3.1 | Animal Instinct ✓

23 | reign

  

2 3

r e i g n

FLOWERS LOOKED THEIR prettiest in the graveyards.

It was something I came to realise in the aftermath. Rows upon rows of graveyards, bouquets after bouquets of flowers. The idea of it seemed almost sickening, but when you saw it, there was an unexpected semblance of calmness. Flowers bloomed where life could not. There had to be some sort of poetry in that.

Placing a fresh white daisy on the grave I was standing in front of, I pressed my fingers to my lips, then pressed my fingers to the grave. A stray tear slipped past my cheek but I brushed it off, before straightening and tucking my hands into the pocket of my coat. After casting one final glance at the grave, I let out a quiet breath and turned to leave.

The trek back to the road took me several minutes and by the time I got there, almost everyone was gathered by their respective cars. I headed straight to the first, which Lance was leaning against. The sombre expression on his face gave way to a slightly worried look when he saw me.

"Everything alright, Luna?"

I tucked a stray lock of hair behind my ear and nodded. "Come on, Beta," I said, smiling when he held the car door open for me to climb in. I got into the passenger seat and strapped myself in. "Tell everyone that we're heading back."

Lance nodded and passed the instructions to the rest of the pack, before climbing into the driver's seat. We were the first car to pull out of the driveway, and I winded the windows down when we were along the main road, feeling the wind sting my cheeks and squinting when a bit of sunlight unexpectedly caught my eyes.

"Did Lorraine call?" I asked, after several minutes of silence, which was occasionally interrupted with Lance cranking the radio on the car. He kept missing the station he liked, and I leaned forward, tapping a couple of buttons until the car was filled with the strains of a song he clearly knew, if the way he began drumming his fingers against the wheel was any indication.

"Thanks." He grinned at me, but sobered up swiftly, an apologetic look slipping on his face. "No, I'm afraid not. Sorry, Luna."

"There's nothing to apologise for," I returned lightly, even though I felt my heart sink with the news. Taking a deep breath, I flipped around for a new topic of discussion in my mind until I finally found one. "How're we doing on security?"

"Brilliant." Lance didn't miss a beat. "We've got Phobos and Deimos up and running; and Io seems to have forged new ties with Lysithea and Nix, so those packs might be worth revising new contracts with."

I nodded approvingly at him. In the aftermath, Lance had proven himself time and time again to be the most ideal choice for a Beta. For starters, he was the last of Jed's closest group of friends – but without any of Azazel's scheming and all of Spike's loyalty. Just the fact that he was able to switch sides even after Malthus had branded him as a part of Prometheus was admirable in itself, and I trusted him implicitly before and after everything.

I tended to go with my instincts, and so far, they'd all turned out to be pretty right.

"Remind me to thank Callisto again one of these days," I said to Lance now. "They've been incredibly helpful for a neutral party. Titan hasn't had a breach since the battle and it's all thanks to them. I should probably get some gifts or something," I mused, as an afterthought, before turning to him. "What do you think the Luna of Callisto likes?"