Isaiah angrily walked through the forest looking for the entrance of the Ancient Walkers Pack. They had been roaming for what seemed like hours and the sunlight was starting to fade. His window to get to Zira and Arias was slowly closing. Their luck was running out he thought as he embraced the cold wind picking up through the forest. The only person in the group that had been there before was having memory issues.
“I swear I thought it was here. This tree looks familiar,” Percy said, examining a plain tree. A shoe flew right in his head.
“You’ve said that about every freaking big tree we’ve passed, Percy,” Lana yelled, taking off her other heel. “If I had known we were going to be walking I would’ve brought different shoes.”
“I could carry you,” Percy offered as Lana answered him with a growl.
“Are we even sure this place is real,” Hunter asked. “Ah!”
He jumped out of the way when Mary plopped down beside him.
“Nothing but forest for miles,” Mary reported. “I don’t see anything strange or anything that looks like an entrance.”
“Maybe we should go back and regroup,” Councilman Faulkner suggested.
Lana sneered at him. “I’m surprised your leash from the Elders allows you to come this far, Councilman. Why are you here anyway?”
Councilman Faulkner straightened his shoulders and held his head up. “I’m making sure you don’t misinform the Alpha King like the traitor you are.”
“You seem to like that word a lot, Councilman. Maybe, just maybe, you’re directing it at the wrong person.”
“Can both of you, please stop,” Isaiah growled, letting his frustrations take over. “Your constant bickering hasn’t been helpful at all.”
They looked at Isaiah but neither said anything. They just glared at each other before turning away.
“Well, you gotta teach me that trick,” a voice giggled over his shoulders. He turned to see a human-sized butterfly leaning against the same tree as him. He didn’t even hear her walk up. Isaiah blinked his eyes a few times to make sure he wasn’t going crazy.
“Um…guys, do you see her too,” Isaiah asked the group.
She smiled at him and held out her hand. “I assure you there’s no pixie dust in the air. I’m as real as the moon rising in the sky right now. I’m Trixie.”
Isaiah hesitated before taking her hand. He felt like he could trust her. “Hi, I’m…”
“Alpha Isaiah of the Black Moon Pack,” Trixie smiled. “I’ve heard about you and let me tell you.” She pulled him in close until their faces were only inches away. “Zira definitely undersold your looks and I can see why.” She sniffed him before letting him go.
“Trixie, look at you,” Percy said as she ran over to give him a hug.
“Percy, it’s been too long.”
“You are positively glowing,” Percy said, holding her hands.
“It’s these kids, I'll tell ya. They’re…Ah! Ah!”
Tracy stopped mid-sentence as she bent over and grabbed onto Percy’s arms. Everyone could see a light flashing underneath her dress and took a step back. Not sure what was going on.
“What the hell is that,” Lana said, hiding a bit behind Isaiah.
“I think she’s in…pain?” Isaiah questioned, but the sounds coming from her mouth begged to differ. They were more sensual than painful.
“If that’s pain, then I wouldn’t mind a cup myself,” Hunter joked before Mary hit him in the stomach. “What? I’m just saying.”
“Maybe I can help, Trixie,” Percy said, and before anyone could stop him, he used his power.
That’s when he realized it wasn’t the pain she was feeling. Trixie's screams turned into moans, each one getting louder than the first. Unfortunately, Percy could feel each one along with her. Everyone else looked around at each other, unsure of what to do. They stood still, embarrassed to even move just a little.
“OK, now I’m not sure we should be watching this but…,” Hunter said with a hint of amusement and his eyes glued to them.
“I…can’t seem to look away either,” Mary agreed.
“Same,” Lana and Councilman Faulkner said at the same time.
“Should we…do something,” Isaiah asked, and no one responded.
Trixie let out one satisfying sigh before standing up a little straighter. “Phew,” Trixie smiled. “That one was definitely longer than usual. Thanks for coming with me on the ride, Percy. That was fun, right?”
Percy laughed a bit, shakingly moving to a tree to stable himself.
“Uh…” Isaiah started, not sure what he wanted to say. “Are you… OK? Should we take you somewhere?”
“Yes, I have a cart a little over the hill there and we can drive to my pack. It's not far and I can take two while the rest could come on foot.”
No one seemed to be interested in riding in a cart with a pregnant, moaning butterfly woman. Trixie only waited for a minute before speaking again.
“Well, I’m not sure I’ll be able to make it in my condition. A lift would be nice,” Trixie smiled at Isaiah.
He looked around to delegate someone else for the job, but everyone avoided his eyes. He sighed and picked her up gently.
“Ooh,” Trixie cooed. “So strong and…Ah…Ahh…Ahhh!”
She moaned loudly in Isaiah’s arms, gripping his shoulders and leaning her head back. He did everything in his power not to let her go as he moved towards the cart. When he finally got there, Trixie had already curled her fingers in his hair. Councilman Faulkner came along with him while the others shifted to keep up with them.
“Alright, just follow the lighted path,” Trixie said while leaning her back against the dashboard with her legs opened wide, much to Councilman Faulkner's dismay.
“Can’t believe I have to sit here while she’s in…decent” Councilman Faulkner huffed about and grumbled.
Isaiah couldn’t help but smile at Councilman Faulkner's face as he kept his eyes forward following the path that lit up as they drove past. Every bump on the road made Trixie moan even louder. Right when Isaiah thought the night was starting to feel hopeful, Trixie yelled at him.
“Stop the cart,” Trixie said out of breath. “I can’t make it. I have to get out.”
“But we need to get you to a hospital or something.”
“No,” Trixie gasped. “They’re coming now. Ah! Ah! Yesss! Coming!”
Isaiah sighed. Well, aren't we lucky?
*****
“We are shit out of luck now,” Clary said through her teeth as they ran away from Queen’s Bloom tent with a swarm of pixies flying after them. The swarm gained on them and before they were caught, the three white wolves stopped to fight back.
“Drake,” yelled Clary as one white wolf used his power to create a gust of wind to blow the pixies away. Rissa used her power to pick up things and throw them at the rest of the pixies. Derrick used the surrounding water, causing mini waves to take a chunk of them out. Even Ezekiel got in on the fight, using vines and plants to keep them at bay.
“We need a plan,” Zed said.
“He’s right,” Clary said. “We can’t hold them off forever."
Zira quickly scanned the area for anything to help and she saw the vat of berry juice.
“The berry juice,” Zira said, pointing at the vat on the other side of the bonfire. “If we can get a majority of them right next to it, we can dump it on them and have time to escape.”
“What makes you think that would work,” Clary asked.
“The juice is a hallucinogen,” Zira explained. “It does things to you. So, while they are in that state, we’ll be able to escape without any of them following us.”
“Fine! I’ll get them over there while you and Malachi figure out the rest,” Clary said, moving towards the group.
Zira moved towards the vat of berry juice and stopped so suddenly it almost caused Zed to almost trip over her. She sniffed the air and turned towards the table full of food.
“Zi, what the hell?”
For a moment, the world seemed to fade away except for her and the table of food before her. She had forgotten all about her hunger until now.
“Food,” she said mostly to herself when she felt Zed tug her hand.
“We don’t have time to think about that now, Zi. We have to get out of here.”
Zira shook out of her reverie. “I know. I know, but one piece wouldn’t hurt, right?“
She reached out to grab a piece of meat, only for a pixie bomb to land right by her hand. She quickly ducked and covered Arias when it exploded, sending pieces of food and colorful dust flying everywhere. She moved out of the vicinity to keep from inhaling whatever magic they put it in. She looked at the pixie fixing to throw another. She picked up the piece of fruit and took a quick bite before throwing it at the pixie, hitting him square in the face.
“I hate wasting food,” she growled. “Zed, protect Arias. Malachi, let’s go.”
They ran to the berry juice and examined it, trying to figure out how to tip it over. The structure was built from an old tree and there wasn’t much room to push it over. Clary was ushering the group holding the pixies off toward them.
“We have to find a way to tip this over,” Zira said out loud.
“This thing is welded in place,” Malachi said, watching Clary and the group get closer. “No way we’re going to move it before they get here unless we find a way to just move the berry juice.”
Zira looked at the group moving closer to them. “You’re right! We don’t need to tip it over. She can do it,” Zira said, pointing at Rissa.
“Rissa?”
“Yes. She can use her power and move it to the pixies.”
Malachi nodded and moved but slipped and fell into the vat. Zira instinctively reached out to grab him and they both fell in. Zira closed her mouth before falling in. Malachi helped Zira up and they both pulled themselves out of the liquid. Before speaking she wiped her face, making sure she didn't get any in her mouth. Unfortunately, Malachi was already licking his lips.
"This is exactly good," he said, staring at Zira.
She could already see his eyes dilating but she didn’t have time to explain to him what was going to happen as she ran to the group. She picked up a stick to ward off any pixie that got around the little barricade until she was standing next to Clary.
“I have an idea,” Zira said, pointing to each one of them as she continued. “You, use your whirlwind thingy to gather them up and you can use your telepathy to throw the juice in the whirlwind. Ezekiel, I'll need you to shield us. Got it?"
Everyone moved to execute the plan and Zira made sure Zed and Arias were in a safe place. It was going well until Rissa was bombarded with pixie bombs. Zira knocked a few pixies away before making it to Rissa, who inhaled some of the dust and eyes were already dilated. The berry juice hung in the air, but Zira knew it was going to fall on everyone.
“No,” Zira yelled, throwing her hands out and the berry juice frozen in the air. Without another thought, she flung it towards Drake’s whirlwind of pixies.
Ezekiel used one of the huge plant leaves to block any juice or pixie that came flinging out. Zira looked at her hands, not believing what she had just done. When she looked up, she saw Clary giving her a shocked expression. She must have seen it too. Zira used a power.