Dearest Readers,

Thank you all for reading and for your continued support! I am definitely on a roll here, so I hope you enjoy learning more about the past with Andie in the mix and exactly what she has been dealing with while in her search. Also, I hope you all get excited with the Easter Eggs in this chapter as well as the promise of what's to come ;)

XOXO Ally Layne.

Bad Moon Rising

Chapter 13: Solstice Betrayals & New Beginnings

"You shall be betrayed by the one who calls you friend,

And you shall fail to save what matters most in the end."

I was confused.

Percy and I had failed to save our mom, but only because we let her save herself. It was the right thing to do, she was completely capable, especially after discovering why she was taken in the first place.

But, like most things, I let it drop for now.

I let my brother drag me to the sword-fighters arena and we both stopped in awe at the sight of seeing Luke Castellan there, pounding into the dummies with a sword that was tearing their heads off in quick succession.

He was dripping in sweat, his eyes narrowed and focused, and his footwork was to die for. If Percy wasn't there I totally would've keeled over in a faint at the defined muscles on his arms.

Finally, he saw us, and stopped mid-swing. "Percy, Andie."

"Luke," I greeted, as my brother started to have words of apology stumble out of his mouth.

"It's okay, just doing some last-minute practice," he amended, his voice low and cooler than I had remembered it being.

Percy pointed out Luke's new sword, and I watched as Luke's eyes iced over as he watched the blade gleam wickedly in the light of the setting sun. "Oh, this? New toy. This is Backbiter."

I blinked. "Backbiter?"

Luke turned the blade in the light. "One side is celestial bronze. The other side is tempered steel. Works on mortals and immortals, both."

"And you think that's wise?" I tilted my head, ignoring Percy's stiffening form at my side.

Luke let out a chuckle that felt like ice freezing over my veins. "It's necessary, Andie. I'm sure you of all people would know that."

It felt like a punch in the gut. What I had told him about Smelly Gabe was told in confidence, not to be just thrown back at me like-

With a small grin, Luke slid the sword back into its scabbard. "Listen, I was going to come looking for the both of you. What do you say we go down to the woods one last time, look for something to fight?"

"You shall be betrayed by the one who calls you friend."

I could've hit Percy for agreeing to go off in the woods with Luke, who was acting all kinds of weird. But being the good sister I am, I refused to let him go alone.

I listened as Luke spoke, becoming more and more angry by the minute. "The heck with laurel wreaths. I'm not going to end up like those dusty trophies in the Big House attic."

Percy shifted on his feet awkwardly. "You make it sound like you're leaving."

Luke gave us both a twisted smile. "Oh, I'm leaving all right. I brought you both down here to say good-bye."

He snapped his fingers.

Two small fires burned holes in the ground at our feet, then out crawled two scorpions both glistening black about the size of my hand.

I felt myself start to go for my sword-

"I wouldn't," Luke warned. "Pit scorpions can jump up to fifteen feet. Its stinger can pierce right through your clothes. You'll be dead in sixty seconds."

Percy shook his head. "Luke, what-"

"You betrayed us," I muttered. "You, of all people. We trusted you."

He sighed. "I saw a lot out there in the world, Andromeda. Didn't you feel it– the darkness gathering, the monsters growing stronger? Didn't you realize how useless it all is? All of the heroics–being pawns of the gods. They should've been overthrown thousands of years ago, but they've hung on, thanks to us half-bloods."

"Luke… you're talking about our parents," Percy said, his face white with shock.

"That's supposed to make me love them?"

My ears started to ring, blocking out the words as they came from his mouth.

"You shall be betrayed by the one who calls you friend."

"You shall be betrayed by the one who calls you friend."

"You shall be betrayed by the one who calls you friend."

I could have loved him, you know.

"Kronos," Percy voiced in a whisper. "That's who you serve."

A tear fell from my eye, and Luke smiled at me softly, though his eyes looked pained. "You should be careful with names, Percy."

"Kronos got you to steal the master bolt and the helm. He spoke to you in your dreams."

Luke's eye twitched. "He spoke to you too, Percy. You should've listened."

I looked over at my brother in shock. "Percy?"

He stared right at Luke with fire in his eyes. "He's brainwashing you, Luke."

I watched as he went into another rampage, and Percy tried to keep buying us time by keeping him talking. I knew the both of us were hoping someone would notice we were gone and come looking, but Luke was smart.

He brought us in the middle of the woods to die.

"Look at the two of you. What has your dad ever done for you? Kronos will rise. You've only delayed his plans. He will cast the Olympians into Tartarus and drive humanity back to their caves. All except the strongest–the ones who serve him."

"Call off the bug," Percy insisted. "If you're so strong, fight me yourself."

Luke smiled. "Nice try, but I'm not Ares. You can't bait me. My lord is waiting, and he's got plenty of quests for me to undertake."

"Luke-"

He looked over at me, his eyes softening ever so slightly. "I really didn't want to put you through this, you know."

I felt another tear fall. "Then let me go. Let us go, you don't have to do this."

He let out a small huff of air, and looked at me sadly. "In another life, maybe. But now… this is goodbye, Drom. There is a new Golden Age coming, and neither of you will be a part of it."

Luke slashed his sword in an arc and disappeared in a ripple of darkness.

The scorpions lunged.

I sat up with a gasp, immediately feeling a rush of panic follow.

There were no scorpions.

There was nothing here that would kill me.

I let out a long breath, rubbing my hand across my face, ignoring the sight of the scar that was left from the sting that happened so long ago.

"You shall be betrayed by the one who loves you in return."

That's what happened.

I refused to let it happen again.

The days passed relatively quickly as snow started to fall intermittently toward the end of December. The next thing I knew, it was already Christmas morning, and I woke up to my alarm clock going off, which was nothing new.

After Jake woke me up around noon that one day, I figured I probably should give myself a schedule so I don't have to deal with waking up to one of the pack members again.

I swear it's like they never sleep. Wolves hunt at night and humans live during the day. They definitely don't sleep.

If I was going to try and keep up with them on patrols, I was going to need to get my shit together.

I mean, at least I wasn't one of the three demigods that went on a quest to save Hera of all the gods in the universe. That was really a dumb decision on their part.

She literally sent cows after Annabeth and expects us to help her out? No thank you.

But apparently a son of Zeus, Jason, a daughter of Aphrodite, Piper, and a son of Hephaestus, Leo, all went on some quest to save Hera who had been captured.

Freaking idiots.

And apparently that son of Zeus happens to be Thalia's brother? Jason Grace?

Dear gods, things were getting confusing.

I did not like the way everything was starting to play out.

My phone started to ring.

New Call from Wise Girl

"Hey Annie, what's up?"

"Merry Christmas to you, too."

I let out a laugh. "Yes, of course, Merry Christmas, Wise Girl. What's got you calling?"

"Can't a friend just call and wish you a Merry Christmas?"

I raised my brows. "Not when said friend is in the middle of trying to find my brother and usually forgets what day it is during our search."

A sigh sounded on the other end of the line. "That's true," she admitted. "I thought I would give you a call to remind you to call your mother, I just saw her the other day. And she was asking about you."

I winced. "Oops."

"Call your mom, Andromeda, or she'll be flying out there and we both know it's not safe around there for humans right now."

"Right." I ran a hand through my snarly waves. "Do you know how she's doing?"

"She misses the two of you like crazy, I can tell you that much. All she talked about was how she wanted her babies home with her."

"I figured."

"And there's still no luck on my end for finding Percy. I swear something keeps blocking me any time I get close…"

"It's probably the god or goddess that stole him away," I said. "But I wonder why they're keeping him hidden? There's no way that he gets taken like this and he doesn't throw a fuss and blow up another volcano or create a tsunami."

"That's why I'm so worried."

I rubbed my temples. "Yeah, me too."

"Well, I suppose I better go make sure the campers that stayed over the winter holidays aren't trying to kill each other," Annabeth grumbled.

I let out another laugh. "Yeah, you better go do that."

"Stay in touch, okay? And make sure to call your mom."

I nodded, even though I knew she wouldn't be able to see. "Yes ma'am."

And with that, she hung up.

I immediately took a deep breath and dialed a number that I knew by heart, even though I never had a phone. It was one of the first numbers I ever learned, along with 911.

"Hi, this is Sally speaking."

"Mom?"

"Andromeda?"

.

.

.

The next few hours were spent on the phone with my mom. I never knew how long someone could stay on the phone for, but as soon as my mom heard my voice I knew there was no way I wasn't in for it at least for an hour.

But one hour turned into two, and two into three.

I got to talk to Paul for a few minutes as well, and was happy to hear how good they were doing together.

My mom definitely deserved someone like him in her life.

I gave her a minute by minute update on everything that has happened here, save for the fact that a few of the locals happen to be able to shift into wolves. I had a feeling they wouldn't like me spilling the beans to someone outside of the demigod community (even if my mom could see behind the Mist).

"I love you so much, sweetheart. Thank you for calling me, but you know what this means?"

I blinked away some of the tears that had pooled in my eyes. "What?"

"Now I have your number," My mom informed me proudly. "Which means I can call you whenever I want."

"Dear gods, mom. It's not like I never want to talk to you."

I heard her faint chuckle on the other end of the line. "And now you have no reason to not call me, Andie. I demand at least one call a day."

I blinked.

"Sal…"

"Okay, maybe one call every few days," She amended, and I could just see the look she was giving Paul right now.

"Thanks Paul."

"Anytime, kiddo."

My mom's voice carried over, "So I will talk to you in a few days, okay? Let me know how the rest of your holiday goes, because I know this dinner with Paul's parents will most likely be awkward– Oh Paul, honey, you know that I'm telling the truth."

Paul's chuckles sounded out. "Whatever you say, Sal."

"Okay, I'll talk to you both soon," I promised. "Love you guys."

"Love you too!"

"Love you too, kiddo!"

I felt my smile start to wane as the line clicked and they hung up the phone. I was once again, all alone.

However, that didn't last very long.

A knock sounded at the door.

It wasn't the incessant pounding that had occurred days before, but just a few short, swift knocks that were done with such a purpose I found myself climbing to my feet.

"Coming!"

Luckily this time I was dressed in a large green fleece sweater and some leggings- but the best part was my fluffy socks, which led to me skating on the wooden floor toward the door. I smiled to myself before opening the door as another round of knocks surged.

"Okay, okay, I'm here– Jake?"

There he was, standing there in a gray cut-off sweatshirt and some classic denim cut-off jeans. I looked down at his feet, and of course he didn't bother to put on any shoes. Who wears shoes now-days? Savages?

Savage or not, the boy sure loves his cut-offs.

"Andie! Merry Christmas!" He exclaimed, before gesturing over his shoulder to something just out of my view. "I got you a present I think you're going to like."

"Merry Christmas to you, too," I said, smiling up at him at the look of child-like joy on his face. "Is it chocolate?"

He blinked. "No?"

I bit my lip. "The maybe-"

Jake rolled his eyes, grabbing my wrist and dragging me out of the doorway a few paces to see what was parked in the driveway. "Andie, look, it's your car!"

My mouth dropped open. "Wait, what? You were able to finish it? That's so fast!"

I was so excited about the car I almost missed the faint blush on his cheeks. "Well, I, uh… I was really determined to give it to you for a present, so I made sure to get it done, you know?"

I looked up at him in shock; this time, it wasn't just over the car. "But I didn't get you anything." I ran a hand down my face. "I'm really not good at this friendship or adulting stuff."

His eyes widened. "Oh, no- you're not- I mean, this is not- you didn't have to-"

I waved a hand. "I could've gotten you something and we both know it. For gods sakes, you finished up my vehicle. The least I could do is get you some chocolate or something…" I looked at him up and down in curiosity. "But wait, isn't chocolate toxic for dogs?"

Jake pursed his lips. "I actually never thought of that."

"So you're not sure if it's actually slowly killing you?"

His brows furrowed as he shook his head. "No, not really."

I let out a low laugh. "Then maybe we should stick to more… er, dog healthy foods for you. I can get you some steaks or something?"

He perked up. "Yes, do that." He paused. "But wait, you don't have to get me anything. I mean, Andie, you paid me to fix up your car so technically isn't it not actually a gift?"

"Well, I suppose that's true." I looked up at him sternly. "But that still doesn't mean this isn't any less of a gift than what I always thought it was, pup. If we're going to get technical it's not even my money that was used to pay you, so really it's a gift that keeps giving if you know what I mean."

"Actually, no, not really."

I sighed. Men. "Because I didn't have to fork over any of my own cash to get the car fixed and it happened a lot quicker than I thought possible, this is the best gift ever, Mr. Golden Retriever because now I'm not suck to as far as I can walk anymore!"

He lifted up his pointer finger as he spoke, "But you weren't ever really stuck before, you could've just asked for a ride from one of the pack."

I rolled my eyes. "That's entirely the point, I would have to ask someone else to drive me somewhere. Now I can just go without all that fuss. So thanks for that. But it keeps on giving because you got paid to do a job which you seem to like doing, and if you take some pictures of what you accomplished with this vehicle you can market your abilities too. I know I have some before pictures that I sent to Annabeth, so we just need some after ones."

He blinked. "I never thought of that."

"Yeah, I noticed."

"You'd let me use your car as a marketing piece?"

I nodded. "Well what else are you going to use? Your junker?"

He let out a dramatic gasp. "I'll let you know the Rabbit is in wonderful condition."

"I'm sure it is."

"But giving your keys back to you isn't the only reason why I came, to be honest. I thought it would be cool if you wanted to come over and have Christmas dinner with me and my dad. It's nothing too fancy, we actually ordered in, but I just wanted to see if you wanted to join us," He offered, rubbing a hand behind his neck awkwardly after finishing. "I mean, if you want. You definitely don't have to–"

I smiled. "I think that'd be great, thanks Jake."

His smile was annoyingly bright once again. "Awesome. Are you… uh, will you need to get ready?"

I looked down at what I was wearing and frowned. "Do I look not ready to you?"

He rolled his eyes, obviously having spent enough time with me. "Just get your shoes on and grab your coat and we can go."

I crossed my arms. "Are you sure?"

Jake let out a snort. "What I'm wearing should be proof enough that you're fine, Andie. Besides, you look way too comfy to even consider changing."

"You're not wrong."

"Then what are you waiting for? Let's go."