20 hours until the moon is full
AVA
The sun would set at about 7pm, so five hours before the moon peaked. In fifteen hours… I needed to
be at that clearing, ready to confront Elijah. If what Artemis and I had put together was true, the
Rogue King was planning to attempt to force the mark on me when the moon peaked…
So at that point he planned to either have me restrained, unconscious or force me into a situation
where I had to agree to him marking me.
Being in the direct light of a full moon could make mate bonds stronger, so that just meant I’d have to
make sure that one way or another, one of my Kings was there. From my conversation with Selene…
it had to be Callum and/or Oscar.
She specifically talked about my protector and lover… so did she mean it had to be Oscar?
It was incredibly unlikely Theo would wake up in time to help, and if he did, he wouldn’t be well yet.
Noah needed to be here, not just for his family, but because if it came down to it, the Lycan warriors
would turn to him over Alex. I needed him here. I could not live with myself if innocents at the pack
got hurt in the crossfire because everyone had followed me to deal with Elijah.
I was staring at the wall opposite me in my office. I’d thought about going for a run or to kick bags in
the gym, but I just wasn’t in the mood. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen today, so I currently
had two of my Lycan warriors inside my office, and another two outside the door. Another four were
patrolling the pack house.
The entire pack was tense. Not everyone knew exactly why, but everyone could tell that something
was coming. And, by now, basically everyone knew that the Alpha, Luna and one of their sons were
all in hospital.
“Jeremiah, I need you to do me a favour,” my voice was low, collected.
“My Queen?”
“I need a tail on Callum and Oscar, and a couple guards on Theo, Alpha and Luna’s hospital room. If
Noah leaves, he needs to be followed too.”
“Of course, my Queen. How many?”
I thought for a moment. I had eighteen warriors. I had four with me, and four were guarding the pack
house. “Two on both Callum and Oscar. Two outside the hospital room… two outside the hospital
itself… two on standby to go with Theo if needed.”
“Of course, my Queen,” he bowed. “I’ll send another warrior to take my place whilst I make the
arrangements.”
“Thank you, Jeremiah. When you come back, I need to talk to you about arrangements for tonight.”
He bowed again, before turning to leave the room. A replacement for him was with me before
Jeremiah even left.
“Callum, Oscar,” I called through the mindlink. “Come to my office? I just need to see you both.” I
just needed them both to hold me. I knew what I needed to do, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t
scared.
“Ava, are you okay?” Callum asked as he burst through the door.
“As okay as I can be,” I smiled, I stood, walking towards them both. “I just needed you both to hold
me.”
The pair of them sandwiched me between them, with Callum in front and Oscar behind. I had my
head on Callum’s chest, and one hand on Oscar’s. Listening and feeling their heartbeats was enough
to calm me down.
“I love you both,” I whispered. “More than I thought possible.”
“And we love you too,” they both replied, in perfect sync, pressing kisses to my forehead one after the
other.
We all sat down at my desk, my hands still in theirs. “Ava… you aren’t on your own, today or ever,”
Callum’s voice was low, reassuring.
“We’ll get through this together, Ava. Just don’t shut us out, please,” Oscar added.
I gave them a small smile. I wasn’t planning to do this entirely alone tonight, I just needed them to
show up at a specific time… too early could cause a problem.
If they were there too early, Elijah would realise we’re on to him and the pack might end up in more
trouble. If we went down to the wire… we might just pull this off yet.
“I need you both to trust me,” I whispered, voice low. “Please. I know what I need to do, I just really
need you both to trust me on that.”
They looked at each other, faces uncertain. “Of course we trust you, Ava. But please don’t do
whatever it is alone,” Oscar’s voice was almost begging.
“I promise I tell people what they need to know when they need to know, and I will get everyone
where they need to be when they need to be there, but right now, please. Trust me.”
I squeezed their hands reassuringly, but that wasn’t just for their benefit, it was for mine too.
OSCAR
I didn’t like this one bit. But… like she said, we have to trust her.
“We trust you, Ava,” I replied, giving her a small smile. She returned the smile, before leaning in to
me and resting her head on my chest, her ear over my heart.
“We need to keep an eye on her,” Callum linked.
“I agree, but I also think we need to respect and trust whatever she has worked out. If she’s not telling
us, there’s a good reason for it.”
“Or, it’s because it’s dangerous and we’d stop her.”
“Whatever we do here is going to be dangerous, Callum. We can watch her from a distance, but not
too obviously.”
He sighed through the link. “Fine. I don’t like this, but fine.”
“We need to trust she can take care of herself, Callum, and that she will get us there when we need to
be there.”