Moonlight

“Lana, can you go keep watch, please?” Deucalion asked her. “We seem to have a problem right now and I want to make sure more trouble doesn’t follow. You know the drill.”

“You got it, Deucalion,” Lana nodded, heading off to her post. During times of intruders, Deucalion and the other alphas had her keep watch, since her hunter skills came in use for these situations. She headed up for the roof of the bank to keep watch as she noticed a woman with a boy on the back of her bike speeding away. The twins began chasing after the motorcycle. Lana kept watch before she received signal that it was clear and she could come back. “What did I miss this time?” she whispered to Selene with a laugh.

Selene sat there unimpressed. "You missed Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dumb failing to bring back the Beta that broke in here." She glanced over at Ethan and Aiden. "Amateurs," she muttered before turning to her father. "Brain over brawn daddy, two brains is better than one weird-ass morphed one."

Deucalion rolled his eyes with a grin. Lana laughed. “I always miss the action. What Beta? Another one of Derek’s?” Lana asked.

Deucalion nodded. "I've handled the situation though, the boy won't remember anything," he told her. Selene turned to Lana. "Ready to go back to school tomorrow?" Deucalion was getting the two of them plus the twins to go to Beacon Hills High.

Lana was still curious but decided to not press the issue. “Yeah, I suppose. It’ll be interesting going back after a year and a half.”

"I think I'm going to head back to the apartment," Selene told Lana. She stood up to give her father a hug before saying her goodbyes to the rest of the pack.

“We’re heading to go find that girl,” Deucalion told his daughter. “Have a nice night, sweetie.”

“I’m joining you, Selene,” Lana caught up with Selene. “We got a big day tomorrow.” Lana couldn’t help but wonder if she’d see him roaming the halls of Beacon Hills High School. It had been almost four full moons and she still had no sign of him. She even went to where he used to live only to find it vacant multiple times; the reports she heard must have been true. She didn’t want to believe any of them because she knew that he could never do anything like that. But that made sense as to why she never heard from him again. Part of her knew – her hunting instincts told her so – that he was here in Beacon Hills. She didn’t tell the alphas about him, and she never even mentioned his name, not even to Selene. She didn’t dare say it in case she didn’t find him; then it would hurt.

Once the girls got back to their apartment Lana brought over a half full bottle of wine and Selene sat on the couch. "You alright?" she asked Lana as she was opening the wine "You’re quieter than usual."

“Yeah,” Lana tucked her bangs behind her ear as she set down two glasses on the table. “I hope you understand that I’m hoping to still be drunk when I wake up for school tomorrow morning, but at the same time I need to keep it classy so I figured that a glass of wine or six would do the trick.”

Selene burst out laughing as she lifted her glass. "Well here’s to the new school year," she toasted as they clinked their glasses together.

“I’m just so mad at myself for not finding him yet and I don’t think I’m prepared to face the fact that after about four months of searching for him late at night, I might end up having a class with him. How mortifying would that be?” Lana slumped into the couch.

Selene sighed as she watched her best friend deal with her past troubles. "It'll be ok Lana; we have the same classes, remember? I'll be at your side the whole day."

Lana nodded and took a large sip of wine. “I’m in love with this guy, Selene!” she finally admitted. “I have been since the god damn seventh grade. We were best friends growing up. Shit, he was my only real friend before you. I haven’t slept in months over him trying to find him and I swear to god, if it was as easy as him waltzing right in to one of our classes I’m going to cry. Partially because I’m relieved to know he’s still alive, but partially out of frustration, too. And maybe a little because I’ll hopefully still be drunk.”

Selene took a large gulp of wine. "Lana, you've been trying to find this guy for months now, yet you still haven't told me anything about him. Calm down, drink."

Lana sighed and finished off her glass. She poured a second, chugged the whole thing and then poured herself another as she opened up about him to Selene. “He had a really shitty life and when things got real tough, late at night when he could he’d run away to my house and I’d sneak him in my window. And he’d stay all night and we’d put in movies real quiet on the VHS player to not wake my parents, and after our movie he’d come to my room and we’d sleep there. We’d set my alarm that my mom would set for me before bed for like an hour early so he could run back home and sneak back in his own window before his dad found out he was ever gone. My parents never knew about it. His never did. Things started getting worse for him at home so it would be less often and when he’d come over or whenever I’d see him he’d have bruises that he was trying to hide and his neck and back would be all stiff. When he started getting older I’d be giving him massages every night to help his neck and back and shoulders. And it reached a point where we got so close that I fell in love with him. He was so broken but he was so sweet and loving and he was all I really had in school, considering I went pretty unnoticed. And he had these gorgeous blue eyes,” Lana took a sip of her drink. “Cute brown curls. Told you I have a soft side.”

Selene sighed and put down her glass before turning to Lana. "It sounds like you really care about him, like really, really care about him. So as your best friend and not your hunting partner, we are going to find this boy and you guys are going to fall in love and all that crap." She picked her glass back up and downed it. Selene then poured herself another glass of wine. "How does that sound?"

Lana smiled at her best friend. "I love you. I need to find him to make sure he's okay, y'know?" Selene nodded and the two had a few more glasses of wine as they chatted the night away before eventually passing out on their couch.

Lana woke up the following morning to her door being burst open, startling her to the point of a yelp as she rolled off of the couch. When she saw it was only Deucalion, Ethan and Aiden, she sighed in relief. "Jesus, guys, you scared the hell out of me."

Ethan sighed. "Your speech is slurred."

"You couldn't smell the wine from outside?" Deucalion looked to him and then to the table by the couch. The wine bottle, empty, sat beside two mostly-empty wine glasses. "I sure could."

"That was the plan!" Lana laughed as she tried to stand up. Her head was pounding and she used the table and couch as support to stand up. She stumbled a bit when she finally got on her feet. "Oh god, I'm that girl right now."

Selene woke up when heard all the voices. She groaned and held her head. "Morning boys," she said standing up and over to Lana. "How’s the plan working?"

"It worked!" Lana giggled.

"Here, I'll help you get dressed," Ethan sighed again as he helped Lana walk to her room.

"No, Ethan," Lana drunkenly insisted, but Ethan didn't leave her side. "I don't... I don't need your help."

"Yes you do, silly," Ethan rolled his eyes.

"I don't, I'm not still- yeah," Lana nodded. "Yeah, I'm still drunk. You're the stylish one, right?" Lana looked up at Ethan, who just laughed as he took her to her room.

"Sure, Lana. You could say that," he agreed with her.

"Do you want some help?" Aiden smirked at Selene as she clutched her head.

Selene glared at him "Don't touch me Aiden" she muttered and went to her room.

“Beautiful, but defiant,” Deucalion reminded Aiden.

Lana plopped onto her bed and began getting cozy. "Oh, no!" Ethan laughed. "You, missy, have to go to school today. I'm sorry."

"I'm fine, Ethan. I think," Lana smiled at her friend. "What's something that, if you were straight, would make you think I'm a lady but still find me sexually attractive?" Ethan laughed as he shook his head at Lana's antics while he took a cute dress out of her closet.

"This," he tossed the dress at her. It landed on her face and she began cracking up.

"How am I supposed to get dressed if I can't see?!"

"Oh my god, Lana!"

"I'm kidding! I promise! I'm not that drunk," she giggled.

Selene sat on the couch as they waited for Lana to get ready; she picked at her shorts before going to get her bag for school.

"Actually Selene, you wouldn't be going to school today," her father said before she picked up her bag. "We need your help to try and find the girl."

Selene nodded and went to Lana's room. "Come on guys, you three will be late"

"Three?" Ethan questioned "You’re not coming?"

She shook her head. "Alpha business."

“Of course,” Lana sighed. “Well, at least I have Ethan to make sure I don’t fall on my way to class,” she winked to Selene.

Selene laughed. "Oh god… Ethan, you've got your hands full today."

"Yeah... I figured," Ethan scratched the back of his head with a laugh. "I'll take good care of this little one."

She smiled, "Good," and ruffled Lana's hair. "Have fun at school sweetie," Selene smiled, walking back to get ready to leave with Deucalion.

"Have fun killing bitches, babe," Lana winked and blew a kiss to Selene. She looked to Ethan as she put on her backpack. "Let's go break some boys' hearts."

Selene laughed as she stood next to her dad. "So what's the game plan?"

Deucalion looked at Selene. "Kali and Ennis are already at the hospital to try and get the beta and the girl; I want you there for additional help. Lana and the boys will go to school as normal to not raise suspicion."

"We miss the fun stuff," Ethan frowned. "Not fair!"

Selene scoffed. "Well if you and your brother hadn't of let them get away, we wouldn't be in this situation."

"I'm too drunk for fighting!" Lana interfered with a pout.

Selene gave her a sympathetic pat on the head. "Come on sweetie, you need to sober up a bit."

"Let's give her some shots," Aiden suggested with a grin.

"I hate you," Lana quickly responded.

Selene slapped Aiden hard on the back of his head. "This isn't time for joking, Tweedle-Dumb!"

"I'm fine, seriously. Ethan will take care of me, right?" Ethan laughed and picked her up, slinging Lana over his shoulder making her laugh.

"She's safe with me," he nodded. "I'll have her ride with me on my bike so she isn't driving."

"Ok, thanks Ethan," Selene nodded as Lana and the twins left for school. She turned to Deucalion, anxious to meet up with the rest of the pack. "Alright, let's do this!"

Deucalion smirked. “Would you mind leading me out, darling?”