Loving Luna - All Grown Up

Chapter Thirteen - The Cell (3)

❤Heath

Six of us, including myself, had been taken. Who would do such a thing? I could feel the anger boiling and I could do nothing to stop it.

“Try breathing,” a young female voice said, and I glanced down at the small one in front of me. “I’m Sugar and I’m twelve!” she boasted proudly, and I felt myself smile. Cute little one. “Whenever I get angry, my mama always tells me to try breathing,” I nodded at her advice and took a deep breath. It helped but not much. “I’m from The Wanderers Clan, what about you?” she asked softly as she played with her dark brown braids. Grizzly.

“I’m Heath and I am the Ursus of The Broken Claws Clan,” I informed her. “And I am twenty-four,” I added as I bent down to her height and gently poked her side. She giggled and reached up and fluffed my black curls.

“Black bear, I’ve never met one before,” she whispered as she continued to explore my features. “Winnie! Winnie!” Sugar started calling out and a pure white-headed female came over to us with two other dark brown-headed females. One Polar and two more Grizzly.

“Hey, I am Bella,” the white-headed Polar bear introduced herself and I stood up.

“I’m Heath,”

“Hi, Heath! Is it true? Are you a Black bear?” the other dark brown-haired female asked, and I nodded. “That is so cool! I am Winnie,”

“Tell him where you are from,” Sugar urged, and Winnie rolled her eyes and sighed.

“I’m from The Almighty Clan,” she informed me, and I smiled. I had heard quite a few stories about the Almighty Clan, and I felt truly honored to be meeting one of their members. “Oh, and I am fifteen,” she added. Sugar giggled and pulled the female over to the bunk beds.

 “And in case you were wondering, I am eighteen and I’m from The Wicked Ancestry Clan,” Bella said as she reached out and placed her hand on my bare arm. I flinched at her touch and took a step back.

“Yeah, nice to meet you,” I said as I looked over at the last female, it was clear that she was the youngest. “And who are you?” I asked.

“My name is Olivia, I am eight years old,” she said softly.

“What clan are you from?” I questioned.

“The Wild Woods Clan,” she whispered, and I nodded. I was feeling uncomfortable with the way Belle was lo0oking at me.

“So, you are an Ursus?” Bella questioned. She must have heard me telling Sugar that I was my Clan’s leader. I ignored her question and went over to the only other male, who was sitting on the floor in the corner. He looked terrified and I could sympathies with that.

“Hey,”

“Hi,” he squeaked out and I sat down next to him.

“What’s your name?” I asked.

“Ted,” he answered, and then he grinned over at me sheepishly. “I can see you’ll have a problem with Bella,”

“Oh, man! Don’t even go there!” I groaned out as he chuckled at my expense.

“I’m from The Nightshade clan and I am sixteen,” he told me, and I smiled. “Oh, and I already heard all about you,” he added, and I shrugged. His hearing may just be a lot better than the rest of us. Ted shook his head and I glanced over at him. “Not from here, I’m talking about back home. My dad used to know your dad,” it was then that I remembered.

“Uncle Sarge is your dad?”

“Yeah,”

“Nice,” we smiled at each other before the giggles coming over from the bunk beds made us stop. “Why did they have to put us together with a bunch of giggling females?”

“I don’t know but let’s hope they soon settle down,” Ted remarked, and I nodded. I looked around the room and sighed. The small space wasn’t at all what I was used too, and I was starting to feel angry again. I missed my home, my forest and most importantly, I missed my mother. She would be going nuts right about now. Once again, I thought about who could’ve done this and why.

“By the way, did you see your snacks?” Bella asked as she came over to us. I shook my head and glanced over at the bunk beds. I could see the trays and bottled water and Bella rushed over to collect mine.

“Good luck,” Ted whispered before he got up and went over to the gate. I groaned. I couldn’t believe the little s**t was leaving me to deal with Bella alone.

“Here you go,” she said as she held out the tray and water. I took it from her and thought that maybe if I distract myself with food, then she may get the hint and leave me alone. However, as I tore into the honey glazed cookies, Bella sat down and started to tell me all about her home. “I’m the eldest out of five and my mother is such a wiz in the kitchen. She’s teaching me how to cook, you know?” I didn’t answer as I stuffed the delicious cookies into my mouth. “I’ll be wed to an Ursus, and I’ll be the perfect partner. My parents set such a good example for us at home. Did you know that we love to swim? I hate the fact that I can’t shift and go for a dive in the sea. Although, I know that the sea isn’t far from here,” suddenly what she was saying caught my attention and I stared at her mid-bite into the energy bar.

“What?” I mumbled out.

“Oh yeah, I can just tell that we are close to the sea. Probably a few miles or so…why? Do you love the sea too?” she asked, and I shook my head as I continued eating. I had never been to a beach, never mind the sea. However, if what she was saying was true, then I was quite far from home. I glanced over at Bella as she continued to talk about her snowy home and how horrible she felt here.

“Do you think you are far from home?” I asked her. The fact that I had asked her a question had her beaming at me.

“Oh yes, even though I can feel that the sea isn’t that far from here, I know that it isn’t close to my home. We are somewhere hot; can’t you feel it?” she asked me, and I took a closer look at her. Although she had the whiteness hair I had ever seen and her silver eyes sparkled, I couldn’t find myself being attracted to her. Sure, she was stunning, and I could see the beads of sweat along with her temples. “Say, how often do you shift?” she suddenly asked me, and I sighed.

“Often enough,” I stated before digging into the vanilla pudding cup. So far, I was enjoying all the sweet treats on the tray.

“We only shift into our human forms when we are at home, otherwise we are bears most of the time,” she informed me, and I rolled my eyes. Someone kill me now, please! I was halfway done with my tray, and I glanced down at the three remaining items. Five slices of cheese in their sleeves and a small box of crackers. A small container of what looked like fruit and lastly a wrapped-up sandwich. I took a sip of the water and tuned back in on what Bella was talking about. “I just think that it’s horrible that they would take such young cubs, you know? I know they are playing with each other and enjoying themselves but that will soon vanish and then what? Then they’ll be crying for mommy!”

“Oh, it’s a good thing they have you then,” I said as I unwrapped the sandwich. Sliced beef with mustard. Nice. I took a big bite and I felt Bella get up and leave. I sighed in relief and continued to eat my food in peace. When I was done, I headed over to the bunker where Ted was at.

“Top or bottom?” he asked, and I would’ve said bottom but the thought of Bella coming to sit on my bed made me choose the top.

“Top,” I said as I went up the ladder. Luckily, the bunks weren’t all that close together and I laid down. I hated this and the sooner I got out, the better.

 ❤❤❤

“Woah bears really do hibernate,” the sound of man’s voice woke me, and I slowly opened my eyes and sat up. Remembering that I wasn’t at home but in a cell, I looked around to see that everyone was sleeping. “Oh, I stand corrected, one of you is awake,” the man said, and I looked towards the sound of his voice. “Come on, I have dinner,” he said, waving to the trolly. I pushed myself up and jumped off from the top bunk, waking up Ted as I landed.

“Dude!” he screeched out, waking up everyone else. I headed over to the gate and glared at the man on the other side.

“My name is Keanu and I am your caretaker and guess what? I’ve brought food!” he announced as he headed over to some kind of metal flap. I watched as he unlocked it and I turned to face the others.

“Come on then, small to big,” I ordered. I watched as they all rushed to get into place. I took the first stray from Keanu and handed it to Olivia, then Sugar, then Winnie, Ted, and then Bella. I took mine from him, but I grabbed his arm and pulled him forward. “You will tell me what the hell is going on here!” I demanded. I was completely taken by surprise when Keanu laughed in my face.

“You’ll all find out what is going on here, soon enough,” he spat out before pulling his arm roughly out of my grip. He locked up the small gate and pushed the trolly out, locking the door behind him. I looked back over at the other bears and sighed.

“You tried,” Ted said as I sat next to him on his bottom bunk. I could hear the hushed whispers of the females and I already knew that soon they younger ones would become upset. I was already a failure for them.

“I didn’t try hard enough,” I admitted. Granted, I could’ve ripped his head off, taken those keys, and released us all, but I hadn’t. Instead, I had barely held onto his arm and out of all the questions, I could’ve asked, I had chosen what the hell is going on here. Woah, I was a real hero. I looked down at the tray of dinner and I found myself smiling. An array of fresh summer veggies and a big slab of steak. I glanced over at Ted, who had the same and chuckled.

“What?” he asked between mouthfuls. I shook my head as I started to eat. Ted was a growing Grizzly and he ate with vigor and passion. However, I had to wonder if the females would be able to eat it all. I was just about done when Olivia came over to me with her tray.

“Everything alright Olivia?” I asked her curiously.

“I’m full,” she informed me, and I looked down at her tray. She had devoured all her veggies and probably only one or two bites from the steak. She held out the tray to me and I happily took it from her. As she bounced away, I nodded over at Ted.

“Got space for more?” I asked.

“Hell yeah,” he said as he quickly tore the steak in half. I chuckled as I continued eating and it was no surprise when Sugar and Winnie came over to us.

“Let me guess, you are full?” I asked and both girls nodded before pushing their half-eaten trays towards Ted and I. Sugar had given me hers and it was much the same as Olivia’s, however, looking over at Ted, I burst out laughing. Winnie obviously liked meat because the only thing she left on her tray was some veggies. Ted nudged me with his shoulder and I quickly tore Sugar’s steak in half. I didn’t expect Bella to have any leftovers as she is a grown female, so when she headed over to us, it was only to collect the trays. Day one was just about over, and I was still pushing back the anger that threatened to boil over.