Our Luna, Our Mate Chapter 144

**Ares POV**

"Meet my Dark Witches. Witches more powerful than my ex-best friend. Meet the High Priestesses of Shadowmoon."

At the taunt of her voice I can't help but shiver. Something about the way she spoke. The way she introduced her 5 powerful Witches made mine and Zeus's skin crawl.

'I don't like this' growls Zeus.

'Neither do I. Unfortunately, we're frozen in place' I admit, not liking the outcome either.

"Lily... You better pray that we don't manage to get free or else you're a dead woman" growls Eros. Clearly not happy with her either.

"Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. As if you're in any kind of position to talk. If I recall correctly, you five just walked straight into my trap. A trap I originally set for Athena. But... this works too."

Smirking at her cleverness, Lily slowly moves to approach Eros and I. Her hands slowly coming to caress both of our chests, her hands slowly coming to touch each of our faces. Deimos and Zeus silently growling as Lily continued. 'WHORE' growls Zeus, wanting nothing more than to rip her hand away from us.

"GET. YOUR. HANDS. OFF. ME. NOW!" I growl between gritted teeth, returning Zeus's emotions as best I could.

"Relax... Athena won't even know. I have each of you completely blocked" purrs Lily, her body moving closer to mine.

Zeus now on the verge of wanting to rip out her throat and letting her die a slow yet painful death.

"And besides... I need you alive for what I'm about to do to you, Ares." Then, before I had time to think about her words, does Lily move to kiss me. Her lips suddenly on mine as she captures my lips in a heated passion. A passion I wanted nothing to do with. A passion I would rather burn for than be subjected to her touch.

Amused by my efforts, does Lily deepen the kiss, my body unable to fight nor resist. Eros growling as he tries to get free of her spell. Kai, Seth and Sam also trying and failing, the spell from the Witches too powerful to budge on our own.

"Get your mouth OFF him Lily" snaps Eros, unable to help his brother.

Ignoring the responses, does Lily continue. My body growing increasingly numb. My legs ready to cave and if it wasn't for the fact that I was momentarily frozen I probably would have collapsed on my ass.

Pulling from the kiss, I try to focus my attention solely on Lily, temporarily forgetting about Eros and the others as I try to fight and stay awake.

"W-What... did... you... do... Lily?" I grit out between breaths, my body growing weaker by the second, my vision blurring in the process.

"Me? Why nothing, of course. But I am wearing a new lip gloss. Do you like it? It's absolutely stunning." taunts Lily, her eyes stating the obvious without admitting to the actual truth.

Attempting to glare, I no longer have the strength left to fight her. Lily still watching as her new lip gloss completely takes over, Lily glancing towards her Witches as she nods her head. My body now collapsing once free of their spell. Lily now hovering above me as a small grunt of pain rises, having kicked me in the ribs as she does.

"That's payback for how quickly you were to dismiss me."

Shifting her gaze from me to the others, does Lily move towards Eros next, my vision on the border of darkness as I try to fight whatever it was that Lily used against me. My body growing weaker and weaker until I almost succumbed to the darkness. The last thing I hear before finally caving is Eros, Eros screaming in pain from whatever it was that Lily had done to him.

\~~~~~~~~~~

**Athena's POV**

When leaving the party, I couldn't help but feel slightly uneasy. A part of me on edged the longer I was away. My mates having been missing for over four hours was enough to make me and Artemis fill with worry. Especially with not knowing what was happening to them.

'I don't like this' I whisper to Artemis, my body a jumbled mess of different emotions. Kade and Rosalyn both with me as we move to walk further away from the ongoing celebrations. My Birthday. A birthday that I should have been celebrating with both my mates as well as family, except I wasn't. No. Instead, I was off searching for the very ones who had yet to grace me with their presence. My mates.

'Neither do I, Athena,' whispers Artemis, who carefully replies back to me. Our noses gradually leading us towards the treeline. Our mates scent faint but noticeable, which meant they were here at some point.

"They were here" I move to reply, my voice soft to both Kade and Rosalyn. Our gaze now searching the surrounding area.

"But they weren't alone either. Based on the scent, it smells like your Beta, Gamma and Delta were here too" admits Kade.

"How can you tell?" I ask, my eyes glancing over to his. A feeling that Kade was hiding way more about himself than he led others to believe prior joining our pack. For sure, his pack, The Whiteclaw pack, had been destroyed by Hunters as Isaac had verified it the last time he visited, but something else told me he was of higher rank other than just a normal pack member, which would have explained why he hadn't succumbed to full Rogue and how both he and Kaylee had managed to escape their pack when they did.

'You think he was their Beta or Gamma?' asks Artemis, both of us fully curious about Kade's role within the Whiteclaw pack.

'Maybe' I answer, only to pause. The smell of copper filling the air, causing me to run. Our feet carrying us in the direction of the smell, hoping it wasn't anything major. The smell growing closer the closer we got, only to pause. For there, lying in front of me, unconsciously, was Eros. Along with Kai, Seth and Sam. My eyes still on Eros as blood oozed from a wound that was strategically placed along his torso.

Eros unconcious as his body bleed before me.

"EROS!" I finally scream, my body moving on its own accord as I move to check on my mate. My eyes zeroing in on the wound as Artemis becomes alert and present within my mind.

'Use your power. We can heal him'

Nodding to no one in particular, I move to lay a hand gently over his wound. Not caring if I got blood all over my hand or my clothes as I work on healing my mate. Kade using this time to check on Kai and the others, while Rosalyn moves to inspect the surrounding area, only to freeze. Her voice holding a bit of panic as she did.

"Athena, I think we're in big trouble" whispers Rosalyn.

"How so?" I asked once I knew Eros was healed and no longer bleeding. Thankful the wound wasn't too deep or else I would have truly panicked.

"Because Lily was here. As were the High Priestesses."

"High Priestesses?"

"A group of Witches from my coven. Each more powerful than the next. Each more powerful than me. And for Lily to bring them here means that my coven is scared. Scared of something big, because the High Priestesses don't just help anyone, Athena, not unless they're forced to, which means Lily has leverage" replies Rosalyn, an uneasy feeling now washing over mine as I move to search for the one mate I hadn't seen yet. Ares.

"Ares?" I call out suddenly. "ARES!"

Searching the surrounding area, I couldn't help but feel like we were a little too late. That, whatever Lily had wanted, resulted in her taking my mate and my other mate to lie within a pool of his own blood. My body fighting against the urge to hunt Lily down. My eyes still searching as fear continues to grip at my heart. Because today was supposed to be special, but instead, I lost a mate.

"ARES!"

Sobbing softly, sobs begin to take hold of my body, my hands carefully clinging to Eros. My last safe space. A space that made me feel safe and secure when all else failed. Artemis howling in pain within my head, not knowing where Ares could be or if he was even okay. Hot tears now rolling down my cheeks even as Kade moves to speak up.

"Easy Luna, we'll find him. I promise" whispers Kade. His hand coming to rest against my shoulder even as he slowly lets his aura run freely for the first time since joining our pack, and it was then that I instantly knew what he was. A Beta.

The Beta of the Whiteclaw pack and the last survivor alongside Kaylee, the Packs Delta and now future Luna of the Dawnguard Pack.

'Lily's going to pay for this. She'll pay for taking what's ours' growls Artemis. Her resolve rising at the need to hunt Lily down if it was the last thing she did.