Page 36 of Stargazer

Placing his beer on the railing, he folded his arms but made himself comfortable, his disposition indolent and bored. “Look, we’re here to make a treaty of sorts. So calm your farm, Birdy.”

That earned him more than a few glares, including from myself. He really didn’t make things easy for us. But he was here and trying so I had to give him that at least. Literally in the wolf's den.

River cleared his throat, causing our attention to snap back to him. “We are grateful and appreciate all the help we can get. You’ll get no resistance from my pack.” The last sentence was said with the aura of his Alpha tone, forcing the command into his wolves so they knew to obey. They all nodded their heads in submission, including Raven.

Zander looked to Griffin and I, and then back to his Alpha. “Alright, so what’s the plan?” His tone was deep and serious and very not-Zander like. I always wondered how he was ever serious and seeing it in action was as disconcerting as I’d imagined.

Griffin was the first to reply. “The Knights need as much information as possible to come up with a plan of attack on the rogues, but more than that, we need to figure out what their motive is while we all collectively defend the humans and the innocent packs. We’ve made a good start today and I’m sure the information will be critical in our efforts.”

“Yes,” River agreed. “We’ll make arrangements to send out as many wolves as possible to the surrounding territories. Packs can turn on each other in an instant. We need allies, so it’s important that we start reaching out and working together. Axel, Aubrey, Raven, Blaze and Tanner will act as our main messengers. Bear, Zander and I can rotate out when needed, making sure either Zander or myself are here at all times and all three of us are around closer to the full moons.”

A low growl came out of Bear, draped across a lounge deck with Blaze. Presumably at the mention of his mate needing to leave without him. She patted his chest comfortingly.

The Alpha turned towards the large, intimidating wolf. “Bear, buddy, we’ll need your hunting skills around here as much as possible. You’re invaluable. But I need Blaze out in the field. I’ll do my best to make sure you’re not separated for long.”

A gruff sounded in response and confirmation. River didn’t even need to use his commanding aura this time. They talked things through like a family and had a compassionate Alpha that heard and considered their concerns. As a result, his wolves respected his decisions.

Satisfied, Riv continued, “I’ll see if some of the older wolves can aid in visiting other packs too, as I’d prefer none of my wolves to go alone. We need Sage around. I can’t sacrifice a healer being gone, especially if I’m not always around. At that rate, it will take us a few months to reach most, if not all the packs, and sort out an alliance. In the meantime, we’ll continue to gather and feed the Knights information so we can move to attack and not defence.”

“That will work,” Griff nodded, his face grave and serious.

“In terms of healing, we can probably see if the compound has any alchemy solutions that might help,” I offered.

Riv smiled warmly at me, his eyes full of pride and gratitude. “That would be amazing, Vee. Thank you.”

“Of course,” I smiled back as he brought around a tray of food, filling my plate before offering it to Griffin and then passing it down the line so everyone else could dig in.

As soon as the tray was out of his hands, his gaze returned to mine and I blushed at the adoring look on his face.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Griffin turn towards me, gaze locked on the side of my face—which I pointedly ignored, keeping my attention on the wolf who continued to stare lovingly at me.

After years of knowing him, I could tell what River was thinking: that I was handling myself surprisingly well and that he was proud, and probably a little guilty that he hadn’t involved me in plans in the past. But despite that flicker of guilt that I knew plagued him, I could see that my presence here—my help—had him in high spirits.

The emotion on his face was contagious. I could feel it suffusing through me, giving me all the happy brain chemicals. A much-needed reprieve from all the stress and anxiety I had been feeling recently. And I was grateful for the relief, even just for a moment.

Realising we weren’t alone, River cleared his throat and changed the subject. “We have faced these rogues a few times now, it might also be a good idea to train together whenever possible,” he suggested, not tearing his eyes off me.

Griffin’s face snapped back to the Alpha just in time to witness the pleased smile gracing River’s face. I could only guess the thought of the two of us training together was the reason behind it.

Before Griffin could mutter something unnecessary or decline, I jumped in.

“Yes, I think that would be a great idea. All us Knights will need to keep up our training while here, so whichever ones are not on duty could cycle through and train with any of the wolves that are available.” Riv nodded, even as I asked, “Is there anywhere on the property we can set up a bit of a base for training, even when the wolves might be occupied?”

“Of course.” He didn’t even take a moment to think about it, gesturing to the expanse of space past the decking. “The back of the property where we hold the bonfires can be used whenever the Knights need. There’s more than enough space to set up a few training activities and whoever needs it, Knights or wolves, will be free to use it whenever they want.”

The more sceptical wolves looked back at River with surprise clear on their faces. Zander held a hint of annoyance, which he then directed towards Griffin.

Turning to the hunter beside me, checking to see if he was appalled by the idea of it all, I saw him return Zander’s glare with a full, devilish smirk.

Zan flipped him off before hastily digging into his food.

“Oh, this will be fun,” Griff announced, almost salivating at the idea of getting physical with the wolves, even just for practice.

For a moment, I wondered if I’d made a huge mistake.

CHAPTER 13

VENUS

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