Three days until the full moon
AVA
The next morning, Callum and I still hadn’t stopped arguing. The four of us went for breakfast
together in the packhouse dining room, and as soon as we walked in, mine and his auras were so
overpowering it suffocated the room.
I managed to drag mine back in, as did Callum eventually, but you could still feel the anger that
surrounded both of us.
Callum was completely convinced that the only way to approach the issue was for me to hide for the
lead up to the full moon and the day itself. That absolutely was not going to happen, and for some
reason, he just couldn’t understand this. Neither he or Ares would hide away, so why he expected that
I would was a mystery.
At no point did I say I’d go on my own. He could even stick to me like glue the entire time, I just
absolutely was not going to hide away.
“Ava!” a feminine, excited voice shouted from across the room. My mum.
I smiled, jumping out of my chair and running towards her to wrap her in a hug. We stood there for
what felt like forever, just rocking back and forth. It started out as a happy hug, but quickly became
full of emotion; stress, nerves, and sorrow.
“I’m sorry about Theo,” she whispered in my ear. “If there’s anything your dad and I can do to help
you, promise me, you’ll come to us.”
“Of course, mum.” I gave her a small smile. “Do you and dad want to join us for breakfast?”
She nodded, grabbing dad’s hand and pulling him along behind him towards the table Callum, Oscar
and Noah were sitting at. Dad shook all of their hands, which I took as him approving of them all. I’ll
be honest, I didn’t expect my dad to be particularly happy about his baby girl having four mates, but
there you go.
“How are you all doing?” dad asked the boys, but not really anyone in particular.
“About as well as we can be,” Callum replied, scowling at me. “Things are tense.”
“They’re going to be, son,” dad replied. “I happen to have overheard enough to know what you and
my daughter have been arguing about… if Ava was anyone else, I’d completely agree with you that
she should sit this one out.”
I turned to scowl at my dad, especially when I felt a little hope from Callum. “However,” he
continued, giving me a small smile. “Ava being who she is means she is more than capable of looking
after herself. I am so happy that she has a destined protector, but that doesn’t mean that she isn’t
capable and should be forced to sit this one out. Leaving Ava out of this is just going to cause
problems in the long run. Not only is she an incredibly intelligent and capable young woman, but she
is the Alpha of the pack involved in this mess. If she sits this out, it will have a negative impact on the
respect she gets from her pack. No amount of destiny can make up for that.”
“Thanks, dad,” I smiled. I was SO glad he had my back on this, I didn’t expect him to.
“As much as I hate to do it because she will always be my little girl, but they’re both right, Callum.”
Even my mum agreed!
Callum’s aura had calmed slightly, but not much. “Callum, please.” My voice was low, almost
pleading. “I can’t stay out of this. I promise you can stick to me like glue, but I can’t not be involved.”
“Fine,” he grumbled, before trying to give me a small smile. “I hope you realise I’m going to be
attached to your hip from here on in, and that’s all day everyday.”
I gave him my best smile. “I can deal with that.”
After breakfast, we all gathered in my office, coming up with a plan to divide up the territory to make
hunting for Theo a little easier. Once we had a plan, we called in as many warriors as we could
muster.
“We stick in pairs,” I announced across the room. “We have some overlap between search zones so no
stone should be able to go unturned. No one gets separated. If anyone needs backup or hits a problem,
call it in immediately.” I looked around the room. “Understood?”
A chorus of “yes, my Queen,” filled the room.
“Well then, let’s get to it.”
We started in the middle of the territory and pushed outwards. The territory was split in three; Callum
and I took one third, Jacob and Oscar took another, and Alex and Noah took the last. Each of us then
had five scout pairs.
The first six hours of stone turning were uneventful. Then… we started to hit gold.
Team after team started calling in evidence of rogue camps. Empty, cold camps, but it was a start.
“Ava!” Alex shouted through the link. “We’ve got eyes on a rogue camp.”
“How many?”
“Thirty, easily.”
“I’m guessing there is no sign of Theo?”
“Unfortunately not.”
I growled, before opening up the mind link to include both Alex and Jacob along with my Kings. “Us
six plus a pair from each of our groups needs to converge on the position of the camp. Twelve is
probably overkill, but let’s just get this done, we’re running out of time.”
“Of course, my Queen,” Jacob replied.
Between the twelve of us, we tore through the rogue camp, leaving no stone unturned. We took two
rogues captive, but sadly found no evidence of Matthew or Theo.
I stormed back out of the camp, putting my hand through a tree trunk on the way past, before
suddenly coming to a stop. Another ‘premonition’… but this one felt like I was watching live
though…
“They will come for me. They will find me,” Theo growled, spitting blood out of his mouth. He’d
evidently been smacked around by his captors. He needed to wipe his face, but his hands were tied
behind his back with silver chains.
“I wouldn’t bet on that,” a dark voice sniggered. “You did tell them you couldn’t be in that
relationship and left willingly, after all.” He stepped forwards into the light so I could see his face.
Matthew. Matthew Stanley had Theo.
A fist flew towards Theo’s face, the sickening crunch of a nose breaking ringing out through the room.
“Why am I here?” Theo growled, pulling against the chains.
“Because, Avelina is mine, and you’re my ticket to getting her.”
“She’ll never be yours,” Theo spat.
“Oh she will, Theo. The Rogue King wants her for himself, but I plan on snatching her from under his
nose when the moon is full. Without you, she can’t unlock her full power. She’s ripe for the picking.”
Matthew stepped towards Theo, a sickening grin on his face. He ran one finger along Theo’s mating
spot. “One bite here, and she’ll be mine. Her power will be mine. Our pups will be unstoppable.”
“The others will never let that happen,” he growled. “Ava will never let that happen.”
“You say that now, my dear boy. Ava will come for you. When she does, she’ll walk into my arms
willingly if it is the difference between you living or dying.”
“No,” Theo growled. “I’d rather die than see Ava walk into your trap.”
Matthew’s maniacal laugh rang out through the room. “You won’t be awake to stop her,” he kept on
laughing, his laugh only getting louder as he turned around to pick up a syringe from the sideboard.
Theo growled when Matthew plunged the syringe into his neck, before groaning in pain as the liquid
started to move through his body.
“Silver and wolfsbane is a delightful combination, isn’t it?”