Page 26 of Into the Grasslands

“From what the others have said, Nika left the island a few weeks ago.”

“What the others said? Where were you? Why did you let her go?”

“First of all, even if I had been here, I wouldn’t have the option to let her go or stay. She was Luna to the women here while she remained on the island, and I think she is still Luna to the women of the island who chose to follow her when she left.”

“Where is she and why weren’t you there when she left?”

“I wasn’t able to get to the island until recently.”

“I sent you here to look out for Nika months ago.” The words came out as a growl on the verge of turning angry. “What the hell have you been doing all this time?”

“I’ve been watching, waiting, and trying to figure out a way to cross the lake, since you didn’t think to send me on my guard/spy mission with a raft to get to this cursed place.”

“I didn’t even think of it.”

“Yet, you came prepared for yourselves.”

“That’s different,” I started to argue.

“How so?” She asked. My former Beta warrior swallowed down a petulant sigh as she stared me right in the eye. “Did you think the rejected women got sucked into a portal on one side of the lake and then somehow ended up on the island?”

“I don’t know what I thought. Since you never checked in, I assumed you were with Nika the whole time. If for some reason she left, I also assumed and you would have, at the very least, gone with her when she left.”

“Then how would you get this update about her?”

“Just tell us what you know,” Avery commanded as he cut in to keep us from bickering any further.

Tania turned to my brother and gave a respectful nod before her attention returned to me. Her eyes cast down toward the ground and then back up to mine again. “Since she’s been on the island, there have been several raids.”

“Raids?” The other men who had come with us all glanced at one another, immediately on edge. They did not tie their raft to the rickety dock and instead pulled it further up the shoreline and left it to sit there on dry land.

“Raids. You think respectable male shifters from packs come to get their second chance mate here and otherwise the abandoned women on the island are left alone?”

“What do you mean by second chance mates?”

Tania rolled her eyes at me. “You know as well as I do, once a shifter is rejected by their moon-blessed mate, they are able to have a second chance, chosen mate. In your case, that shouldn’t have been possible for your mate until she was a year beyond your rejection.”

“Shouldn’t have been?”

“If you stop asking a question for every fucking sentence, Tania might be able to convey what’s happened to Nika,” My brother warned.

My temper flared and I wanted to punch him, but had to admit that my second was right. We needed to get to the bottom of what happened.

“She survived all the raids and a few legitimate pack ventures because some of the women who lived on the island over the years have created hiding spots underground. The men still know they are there, but they have no way to get to them because the ones strong enough to force the issue will never fit into those spaces without machinery to get them into it.” There was a look in her eyes that told of something we most likely didn’t want to acknowledge.

“Are there enough spaces for all the women to hide on the island?” Tania shook her head before I could finish getting it out. “So, what happened when the women didn’t want to go?”

Tania shook her head and wouldn’t meet my eyes. “There was nothing I could do against bands of rogues coming together to raid the island. They are how I eventually got onto the island though. One of them left a leaking raft, and I hoped it held long enough for me to get to the other side. Thankfully, it did.” She shuddered and gooseflesh appeared on her arms. “There are things in those waters. The surface is so deceptive. When the raft started to run out of air at the end, I didn’t think I’d make it. As it started to sink, it felt as though something was beneath me, pulling at the raft. The souls of those who have perished here are starved for company.”

“That’s not ominous at all,” one of my men commented as he helped the others pull our other raft free of the water. They inspected the rafts for any possible leaks, but we had sturdier vessels with hard, ribbed bottoms. Hopefully, they continued to hold until we had all the information we needed.

“What happened to my mate?” I asked again.

“She wasn’t taken.” Tania shook her head and smiled. “Actually, Nika went willingly with a pack from the west. There were eighteen men who showed up to seek out potential mates in this place. When many of the women hid out of fear because of the last raid from rogues, the men waited them out. Nika finally came forward and introduced herself.”

“And?” I asked after Tania paused too long.

“Nika mentioned something about how Selene had given her a choice between two moon-blessed mates.”

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