Page 57 of Eclipse Pack

“The rogues know of the Eclipse Luna’s visit to our pack and may try a kidnap attempt.” He looks at me as though I would be shocked at this news.

“I’m not surprised they would know of the visit, but I’m surprised they would consider a move such as a kidnap. They haven’t won a single skirmish, so how could they possibly hope to penetrate far enough into the pack lands and grab a well-protected visitor? Especially someone like a Luna?” Sitting back in my chair, I steeple my fingers as I give this some thought.

Mind linking with Alpha Bronze, I ask him and Luna Taria to join me in the alpha office. I need to let them know of this potential threat and give them the choice of going back to the Wolfsfoot Pack earlier than planned.

A tap at the door announces Alpha Bronze and Luna Taria’s arrival. Standing to greet them, Beta Earl drags a third chair in front of my desk and we all sit.

“My Beta, Earl, has heard of a possible attempt to kidnap Luna Taria while she is here. It seems that they are desperate for your company, Luna Taria. This would be their second attempt, that we know of,” Lyle shakes his head. “I must apologize that this should happen during your visit here.”

“Alpha Lyle, don’t apologize. I am becoming used to it. I have your dedicated warrior team, and my own excellent team at my disposal and with Alpha Bronze also in attendance with his personal warriors, I don’t see how they could possibly succeed.” Taking a moment to consider the threat, Taria looks at Bronze.“How many warriors do you think they would commit to such a plan?”

“Realistically, they would want to be stealthy, so as few as ten, if they were shadow warrior class. With the level of skill, they seem to display, I would guess there are more likely to be forty. How they would get forty warriors into position, this far into Spirit Walker pack lands, though, is something else entirely.” Alpha Bronze looks at me for my thoughts.

“Honestly, their warrior skills are nothing short of atrocious. I could send a troop of pups and they would come back with Arric as their prisoner.” Luna Taria looks me in the eye and I can see she has a suggestion but is holding back. “You have the look about you that suggests you are the cat that got the cream. What are you thinking, Luna Taria?”

“What if we let their forty warriors enter your lands and attempt the kidnapping? We could kill thirty of them, take ten prisoners and get as much information as we can from them before killing them too? Forty is also a good round number to help diminish his forces.”

Earl looks at Luna Taria as though she has gone mad. Bronze is nodding his head as though he thinks it’s a good idea and I just have to laugh at the serious look on Taria’s face.

“You cannot be serious, Luna Taria? You would suggest that we allow a large force to penetrate the pack lands and hang you out as bait? What are you thinking?” Beat Earl cannot contain himself and is totally aghast at the thought.

“Yes, Beta Earl, I am serious,” Luna Taria tells him. Then Alpha Bronze adds, “I think it’s a brilliant idea. Earl goes out of here and tells everyone that Taria was so full of herself that she thought the idea of a kidnap attempt preposterous. AlphaLyle adjusts his patrol warrior's rota to leave a suitable gap in the defenses and hey-ho. Forty rogues in the bag and all the intelligence gathering you could wish for.”

“I’m not sure I would be so quick to use my Luna as bait, but the plan has merit, I must say.” I look around and only see a negative face on Earl.

“Ha! When you find your mate, you’ll have as much faith in her as I have in mine, I’m sure.” Alpha Bronze looks positively glowing with pride, and I hope he’s right on that score.

“Earl, let’s get on with it. Have Chief Warrior Glen come to the office, and I’ll brief him on the plan. Let it be known that Alpha Bronze and Luna Taria are going home in two days' time. That will speed up their planning and probably encourage more mistakes.”

It takes less than an hour to have everything organized and all we have to do now is sit back and wait for them to take the bait. We use the garden walk as the perfect time to have the kidnap attempt and subtly broadcast the event throughout the pack. The rest of the day passes with some visitor inspections around the various buildings as expected during a state visit by another pack.

Breakfast comes around quickly and once we’ve made a big impression of being up and about, we announce our intention of walking the gardens after lunch, starting at the furthest point from the packhouse, which is our pond. It is closer to the tree line than any other feature and would be the logical choice for an ambush by a large force.

I had my warriors hidden further into the woods last night and they have already reported that rogue warriors have been slipping in since dawn. The trap is ready to be sprung.

Walking towards the pond, it’s difficult not to laugh at the absurdity of the rogue's attempt. My warriors counted fifty rogues and reported that a herd of elephants would have made less noise if they’d been eating from every tree as they went by.

Once we have reached the pond, we wait around so long that we genuinely run out of things to talk about. Luna Taria looks as though she is ready to bolt into the trees and drag them out when finally they make their move. Gamma Wesley and Alpha Bronze immediately stand by Taria while the tornado that is bat warrior Ember goes straight to offense.

I’m fairly certain that my warriors have agreed on a safe zone of fifteen feet from Ember as no one goes anywhere near her or to her aid. As soon as the rogues leave the safety of the trees, she is on them and they don’t last more than a few seconds on their feet.

It is comical to watch as my warriors have formed a wedge or funnel for the rogues as they leave the cover of the trees. Several take on my warriors, but it seems the rest have a death wish and rush at Ember, probably thinking if they can get the bat from her they will be able to take her out.

Putting a halt to the slaughter, I call my warriors to gather the living and escort them back to the packhouse. They can be detained in one of our outbuildings and interrogated at will. At first count, Ember and her bat have accounted for half the attacking force. I can’t help but grin as I watch her clean her bat on the clothes of a dead rogue and then grin at her Luna when Luna Taria cheers.

When Ember approaches me, I can’t deny that I’m not a little disturbed when she asks if she can torture the prisoners! When I point out that we don’t torture our prisoners, she apologizes for her poor choice of words and states that she meant interrogatethem. Giving her my blessing, I think I may have dodged a bat myself there by not having her as a mate of any kind!

When the interrogations are over, it appears that Arric wants Luna Taria so badly because he failed to get Luna Aurora as his Luna, or Queen, as he still insists that he is going to be King of the pack lands.

My suspicions are also confirmed that there are rogue spies in all the packs. What does surprise me, however, is when one of the rogues lets slip that they even have information coming from the Shifter Council. I must inform Flint of that, though we couldn’t confirm if it was the council or the council warriors that were relaying the information.

Chapter 30

BRONZE

Speaking with Alpha Gabe in his office, I can’t help but vent my anger and frustration over this rogue leader, Arric. I refuse to dignify him with a title. Twice now, we have foiled kidnap attempts on Taria.

Who does he think he is, that he can just take any she wolf that he takes a shine to? This time he is trying to take my female. My Luna. My mate. It’s only Taria’s show of complete indifference to the whole thing, and her ability to take care of herself, when needed, that is stopping me from taking a small force and ending this Arric character once and for all.

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