Page 10 of Bound By the Moon

“Again, you’re right. I have to remember things aredifferent for you all around.”

“Well, Mikael did warn you earlier.” Averyinterjected.

“Mikael warned you how exactly?”

“Well, he stopped by earlier to let me know that ifI kept withholding information from you I was going to face yourwrath sooner or later. He also let me know what your thoughts areon everything. They are very much in line with what we’ve beendiscussing.”

“Which means you need to seriously stopunderestimating me. I’m not in the dark. I can put two and twotogether. So, what have you guys come up with in here?”

Apparently, they were toying with the idea of usingsome of the female guards as decoys, but they weren’t sure if therisk would be worth the payout in the end. “My worry is that wewon’t have enough people there to cover. Tamara said there werethree dark ones, and the bite wounds on her neck proved that.”

“Did Tamara ever say why she wasn’t taken all theway to the place she heard them discussing?”

“Yeah, she did. They saw her hand, and knew shewasn’t the one they were looking for.”

“What’s wrong with her hand? I didn’t notice theother day.”

“She’s short two fingers on her left hand. They gotcaught in some machinery, when she was playing around at the millas a child. She hadn’t turned yet, so she didn’t have access to ourhealing capabilities.”

“Oh. I didn’t notice.”

“She wears a prosthetic sometimes so that shedoesn’t stand out.” Avery gave my father a quizzical look then.“She’s a lot like my daughter here, and doesn’t want to beassociated with any perceived weakness by the pack.”

I smiled at that. “I totally get that.” I turned toAvery then. “I need to see Serena before you guys go. Do you haveany idea where she ran off to?”

“Yes, she went to see one of the women in your packwho dabbles in herbs. She needed a few things before we head back.We lost our herbalist a few years back and no one has taken herplace yet. The younger pups think it’s an old person’s roll. Theyall want the action and drama jobs when they’re young.” He laughedat that. “I know I did too.”

As if she sensed that someone needed her, Serenaopened the door to my father’s office and stepped inside. “Oh good,Evan told me he left you here.” She spoke directly to me, as ifthere was no one else in the room. “I was able to get a hold ofGwyn, but she refused to come here.”

“What? Why?”

“There are too many dark ones around these days. Herdaughter, Samantha, had not reached maturity yet. She would be easypickings for those monsters. Gwyn actually moved a bit further awaythan she was before, because their numbers in our area were growingsteadily for a while.” She turned to the two men in the room then.“That’s something to note. When my sister is willing to uproot herfamily and move, we have a bigger problem than just a few roguedark ones.” Serena turned back to me then. “I can get Evan andNatalia to her, but that is the best I can do. My sister will sendupdates, but she says she will not take them against theirwill.”

“Did they both agree to go?” I asked, thinking thatI already knew the answer.

“Of course they did. Natalia is a smart girl. Shewants to hone her skills, not be trapped by them.”

“Good for her. I hope Gwyn can help her.”

***

INTO THE DARKNESS

Not too long after we finished our meeting, we sawNatalia and Evan off with Serena. Avery wasn’t too happy aboutsending them without security escorts, but Serena reminded him thatshe’d been around for a very long time and there was a reason forthat longevity.

“I heard you chewed your dad and Avery out today.”Mikael whispered in my ear as we watched his brother and the twowomen pull away in Evan’s car.

“How did you hear about that?”

“The guards outside the house heard you yelling allthe way outside.” I looked up at him then, and noticed how he wastrying to contain his laughter.

“No way.”

He failed at containing it after all, laughing for afew steady minutes before he could actually get any words out.

“I’m glad you find my fight for equality soamusing.”

“It’s not that. The guards didn’t tell me, mybrother did.”

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