Chapter 23

"Where are they?" I ask anxiously looking around the lobby for Nora and Elijah. Quentin gently takes my wrist pulling my hand away from my mouth where I was biting my fingernails again. "Sorry." I muster the best smile I can given the moment, and he just leans down planting a delicate kiss on my lips.

"It's okay, and they said they would be here in a few minutes." After calling the council about an emergency meeting they announced it to the rest of the packs, some of which asked it to be delayed a day to give them enough time to travel. Now two days later almost every packs Alpha, Luna, or both have converged at the same building we all did not too long ago.

"Are the numbers in our favor?" I whisper as Della, Aidan, Quentin, and I watch pack leaders filter into the largest meeting room. I've gotten a few smiles and waves since waking up this morning, but a handful of glares sent my way were enough to have me second guessing our ability to prove our innocence.

"Over half." Aidan has irritated that even if the council doesn't side with us enough packs would back us up to at least get everyone else protection from the rogues.

"They are here." Della points to Elijah searching the crowd on the other side of the huge room. Aidan doesn't waste another second making a beeline for him, and I take the moment to really look at Della. She been unusually quiet since breakfast this morning, and the wary look in her eyes has me on edge.

"Is everything okay?" I take a few steps to my left so I only she can hear my question. She turns staring at me with her green eyes as if she searching for something in my eyes. It's unnerving to see her so distracted.

"Remember when you were little and I always told you to trust your gut." Her lips lift into a smile as I nod my head. It was her golden rule to never do something if your gut tells you not to, and to be honest I never knew what she meant when I was younger but now I do. "This morning I woke up feeling this awful sense of dread, and the only way for me to compare it was the same feeling I felt when Blake's men stationed themselves outside our territory." I was young back then but I wasn't stupid, and can still remember how tense and heavy the atmosphere around the pack felt during those couple of weeks.

"I had another nightmare last night." I admit feeling guilty for not mentioning it earlier, but forgetting about it seemed like the best option based on the importance of today. Della's expression turns grim, grabbing my wrist in her hold she pulls me out of the room into the deserted hallway. "I've had it before but it didn't seem significant than, but now I don't know what to think. I was back at Black Moon, and this voice was telling me "you know the truth", but it morphed from an airy whisper into this menacing growl. Out of the corner of my eye I saw you running towards something, so I chased after you because it looked like you were in trouble. I lost you but then I heard voices arguing with one another. It was a woman and two men, but I couldn't really see their faces because I was hiding behind a tree." The door nexts to us swing open revealing a tense looking Aidan.

"Sorry to interrupt, but they are ready for us." His jaw clenches as he walks over to us. "The council took the rogue down to the cells." He mummers only loud enough for me and Della to hear.

"We will finish talking after." Della assures me leading us back to the door, but she stops me before I can walk in. "Even when you were little I knew you were destined to accomplish great things. Don't let the pressure make you forget how strong and intelligent you are. Now go in there and prove to everyone what we already know." She pulls me into an embrace before ushering all three of us back into the packed meeting room.

Quentin is standing next to our table waiting for me with my chair pulled out. He's constantly making these small gestures that show how much he cares when words don't always do the job. Pushing up onto my toes I plant a quick kiss to his cheek and settle in my chair as he pushes it in before taking the seat next to me.

"Thank you all for coming here today especially on such short notice." An older council member starts drawing everyone's attention to the front of the room where the panel of highest ranked council members sit. Every pack has their own table for two, and we all face the council forming a semi circle around the room. The one exception is two lone tables situated in front of the panel of council members that I have a sickening feeling is for us.

"Why don't we start with Silver Dawns request to re-evaluate their revoked recognition?" Ivan suggests with an impassive expression not letting his emotions get the best of him. If he thinks that's what is going to take to get the packs to side with him he's sorely mistaken.

"Alpha Quentin Alston and Luna Tessa Quinn would you step forward." The old man with Snow White hair looks in our direction motioning towards one of the two empty tables. Pushing away every other thought and worry from my mind I pick up my folder walking hand in hand with Quentin down the steps to the front, and I can feel all eyes on us as we take our new seats patiently waiting for them to start. We have to be smart when talking to the council because they have the ability to turn anything we say around on us making it look like we are the bad guys.

"Thank you for holding this meeting because more innocent lives could be in danger." I smile innocently up at the old guy hoping to at least manage to shift a few of the members onto our side. "I will not be speaking for Quentin's experience of our attack because I only can express the sheer destruction I witnessed myself." I pull out the piece of paper with the names of those who didn't deserve to die. "I provide everyone in this room a list of names who were all of the innocent people that did nothing to deserve their violent and brutal end." I turn around in my chair looking to all the other Lunas and Alphas.

"Pack members who I had to see die by the hands of ruthless rogues who had no reason to attack. It was unpredictable, brutal, but most importantly statrigic, which makes me believe that this was a planned attack with a purpose that I'm not sure of. That is why I ask you." I focus back onto the council board listening carefully to every word I'm saying. "To investigate the attack because even if the false rumors were true the people who died that day would have had nothing to do with it. You owe them that much." I take a second to reign my emotions back in, and start to hear the Lunas and Alphas whispering behind me. A few of them send me skeptical looks, and some impressed smiles, but the worst are the couple menicing glares. Wracking my brain for the right words to express the urgency that needs to felt by all of us in order to conquer the common enemy, I realize they don't believe that they are vaulnerable for whatever reason.

"If I could just speak to you all as a person, forget for a second that I'm a Luna." I stand up out of my chair turning my back to the council so I can see each leader in the crowd. "What I saw that day will be engraved in my mind for the rest of my life, and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. Absolute carnage for a reason we aren't even sure of because it's not being investigated." I sigh running a hand through my hair. "We are only asking for help trying to figure out who is behind these attacks so they never happen again, but I'm terrified that if we sit around doing nothing that anyone in this room's pack could become the next victim." I can tell I've convinced some but others seem to be a bit stubborn. Hopefully after Della and Aidan tell their story we can flip the rest.

"That was very inspiring, but I have a few questions for Quentin." Ivan holds my gaze for a second too long and I have to suppress shuddering when a chill runs up my spine. I know jumping to conclusions can be dangerous, but I don't trust Ivan whether or not he is part of the rogue army. His dismissive comment irritates Quentin, who sits up straighter meeting Ivan's intimidating smirk head on. "We have resources that say you were questioning the authority of the council. Is that true?"

"No." Quentin's voice oozes authority not wavering once. Ivan raises and eyebrow at his answer.

"No?" The condensing manner of asking questions pisses me off. Who made him in charge of this especially when he isn't the top council member.

"No. I can give you a list of all the Alphas and/or Lunas whom I called because I was trying to dig up information on Tessa's deceased mother. I'm sure each of them can testify to exactly what we talked about and when." Ivan glances up toward all the Alphas as if he is weighing his options. If he does call each of them down I just might snap since we don't have time to fuck around because he can't set his ego aside for one minute.

"Why don't you tell me and save us all the time?" Ivan leans back in his chair as if this is afternoon tea and not a high stakes meeting. Out of the corner of my eye I see Quentin clench his jaw, clearing his throat he sets his hands on the table interlacing his fingers together.

"I was wondering why my mates mother was torn apart by rogues. Her own child only four years old had to see her like that, yet there was no investigation because of lack of proof." My breathe catch's in my throat. Quentin tenses next to me turning his head to look down at me wearily. His bluntness was difficult to hear but if it helps get the message across than it doesn't matter. I send him a small smile encouraging him to continue. "Tessa's mother was a very private person so finding more information on her required me to figure out where she came from which meant I had to call other packs. Yes I did discuss the attack that ended her life and asked if they knew why it wasn't investigated, but I never questioned any of your authority. I am worried if we don't stop the rogue army now it will be too late." He huffs leaning back in his own chair, and I reach over taking his hand in mine and giving it a squeeze. He did beyond amazing especially keeping his emotions at bay.

"Are you saying our sources lied to us?" Ivan's demeanor has shifted significantly. His eyes are ablaze with anger and I have a feeling it has to do with the hushed whispers behind us. People are intrigued and want answers after hearing what we had to say. The best part is Della and Aidan still have to testify to their own attack.

"They could have misinterpreted my words, but regardless we have a bigger enemy right now and the clock is ticking." Quentin leans forward looking to each council member individually to get his point across.

"Alpha Alston you so know the consequences of treasonous talks?" One of the other members cuts in. How are we still even on this? There is a army of rogues that are going from pack to pack killing innocent people, and they just want to talk about some phone call Quentin made.

"Yes." Quentin's jaw clenches but his voice remain composed. "If you want to investigate me do it all you want, but please help stop this destruction before it gets worse." The vulnerability in his voice breaks my heart. I know he's thinking about not only our attack but the attack that killed his parents. No child deserves to live through that, and he'll do anything to make sure no child goes through what he did. What I did.

"Very well. Alpha and Luna Norwood would you step down as well?" The older member in the front motions to the table next to us. Any whispers are silenced the second Aidan and Della stand from their seats making their way down the stairs. It's still odd for me to see how much people look up to them for their leadership since they are just my aunt and uncle. Although I'm not saying they aren't an amazing Alpha and Luna because they are the best other than my dads. Speaking of my dads I sneak a look over my shoulder to check and see how they are doing. They are tense and look extremely irritated, but send me a loving smile and a small wave non the less.

"I would like to cut right to the chase since neither Aidan and I are being accused of treasonous activities, right?" I have to bite my lip to hide my smirk watching the entirety of the council's jaws drop at Della's blunt tone. If we hadn't agreed earlier that they would be the one to push them harder than us I would be just as shocked. Well not really because if one thing is know about Della it's you don't fuck with her family or pack and get away with it. She's even got the scars to prove it. After waiting a minute for any council member to say something she nods continuing.

"Glad we cleared that up. My pack was attacked, and when I called to report it and asked for some extra assistance I received Ivan showing up late to tell me that my pack recognition is being relinquished. Everybody in this room knows that Black Moon has done nothing remotely wrong ever, yet in our time of need you yet again turned your backs on us." Della's outrage can be felt by everyone in the room. Her words hold so much anguish and anger that hits deep in the heart.

"Like I explained to you that day it is very suspicious for your pack to have an attack a week or so after your adopted niece's packs attack. We already explained that her mate has been accused of treasonous talk, so you can't tell me this doesn't seem convenient to you." Ivan scoffs blowing off everything Della just said. His words send a jolt of hurt to my heart from hearing him deject me to just a kid they adopted. I forget sometimes that they aren't my blood since they are all I remember and treat me like their own, so the constant reminders are a slap to the face.

"My niece was horribly attacked and you think that her mate, who was in a coma was somehow apart of our attack. They had a hard enough time picking up the pieces no thanks to you." She defends us slamming her hand down on the table, and the old member growls out silencing everyone instantly.

"Alpha Norwood could you tell us the details of your recent attack?" Della rolls her eyes pulling some papers out of a folder and setting them in front of a strikingly composed Aidan.

"Of course. It was just like any other day, and I was out with my Beta, Emeric, assisting in new warrior training when the sirens sounded out of the blue. If it wouldn't have been for Silver Dawns attack prior to ours I would have dismissed the sirens as a false alarm. Della was on a run with our children, so she ran them to safety before joining the rest of us near the northeastern border. They came in waves and every time we thought we got them all more would pour through the pack line." Aidan stops when a council member who has remained silent this entire time raises his hand.

"How did you get them to leave? Did you dispose of them all?" It's small but I saw the flash of fear in his eyes as he asked Aidan the question.

"They only left after my son was severely injured. Both my children were brave enough to leave their shelter to come and help fight, but a rogue got to them before they could get too far. My son protected his sister and took the brunt of the force. One of our guys got to him in time to get the rogues off him but he was too injured to stand up, and when the rogues saw this they retreated." It sucks that we can't praise Jasper for his sacrifice, but it's in order to keep him safe so I can't complain.

"That is a consistency between both of our attacks which suggests to us that it's the same group of rogues who attacked both of us." Quentin injects. "They may have retreated in our attack but we had killed a large portion of their army meaning that they had gained more men for the attack at Black Moon. We believe we are dealing with an army of rogues so large that they can recover from an attack within days only to attack a pack much larger." The rooms atmosphere shifts drastically and I can hear the small intakes of breathe once they absorb what Quentin just said.

"Where do you think an army of rogues with such substantial numbers came from, and how are they following each others orders long enough to coordinate plans? I mean come on they are rogues!" Ivan has to have the last word by belittling us one last time. Turning to look at Della at the same time as she looks to me, I nod to her watching a smirk take over her face as she leans forward closer to the council like she's got a secret for them.

"Because they never left. These rogues started as the remaining rogues of Blake's men that managed to escape fourteen years ago. They just have a new leader now, and one we are going to find." Della's words hold a underlying threat, and I watch as the color drains from Ivan face. The room explodes in whispers and some shouting as the severity of this situation settles amongst the rest of the Alphas and Lunas.

***************

Song: This Is My World by Esterly and Austin Jenckes

I am beyond astounded by all the love and support this book along with Rogue To Luna has gotten over the past two days. Rouge to Luna has over 21,000 reads, and this book hit 1,000 reads this morning! It warms my heart to see everyone's kind comments expressing how much they love the books, and I can't thank you all enough for giving my books a chance. I was also in complete shock when I saw Rogue To Luna was #26 in werewolf because never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine it getting that high on a chart. I always say it and I'll continue to say it, this book wouldn't be what it is today without you. Thank you again from the bottom of my heart! I would love to here your theories again because it helps me view my work from a different angle, and helps me formulate future chapters. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and if you did don't forget to vote and comment! Stay safe and stay home. Until next time.

~Stella Gordon