6 hours until the moon is full
OSCAR
By the time 6pm rolled around, Callum and I were bored out of our minds. Everything was sorted, we
were literally just waiting for the moment that Ava had decided was the right one for Jeremiah to tell
us what the hell was going on.
At twenty past, Jeremiah’s eyes glazed over as someone linked him. I jumped in; Ava.
“Jeremiah, tell them now,” she started, even in a link, her voice sounded stressed. “Give them the
letter and the prophecies. I’ve found Elijah. Don’t bring wolves.”
“Don’t bring wolves, my Queen?”
“Rogue Lycans.”
“Fuck,” I growled, out loud. “She’s found him, Callum. She’s found Elijah. He has rogue Lycans with
him.”
Jeremiah’s eyes cleared as he passed us over the envelope, and Callum ripped it open.
My heart sank as I started reading the letter, and the look on Callum’s face said he felt the same. I was
about to start reading it out loud when Jeremiah stopped me. “My Kings, the Queen was very clear
that not everything she’s given you should be read out loud.”
I gave him a surprised look, before turning my head back to the letter.
‘I hope you know that I love you..’ fuck, I hope she’s not saying goodbye.
‘Where the red and blue meet, above and beneath our feet…’ “Fuck!” I shouted. “I think I know
where she is.”
“Read it all, my King,” Jeremiah advised. “The Queen was very adamant that everything in that
envelope is important.”
“I’m her protector,” Callum’s voice was low. “You’re her lover. So when all this shit goes down, she
needs you by her side.”
“I think so,” I nodded in agreement. “I definitely know where we’re going, though.”
I stood, walking towards the map Ava had nicely left on her board for us. “There’s a clearing here,” I
pointed to a spot north of the pack territory. “It’s covered in streams, so when it freezes, it looks like
cracked ice, especially if it’s a clear night and you can see the moon. At sunset… the reflections are so
great that it starts to look like fire.”
“Sounds like the place,” Callum replied, reading back over the prophecies. “So, she’ll meet him there
at sunset, and do you agree that I think he’s going to try to mark her at midnight?”
I nodded. “That must be why the timing is so delicate. If we get there too soon, he’ll disappear before
we can stop him trying again. He needs… he needs to think he’s going to win.”
Callum rubbed his face, but agreed. “Jeremiah, what else can you tell us now?”
“Queen Avelina has information that says there were six rogue camps around the border of this pack’s
territory. She dealt with the camp at twelve o’clock, and has left the other five for us. She’s left an
unconscious rogue at the north camp for us to bring back and interrogate.”
“So we need to take some of them out on the way?” Callum asked.
“I believe so, my King. Queen Avelina and I put some plans in place to control where the rogues go,
essentially to funnel them into one area where they can easily be picked off.”
I met Callum’s eyes, my face tense.
“The Queen said all of the rogue camps are surrounded by sage, both the current active camps and the
cold ones. There’s been a lot of wolfsbane at all of them, so she’s assuming they’re still under orders
to take her.” He paused for a moment. “The Queen’s office was bugged. I personally swept it on
multiple occasions today; we found three microphones and a camera. That is one of the reasons that
both the Queen and the Moon Goddess determined it was best not to speak everything aloud.”
“Did she say anything about a price to be paid?” I asked.
Jeremiah shook his head. “I don’t believe so, my King.”
“What else can you tell us?”
“She left across the pack border at about half past four. Originally, the Queen planned to leave at five
o’clock, but situational changes meant she pulled everything forwards. Originally, I wasn’t supposed
to be giving you the envelope until 6. 50pm, but she brought it forward to 6. 30pm and then 6. 20pm.
I… I was the one that distracted the tail you had ordered for her, my Kings.” He bowed his head. “The
Queen would have had to command the wolves on patrol at the north border in order to get through
without being stopped.”
I nodded, looking over at Callum. “They won’t be able to tell us anything either.”
“The Queen also told me to tell you that once she’s in position, she doesn’t intend to be subtle. She’ll
drop her guard. You’ll be able to smell Artemis, and so you’ll be able to find the Queen.”
AVA
My run through the trees came to a sudden end when I found a rogue camp. This one was bigger; a lot
bigger. Why it was so much bigger made sense when I saw Elijah sitting by the campfire. They were
evidently biding time until the sun set.
There were easily the seventy wolves that the rogue described to me, if not even more. I had hoped
the only Lycan was Elijah himself… but no. I could smell at least two more in the crowd, and that was
bad. In Lycan form, they’re faster, stronger, and incredibly difficult to beat. This was going to be
difficult.
I needed to get the ball rolling on this quickly, quicker than I planned.
The only hope I had is that Elijah needed me alive.