Chapter 217

I lifted my head proudly. “I’m the future luna of Full Moon.”

He cocked the gun at me. “You’re full of shit.”

“I’m not! Candido and I are mates, and I’m here to—”

“You’re barely old enough to have a moon mark,” he sneered. “Who the hell are you? I’m not asking again!”

“It’s true,” I growled at him. “I’m Candido’s fiancé!”

“She’s fucking crazy. Probably on that drug that turns werewolves nuts,” he said and cocked the gun. “Hold steady, we’ll put her out of her misery---”

“Jake, just calm down,” a woman said. She stepped from behind him, also carrying a gun. She reminded me a bit of Estella in the way she wore her short hair and how tall she was. She put a hand on his arm and then looked at me. She didn’t seem to recognize me. “Look at her. She needs help.”

“I know that. She’s fucking crazy.” He huffed. “With vampires everywhere and the alpha king MIA, we can’t afford to take chances. I say we should kill her here and now, and be done with it.”

Another person cocked their gun. “I’m with Jake.”

“He’s not MIA,” I said. “He’s going to go rendezvous with another pack. He’ll be heading this way soon. If you killed me, do you think he’d let you live?”

Jake narrowed his eyes at me. “And why should I believe a damn word you say? As far as I’m concerned, he’s a fucking idiot—”

“Don’t talk about Candido like—”

“And if we shot you here and now, no one else would know it.”

My heart jumped into my chest.

“Jake. All of you, just calm down, okay?” The woman chided before looking back at me. “What’s your name, dear?”

“Hedy,” I said, looking at her suspiciously. “Where is the alpha of Wolf Fang?”

“Why does that matter?” Jake asked.

“He and the luna are gone,” she said. “They’ve been gone for a while.”

She nudged Jake. “You’re welcome to come with us. It’s too dangerous to be out here by yourself.”

“You’ll take me to Wolf Fang?”

“The hell—”

“Yes,” Mary said. “Lower your weapons.”

Jake hissed. “This is a dumb decision, Mary. She could be in league with those vampires.”

“If they’re hiring young women without pants, they must be desperate.” She sighed. “The girl smells like she just got done rolling around with her boyfriend. Do you really think that she’s in league with vampires?” Mary shook her head and smiled at me. “She and her boyfriend probably just got spooked while traveling. Poor thing. Come on. I hope you’re not too tired… Maybe we can find you some proper clothes.”

Jake grumbled. “I don’t like this.”

“Noted, but we’re going,” Mary said and set her rifle on her shoulder. “Let’s go.”

She led the group back the way I came, and though the others still looked at me suspiciously, they followed. I lifted my head, jealous and annoyed. She managed to get them to agree so easily, and she wasn’t even important. Meanwhile, the few people of Blue Moon and Moon Shadow hated me.

“Are you sure Wolf Fang is this way?” I asked.

“Keep walking the other way if you’re so concerned,” Jake said.

“Jake!” Mary said with a huff. “Sorry, he’s been on edge since all of this started. The pack has been in turmoil for a while, especially after the alpha and luna left.”

“Why did they leave?”

“They were supposed to be going to talk with another pack about an alliance,” Mary sighed. “Ever since their daughter’s engagement ended, it’s been difficult.”

I almost smiled. I had almost forgotten about Bella’s ruined engagement. The thought made me laugh. I’m glad they were suffering. I hoped that it had only gotten worse in all this time, especially after she’d joined forces with the vampires and had those men attack me. After everything they’d done to me, Steven, Lilian, and Bella deserved it. We crossed the highway and kept walking into the forest. There was no sign of Cillian or Peter around or that they had even been there.

We walked for at least an hour. My feet hurt with every twig and sharp rock I walked over, but soon we reached the familiar stone walls that surrounded most of Wolf Fang. They had been extended since the last time I’d been there to surround the whole town. No one could get in or out except through the main gate now. I couldn’t believe that I had actually run all this distance in the state I had been in then.

I followed them inside. Mary gave me pants and a pair of shoes though they didn’t have much else. Before I could ask who was running Wolf Fang, gunshots filled the air.

“Vampire!” Someone screamed from further away.

Mary cursed and grabbed a gun. “Head to the main hall. Quickly!”

I stood. “I can help!”

Mary looked at me skeptically, but she didn’t say anything. She shoved a gun in my hand and led me out into the chaos of the battlefield. People were screaming and shooting as vampires started scaling down the wall of stone. Then, an explosion cut through the wall to the east.

“We’ve been breached!”

Mary turned and fired her gun at the oncoming vampires. I tried to do the same, but the gun’s kickback was too strong. It knocked me off my feet as I dropped it and the last few bullets veered off course, hitting a werewolf.

“Are you a fucking idiot?” Jake yelled coming behind me. He dragged me to my feet. “Get the hell out of the way.”

“I can help!”

“Getting yourself killed would be helpful!”

“Jake!” Mary cried. “Stop it! This isn’t the time for that!”

He cursed and shoved me away. He picked up the gun and aimed at the oncoming vampires. Each of his shots hit and I clenched my jaw. Shooting a gun was easy, but I couldn’t seem to do it. I huffed and turned away.

It didn’t matter. They were just pack members. They should be defending me. My place was giving orders, not firing guns anyway. I hurried towards the large building where people were struggling to get inside.

“Alpha!” My heart lurched as I saw Steven and Lilian. He pushed Lilian into the building as he started shouting at people.

“This isn’t the time to be divided!” Steven said. “On the East side, we need---”

“You left us! Why would we even listen to you?”

“I left to get back up!” Steven yelled. “And don’t you ever—”

His eyes stopped, looking at me. His eyes narrowed, dragging over me before a glint filled his eyes. He pointed at me.

“The alpha king has heard our broadcasts,” he said. “He send his ward here. Isn’t that good enough to know that he hasn’t forsaken us.”

I clenched my jaw as I marched towards him. “I’m not his ward anymore. I’m his fiancé.”

Steven didn’t hesitate. “You think he’d send her here if he wasn’t on the way?”

The man hesitated before nodding stiffly.

“On the East side, I was the best marksmen, shoot at will,” Steven said, continuing to give orders. People moved to obey and as the rest of them dispersed, leaving just the two of us standing in front of the doors, he looked at me.

“That had to be the only time you’ve ever been of real use to me,” Steven said looking at me, shaking his head. “Get inside. With any luck, we’ll ride out the night.”

I wanted to protest, but the sound of gunfire grew louder. He didn’t stay much longer, heading toward the sound of the fight with his gun. I watched him go for a few moments before I headed inside and closed the door behind me.

For a few moments, I wondered when Candido would come. Couldn’t he feel the fact that I was in danger? Was he still mourning over that witch? I pushed that thought away. He had to be over it. He might just be mourning Vanessa and everyone else who had gotten in between us, but he would get over it and come around.

We were mates.

The ground shook and it sounded pretty quiet for a moment before the back wall started to smoke.

“Fire!” Someone cried.

The fire burst through the glass. I ran out the door as it started to consume the building, trying to get away from the fire, but barely a few feet away from the exit was a line of vampire gunmen. The sounds of gunfire had started to die off in the distance, but it didn’t seem to matter.

“Come quietly.”

“Do something!” Someone cried. Gunshots filled the air, and the woman was cut down. She lay in a pool of blood before someone grabbed her corpse and dragged her away.

“You can make this easy,” the leader said. “Or hard.”