laissez les bon temps rouler//jackson kenner

2.12

Jack and I are sitting at the same picnic table as last night. Aiden walks over to us and drops nearly a dozen moonlight rings into a bowl. "Well, that's the last of them! Everyone out here is officially ring-free."

"And better off," I state.

"Easy for you to say! You're a hybrid. I'm back to turning every single full moon. And, if the wolves who are loyal to Finn come back here, they're gonna rip right through us," Aiden tells me. I look from Aiden to Jack. "So, I gotta ask when is this wedding?"

"Ten days. After that, Else's power is your power. The full moon won't control you anymore," Jack tells Aiden. I nod my head in agreement. "Spread the word any wolf who wants in needs to be here to bear witness to the wedding."

"Yeah, I can do that. What are you guys gonna do?" Aiden asks.

Jack smiles. "We're going to meet an Elder!" I look at him confused. "We need an old-school Crescent wolf to conduct the wedding. Then, there are the trials." I look at him still not knowing what the trials are. "Don't worry! We say a few oaths, do some trust falls, smoke a little blue calamus root out of a peace pipe. Piece of cake!"

Aiden smiles at me. "Well, good luck with that!" He turns to leave.

I look to Jack, hesitating slightly. "Any idea where we can find an Elder?"

Jack smiles. "Well, that depends! You got any interest in meeting my grandma?"

I roll my eyes playfully as I stand up. I smile at Jack. "I'm hoping your family has less drama than mine."

Then everything goes black.

When I come to, I'm in the middle of an old fashioned wooden shed. Around the room are the mounted heads of various animals. I'm not alone Elijah and Nik are here as well.

"Else," Elijah and Nik say almost in unison.

"You three," a voice says from the corner. Turning I see an unhappy Kol.

"What is this?" I ask him, clearly annoyed.

Kol looks around the room and he looks unnerved. "It's a Chambre de Chasse. A hunt room. It's where witches bring their prey for mental target practice. Our bodies are in the real world, lying dead on the floor, whilst our minds are in here, represented by these creepy animal heads."

Nik looks unamused. "Let me take a wild guess as to who is the author of this nightmare." He then raises his voice, "FINN! Show yourself!"

Finn enters through the front door. Nik tries to grab him in a choke hold, but his hand doesn't even come close to Finn's throat.

"Save your strength. In here, I am untouchable. My magic, my rules. So, make yourselves at home. We're gonna be here for a while," Finn explains. "At the very least, this prison is a bit more comfortable than the box you held me in for..." He stops for a moment to think. "Almost nine hundred years?"

Nik gestures to the walls. "The heads are a nice touch. Let me guess" He points to the wolf head. "I'm the big, bad wolf? Kol, the wily fox. Elijah is the noble stag. The badger for Else's independence, and you, fittingly enough, are the boar! Bit obvious, as far as symbolism goes..."

I sigh in annoyance. "Why are we here? Don't tell me it's about Mother? I didn't force her to drink blood and betray everything she holds dear. That was her choice."

"This isn't about Mother, this is about you. I want you to know how it feels to be powerless! So, I'm going to take the thing that matters most to you, the city you've come to love so much," Finn tells us.

I roll my eyes, "Are we quite done here? I have a wedding I was trying to plan."

"You will release us now," Elijah demands.