Chapter 219: Another Obstacle


    Finally, I agreed to go to the werewolf realm with my friends.


    But we needed to prepare first, and we had to hurry. Time was running short; there was no knowing


    what Selena had done by now. If her spell on Enzo was already this powerful, then I could only imagine


    how much more powerful it could be within this short period of time. Not only that, but if she had the


    Alpha King in her grasp as well, things could go south very quickly. I also couldn’t help but wonder if


    Richard, Enzo’s father, was being held captive too.


    For right now, though, we needed to get Enzo away from her. Once we had Enzo back and we were


    able to break through Selena’s spell again, then he could help us save Richard and the Alpha King.


    The five of us quickly ran home to gather some supplies. The sky was darkening quickly, and it would


    only be a matter of time before it was too dark to even traverse the forest to find the Alpha King’s


    mansion. None of us had ever been there before; only Luke knew vaguely where it was. The rest of us


    were useless when it came to navigating that ce.


    While Matt ran back to his dorm to pack a bag, Lori, Jessica and I ran up to our own dorm. The three of


    us flew into a frenzy, filling the dorm with the sounds of panicked packing and yelling; no doubt our


    neighbors hated us during those moments. I packed lightly, with only a change of clothes, a hunting


    knife, and some gran bars in case we took longer than expected. I hoped to get us in and out of


    there by the end of the next day at the most, but there was no knowing exactly how long it would take


    us. For all we knew, Selena would catch us and we would never make it home.


    This content ? N?v/elDr(a)m/a.Org.


    I came to that realization as I was zipping up my backpack.


    If Selena caught us, then I would be putting all of my friends in danger.


    I froze, my backpack still in my hand, as the worry washed over me. My palms began to sweat and my


    heart started to race, and I slowly looked up at my friends, who were currently arguing over whether to


    bring weapons or not.


    “Nina, settle this for us,” Jessica said, turning to face me. “I think we should bring this.” She held up a


    big, heavy bat shlight that we had purchased during our first year living in the dorms. We kept it in


    the hallway, as if someone woulde into our dorm in the middle of the night and kill us. At the time,


    when Jessica first bought it I thought that it was a silly idea, but now I knew that it was a smart


    decision. “Lori thinks we should bring a kitchen knife.”


    As I looked back and forth between the two of them, however, the decision only set my anxiety in


    stone. I didn’t want my friends to have to defend themselves like that. Maybe I shouldn’t have let them


    come after all.


    “Are you okay?” Lori asked, noticing the way that my hands were shaking. “What’s wrong?”


    I swallowed and straightened, slinging my backpack onto my back. “I… I don’t want you to have to


    bring either,” I replied, my voice trembling. “I feel like I’m putting you all in danger. Maybe I should just


    go alone.”


    Lori’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t you dare say that, Nina Harper,” she growled. “We’re your friends. And


    we’reing with you, whether you like it or not.”


    “Besides,” Jessica chimed in, “By saving Enzo, his father, and the Alpha King, it’ll help us stop the


    Crescents. Right now, that’s extremely important. And you’re gonna need all the help you can get if you


    want to seed.”


    Lori and Jessica were right; I wouldn’t be able to save even Enzo on my own, let alone Richard and the


    Alpha King. There was strength in numbers, and I needed as much strength as possible against


    Selena.


    I nodded. Even though there was a lump in my throat and a pit of dread growing in my stomach, I knew


    that I had to let my friendse with me.


    “Bring the shlight,” I said.


    …


    Once we were finished packing, which only took ten minutes at the most, we met up with Luke and


    Matt in the quad.


    “Come on,” Matt said impatiently, looking up at the building that contained the dean’s office. “Curfew is


    about to start. We don’t need anyone forcing us to go inside.”


    For the past few weeks, aside from the night of the dance, there had been a strict curfew on both the


    campus and the town. The dean originally had the Fullmoons enforcing it, but when the Fullmoons left


    she had employed some students to basically act as glorified hall monitors. It didn’t really work, and


    people still went out after dark, but the dean was sure to stop us if she found out what we were doing.


    She had too much faith in the Fullmoons, and she was too proud to let her own students potentially put


    themselves in danger because the Fullmoons weren’t being helpful.


    The five of us took off once more toward the woods, and by the time we reached the edge of the


    treeline, the curfew rm went off. Thankfully we were out of sight now.


    Luke led us back to the clearing where Enzo and Selena left. He exined as we walked that portals


    could sometimes leave residue, which could make it easier to open another portal. And, if we used the


    residue from the previous portal to open a new one, there was a likely chance that we woulde out


    at the same spot where Enzo and Selena hade out, which would mean that we would be that


    much closer to the two of them.


    Finally, we stopped in the center of the clearing. The full moon was rising slowly above us, and the sky


    was darkening quickly.


    Luke stepped out of the group and took a deep breath. The rest of us watched, wringing our hands


    nervously, as he began to make the circr motion with his index and middle fingers…


    I waited with bated breath, praying that the portal would open. If Selena had just opened one, then


    surely Luke could open one, too. Surely she had left in such a hurry that she wouldn’t have thought to


    put any sort of hex on us.


    But we waited, and nothing happened. No matter how many times Luke moved his hand around in that


    circr motion, whispering under his breath, nothing happened.


    “Shit,” he said quietly, dropping his arms to his side. “She’s too smart.”


    My eyes widened and I stormed up to Luke. “What’s wrong?” I asked. “Why isn’t it working?”


    Luke shook his head and shrugged at the same time. “I’m not sure exactly. She must have known I was


    coming. God dammit.”


    I stared at Luke with wide, disbelieving eyes. “Try again,” I ordered him as I felt anger beginning to


    bubble up inside of me. But Luke only shook his head once more.


    “It’s not gonna work,” he said. “Maybe we can try again tomorrow. The hex is bound to wear off soon


    enough.”


    All I could do was gulp nervously while my friends stared at me with shocked, apologetic faces. We


    couldn’t wait until tomorrow… Enzo needed us now. Something in me somehow knew that if I didn’t get


    to him by tonight, Selena’s magic would grow too powerful and we’d lose Enzo, Richard, and the Alpha


    King.


    I felt utterly lost and hopeless.


    Once again, Selena had ced an obstacle right in our way.