Page 43 of Luna Ascending

Chapter Thirty-Three

Aaron's POV

Watching Freya stand up and claim her place in a very dangerous fight, in an even more fucking dangerous war is brilliant, and terrifying. I'm so so proud of her, and I want to ban her from coming entirely.

My wolf's in full panic mode for her safety, to the point I briefly consider locking her in my room, and dealing with her wrath later. The idea of handcuffing her to my bed is distinctly attractive... Of course, my fiery haired witch wouldn't stand for being left behind.

This powerful, enthusiastic version of Freya is so unbelievably sexy that if he can't forcibly keep her safe, the next thing my wolf wants to do is claim her. Even as a full blooded alpha I can't help but marvel at this woman's tenacity. She is without a doubt my match. So, she's coming, end of story. Although, I might have to come back to the idea of her in handcuffs later...

The pack arrives en-mass in the woods below the bothy, our cars and bikes left a few miles away. The last stretch will be on foot, under the cover of darkness, in the hope of surprising the Coven.

I give Lyell help setting up his kit. As our resident tech whizz he's going to operate from here, keeping as far away as possible from the main fight. Lyell's strong, but as a grizzly he's bloody slow over long distances, and small tight spaces put him at a huge disadvantage. We can't risk him slowing up our approach, or him being attacked – he's vital to the plan.

Aurora has temporarily given up her teenage sulk and elbowed her way into being Lyell's sidekick for the day. Lyell is a man-mountain, and mostly unapproachable. He was fucking furious initially when I suggested that Aurora would help him, raging he was being left with both a complex job and babysitting duties. As soon as Aurora herself turned up however, he calmed right down.

My wolf-less seventeen year old little sister seems entirely unafraid of the tough, scarred looking man, nearly twice her age.

I was pleased initially, but now he seems far too interested in her for my liking. I keep catching him watching her intently, hanging on her words like a puppy. He even manages to look contrite when she tells him off for forgetting she can't mind link. Contrite? Lyell??! What the hell am I witnessing?

The issue is bigger than I'd considered. We're going in with all comms off, using mind-links only. With Aurora unable to communicate, she'll have to rely on Lyell to pass messages on.

Now that he looks like a horny hound dog, the idea of the grizzly and my baby sister spending a lot of time in close proximity makes my hackles rise. Not just that; Lyell is distinctly distracted by her. Things could all go tits up if he isn't paying attention. I've never had cause to doubt him before, but I feel distinctly uneasy about this.

I mention my foreboding to Freya, wondering if she could perhaps stay back with them. It would solve several problems – keep Lyell on track and Auroa safe, and although I don't mention it, keep Freya away from the main battle.

Freya's scathing reaction is like a physical burn. She is not, much to my mounting annoyance, going to sit behind the lines and be protected while acting like a chaperone. My mate is fabulous, but incredibly, incredibly frustrating when it comes to her desire to throw herself into the middle of things when she doesn't know the first thing about how to look after herself.

My wolf reminds me of all the witches with their throats torn out the night she first shifted, and I have to back down. Maybe she knows the odd thing about fighting. Who's fucking side is my wolf on anyway?!

Freya and Tavey have a plan, something they've been working on for Aurora. They've fashioned a spell to create something similar to a mind-link. They can't link Aurora to the whole pack but manage to link her to each of them and, to my annoyance, to Lyell.

Aurora's face lights up, and from the reaction of the others, she must have started prattling full tilt on their link. I huff away, feeling a little excluded.

I guess though, if I take this feeling of exclusion and multiply it a hundred fold I might get close to what Aurora has been feeling these past months. I've been side-lining my little sister's troubles when she needed me, and the realisation hits me like a gut punch.

I need to up my alpha game. If I'm going to take over duties from my father, I need to prioritise shit like this. It's all very well taking command of the attack tonight, but being alpha is far more than being a battalion commander. I have to look after my pack, all of them. My own sister should be a fucking priority.

As the last of the weak winter sunshine fades over the tops of the heather I command the pack to spread out around the hillside. We wait for full darkness to settle and I check in with Lyell – the enemy haven't moved from their stations. There's been no switch up to the routine the scouts observed last night.

It's time.

On my signal the pack throw themselves, belly-low to the ground, up the hill. The cloud cover is on our side, making our dark forms virtually invisible as we flit across the hillside towards the bothy. We have to take out the security guards silently, or we stand no chance of reaching the building before they raise the alarm.

Aiming for the guard closest to me, I leap at his throat and bring him down with barely a sound. Wrenching his head sideways I feel a satisfying crack and he twitches twice before lying still. I don't love killing the way some shifters do; I do what it takes to protect my pack. This time I admit, cringing to myself, it really did feel deliciously good. The two other guards are brought down by Tavey and Angus in slick, silent kills – everything is going well so far.

Lyell is watching his heat-map closely and reassures me that no-one has made any unexpected moves. We're safe, but only for the moment – the guards usually radio in their update on the hour. Lyell has only fifteen minutes to hack the dead security guard's tag and let us to sneak through the next hurdle – an alarmed electronic perimeter 10 meters from the building.

Every fucking meter we can get closer, without our enemies being aware, is significantly safer for my wolves, and less risk for the hostages. Fuck knows what the Coven will do to them if they realise we're coming. I strongly suspect the hostages are expendable, but I can't say that to Tavey.

Just to add to the tension of the moment Rennard fucking reappears. I should be glad of the extra pair of hands but this man just plain up annoys me, on all levels. He won't stop bitching about being unjustly set on. I send him off to lead the group on the right flank, just to get him the hell out of my hair. Something about him always sets my teeth on edge.

We creep forward as far as we can without disturbing the perimeter. From here I can just about see all of the bothy. Slow tendrils of smoke curl up into the crisp night air from two guards standing outside having a quiet cigarette. They're so close I can smell the sweat and grime emanating from them.

The guards are human thankfully, shifters at this range would have sensed us already. They stroll around the bothy, away from the doorway. I feel my wolf grumble. I'd have liked to dispatch them myself but they're moving towards Rennard's team on the right flank. If they stay over there, I'll have to leave them to that arsehole to deal with.

Lyell's frustration with the security system is radiating down the pack-link. The bear is a tech whizz, but after everything going smoothly with no casualties so far, the success of the mission now rests on his ability to disable the alarm. Tavey fidgets beside me, and our link starts to vibrate with impatience. Everyone is on edge.

The smoking guards have wandered even closer to Rennard's group when I finally hear Lyell give a triumphant snort and declare he's nearly done. Thank fuck... we might get really close to the building before they realise what's happening. The chance of the Coven letting any hostages live if they get the head's up on our arrival is slim.

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