New Allies

Ekon

~An intense, uncontrollable rage.~

~A darkness that has nothing to do with the absence of light.~

~A fury that blinds all of my senses.~

~That’s what I feel when I let my wolf take over.~

~It’s a part of my curse.~

~I can see again, but I lose all control.~

Bambi had barely spoken to me since I’d blown up at her the previous day.

I’d let my wolf get the best of me, almost shifting, and she had every right to want to avoid me.

~Why the fuck did I keep pushing her away when all I wanted was to get closer to her?~

I would have to find a way to overcome the darkness inside of me if I was going to make Bambi trust me again.

But my anger was so easily triggered at just the mention of ~his~ name.

It was triggered by anything involving the Great War.

I wanted nothing more than to leave all of that trauma in the past, but I couldn’t escape it.

What happened in the Northern Pack…

It was unspeakable.

The smell of the burning corpses.

The sounds of the crumbling buildings.

I had let myself shift just enough to see a glimpse of the horror with my own eyes, but I wished I hadn’t.

I was frozen.

Paralyzed in the moment.

Reliving everything that I’d tried so hard to forget.

I wanted to protect Bambi from the atrocities of the past, but the more she asked questions about the Great War, the more it worried me.

She was still so innocent, so pure, and I didn’t want that innocence to be tarnished like it was for so many of the young survivors of the war…

Like it was for me.

I knew I should be saying all of this to Bambi, rather than mulling it over in my mind as I downed a bottle of brandy, but it was always hard to find the right words when I was around her.

When it came to Bambi, I felt like I was that scared soldier again, thrust into a battle without any kind of experience or strategy.

But I’d find a way to relate to Bambi if it was the last thing I did.

If I could survive a war, I could survive a fight with my mate.

I pushed the empty bottle of liquor aside and grabbed another from underneath my desk.

~But first…another drink.~

Bambi

“So…” Ela tapped her foot anxiously in the basement of the library. “What are we going to do about this new girl?”

I sighed heavily. “Honestly, I’ve got no idea. If this was a real book club, it would’ve made perfect sense for her to join us. I kind of feel guilty that it’s not.”

“Can’t we just tell her that we’re not accepting new members?” Ela said impatiently.

“Are you seriously suggesting that we turn away a refugee?” Victoria balked.

“Ugh, you have a point,” Ela groaned. “But it’s not like we have the time to actually discuss the finer points of classic literature with her. We have a job to do.”

“Maybe I can distract her while you guys research in our office? I can run back and forth and help out when I get the chance,” I suggested.

“I really hate that that’s our best idea so far.” Victoria sighed.

Before we could come up with anything better, a tall, blonde beauty entered the room and started walking directly toward us.

We were all gawking like idiots.

“Is that her?” Ela asked in surprise. “Is she a damn model?”

I had to admit that this girl was gorgeous. I wasn’t really the jealous type, but I imagined she had a hard time making female friends.

And yet here we were, trying to brush her off and get her out of our hair while we snuck off to do our own thing.

This girl had literally no one. Her entire world had been taken from her. Her friends and family murdered.

But that was exactly why we couldn’t stop our investigation, not even for a second.

The girl came to a stop in front of us, and Victoria warmly held out her hand.

“I’m Victoria, pleased to meet you. And this is Ela and Bambi.”

“I’m Holly.” She smiled and shook Victoria’s hand before turning her attention to me.

“You’re the Luna, right? Thank you so much for taking me in. I really don’t know where I’d be without your generosity.”

Goddess, she was making it really hard to disregard her, but I’d have to be a bit of a bitch, or we’d never get anything done.

“So, what are we reading?” she asked with a bubbly excitement.

Victoria and Ela exchanged looks.

“Well, actually, I’ve got some pack house work that needs to be done, so I’ll have to sit this one out,” Ela said, stepping toward the stairs.

“And I’ve got, uh, some scones in the oven,” Victoria said unconvincingly. “Don’t want them to burn.”

“Oh, okay.” Holly looked disappointed. “It was nice meeting you.”

“Another time,” Ela called back, pulling Victoria up the stairs.

Those two were the opposite of subtle.

“So, I guess it’s just us.” Holly beamed.

“Um, I feel awful about this, but I actually have some, uh, Luna duties to attend to, but I’ll pop in and out to check on you,” I said, giving her a weak smile in return. “In the meantime, why don’t you make a list of books that you’d like to read.”

She nodded, a disheartened expression on her face. “Sure, I’ll be fine by myself.”

I felt like I’d just kicked a puppy, but I really did have to focus on the task at hand.

~For the sake of those who remained of her pack, and every other pack out there.~

***

“Why do you think Devina was fighting on the side of the Rogues instead of the Royals?” Victoria questioned as the three of us delved back into the investigation at our makeshift headquarters.

“Well, if Rosette abandoned her to go live a life of luxury with the royals, then maybe it had something to do with that,” Ela offered.

“I think it’s more complicated. I don’t think Rosette would abandon her child for selfish reasons. Ekon painted her as a loving and caring mother,” I countered.

Ela shrugged. “Maybe she developed those qualities after she was living like a queen? I know my disposition could be brightened with some nice bling.”

“Okay, but none of this explains her connection to Matthias,” Victoria said, exasperated. “Why did she suddenly put all of her power behind some rogue nobody and make him the most feared man in the realm? It doesn’t make sense.”

It was true that none of it made sense. What did Devina stand to gain in all of this?

A dark thought crossed my mind.

“Ekon’s parents were killed in a rogue attack shortly before the Great War, right?”

“Right, it was one of the key events that sparked the Great War,” Victoria confirmed.

“And it also coincided with Matthias’ rise to power, which we now know was tied to Devina,” I said, walking over to Ela’s complex board of article clippings and red strings.

“What are you getting at?” Ela asked.

“Rosette was Devina’s mother. Maybe she specifically targeted that pack party because she knew Rosette would be there. Maybe it was an act of revenge…”

“Devina was still an active member of the Coven of Entrapment, and Rosette wasn’t. It’s not too crazy to think that a coven known for being so cruel would target its ex-members,” Ela said, jumping aboard my theory.

I glanced at ~The Great Book of Witches~, sitting on the table. We had barely even scratched the surface of that thing. There was still so much about witches that we didn’t understand.

“Still doesn’t explain Matthias,” Victoria repeated. “This is all just guesswork.”

“But don’t you think it’s interesting that the massacre at the party all those years ago mirrors the massacre at the Northern Pack?” I inquired. “It has to be Matthias and Devina again. But who are they targeting now? And why?”

“Well, Alpha Rudolph was a member of the Royal Council, so perhaps it’s all the royals that they’re after?” replied a sugary voice.

I whipped around to see Holly standing in the doorway, a hardened look on her face.

Ela and Victoria were just as shocked, their mouths hanging open.

This was bad.

~Really bad.~

“How…how much did you hear?” I asked cautiously.

“Enough to know that you’re going after the people who massacred my pack,” she replied coolly.

“Listen, Holly, I need you to promise me that you won’t tell anyone about this,” I pleaded. “No one can know that we’ve been investigating this. This is very dangerous for everyone involved.”

She considered what I said for a moment and nodded. “Okay, I’ll keep your secrets…”

I sighed a breath of relief.

“On one condition,” she said, her eyes narrowing.

And immediately I sucked it back in.

~Of course~ there was a catch.

“What condition?” Ela asked suspiciously.

“I want in on this,” she replied. “I want to help.”

“Oh,” I said, a little taken aback. “Look, Holly, I don’t think that—”

“Luna Bambi, I need to do this. Those were my people. That was my home. I want to make them pay for what they did.”

There was a fire in her eyes, a thirst for justice. If I was in her place, I’d want to do the same, but—

“Holly, you’re just a kid, and this isn’t kid stuff. People are dying, and you’ve already gone through so much. How is it you think you can help?”

Holly suddenly snapped her fingers and ~The Great Book of Witches~ flew open in a flurry.

I leaned over the table to read the entry it landed on.

HOLLY STONE

DOB: MAY 20, 2002

THE COVEN OF ROSEMARY

“Because...” she started, her glossy eyes locking onto mine. “I’m a witch.”