Page 25 of His Fated Luna

Chapter 11

“Some people you meet and they're your friend for a day. Some you meet and you never really know at all. And then there are those who get caught inside your soul and stay there forever.” ? Melodie Ramone, After Forever Ends

Rose’s POV

Other than Jake, I had Layla as a friend. She was a fellow pack member. After high school, Layla had preferred to be recruited as a warrior into the Bloodfire Phoenix Pack and was part of the legion in charge of perimeter patrols.

By the time mid-March rolled around, the circus had arrived in the nearby city. A lot of people I knew already had tickets and Layla had secured two tickets for us as well. She knew Aiden was going with his family but what would the odds be that theywould all be going on the same day? It was a week-long event, so the probability was quite low.

My hopes were dashed however when Layla casually mentioned that she had asked Tony to buy our tickets when he’d gotten tickets for his family. Knowing Tony, he’d probably thought it’d be great fun to have us all go on the same day.

I deduced that the best thing would be to go as late as possible. Sure, we might miss some of the early shows, but it was the only way. Aiden’s family would probably go early and leave early since Josie was a stickler for bedtimes for her minor children.

That’s why, around 6 p.m., Layla and I pulled up into the circus parking lot. Hopefully, Alpha Aiden’s family was leaving now, if they hadn’t already left.

All thoughts of avoiding Aiden flew out of my mind when I sniffed the air whilst walking through the circus parking lot. Oh no…

”Smoke,” Layla murmured. “Something’s on fire.”

We rounded a bend and saw the billowing black plumes as we got closer and closer to the circus grounds. Finally, the red tent on fire came into view. I had never, in my wildest imaginings, thought of what to do if a disaster of this magnitude occurred.

”Rose!” exclaimed Dylan running over. His face was black and sooty with actual tear streaks down his cheeks.

I looked behind him to see Kyle crying and Lexia trying to comfort him. Bradley was sitting on the ground, looking completely unnerved and disoriented.

”What’s going on?” I asked aghast at the chaos around me.

Fire was ravaging the grounds. Many of the people, werewolves and humans alike, were working together to try to smother it. The circus tent was on fire and my heart gripped in fear when a crying Kyle finally exclaimed,

”M…Mom an-and…Tanya are still inside the tent!”

”Where’s Aiden?” I asked sharply.

”He…he went in after them,” Dylan interjected fearfully. “He just brought Bradley out. Tony’s trying to help suffocate the fi—”

Before Dylan could even finish, I was already running towards the tent on fire. Someone had probably called the fire department but by then it might be too late. I could hear Layla screaming at me to wait but my instinct demanded that I go in. I didn’t even think. My feet found themselves entering the circus tent, a decision as natural as breathing.

Smoke rose up all around me as I tried to discern the different scents inside the huge tent. Despite the overwhelming smoke, I was able to sniff out Aiden’s scent. My eyes were burning from the heat and the inhaled smoke was burning away at my lungs despite the fact that I had lifted the neckline of my hoodie to cover my nose. Come on…they couldn’t be far.

As Aiden’s scent got stronger, I finally saw a scene before me that made my heart stop. Like any other circus, this circus also had set up for the acrobatic show. There was a rope ladder which allowed the acrobat to climb to the top from where they would jump towards a hanging trapeze which was basically two ropes suspended from the ceiling of the tent with a pole attached between the two ropes. Acrobats would swing from trapeze to trapeze to perform flips and other stunts to put on a show for the circus guests. Like any other little girl, Tanya had been most excited about watching the acrobats. Currently, however, Tanya was at the very top of the rope ladder suspended by metal rigging. There was a small platform in front of the rope ladder (which the acrobat stood on before jumping towards the trapeze) which Tanya was huddled on and crying. She kept looking down at Aiden who was pleading with her to jump down into his arms. Next to Aiden lay Josie in her enormous wolf form, eyes closed and dark blonde fur covered in soot.

I sped towards them, and Aiden stiffened when he sensed me coming towards him. I knew that if not for the noxious smoke fumes, he might have been able to smell me earlier.

“I’ll have to go up after her,” I rasped out, coughing as the smoke burned my lungs and throat. “Take Josie and get out.” But before I could move to climb up, Aiden clamped a hand on my arm. The tingling sensation of his touch was discernible despite being surrounded by flames.

“Take my mom and get out of here. I’ll get my sister,” he clipped, exerting his alpha tone.

This was an order, not a request. Wolves weren’t able to deny an alpha order, at least not easily. My eyes flashed and I felt myself bristling at his tone.

“I can’t carry Josie, I’m not strong enough,” I coughed out, already pulling out of Aiden’s grasp.

Taken aback by my immediate defiance, Aiden opened his mouth to argue.

I was surprised at the growl that came out of my mouth. Was that me?

“Shut up and listen to me for once!” My voice wasn’t human. It was more like a ferocious growl, barking at him to obey.

Aiden took a step back in surprise, realizing my dormant wolf was slowly coming to the surface. And she wasn’t taking orders from the likes of him. I continued climbing up the rope ladder. When I looked down, I saw Aiden’s retreating back as he left with Josie. Relieved that at least he and Josie were safe, I concentrated on quickly climbing up the rope ladder.