The Reluctant Luna

Chapter 20

Louise patrolled the border of the territory with James and Janice's voices rambling in her skull. Janice was a short distance behind her. James was on the opposite side of their territory. She felt like she had two voices of a twenty person conference call.

::Understood... Check it out with Kenneth... As long as they're keeping their distance, it's not a problem... Well, find out if she wants something...:: It was an endless stream of nonsensical chatter that bounced around in her brain, making it hard to concentrate.

How do they get anything done with this racket?

A feminine chuckle replied, ::It's easier with more voices. They cancel each other out.::

Louise glared back at Janice before lifting her nose to scent the wind. I don't like people in my head.

::Then stop broadcasting things you don't want heard.:: There was amusement in her voice.

Louise ignored the taunt, inhaling again. Human coming from the west.

James' mental voice suddenly went... louder? More focused? ::Janice, go with Louise and make sure that's just Rufus coming for a report. Gretchen's in that area, so more than likely, it is.::

::On it,:: she replied before pulling up next to Louise.

Louise shook her head slightly before crossing out of their territory to intercept the human, Janice on her tail. She could smell the slight taint of vampire on the man. He belongs to a vampire.

::Yeah, that's Rufus. He's one of Dean's. Nice guy, if you ignore being obsessed with immortality. He'll be meeting Gretchen at the edge of our territory, on the assumption we don't know he's there. Actually, I think he's the only one that thinks he's keeping a secret. ::

They watched closely. Gretchen soon came into view, looking nervous. "What's so bloody important?" the man demanded.

"A couple days ago, Alpha Luca brought the luna into the pack link briefly. It didn't last long, and did some kind of weird feedback that knocked the crap out of about half the pack. It didn't affect me, so I don't know how else to describe it. None of the omegas got hit by it, whatever it was."

"And she's definitely not on the pack link now?"

They saw her shake her head. "No way. She felt... weird. Putting her on a pack link is like dropping a bit of dry ice in a hot bath. You can't miss her."

Well that was just rude.

::She's right, though. Your mind feels nothing like a werewolf's. Kinda makes my brain feel like there's bugs inside, or something,:: Janice replied.

"The master will be pleased by this information."

Gretchen just nodded, before heading back into their territory.

And now we...?

::Let him get away. He assumes he did something sneaky, we know what information was passed on, Dean Henderson draws whatever conclusions he wants, and the human dies of old age, never knowing the glories of a vampire existence.::

James' voice cut in. ::Get back on pack land, you two.::

They made it back without effort and resumed patrolling. By the end of the night, she was seriously questioning whether putting up with a mini-pack link was worth the hassle just to get to patrol at night.