Page 79 of Luna Rising

He laughed. “Want me to tell you about the meeting?”

“Later. When I’m done having my way with you.”

Ewan grinned. “You drive a hard bargain, Snyder.”

The alpha meeting had gone well in Ewan’s opinion. He had offered the Capricorns a marriage alliance with Kiernan, which made them happy. Drake agreed to marry one of her children to one of Zach and Brooke’s kids and one to a Capricorn. The Taurus and Ophiuchus packs worked out terms of a trade agreement that somehow involved both groups of fae. Ewan explained it all in great detail, but I found the arrangement confusing and stopped paying attention when things stopped making sense.

He and I stayed up all night talking about our respective days. While his had definitely advanced more real-world issues, mine had produced a lot more information. He was as reluctant as Colleen to admit that Mat had sent Malia to the Ophiuchus, agreeing that it was more likely she had gone on her own.

“Seers are strange,” he told me. “Even back in the day, the royal seer wasn’t appointed or anything. They just showed up at court and started manipulating things.”

“So why is Mat going to see her now?”

“She’s also probably a strong magic-user. Could have more to do with that.”

Because my mother told me to let him have some wins, and I didn’t have a good argument, I didn’t press the issue.

The following morning, the bad news brigade rolled in on a snow storm. Dead supernaturals had been left in plain sight of humans in all major world cities. The reports coming in from a vast array of spy networks, most associated with Walter, had conflicting data. Some claimed the deceased had been drained of their blood, others said it was their magic, while a few fae and shifters had horrific injuries inflicted with a blade or other weapon. Frustratingly, the only thing everyone agreed on was the lack of witnesses.

Supernatural social media was overrun with theories and someone’s brother’s cousin’s girlfriend’s older sister claiming to have seen something or to know one of the victims. There were also a lot of people sobbing incoherently while commenters told them how brave they were. I wasn’t sure what was so heroic about crying in public and didn’t understand any better when Brooke tried to explain it to me.

Human media outlets carried news of the body dumpings, though most mainstream outlets didn’t mention the supernatural elements and those that did called them “staged” murders. According to Winter, this wasn’t a massive surprise.

One good piece of news arrived when Walter returned. Webber’s transition was well underway, and there was no reason to believe he wouldn’t rise with a thirst for blood. Until Walter was certain Webber was a normal vampire, I wasn’t allowed to know where he was, let alone see him. We compromised eventually, with Walter agreeing to a video call once Webber was up and moving.

Ewan spent most of the day with the other faction heads at the Temple of Gaia finalizing the terms of the accords, which they would all sign the following day. I went to town with Birch as my shadow, making myself visible and approachable to keep the Taurus wolves calm. We stopped by the lodge and visited with Mom and Brooke and the Geminis. I even sat with Louis and tried to explain social media so he would better understand the mass hysteria sweeping through the mountains.

Early afternoon, reports of the flying blue bats hit mainstream supernatural media. A caster in Iowa or Idaho or something captured and posted video footage of a stray wolf fighting winged realm jumper. Spoiler alert, it didn’t end well for the shifter. This sent another ripple of panic through the Taurus Mountains. Rightfully, so.

Honestly, I was more surprised that this was the first winged creature caught on camera. This wasn’t an invasion or coordinated attack. The bat-like supes were merely slipping through the tears between realms, taking advantage of a free inter-realm vacation. They weren’t actively avoiding attention, so why had it taken so long to record one?

Next came the disturbing yet not shocking news that the Zodiac Councils had dispatched trackers to hunt down the unknown eternals and protectors. The packs still loyal to the Zodiac Order were capturing and killing strays just in case. Normally, I didn’t have a lot of sympathy for strays, snobby of me when both my mother and best friend had come to the Gemini pack as strays. To me, they were mostly an irritation. But it wasn’t right that they should die just because they didn’t have a pack to protect them.

With so many important shifters and fae visiting, there should have been a banquet or even a small formal gathering with fancy clothes, but Ewan thought something more inclusive and less stuffy was appropriate under the circumstances. So, instead, the Taurus wolves opened their homes in a sort of progressive potluck, and we invited everyone.

More so than seeing me smiling around town, having Ewan in their homes, reassuring them that the forthcoming alliances would keep us all safe, settled the Taurus wolves. Even some of those initially less certain about an immortal alpha had a different tune with this sudden shift in the supernatural tides. He made a point to talk to any wolf who wanted his attention, and most of them didn’t mind settling for me when he was too busy with someone else.

It was one of the most exhausting days of my life—maybe lives. I didn’t know the right words and my mother’s need to nurture was apparently not genetic, but no one cared. They were happy for me to listen as they recounted social media posts and gossip from their knitting circles. Separating fact from fiction for them was harder since I didn’t know myself. No one did, and I wondered if that was the point. The unknown was much scarier than anything I had ever faced.

Despite a rocky start, the Gemini and Taurus wolves put their differences aside for the night at least and comforted one another. Charlie’s family, including four of his many siblings, fawned all over my brother and Brooke. His twelve-year-old sister peppered my best friend with questions about her love story with Zach, which everyone listening found incredibly romantic.

“Our story’s romantic, too.” Ewan wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me close, nipping at my ear as we stood in the corner of the kitchen and listened to Brooke talk about her secret dates with my brother.

“Is it, though?”

He feigned offense. “I think it is. We fell in love centuries ago and were then torn apart by an evil fae king.”

“Evil seems like a strong word. More like misguided.”

“That’s too generous a word. How about bad? King Orrin was a bad fae and bad ruler.”

I shook my head. “No. I mean, yes. He wasn’t a great ruler, I guess. I don’t know. Maybe he wasn’t wrong. Maybe we aren’t so much Gaia-marked as Gaia-cursed, you know? Look at everything that’s happening—”

“Look around you.” He squeezed me. “Our love is securing all of these alliances. You realize that, right? Fuck what the terms say, everyone agreed to sign the accords because they are betting on the strength of our bond. Except Drake. She’s signing for you, which she has made very clear. But, hey, if bringing a large contingent of the supernatural world together isn’t romantic, I don’t know what is.”

I made a face. “You definitely don’t know what romantic is.”

He arched an eyebrow. “Challenge accepted.”

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