cried out.

"Never. It has just dulled your emotions a little so he can't feel every moment of shock or sadness. If he felt what you just went through he would have been here already. There is no way he would stay away if he had felt your pain. Felt your love for another man. Even though it is a platonic love he would be all over it."

"He said the other day we are still getting used to reading each other's emotions. Sometimes we still read each other wrong. Some feelings are harder to differentiate."

"Exactly. He would feel your pain and think what you heard was bad, and it was, but sometimes you have to feel a bit of pain to be open for the good to come. He wouldn't have let us tell you the bad."

"This meeting with my father. Thorn's doing this isn't he? He is trying to find him?"

"Um officially I cannot answer that." Mel looked guilty. "Unofficially I can say Thorn would do anything he thought you needed, but he would make sure it was safe first."

"He's locating him behind my back, then checking him out to make sure he is good for me. He's going to make the decision without me. Decide what I can handle. Decide if I should know." Luna frowned not sure she liked that he had taken it upon himself to pursue her father when she had clearly told him she had no interest. Definitely not liking he had kept it from her. She then tried hard to think of it as alpha of a pack. If a member of the pack had been hurt or needed something but was afraid, or not even aware how much they needed something, she would act in the same way. She would look into it, she would ensure it was safe. She would deal with it if it wasn't. She would do whatever was needed to provide for a member of her pack, and whatever had to be done to protect one. "Oh God, if Thorn doesn't like my father he could hurt him."

"He won't hurt him. The meeting will be interesting, awkward. There will be no violence, well not between them. They will form an alliance and a friendship. Thorn does however need to be brought up to speed about a few things before then and that will be your job."

"Gem told you about her situation, how she was changed? The men that were with her when Lucas found her?" Mel clenched her hands tight as she thought about what that girl had suffered. "She told you about Damon?"

"Yes of course. I've met him briefly, but Thorn won't let her speak of him. Lucas loses the plot if she tries. I know he is now wearing the collar his brother forced her to wear all those months."

"Luna, Damon is not the man Thorn and Lucas think he is. I have some insight to what he has suffered. Damon was born into a pit of evil. He as a pup watched his mother be raped and beaten regularly. He watched his so called brother, the man who brutalized Gem, murder his younger sister at the order of his alpha. He was separated from the only man that cared about him and made to go with his brother. They were ordered to turn and collar women, try and breed them, and those they failed to breed became toys for his brother to torture or to sell."

"Why didn't he do something? Why didn't he stop him?"

"Damon has been beaten and raped his whole life. Damon is totally submissive himself, but he has also been a victim so long he wasn't aware he had any power to do anything. But even if he had realised he wouldn't have been able to. The collar he wears as punishment now means nothing to him. He has worn an invisible collar for years. His wolf has been spelled for so long, I don't even think he could turn now even if the spell was released."