Page 53 of Moonlight and Mischief
I exhale stiffly. “If Zephyr paints Nyx as the aggressor, he has grounds to retaliate. And who knows how far that retaliation could go.”
The entire room goes still. Slate’s dark forest eyes connect with mine, his gaze intense.
“He wants to take over the Raven Pack,” Heath concludes.
Hawthorne curses. “Do we think Granite Ridge supports the plan? Maybe they are working together.”
“That would explain their show of standing apart, so no one would suspect their alliance in the matter,” Hawthorne muses.
“Diffusing suspicion,” I conclude.
“We need to talk with Nyx,” Heath says.
Slate sighs. “If she’ll see us.”
“We’ll head up there if we have to,” Heath answers.
Hawthorne pinches the bridge of his nose. “That will be an uphill battle.”
“Hopefully Marigold’s grandparent’s come through for us, then,” I mutter without thinking. Slate glances at me briefly as I say Marigold’s name. Clearingmy throat, I say, “We need to watch those cameras we installed, and I think we should consider drones.”
“Drones?” Hawthorne echoes, his eyebrows rising. Heath’s mouth turns downwards, but he looks to Slate.
“If we have any evidence to support our suspicions, it’s more than warranted. But ideally, Nyx would agree and we could stay on her side of the border to block anything from happening,” Slate says.
Hawthorne nods. “We really need to talk to her. I’ll see what else I can do.”
Heath looks to Slate. “Set up a special patrol to run the borders along Granite Ridge, Raven, and Ironcrest.” The Beta nods. “Jasper, send me the information on drones. Cost, how long it’ll take to get them up and running, all of that.”
“Yes, Alpha.”
“I’m going to call Cashel and see what he thinks. Let’s check back in the morning, or come find me sooner if you have anything notable.”
With that, we are dismissed. Slate trails after Heath, and Hawthorne claps me on the back as we head toward the door. “That’s clever thinking. I hope you’re wrong, but I suspect you aren’t.”
“Thank you, me too,” I say grimly. We walk together toward the training building, but as he steps through the metal door, I turn south toward my cabin and the gorgeous girl waiting inside.
11. Pickles and Brake Pedals
MARIGOLD
I’ve barely finished cleaning the kitchen when Jasper arrives home from his meeting.
“What have you been doing?”
I spin and take a step back, pressing my back into the edge of the kitchen counter.
“Did you seriously clean while I was gone?”
I scowl at him. “What did you expect? That I’d be lying in bed pining after you the entire time you’re gone?”
He’s all tension and bright aqua eyes as he closes the distance between us, wasting no time as his mouth presses to the spot on myneck that makes me shiver.
“Is this supposed to be a reward or punishment?” I ask, breathy.
Jasper growls, scraping my skin with his teeth. “It’s a hello. If I was rewarding or punishing you, you’d know it.” I could melt into a puddle in the middle of the kitchen from the heat in his eyes.
“Did the meeting go well?” I ask, the words spread out as my brain turns to sludge.
