Forget the Moon! - 13. Chapter 13

"Think nothing of it," Gideon said as he, Regan, and Simon retreated from the room. "Rest well, Honey."

And Honey did, until he awoke sometime in the middle of the night, restless. Jedrek was still quite asleep, arms wrapped around his smaller mate. Honey smiled as he extricated himself, deciding he'd go downstairs and see if he could find something to do in the kitchen. He didn't notice the soft footsteps that trailed him when he reached the base of the stares. Nor did he feel the calculating eyes that watched him from the shadows as he rifled the pantry and began puttering around the kitchen.

The next thing the Omega felt was a firm hand covering his mouth and a sharp sting on his upper arm before his mind went blank.

{We got him,} a shadowed figure told his partner in crime telepathically. {Can't believe how easy that was!} He trailed off when he glanced back at the counter. {The fuck you doin', man?}

{You have got to taste one of these! I never knew that a carrot cake cookie sandwich could taste so good. I used to hate carrots as a kid!}

{Stop stuffing your face and help me carry him before anyone else wakes up you numb-nut!}

{Okay, okay! He's a damn good baker, though.}

The two figures, like thieves in the night, carried their target out the back door of the house and then took off.

::::

"So, they're like cats?" Regan wondered aloud the following morning. He asked a ton of questions before they went to sleep and still had hundreds more when they woke up. "I mean, he was cleaning him, right?"

Gideon fought not to laugh.

"If you mean huge scaled creatures that can breathe fire, work magic, and tear down a building by smacking it enough, then yes. Just like cats."

Regan ignored his mate's sarcasm. "That was my first time ever seeing one, just where exactly do dragons even live?"

"Jedrek's quite far from his home," Gideon explained. "They live on a chain of mountains. Some live in the valleys below; others in caves. Only the strongest dragons live near the top of the largest mountains." One of his hands had already found its way into soft, brown curls. Raking through Regan's hair felt quite calming. "Jedrek's clan lives in the caves and the outer base of one of the mountains. The fire opal dragons are second to last in terms of status."

"Second to last?" Regan questioned. "He's freaking huge! Just how much bigger are the other dragons, then?"

"While I'll admit that Jedrek is quite strong for his clan, dragons are more powerful the closer they are to the sun. Size has nothing to do with it," the Alpha responded.

"Ok, so how did you two become friends if he lives so far away?" the Omega wondered.

"Some of the younger generation dragons wanted to venture into the cities. They made friends with other species and learned about the culture of city life. Jedrek's father met with mine when Jed and I were six years old. I was expected to make him feel welcome and we've been friends ever since."

"Then, how come he's so clueless about us and Khonsu stones and whatnot? For being friends, you left him out of a pretty big loop, don't you think?"

"They only visited once a year at most," Gideon replied. "I did mention a few things about mates, but he was uninterested in the subject. I also lost more and more faith with every passing year when no Omegas claimed me for their own."

Regan lifted his head to look into his mate's eyes. "You know it doesn't work that way," he whispered. "No one knows what the gods plan or how many years in advance they plan it...but, don't you think it's a little too much of a coincidence that I happened to find you the same year when Honey found Jedrek?"

Gideon looked thoughtful, glancing at the ceiling as though he could decipher the plans of the gods that way.

"Not just the same year," Gideon said pensively. "I gathered from talking to Jedrek it was the same night."

"Holy shit," Regan mused aloud. "I never bought into the gods having certain plans bull, but that's pretty freaky. Why don't-"

"HONEY'S GONE!"

The sound of thundering footsteps echoed from one room to the other, followed by a few choice words from Simon. A soft groan hung in the air before more running was heard coupled with more yelling.

THERE WERE TWO OF THEM, I CAN SMELL IT!"

"Stay close, but behind me," Gideon ordered, moving quickly to the door. The Alpha wanted Regan safe. Without knowing the situation, Gideon was unwilling to leave Regan alone, especially considering the Omega's history of ducking out windows when it suited him. There could be danger to Regan, even with Gideon there, but the Alpha would rather have his mate close where he could protect the Omega. It was better than not knowing if Regan was still safely shut in a room or in danger.

Regan nodded and followed. That was a demand he could get behind. He wanted to find Honey, too! Maybe the blond Omega had wandered off like he did earlier. Though, the thought did make him frown. Honey didn't seem like the kind to rush off without leaving a note.

By the time they two of them reached the living room, they saw Simon awkwardly patting Jedrek's shoulder, which was only made possible due to the fact that the massive man was kneeling on the ground and crouching with his hands all but tugging at his own hair. He looked quite broken.

"Gid!" Jed gasped as he scrambled back to his feet in an instant and rushed over to the silver-haired wolf. "You've got to believe me! Two strange dragons have taken Honey. All three scent trails stop right at the back door!" Jedrek took a shuddering breath before his voice came out in a whimper. "The cherub had even made cookies for everyone…" He emphasized this as he handed a cookie sandwich to Gideon, who passed it blindly to Regan. "This was EXACTLY the kind of thing I was trying to avoid!"

As much as Regan enjoyed sweets, he couldn't even stomach the idea of eating while his new friend was kidnapped and in danger somewhere. He rushed over to the kitchen to carefully tuck all of the cookies away, slapping the back of Simon's hand in the process when the taller wolf tried to take one. They'd only eat them when Honey was safe.

"Alright then, who's in charge of your clan?" Regan questioned Jedrek. When the three older men glanced his way, he held up his hands. "What? If Honey's your mate, then he's a part of your clan, right? Wouldn't your clan leader help you find him?" He then turned his gaze to his own mate. "So, when are we heading over to his clan?"

"That depends. We'll go over the surveillance tapes. I want to know who we're dealing with and if they hurt Honey. How good is your scenting?" Gideon asked Jedrek gesturing for everyone to follow him to the secure computer room. "Do you recognize either of them?"

Jedrek was well on his way to burning a permanent path into the floor from his pacing alone. "Of course I can track them in my dragon form!" He huffed. "But, it means that I have to track them right away."

"Surveillance tapes?" Regan questioned. "Just how many cameras you got around here?"

"Many," Gideon answered his mate quickly and returned his attention to Jedrek. "We can't go off half-cocked." Gideon ignored Regan's quiet comment about going off fully-cocked and focused on his fuming friend. "Do you know who took him?" The Alpha wolf asked, pointing at the faces on the screen. "We need to know more before we do anything. And you'll need backup." Gideon looked conflicted as he glanced at his mate, wondering if Simon could watch over Regan while Gideon and Jed rescued Honey.

"We're his backup!" Regan insisted while Jedrek's eyes narrowed at the screen. "You don't really expect me to just sit around while my friend's still out there with some kidnapping creepos doing lord knows what to him, do you?"

"They're all in black, I can barely make anything out- wait a minute…" Jedrek informed as he peered closer. He let out a low growl that sounded a lot more like a dragon than a human. "Jeremejevites. They're from another clan."

Gideon ran a hand through his hair in frustration before pointing at his mate. "If you come with us, I expect you to stay in my sight at all times and follow my orders without question or complaint. I need to know that you'll be as safe as I can possibly make you or I swear I'll have Simon sit on you and then I'll probably have to kill him for touching you when we get back."

Regan felt his heart skip a beat. Out of all the responses he had expected from Gideon consent, albeit conditional consent, hadn't crossed his mind. "I'd rather have you be the one to sit on me," he responded without thinking. "Crap, forget I said that! What I meant to say is I'm totally in. I wanna help bring back Honey."

"I'll sit on you as soon as things have settled, sweetheart. I promise," Gideon said with a wry grin. The Alpha turned to Jed. "Let's go. You can fill us in on anything we need to know on the way."

"You'll want to sit your little Omega in front of you as you clamber on," Jedrek explained as he quickly tossed his borrowed clothes aside and rushed out into the backyard. His broad back stiffened for a moment as he turned his head to glance back at them. "Also, Gid? Reg?" He added as he began to shift into his dragon form. "Thank you." The words of gratitude came out a lot deeper as the massive teal dragon laid down enough for his friends to climb on.

"So, Regan, my heart?" Gideon rumbled in the Omega's ear as he settled the smaller man in front of him so they were out of the way of Jedrek's massive wings. "You don't have a history of spell sickness, do you? Because I have a feeling there's going to be a lot of magic on this rescue mission." Gideon asked, holding onto a convenient pair of ridges and caging Regan in his arms.

Gideon knew it was a well-known fact that the delicate constitution of Omegas could cause nausea and vomiting if they were exposed to too much magical energy swirling around them. Alphas, with their robust nature, rarely had issues with such nervous afflictions. Gideon wanted to shield his mate from any discomfort.

"Spell sickness?" Regan wondered aloud. "Not that I know of...I mean I don't even feel much of anything when I shift into my wolf form." His brows drew together in concern. "I mean, I'll do my best not to barf on Jed's wings. I imagine it'd just be a projectile that's tossed back on us otherwise."

"That's, uh, unpleasantly graphic." Gideon gave his mate a gentle squeeze. "But if you do get spell sickness, just tell me. I'll take care of you and keep you safe."

The Omega couldn't help but feel a touch of warmth at the notion, not that he'd ever say it out loud. "I'll be fine," he responded.

"Hold on," the deeper voice of Jedrek in dragon form drew the wolves' attention back to the matter at hand.

Regan gave a happy hoot when they took off into the air. The rush of air and the view from up high were quite exhilarating to him. "Holy shit!" He cried out. "This is freaking awesome!"

The curly-haired Omega felt no discomfort until a surge of energy began to roll over all of them. Could that be the magic that Gideon had talked about earlier? Though the feeling caused a pressure similar to the ear pain one felt when going up a very big hill, he wasn't nauseous in the slightest.

"We're coming up to the portal!" Jed warned just before crossing through a ring in the sky that they couldn't see, but could feel cackling along the outside of their bodies.

"Whoa," Regan gasped as the scenery changed immediately to that of a mountain range with a valley and river below. The scent of cool water cascading on a rainforest filled the Omega's nose. He could see dragons in both forms far below. Some even passed underneath them in the sky. Reg had only ever dreamed about seeing the world outside of Carnelia. But, the real deal was much more epic.

"Gid, are you seeing this?" Regan called over his shoulder. When his mate didn't respond, the Omega turned his head to peek, finding the Alpha's complexion had turned an alarming waxy grayish-green. "Jed, you're going to have to land ASAP if you don't want Holton to hurl all over you!"

"We're almost there," the massive dragon relayed as he gradually descended.

The Omega quickly helped Gideon dismount when they landed on a cliff near the middle of a mountain. Jedrek let out a sigh as he saw Regan rubbing Gideon's back in an encouraging manner as his best friend emptied out the contents of his stomach. Though the smaller wolf didn't seem to feel any sort of shame about the matter, Jed knew that Gideon's pride was surely hurting.

The dragon turned towards two fellow FireOpal dragons that wore identical expressions of disgust mixed with fascination as they stared at Gideon's predicament. Jedrek wasted no time in calling out to them. "Have either of you seen a pair of Jeremejevites carrying a young, blond wolf with the countenance of a cherub?" He questioned them.

"Jeremejevites, highness?" One of them responded.

"No, my prince, we'd have surely taken note of something like that," the other one added. "A cherubic wolf? That'd have been a more pleasant sight than a full grown wolf hurling on those lovely hydrangea bushes."

Jedrek let out an impatient growl. Gideon's little wolf's suggestion to petition his "clan leader" was looking like a better idea by the second. His father wasn't going to be thrilled when he explained that not only was his mate not a female dragon, he was also a male wolf. Regardless of his species, a slight against a royal family's intended was the spark that ignited many battles between clans in the past.

When Gideon seemed to pull himself together enough to stand back up, Jed began to lead them up the mountain path towards his clan's land. They passed a few more FireOpal dragons on the way, all of whom gave a respectful greeting and bow to Jedrek. When they reached the end of the path, it opened up into a village. Some houses seemed embedded into the mountain walls. Other houses were on high stilts that connected to bridges. The very top of the mountain appeared to be in the shape of a cupped hand, and the FireOpal dragons thrived in its foliage.

As the trio walked through the path, they heard a commotion towards the central plaza. To Jedrek's surprise, the god Abek himself was dashing from dragon to dragon asking questions. "Lord Abek?" Jed asked as the god caught sight of him and rushed over.

"Prince Jedrek, mah boi!" Abek greeted enthusiastically. "Where is he? Is that him?" He asked as he rushed over to pull Regan into a smothering hug. "Welcome home, Honey Arlo Mae!"

Regan began to cough and struggled against Abek's hold. "H-Hey! I'm not Honey! That's who we came here to rescue!"

"Rescue?" Abek questioned as he immediately dropped Regan. He sent a disapproving glance at Jed. "What have you done, kid?" He chagrined. "How could you have lost our one and only wolf Omega?"

Jedrek lowered his head, his wings drooping at his sides. He looked like a child who had been placed in time-out. "It's true...I was unable to protect him...too busy fighting against myself. It wore me out, and that's when they swooped in and stole him from me!" He explained.

"Stole him?" Abek gasped. "Who would dare do such a thing?"

"Jeremejevitees," Gideon responded. "According to my live footage."

The anger on Abek's face and the flash of his orange eyes caused even Regan to feel a shiver of fright down his spine. "The fools!" He hissed, his voice taking on a godly tone. It was only then that they realized just how considerate Abek had been to speak to them in such softened tones. Luckily, the dragon god quickly seemed to compose himself. "Don't worry," He said as he placed a hand on Jedrek's long neck. "I will find him. I will find Honey Arlo Mae. In the meantime, I ask that you three remain here and explain everything to your father."

: