Page 52 of Pack Captive

My pack needed this.

I opened my eyes and focused on the shining moons underfoot as I crossed the bridge, taking care to ensure I planted each step as firmly as possible.

Thankfully, the wind didn't grow any stronger. The bridge ended on solid ground. The roar of the waterfall next to it nearly drowned out the maid's next words.

"The Lykos Temple of the Moon," she said, gesturing past the waterfall and river. "Good luck."

With that, she turned and left me. I stared at my new training grounds.

The plateau was as lush as the gardens below around the Dawn Palace, with weeping willows obscuring thickets of purple and white flowers. Several of the trees were leaning towards the edge of the drop-off, their leaves swaying in the wind.

A white gravel path cut through the vegetation, with several smaller bridges spanning the river. But the temple itself was nestled towards the back, butting up against the wall surrounding Lykos.

It was beautiful, made of the same marble as the palace and topped with a white dome. I hurried down the path and over the river, and found myself in a large stone courtyard surrounded by carved columns.

More moons had been inscribed on the stone here, glittering with gold this time.

"This is where we hold the lunar rites," a voice said. A harsh but feminine voice.

I whirled around and found the Elder Caller standing by one of the columns, leaning on a polished walking stick as she surveyed me.

She wore the golden robes that declared her status, but she was so quiet and still I hadn't even noticed her.

She looked every bit as disapproving as she had the night before. I found myself self-consciously smoothing out my dress.

"It's very beautiful," I said, groping for a compliment that would maybe thaw her out a little.

Beautiful was actually an understatement. My temple back home had been so small and cramped, and I'd conducted the lunar rites outside, in a circle I'd swept free of pine needles and debris.

I almost couldn't imagine walking on the golden moons here with my bare feet.

The Elder Caller said nothing, increasing the feeling that I'd said something wrong. She just looked me up and down, her bright blue eyes narrowed. They were practically slits by the time they landed on the bracelet shackled around my ankle.

There was something familiar about those eyes, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

"So, this is the raw material they give to me to work with." She descended one of the steps, those searing eyes coming back up to fix on my face. "A selfish, spoiled ingrate."

I felt like I'd been punched in the stomach. Each one of her words was a barb that struck precisely where it was meant to hurt. "What—"

"A Caller so insulated from her own kind she doesn't even know her own tenets." The Elder's lips were twisted down in a frown. "What did they teach you in that valley of yours? The pack Alpha tells me you were shackled and tied to keep you from running away. Who were you going to run to? Fenris?"

Red spots burned on my cheekbones as I remembered my idiotic plan out in the wastelands.

If I'd gotten the ropes loose, if the shadow wolf hadn't sneaked up on me, would I really have run?

Would I have left my pack behind?

I knew that I might've tried.

"The fact that they didn't even give me a choice to—" I started to say, but the Elder waved her hand dismissively.

"There are no choices left, selfish child. You might not like our ways, but they are the ways that keep us all alive."

She circled me again, her walking stick clacking on the ground like an accusatory punctuation to her words.

"You would've been torn apart within hours. Fenris is not the only enemy out there." She circled to my front, leering up at me. "Pack Atrox is in league with Fenris. They roam the wastelands looking for stray wolves to eat. I suppose if not for my son, you and your pups would've ended up in a stew pot."

I swallowed hard, feeling sick.

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