Seven hours until the moon is full
CALLUM
Oscar and I were going out of our minds. Ava had somehow gotten around us and slipped out of the
pack territory on her own. She’d hidden her scent very well, so we didn’t even have a clue which
direction she’d gone in.
We knew she would be looking for the Rogue King, but she hadn’t told us where he would be.
“Ava has been linking Jeremiah a lot today,” Oscar said, voice stressed. “Even before that, she was
talking to him in her office for a good while.”
“What did they link about?”
“Most of it didn’t make sense, I assume because she knew that I’d listen in.”
“What did she say?”
“First she said she’d set a new personal best over half a mile, and then a while later, over a mile. He
challenged her to race once this has all blown over.”
“Okay, yeah. That was in code. She hates running.”
“Yup. But what is it code for? Who knows.”
“I also heard her saying something about sage and wolfsbane, but either she was too far away for me
to hear the entire conversation, or she was somehow blocking me so I only heard odd things.”
“Sage and wolfsbane? Well sage is a scent blocker, and wolfsbane is dangerous to most wolves.” I
sighed. “We’re going to have to talk to Jeremiah.”
“You know she’ll have commanded him not to say anything, right?”
“I know… but I have to try. Just in case there’s something he can tell us.”
“I wonder if it also blurred what I could hear in the link because she commanded him not to tell us
something?”
Good point, well made.
“No idea,” I replied, shrugging. “We need to find Jeremiah though, see if there’s anything he can tell
us.”
“Jeremiah,” I called through the link. I pulled Oscar in with me because he would have only listened
in anyway. “Can you meet Oscar and I in Ava’s office? We need to talk to you.”
“Of course, my King. I will be there in ten minutes.”
We headed straight there, and had only been sitting down for two minutes when Jeremiah arrived.
“My Kings,” he bowed as he entered.
“Take a seat, Jeremiah. I’m sure you know why we wanted to talk to you?”
He nodded. “Queen Avelina.”
“Has she commanded you not to tell us everything?”
He nodded.
I swore under my breath. “I thought so.”
“It was specifically you two, my Kings. I can’t talk about it at all yet, but she was very intent on me
not being able to tell you two yet.”
“Yet?”
He nodded. “I have orders to tell you at a specific time, my Kings.”
I closed my eyes in exasperation. “Fine. Is she in danger?”
He paused before answering.
“Honest answer please, Jeremiah.”
“Yes.”
“Is she alone?”
“Yes.”
“Do you believe she will be okay?”
“I do.”
That’s something at least. “When can you tell us?”
“Six thirty. An hour before the sun sets.”
“Is the sun setting an important time?”
He nodded.
“Can you tell us why?”
“No, my King. I have something to give you first, and after that, I can tell you everything else.”
“Our Queen was very thorough with her command, wasn’t she,” I chuckled.
He nodded, a small smile on his face. “We agreed it was for the best so absolutely no one could find
out early, especially if it was either of you or the Rogue King.”
“Why can’t we know yet? Can you tell us that?”
He thought for a moment, before giving a small nod. “Her safety, my King. Everyone has to be in a
specific place at a specific time.”
I growled, causing Jeremiah to flinch.
“Sorry, Jeremiah,” I said quickly. “I’m not angry at you, I’m angry at the situation. I’m her destined
protector, and she’s shutting me out.”
“If you don’t mind me saying, my King, she wouldn’t do it without good reason. She must truly
believe that this is an issue of protection and someone would get hurt if she doesn’t do this alone.”
“Did you help come up with the plan?”
“No, my King. But I think… I think the Moon Goddess did.”
Well, fuck. If that’s the case, we really can’t interfere…
“Fine. I don’t like it, but fine,” I sighed.
“So, what do we do for the next forty five minutes?” Oscar asked.
I shrugged. “We kill time and we get as ready as possible. We’ll be going after her, so we get a team
ready to go with us.”
Jeremiah nodded. “My Kings, I believe I can give you some of the Queen’s requests now.”
I tilted my head to one side. “Go on?”
“Both of you already have a two man tail. They have orders to follow you everywhere, as do I.”
“So we already have a team of five that we didn’t even know about?” Oscar asked.
“You do indeed, my Kings.”
“Ava thought of just about everything, didn’t she,” I murmured.
“She did, my King,” Jeremiah bowed his head slightly. “I believe she wants you to leave at least half
of the Lycan warriors here to protect the pack.”
I nodded. “Of course. We’ll take the five warriors we already have plus another three, and a handful
of Alex’s warriors. The remainder can stay here.”
“Yes, my King.”
The three of us sat down making plans whilst we waited for the sun to get lower and lower in the sky.