Page 82 of Luna Rising

The dynamic incorporeal duo had, however, seen quite a bit of Mat. From the sounds of it, the eternal king had been barhopping all over Traitor’s Hell, which seemed so… odd. He was both in the process of revealing supernaturals to the common human world and planning a prison break. Didn’t the guy have better things to do than drink himself into oblivion?

While Hayden and Enzo didn’t accompany their king on his bar crawl, Archer had followed both at separate points to Malia’s apartment. I was dying to know what the seer told them, but like so many things, that too remained a mystery.

That bad news bomb we’d all been waiting for dropped during our third round of teas. Wolves were running rampant through small human towns, shifting in the middle of their streets. Mostly, their aim appeared to be chaos, which goal achieved. The humans almost universally responded in one of two ways: they shot the wolves, or they filmed them. A well-placed bullet of any kind could theoretically kill a shifter. Our rapid healing abilities made it hard, though. Interestingly, it was the fact that their guns weren’t effective that made people cry witchcraft, not the transforming from man to wolf in front of a school bus of children.

I recognized several of the wolves from the videos—Virgos. Including Liam, their new alpha. Dick, I thought as I watched him barrel down a sidewalk full of people. Then, I realized the bigger implications.

“Have the Virgos joined Mat?” I asked, directing the question to Birch since it seemed like something he might know.

“Not that we’ve heard. Their new alpha is a proponent of revealing, so not too surprising if they have. What’s left of their pack, anyway,” Birch said.

“Yeah, you don’t know Liam like I do, and I would find it very surprising. Wait. What happened to his pack?”

Birch went all wolf-in-the-headlights. “I thought Ewan told you about the random wolves all wanting to join our pack. A lot of them are Virgos.”

“He did tell me, but I feel like he underplayed the magnitude.” Or maybe I had been too caught up in my grief to appreciate it.

“About a third of their pack is now in these mountains. We estimate another third has defected elsewhere.”

“Why? Liam is the rightful alpha. Isn’t he?”

Usually, the only wolves who switched packs were the daughters of alphas. Single wolf defections were rare and notable enough that we learned about them in school. A mass exodus like this only ever happened when there were two true alpha contenders, and that was really more like a splitting of the pack. So it didn’t make sense for so many Virgos to denounce Liam unless his claim to the top spot was in question.

“It’s murky. You aren’t just any wolf. You’re the Luna, so you killing Jonah Ames carries as much weight as if your brother had. More, really.” Birch fidgeted in his chair, very Birch-like of him. This topic rattled him, and I didn’t understand why.

“So, you’re saying, they recognize me as alpha?”

“No. They recognize you as their Luna because you hold power in your own right. Your bond joins that power to Ewan.”

“Okay. So, they recognize Ewan as their alpha?” I felt like I was back in school trying to puzzle out algebra or something when this really shouldn’t have been so complicated.

Birch shook his head. “Not exactly. They want to pledge loyalty to him. Once they do, then he’ll be their alpha. Like with strays.”

“But your pack calls me Luna because I’m bonded to your alpha.”

Birch looked like he wanted to be anywhere besides in my firing line. “Winter, say something,” he pleaded.

“Don’t drag me into this. Wolf pack dynamics are confusing even without the Luna factor. I don’t even understand fae hierarchies. I mean, I thought we passed our surnames down our maternal lines because I’m a Sable, Mom’s a Sable, my grandmother and great-grandmother are Sables.”

“Isn’t that true?” I asked, confused.

“It is in our family, but not most fae families. And I’m pretty sure Nana Essie started the tradition. I don’t even know my great grandfather’s last name.”

“Fascinating,” I deadpanned, though I actually did find her anecdote interesting. “Back to me. What does it mean that I’m the Luna, you know, for me?”

Winter gestured to Birch with her mug. “You know more about this than I do.”

“Right, but Ewan can’t do anything to you for telling her. Me?” Birch shuddered.

Winter sighed loudly. “Okay. Whatever. According to legend, a true alpha and true Luna will rise and lead the supernaturals into a new dawn and usher in the reign of the wolves.”

I frowned. “What legend is this you speak of?”

“I read it in a book called Coven of Eternals. I checked it out from the library. A lot is in old faerie and hard to translate. There’s an entry about it. Some fae guy went to a fortune teller, and she told him about this reign of wolves. I think it happened in London, but the passage is written in Italian with some faerie mixed in.” Winter nodded vaguely toward Archer’s bedroom. “I have it here. Mom has been helping me with deciphering the writing.”

My gaze shifted to Birch. “And this is the legend the Taurus wolves believe?”

He took a sip of his tea and nodded.

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