Page 70 of Moonlight and Mischief
I intend to return to my own home, but I finally slow outside of that same damn cabin. It’s silent now, with all the lights dark. Panting, I stand outside of the window of their second bedroom. It’s an art studio with a day bed pushed against the far wall.
Exhaustion strips away the remaining fear, until only sadness lingers. I curl up, white tail over my nose.
Those few hours of sleep do nothing to refresh me. Sunrise curls through the forest. With a shake, I force myself to trot away from Marigold so I can shower and change before getting to work protecting my pack. I’ll be back as soon as I can.
The morning is filled with video surveillance. Additional volunteers need to be trained in using the monitors while our Thetas and Zetas are all busy preparing for the fight we all hope is not coming.
I miss lunch, and perhaps some part of me hopes that Marigold will notice and bring me food. But she doesn’t. Why would she?
“Are you ready to use those drones?” Heath asks.
I glance over my shoulder. The lines of his face seem deeper, as if he hasn’t slept either. “Yes, Alpha.”
“Take Onyx and get going.”
We drive around to the highway north of the Raven Pack. The drone’s range is only about twenty miles, so we pull onto the pack’s accessroad to stretch our reach. Not deep into their territory, still in the border region where we don’t risk offending them.
The drone whirs as it lifts off the ground. I study the screen and navigate it higher as Onyx settles back into his seat and closes the car door.
“I’m sorry about the other night,” Onyx says after a stretch of silent concentration.
Shrugging, I say, “It’s okay, no big deal.”
“You guys get in a fight?”
I grind my teeth, trying to not imagine how upset Marigold is right now, while I’m miles away working to keep her safe. “I’d rather not talk about it right now.”
Onyx looks out the window, respecting my request. “Do you think we’ll find anything? I can’t imagine Ironcrest actually making a move.”
“Oh, they will. I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t think I am. My dad wouldn’t hesitate to invade another pack, and Zephyr is a narcissist.”
We pilot the drones along the border between the two packs, following the coordinates Heath and Slate maintain. Just empty trees. Sweeping back north, we see a lone scout, but it’s not clear which pack he is from.
It’s impossible to tell if the apprehension I feel is from the scout, the overall situation, or my fight with Marigold. Onyx seems unconcerned, so we continue our sweep.
The sun dips lower, but we still have at least an hour of light. I want to pack it up and leave, but Onyx has taken over piloting and he squints at the screen. “What’s that?”
His mouth turns downwards as he slows the drone.
“Shit.”
A dozen wolves weave through the trees, headed directly west. I fumble my phone and type out a warning to Heath and Slate.
Onyx hands me the control and I circle around, trying to stay far enough away that they don’t notice the drone. But as I push further into Ironcrest territory, I see another group of a dozen wolves, and then a third.
“Shit!” I say louder. “If they’re making their move, they’ll follow up with drivers. We need to get out of here.”
Onyx’s eyes widen. He knows as well as I do that if Ironcrest is attacking and they catch us on this access road, we are dead. Pebbles crunch under our tires as he turns the truck and hits the gas.
It’s not until we lurch back onto the highway that either of us breathes. His knuckles are white on the steering wheel as we build up speed. Mile markers zip past.
As we pass the turn-off for Ironcrest’s compound, we see a line of silver and white SUVs. We are safe, but it’s a punch to the gut to know Ironcrest is fully moving against the Raven Pack.
Despite my best efforts, our drone can’t keep up and we lose the connection. It drops into the trees somewhere along Ironcrest’s southern border. Hopefully I can retrieve it in a few days with its tracker, if it’s still in one piece.
Throwing the controller down, I type out messages to Heath, detailing everything we were seeing and answering his rapid questions.
In record time, we pull into Bracken Creek’s dirt lot.
