Adea
When I arrived at the field, Gabe was just finishing up with his sparring partner. Looking around, I confirmed that Darci hadn’t shown up. I tried to ignore the nervousness in my chest as my mind began to spiral into all the possible negative reasons for her absence.
There were a handful of people left but they weren’t training, they were scattered on and off the field. Returning my attention back to Gabe, I smiled at my friend’s lopsided smile. He thumped his partner on the back and waved him goodbye.
“See you, Ben!” Gabe shouted.
“You’re such a flirt,” I teased.
“Not even. I like men, not boys. He’s way too young for me,” Gabe said as he hugged me. “How are you feeling after putting Briana on her ass?”
“Honestly? I feel really great about it. I feel like…”
“Like you’re a badass Luna who took down a fierce warrior?” Gabe asked.
“No,” I laughed, “I feel as if I can protect myself now.”
The sauciness in Gabe’s eyes disappeared and he looked at me with understanding. I didn’t need to say why I needed to protect myself, he had his own issues with Shane. He knew why I felt the way I did, he knew what I was thinking without me having to utter a word.
“You’ve always been a strong woman but now you can kick ass,” Gabe said holding the s. The sauciness was back. “Since we’re being honest, I have a confession.”
“Uh-oh,” I said.
“I was honestly prepared to haul your knocked-out butt to Doctor James again. You’ve proved me wrong,” he said sheepishly. He knew what was coming and dodged as I swung at him.
“Jeez. Thanks, you jerk.”
“I’m also glad I won’t have to explain to your mate why I didn’t protect you during training,” Gabe continued.
“Yeah yeah. I’m glad too,” I laughed.
“I don’t think you do. If it weren’t for us being best butt buddies, your mate would have killed me,” Gabe said as he grabbed his throat.
“He wouldn’t have!”
“Mm-hmm. This whole situation could have been avoided if you had tapped out. I never want to see a repeat of that,” Gabe said.
“Tap out, got it,” I said in mock seriousness.
“It would make my life a whole lot easier,” Gabe tossed his imaginary hair over his shoulders.
“Right, because my life revolves around you,” I teased. Gabe flashed me another bright smile. “I’ll make sure you don’t have to haul me anywhere again. Speaking of, I’m glad Leo showed up when he did because I would have had you escort her.”
“Mm, yeah, no thanks. We needed to put those muscles of his to good use anyways.”
Walking into the kitchen, I did a full scan of the dining area. It was practically empty as we took a seat at the main table. Leo and Briana were nowhere to be seen. Ethan, Odis, and Darci were nowhere in sight and I hoped they were able to get something to eat while they were working. I thanked the kitchen workers as they placed hot plates in front of us.
“So, I have news,” I said cautiously when the kitchen maid left. One of Gabe’s eyebrows lifted and his fork froze mid-air as he gave me an out-with-it look.
“Go on.”
“It’s about the emergency meeting. Ethan told me Shane has taken over Half Moon pack.”
A look of confusion spread across his features followed by pain. He’s made progress on moving forward with his life and I hate that I’m bringing it all back. Just when we thought we were healing and things were getting better, it got worse. We never spoke about what happened with Shane and Olivia. His hands balled into fists as he fought to remain calm.
“Why would they take him back?” Gabe asked through clenched teeth. “He stood trial and was exiled. Why aren’t we going after him? There are laws in place, Ady. He kidnapped and tortured my mate. He hurt you and was exiled. If he had done to you half of what he’d done to her, he would be dead.”
Gabe is pissed and he has every reason to be. Werewolf laws weren’t the same as human laws. We killed all the time, yes there were consequences but as bad as it sounds, torture is a norm among our kind. Usually, it’s used against prisoners of war or enemy packs. His mate’s abductor is still out there.
“The laws tailored towards attacks are for allied packs,” I say carefully. “In the middle of the night, Shane marched an army of rogues into Half Moon. He was only able to become Alpha after proving he was stronger than his father.”
“How the hell?”
“We don’t know how he had an army of rogues under his command but he must have gathered them together from the time he was exiled,” I said.
“He’s like a roach, fucking hard to kill. Is… is everyone alright?” Gabe asked.
“We received news of Alpha Joshua and Luna Rose’s death from the Alpha meeting. We don’t know anything about Mavy but Shane adores her and I’m hoping that hasn’t changed. For the most part, the pack wasn’t harmed. Only the ranked members were killed, those and the Deltas that were loyal to Alpha Joshua.”
It’s a lot of information at once. Our food remains untouched as Gabe and I sit in silence at the table.
“It’s bad enough he’s still out there but now he’s back in power. If he was able to do what he did while exiled, imagine what he could do now that he has a pack to command,” Gabe shakes his head. “What does this mean for us?”
“It means he’s a greater threat than he was before. Ethan held a meeting today with Darci, Odis, and the Deltas. Our pack’s safety is our top priority and Ethan’s been working all day. The goal is to station more of our warriors around the borders.”
“What of the forest?” Gabe asked quietly.
“We haven’t forgotten about it. We’re stationing the new warriors there.”
“So we’re suiting up for war?” Gabe asked.