The Full Moon Effect

Chapter 18: The Call

Most species

Bare their teeth

As a threat

As a display

Of aggression

Of leadership

It is a reminder

That these

Clenched jaws

Can and will

Open your

Yielding throat

I want you to think of this

The next time I smile.

**********

Daciana managed to pull herself together enough to direct her pack mates into a hustle across the far border. There were around forty of them, and from what I'd put together from Connell's intel, it was most, if not all, the women and children of the pack. I recognized the relief on most of their faces. Daciana had saved them, given them a way out of a pack that was rotten to it's core. But how had she managed to get them all out from under Leyton and Ulric's snouts?

I motioned the Luna over. "How did you manage to get them out undetected?"

She sighed.

"Leyton and Ulric took a few of the warriors loyal to them and set off a few hours ago. Ulric didn't tell me where they were going; it seems that Xena's betrayal took it's toll on him—he doesn't trust mates and Ulric ate it up like a fresh kill."

My fists clenched. Leyton was ever the puppet-master, causing division and distrust everywhere he went. How many more lives would he destroy in his quest for vengeance?

"As soon as they left, I gathered the rest of the pack and made the announcement that I would surrender and defect and that all who thought this war unjust were welcome to come with me. The majority of the pack had disagreed with Ulric's actions and hated the change that Leyton caused in him, but their fear had kept them in line. We didn't have the option to call in a just Advocate or wait for a Summit. Leyton had learned in that lesson too. He attacked and killed anyone who spoke up against him. And I had to sit there and watch, play along until the first opportunity to make a move against them.

When I made the announcement, some warriors spoke up, calling me a traitor. But the majority of the pack was against them. We had to take them down, our own pack members. Brothers against sisters, daughters against fathers. And then we made our way here."

Only a handful of the warriors who went with us to the border escorted us now. Jones was the only Alpha who accompanied us, and I looked to him now. His brain was whirring within his head, I could tell, same as mine. Where had Leyton and Ulric taken those handful of warriors? Was it possible they could've been tipped off about Connell and Asena finding Xena and went to meet their problem head-on? My body twitched with anxiousness at the thought.

I turned back to Daciana. "I don't mean to be insensitive, asking you hard questions about Ulric and your pack."

"I would rather you ask now. Once this is all over I don't think I can bear to think about it again."

"How did Ulric respond when Leyton turned up?"

The Luna was quiet for a moment, then spilled forth a story in a tone barely above the crunch of the snow beneath our feet. "Ulric was never one to talk about his feelings. But just because they were never voiced didn't he mean he didn't have them. He expresses his feelings through his actions. Any creature can lie through it's teeth, but Ulric always showed me how he felt. It's something I loved about him, until I didn't.