The Wolves and the Vipers

Chapter 44 - Senseless

If you've read Luna of Rogues, it's time to start paying attention :) And yes, I hear you when you say it's been a while. I hear you when you say your memory is like a sieve. Mine is too. So if you do feel like reminding yourself, Skye is on the other side of a mountain range right now ... and being squashed by a rather large tree.

It was half an hour later, perhaps, when it started. Riverside's scones were all gone, and so were the bottles of home-brewed cider Jaden had gifted us. Half the pack were too suspicious to eat or drink any of it, but it only took a dozen willing souls to polish it all off. Jace and I had made sure to set a good example, and now I was almost too full to enjoy the barbeque.

I wasn't the first to hear of it. My guards were suddenly all seriousness — setting their drinks down and drawing closer to me. I could almost smell the tension, so of course, my mind went looking for Jace's, demanding answers. But he didn't know either. He was currently mind-linking seven or eight people at once, trying to get some answers of his own.

"We should get you inside, Luna," Zoe said.

"I'm not going to hide while all these children are standing in the open," I told her.

Her eyes tightened — not the answer she had been hoping for — and I saw that she was wrestling with something. Probably deciding if she and Alek should hustle me into the pack house whether I liked it or not.

But before she could finish deciding, I had cleared my throat, filled my lungs with air and then started speaking as loudly as I possibly could. "Hi, everyone. Can I ask that you all start moving towards the house? There's no reason to panic at all — this is just a precaution. Hopefully, we'll be back outside in just a few minutes."

Reflexively, Jace shot me a look. Because no, he hadn't asked me to do that, and yes, it might have been an overreaction. But I returned that look with interest. I would much rather get them inside now than have a stampede when the chaos in the link spilled over into the civilian population. It took a moment, but that stare became a grudging nod of approval.

"Go with them," he mouthed.

I didn't need to be told twice. The crowd was already starting to move, so I just joined the flow of people, making sure to set an example of calmness and composure. Not everyone had heard me, but the message was carried through the crowd by dozens of other voices.

One broke through all the others. I recognised it as Bradley, and he sounded furious, "What did you think was going to happen? That we were all going to live happily ever after?"

Jace had to square up to the Delta, who was standing like he might throw a punch. He met the anger with cool indifference. "We don't know that it's Riverside. They're on the wrong side of the territory for that."

"Of course it's Riverside!" Bradley snapped. "There could be a hundred of them."

I was too far away to hear the rest of the argument, but I could see that it was continuing. The big glass windows of the pack house gave me a brilliant view of it. At one point, they got so close and so heated about it that Jace had to push Bradley backwards a step. And then, as suddenly as it began, they were breaking apart and heading in opposite directions.

And I took my opportunity to mind-link for some answers. "What's happening?"

"One of the groups was attacked," he replied the same way. "The other is responding, and I can't field more fighters until I know who's responsible. It would mean leaving the pack house vulnerable. I could go ... but there are no roads near enough. It'll be over by the time I arrive. I have to trust Tyler and Ryan to handle it."

A Beta and a Third should be more than capable of handling it, but I knew why Bradley was so frustrated. His job was coordinating the fighters, and Jace had just ordered him, along with everyone else here, to stay put.