Song: "Jumpsuit" by Twenty-One Pilots

[unedited]

I couldn't have been more right. The next morning the tension between Damien's best friends was so thick, it would be impossible to cut it with a knife. You'd need like a Dao or something.

My parents were still upstairs in their room, but the rest of us were down here. We were aware of what went down between the two of them thanks to yours truly.

I raised an eyebrow at Juniper when she locked eyes with me. Her cheeks reddened, matching the color of her hair.

Damien leaned back against the counter as he faced his friends who sat at opposite ends of the counter. Preston sat between them, a smirk playing on his lips as he ate his bowl of cereal. Damien's eyes danced with amusement as he watched his friends squirm uncomfortably.

"I think it's best if we addressed the elephant in the room," I spoke while peeling back the peels of a banana. I opened the jar of peanut butter and dipped my knife into it. When I pulled the knife out, I wiped the peanut butter onto the banana. I took a bite of it and hummed in satisfaction.

I slowly stopped chewing when I felt everyone's eyes on me.

"What?" I mumbled through a mouthful of food. "We're all thinking of it."

I quickly finished my bite before continuing. "So you fucked. It was bound to happen. All that arguing you guys to contributed to all of that pent up sexual frustration. We all have needs."

Juniper and Colton gaped at my bluntness.

"We'll be supportive of whatever you decide to do from now on." I picked up the knife and added on more peanut butter before taking another bite of my fruit.

The sound of Preston's phone ringing filled up the newfound silence between all of us. I watched as his eyebrows furrowed as he answered it, pressing the phone to his ear.

"Hello?"

Preston became silenced as the person on the other end started talking rapidly.

"Wait—" He dragged a hand through his dark hair. "Lily—"

The other end went dead. Preston slowly pulled the phone away from his face. His knuckles going white as he gripped the device tightly. His eyes blazed with anger as his wolf surfaced.

"Preston." Before I could say anything else. He abruptly stood up from the counter and quickly left the kitchen. All of us stared at each other in confusion. What just happened?

I followed him out of the kitchen just in time to see him running up the stairs with his werewolf speed. I heard his feet running down the hall and a door swinging open, hitting the wall with a loud bang.

I went up the stairs two at a time and followed the hallway until I reached the room Preston was staying in. He was frantically shoving clothing into his backpack along with a couple other things before slinging it over his shoulder.

"Preston what's wrong? Why are you packing?"

He exhaled through his nose as he squeezed his eyes closed, his fists clenching and unclenching. He turned to face me.

"It's Lily. She's in trouble."

"What kind of trouble?" I asked warily, walking fully into the room. I took in his messy hair and tired eyes. His skin looked sickly pale. Why hadn't I noticed this before?

"I-I don't know. She was crying and kept repeating over and over again that she was dead." He sighed. "Fuck, I'm so sorry. I'm ruining your Christmas."

I roughly smacked his arm. "Don't you dare give me that shit! Don't apologize! We gotta go save your girl."

I didn't miss the slight tilt of his lips as I grabbed his wrist and dragged him out of the room. I banged on Mom and Dad's room.

"Get up! We gotta go!"

I heard the sound of sheets rustling, a grunt, footsteps padding their way to the door. It flew opened to reveal my very disgruntled father.

"What?"

His eyebrows furrowed when he took in Preston's disheveled appearance. His eyes then slid to the bag Preston had hanging off his shoulder.

"What's wrong?"

"Preston's mate's in trouble. We gotta go. Don't worry about packing, I can return your stuff after we figure this all out. We don't want to waste anymore time than we already have. We'll meet you out at the car in five minutes."

I didn't wait for a response and raced down the stairs. Damien appeared at the bottom with a worried look. "Liana, what's going on?"

When I reached the bottom, I laced my fingers with him and pulled him. "We need to leave. I'll explain in the car."

Damien didn't fight against me as I practically dragged him out to the car.

"C'mon, let's go!" I shouted impatiently. I was worried for Preston, he'd been having so much trouble with his mate. Some times she acted like she wanted him and other times she didn't. Almost like she was scared. Scared of what, I was unsure.

After what felt like an eternity, everyone was situated in the vehicle. Damien took the driver's seat and drove us to the airport. "Can someone please explain to me what is happening?"

"My mate's in trouble."

Damien glanced at Preston through the rearview mirror before looking back at the road. "The vampire?"

I noticed the way Damien gripped the steering wheel tighter. He really wasn't fond of vampires. No werewolf was. Well, now my brother was going to have to tolerate them or just his mate. His pack would too considering she would be the future Luna.

The ride to the airport was quick, and soon we were boarding the plane. I took a seat next to my brother, who appeared even more distraught as the minutes passed. His knee bounced anxiously and his hands gripped the arm rests tightly.

I remained quiet, unsure of what to tell him. I refused to feed him lies, telling him that she'll be alright, because honestly I wasn't sure. I didn't know what kind of trouble she was in and who was involved. Perhaps the Vampire King, Vincent?

Preston turned his head towards the window, his jaw clenched. I decided to let him think and got up from my seat to go sit next to Damien. Damien's lips tilted up in a small smile at my presence. Before I could sit down, his hands grabbed my hips and pulled me down onto his lap. He nuzzled his face into the crook my neck before letting out a sigh of contentment. He hugged me to his chest, his fingers coming through my hair.

I smiled, instantly relaxed. All my worries slipped away at the single touch of my mate. All of my responsibilities seemed so unreal.

I leaned against Damien's chest, enjoying the feeling of being in his arms. He pressed a kiss gently behind my ear.

"I can't wait for all of this to be over."

"Me too."

"I'll be able to plan your ceremony."

"Ceremony?"

Damien nodded, twirling a strand of my hair around his finger. "For you to officially become Queen."

A strange feeling settled at the pit of stomach. Something like nervousness. I didn't feel ready to rule over anybody. I felt overwhelmed with everything going on. I wanted to focus on one thing at a time, and right now that was getting my brother's mate home safely.

"Don't worry, baby. This will all be over soon," he whispered soothingly into my ear. His arms tightened around me.

I sure hope he was right.

• • •

"Did she say where she was?"

"No," Preston grounded out through clenched teeth. He jaw worked angrily as he furiously ran his fingers through his messy hair.

We all stood around in my dad's office. Preston started pacing around the room, unable to stand still.

"What if we tried tracking her phone, maybe she still has it with her..." I suggested, shoving my hands into my hoodie pockets. My dad's eyes glazed over briefly, probably mind-linking someone.

"The job is being done as we speak."

Preston let out a groan of frustration. "I can't stand the fact that I'm just standing here not doing shit while my mate is out there probably getting tortured by some psychotic, little fucker."

"We're trying everything we can. The security footage is being watched, I've got my best trackers out looking for her, and her phone is being located."

Preston glared at our dad. He opened his mouth to retaliate but dad cut him of sharply.

"I've been in your shoes before Preston. Don't act like I'm not trying everything we can. She is the future Luna of this pack and your mate, and I'll be damned if anything gets in my way of finding her."

My dad's hands were clenched into tight fists, his knuckles almost going white. My mom stepped next to him and gently placed her hand on his forearm. He took a deep breath, calming himself down.

We were all well aware of my parents' rough past. But if helped build them into the people they are today.

My dad can totally relate to our current situation. He understands more than any of us.

Preston avoided our dad's flare, finding his shoes more worthy of his gaze. "You're right, I'm sorry."

Dad exhaled through his nose and unclenched his fists.

I frowned as an idea popped into my head, one that I should've thought about to begin with.

I turned to Preston. "Do you have anything that belongs to Lily? Anything important?"

Preston furrowed his eyebrows while deep in thought. His shoulders sagged as he shook his head. "I got nothing."

"There must be something we can do to get a hold of something that belongs to her," I muttered as I pressed my fingers to the bridge of my nose, already feeling a headache coming on. My mind raced, making it hard to concentrate on a single thought.

"What if we go to her house?" Someone suggested. "She must have something personal there, right?"

My eyes shifted to the voice that hadn't spoken the whole time. The Demon King lounged back on the small couch situated at the corner of the room. His eyes were framed by dark bags and his face looked pale and exhausted, like he hadn't gotten much sleep.

Despite his tired appearance, his aura still screamed "I'm powerful don't piss me off."

"Why didn't I think of that?" I mentally face-palmed myself. I'm such and idiot. "I've been to her house before."

Preston's eyebrows shot up. "You have?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I went to her house when I tricked her into hanging out with me so I could set her up with you. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out the way I hoped but that doesn't matter anymore."

Preston opened his mouth to say something, but Cyrus cut him off.

"As much as I'd love to hear about Liana's not-so-evil schemes, let's hurry up and find this little mate of yours. I need to go back and deal with mine."

• • •

Cyrus wasted no time in kicking down the door. No one was home, meaning Lily's brother was probably out. Most likely looking for his sister if he wasn't also taken.

Preston pushed Cyrus out of the way and stalked into the empty house, his face set with determination. He sniffed the air and followed his mate's scent.

He pushed open a door leading to a room that I assumed belonged to Lily. The walls were a plain white, while a bed with an emerald-colored comforter sat against the wall. The room overall looked pretty simple. A couple cardboard boxes scattered the floor, probably leftover from the move.

My eyes settled on a small item sitting on the nightstand. I approached it with newfound curiosity. I reached for it and picked it up.

I gasped when my fingers met the paper.

~

Thank you for reading!
~Kira