Moonlit

Chapter Seventy-Six

Still in an oversized hoodie, smelling faintly like Jrasic, Terra walked through the Compound with Trench at her side. She had sent him a couple of glances as they moved to Cian's office. Eventually she said, "Do you think Cian will do anything about it?"

"I don't know." The Hunter stared straight ahead, both hands shoved into his coat pockets.

Terra scowled and turned her head up to him. "He'll be alright," she told him. "Jessie is good at her job."

"Oh I don't doubt her," Trench said. "It's just when our own doctors turned us away..." He cut himself off with a shake of his head.

"Maybe we can fix this," Terra said. "Even if it takes...a while."

"It's nothing to do with you," Trench muttered but then looked to her, drawing a hand across his hair. "It's us. Them. Our views." He shook his head again and paused before Cian's door. He knocked once and simply waited.

"Still," she whispered, but Terra left it at that.

Silence built between them for a while, until the doorknob finally turned and a very casual Cian appeared. He wore sweatpants, and for once was dressed in a mere pull over sweater. The Compound Head looked between them with a brow raised in silent question.

"There's been a situation," Trench said, his apology hinted in his tone. Cian just studied them again, then stepped back to allow them inside.

Terra moved forward, but didn't separate herself from Trench. She stood tall despite the late hour and her clothes, keeping quiet for Trench to explain. At first Trench said nothing though. He just watched the floor as Cian crossed to his desk and lowered into his chair with a sigh. The other Hunter finally looked up to his superior and there was no trace of the careless and cheerful man he normally was.

"There's been a branding," he said, stating a fact.

It was enough to make Cian straighten and lean forward in his chair. "Who?" When Trench didn't reply, Cian said, "Dominic."

"Your doctors turned him away," Terra said. "He's being looked after by my Healer and kept in our home. My wolves won't touch him."

"You have my thanks," Cian said to her. Then to Trench he added, "It will not happen again-"

"You said that before," Trench boldly interrupted. It made Cian sit back with a raised brow. "And now it's happened worse. To Dominic."

Cian waited for him to finish and when Trench said nothing more, he folded his hands in his lap. "Perhaps you both know the dangers more than anyone in this Compound. It is clear the wolves are our allies. We are not to fight each other over that. I will do what is necessary to push that notion. Does that satisfy you?"

He didn't look it, but Trench nodded all the same and dropped his gaze first.

As the silence stretched, Terra glanced at Trench before she turned fully to Cian. Clearing her throat, she said, "I know it's late, but I have something else I'd like to discuss quickly, if you don't mind."

Cian flicked his gaze to her. "We're through here," he said to Trench. The Hunter spared a glance to Terra before he backed from the room.

When he was gone, Terra crossed the room and sat across from Cian at his desk. "I was wondering what you would know of the older Pack Cells," she said, getting right to the point. "Particularly Sonya's."

Cian turned in his chair more toward her, crossing one leg over the other. "I know quite a deal," he said. "It's my job. Question is, what do you want to know?"

"When was she there?" Terra asked, leaning forward. "How did she get there and...and how did she get out?"

He took a moment before answering then started from the last. "She fought her way out with select wolves from other cells," Cian said. "A Lab holds many cells. Normally five or six. She managed to form an alliance with a few wolves, and they devised a plan to force their way out. It was the one and only attempt like that." He paused then, letting that information sit. "And, like few others, she was born into her Cell."

Terra tapped her fingers on the desk and looked off for a moment. She frowned in thought and asked, "How long ago did she get out?"

"It has been approximately eight years," Cian stated. "Seven before her first outburst against us. Six or so since she became a true problem."

"Eight years," Terra whispered. She pushed a hand through her hair and shook her head as she looked back to Cian. "What do you know about Wren's mother?"

The Hunter's expression softened somewhat and he nodded just once. He stood from the desk and crossed to one of his bookshelves. A box sat on the top most shelf and he drew it down. This time he leaned against the front of his desk by Terra and selected a folder from the box.

Across the top had the name Rachel Layden printed in bold letters. He handed the file out to her. "She was a captured wolf. Turned outside the Lab and brought in later."

With shaking hands, Terra flipped open the folder and peered at the files within. Her gaze slipped to the picture stuck in the top corner. The woman with a hard gaze stared back at her, and Terra's lips parted in surprise. She had the same hair falling in waves past her shoulders, and brown eyes that had more hidden within. The woman's face was rounded a bit like Terra's, though she had more scars and darker skin. With a close enough look, perhaps even her eyes were a bit lighter, but the similarity was obvious.

"This is her," Terra whispered. She looked back at the name, Rachel, and the shock on her face turned to a scowl. "Do you know who the father was?" she asked without looking up.

"His name is Glenn Anders," Cian said. "He was a wolf turned years before he was captured, to a point where we first thought he had been born a wolf. He doesn't know anything about Wren."

"Well, he won't," Terra murmured and closed the file. "That's Wren's decision." She stood slowly and offered it back to him. "Thank you."

Cian tucked the file away but remained at his desk. "Is there anything else I can assist with?"

"Not tonight," Terra said with a shake of her head. "I need some sleep before the sun rises."

"As do I," Cian said and stood up straight, leaving the box behind. "Perhaps I will get it this time."

Terra managed a breathy laugh and nodded. She looked to the door and still picked up faint traces of Trench. "Dominic is welcome to stay however long he needs. I just hope we will not face this again." Terra offered a slight smile to Cian. "Thank you for your help tonight."

"I hope you don't mind keeping him," Cian said with a nod. "Until I can straighten this out." He crossed to the only other door leading from his office, allowing Terra to show herself out. He didn't match her expression, but he ducked his head to her ever so slightly.

"Of course." The Alpha gave him an equal nod and left through the same door, walking back through the empty Compound halls as snow fell through the night sky. She peered out at the house and its single slight, barely visible against the snow, and hesitated for only a moment before she headed back in that direction.