The meeting was held at Amber’s house.
“It is rather disappointing that two of our numbers could have done something so disgraceful and repugnant. It makes me reevaluate where we are as a society that we were unable to gauge the truth of this issue.”
The women of the pack were meeting again and the disappointment was palpable in the air.
Gabrielle and Ivy had betrayed the spirit of the association. For the females of the pack to help and rely on each other.
Amber was pissed and more than disappointed in herself. She had been so sure that Ava was a poor fit for the position as Luna even before the protests and trial had occurred. She knew nothing about them and was never as grounded in pack politics as her sister had been. The events had only served to solidify her opinion.
She had thought Gabrielle was the best fit to be Luna and felt the consort selection would resolve that problem. Only to find out that she had been wrong this entire time. Luna Ava had been hiding the truth a secret to keep her sister safe.
“Ivy has been banned from the meetings for now until we ascertain the extent of her guilt.”
The other women nodded their acquiescence. The group was rather sedate today. Probably tempered by the knowledge that they had been so wrong.
Gemma spoke up voicing what had been unspoken in all their minds.
“What do we do about Luna Ava? Do we lend her our support?”
Amber smiled for the first time that night.
“It’s about time the Luna attended one of our gatherings, don’t you think?”
******
“The Mountain Coast pack has sent someone to investigate. If we aren’t careful, our secret would be ousted.” Cynthia informed them.
Since her last conversation with Dorian, this was the first time they had contacted her. Probably to make her sweat. Not that she had minded. It had just given her more time to sort out the Gabrielle issue without their meddling.
“And your identity is secured?”
Of course, it was. Gabrielle had taken the bait so beautifully that even she was surprised. It had been two days since she left and the pack was relatively calm now. To her knowledge, Gabrielle had never gotten to speak with Ava before she left.
Combined with the fact that the Elder council hadn’t disclosed exactly where they were sending her to, there was no way for them to resolve their misunderstanding.
Gabrielle, the only person who could have disclosed her identity was gone and now, now she would play as she liked.
“Yes, my identity is secure.”
“Then we will take care of this investigator.”
Calvin? No way. They couldn’t kill him. He was supposed to be her ticket into the inner circle of the pack. But she couldn’t defend him out loud without making them wonder if her loyalties were shifting. They weren’t but she wasn’t going to take the risk.
“It wouldn’t do much good to kill the investigator. If we did, it would just show our hand that the Mountain Coast pack are unto something and they’ll probably just bring in someone new to continue the investigation. What we need to do is to redirect their suspicion so that we wouldn’t have to worry about their scrutiny.”
There was a pause in which Cynthia felt sure that they would ask her why she was trying to save Calvin’s life. The question never came though.
“We will take your words under advisement. We will be in touch with you soon.”
The line went dead.
So would they kill him or not? Cynthia had no idea.
She had tried her best.
*********
Adrian dropped a kiss on Ava’s neck and she felt her tension melt away. It had been two days but she felt the loss following her sister’s departure as acutely as if it had been just yesterday.
Her parents didn’t say anything about it but she had overheard her father asking Elder t about where they had sent Gabrielle to.
She had also had the most puzzling meeting with Amber, the woman who had been the first to accede to her dominance at the safe house and one of the oldest she-wolves in the pack.
The woman had told her to make time to come for a tea party she was hosting at her house. Females only. She had added with the most mystifying wink.
To say that Ava was curious about this would be an understatement. She planned to go for it. She only worried that she would be bad company as her mind worried over many things. Her mom’s test results were due anytime now and her sister was gone to a location that she had no idea about.
Adrian had been there for her as the supportive mate that he was offering her a shoulder to cry on to the extent that it was almost embarrassing how much she cried.
“Are you good?”
She felt the rumbling of his chest behind her as they spooned.
She nodded. Her sister might have been done but she was alive and not rogue. She owed Adrian one.
“Thanks, Adrian. I know there wasn’t much love lost between you and Gabby but you still tried to help her out. Thank you.”
“You must have thanked me about a hundred times during the past two days.”
Ava’s cheeks heated.
“That’s not true. I–”
Ok, maybe he had a point but as a gentleman, was he supposed to have said something like that?
Sometimes Adrian could be unbelievably annoying.
“If you are so eager to thank me perhaps you could show your gratitude in other ways…”
Ava pulled away from their spooning to turn to face an unrepentant-looking Adrian that merely waggled his eyebrows suggestively at her.
She smacked his arm.
“Seriously, Adrian?”
She realized what he was doing the moment she hit him. He was trying to distract her from thinking about her sister. Her heart grew warm and fluttery. Adrian was a good mate and partner. She let him distract her.
“What? I was just saying what we were both thinking about.”
His lips twitched like he was holding back a smile.
“That wasn’t what I was thinking about.” Ava protested.
“The bond says otherwise.”
It was such a blatant lie that Ava stared at Adrian in shock for some seconds. Adrian kept a straight face but broke down before she did in a fit of laughter at how easily he had gotten to her.
Ava found herself fighting back a smile as well. His laugh was extremely infectious. He looked so handsome with the glint of humour and mischief in his eyes that without thinking too much about it, she closed the distance between them and pressed a kiss on his lips.
Adrian froze then pulled away searching her eyes.
“Ava, about earlier. I was joking. You don’t have to. You are still troubled about your sister and…”
He trailed off as Ava dropped a kiss on his mating mark.
“I am very troubled, Adrian.” She blew air on the mark feeling a slight tremor run through him.
“So troubled.” Her voice became low and husky without her permission as she climbed into his lap straddling him and feeling him press up against her.
She gasped at the sensation as she drew back to look at her mate whose hands were loosely wrapped around her as though he were still gauging her mood and if she was truly interested in intimacy that night.
Ava placed her hands above his and guided his hands around her to grab her ass as she rocked against him so that he wouldn’t mistake her intentions. She watched his eyes darken with want.
“How will you ease my troubles, Adrian?” She rasped licking her lips that suddenly felt dry wishing it was his tongue wetting her lips instead.
He crossed the distance between them and kissed her so thoroughly that she couldn’t think of anything else other than him. All worries about her sister, parents and the pack at large vanished from her mind.