Page 63 of Luna's Forgotten Vow

I don't have time to ponder on the fact that I have just killed another person because they come at me, angrier than they had been seconds ago.

Fighting, while keeping Landon strapped to me wasn't part of my training, but adrenaline and fear keep me alert. The glass rips into my palm as I bury it in another's left eye.

They all deserve to die.

Eight. Plus Ruslan. And Mikhail. Ten men. With families waiting for them. They hurt Eric, and by extension, they have hurt Soren. They deserve to die. Painfully. Slowly.

I lose grip of the shard but abandon it, using my fist. It smacks into the face of a man nearly twice my size and my wrist snaps.

The man growls and white-hot pain blooms behind my eyes, the world tilting sideways as I hit the ground hard. My grip on Landon falters for a heartbeat, and that is all they need.

Landon is ripped from my carrier by the leader, and I am still clutching tightly onto air, shrieking and screaming as he steps back with a scowl. "He said not to touch her, you fool."

"She punched me."

I scramble to my feet but the world sways dangerously. Still, I stumble forward, reaching for him desperately. The remaining three block him off, pushing me back. I beg. I apologize. I follow them. Claw at them, rip the fabric off their clothes, swing my fists, kick at their shins until they decide that knocking me out would be the best option.

I don't see the blow coming or remember hitting the ground. But I remember Landon's cries long after, the call between each breathless screech. His call for his mother.

CHAPTER 21

SOREN

The clock ticks too loudly, a reminder of yet another hour gone by without news. I grip my hair tightly, peering into Seraphina's face, distraught.

Even miles away, I felt her fear spike through the mating bond, even before the mind-to-mind with Eric went dead, and finding her became my only purpose.

Still...

I was too late.

My hands scrub at my face. The trail had gone cold when I arrived, and further orders to my men only confirmed the worst. The tracks led them all the way to the Southern borders.

I should've been more careful. I knew Ronan would retaliate, was prepared for it, but it never occurred to me that he would target Seraphina in this manner. She could've died in that explosion. Landon could've died.

A frustrated breath leaves me.

Except he somehow knew which of the vehicles were carrying her and Landon. Which would mean there was a mole in our midst, still.

Fuck, I should've been more careful.

Seraphina cries in her unconscious state, and it feels like my heart is being torn out of my chest as she reaches for the bed beside her, as if to touch Landon. And when it hits the empty mattress, she cries harder.

Unable to watch, I step out, gripping the railing hard enough to dent it. Footsteps echo along the hall and a pale-looking Eric limps over to where I stand. His lips twist in an even worse expression than earlier, when he woke and blamed himself for everything, refusing bedrest, believing himself unworthy of it while Landon remains in the hands of the enemy.

"You should be sleeping the wolfsbane off," I manage, noting the bit of blood staining the bandage over his wound. It won't heal until the wolfsbane is completely out of his system.

He shakes his head, green eyes dark. "Aleksandr returned with news." The single pause feels like an anvil to my chest. "Callahan named Landon his heir."

My eyes shut, the beginning of a headache forming.

The fucker.

It's a declaration of war. Trespassing into his lands to take Landon back will be met with force. And deaths. Too much bloodshed.Gods.

"The men he went with, Kincaid and Zephyr, were shot down. He's given orders that our men be killed at first sight. The patrol around the perimeter has been tripled. There is no way in orout without passes or invitations," Eric says, his face solemn and tired.

My fists clench. While I am not averse to starting another war, it is unwise to move the men all the way to the South, leaving the Pack defenseless. I can see right through Callahan's chess game, and he would expect me to do that.

---