Page 78 of Hunter Moon

“Lin’s not going out there alone,” he said softly.

The pack alpha in question hovered by his desk on the far side of the clinic with a frown on his face as I glanced between them.

“Well, no,” I admitted. Linden couldn’t go alone.

Not because he was alpha, or even because of how heartbroken Aspen would be if he came back only to lose his brother before they got to reconnect, but because Linden was my friend—had been my friend first, before he’d been anything else.

“We could just... not engage,” I offered, knowing even as I said it that two alphas would always want to deal with a problem in front of them, especially alphas like the Groves, who felt responsible for the whole damn world.

Linden only pressed his lips together until they went thin and pale.

Aspen sighed, reaching up to press his hand over mine, trapped against his chest like the old oath. Only, this time he wasn’t making a promise to me; he was just speaking the truth.

“If we let the Reids set the rules, they’ll find a way to push at our weak spots until something snaps. We have to let them know there’s risk here. For them.”

“Show strength,” Linden echoed, though the very idea of it dragged down his sweater-swathed shoulders.

“You already killed their alpha. How much more strength do you need to show?” My voice sounded pitiful and plaintive, like I’d already admitted defeat.

In the end, I didn’t need them to say another word. They were, as always, trying to do the right thing.

I turned my hand over, squeezing Aspen’s fingers tight. “Fine,” I huffed before either of them could try to convince me further. “But if you’re facing the Reids, I’m coming.”

“Brook—” Aspen started to protest.

I cut him off with a look. “If you get to face down my monsters, so do I. I appreciate you wanting to protect me, but I need you to see how much worse it’d be for me, sitting back here alone, waiting to find out what happened.”

Aspen sucked in his cheeks, hollowing the hard planes of his face. His fingers flexed, and I felt the vibration of a low growl under my palm.

It took him a few seconds, but finally, he swallowed down his frustration and nodded. “Stay close to me. If things go sideways, don’t be afraid to run.”

I nodded, but when I caught Linden’s eyes, he seemed to understand better than Aspen—there was no running from this anymore. Not for me.

There was nothing left to do but plant myself at his side and work with my mate to defend our pack, because no matter what, Aspen wasn’t in this alone.

If I had my way, he’d never feel alone or adrift again. Neither one of us would.

* * *

The Groves were a stable,healthy pack. I had to think that’d matter when coming up against the feral, dangerous Reids, even if we were pretending this was all diplomacy.

Why, then, was Zeke taking up the rear, growling curses under his breath? Why was Birch Wilson in clothes splattered with paint from his elementary school classes—clothes he clearly wouldn’t care if he shredded to pieces when he shifted on the spot.

When Linden had killed Maxim Reid in the middle of downtown Grovetown, I hadn’t felt a rush of relief that things would get better, that the specters that haunted me would disappear.

Instead, I’d felt sick, a sharp bile sting deep in my gut that made sure I knew it wasn’t over. The scars might’ve healed, but there were wounds Reid had dealt me that would never scab over.

Months later, I wasn’t hanging on to all that doom and gloom, but a cold sweat on the back of my neck made me shiver in the late October air.

Aspen pressed himself against my side, his arm coming up to wrap around my shoulders and drag me against the warmth of his body.

Maxim had died, and I hadn’t felt relief, exactly, but I’d had some hope that I’d be left alone. After all, his son had been the one who’d helped me escape that dingy, nightmare house. If he became alpha, well—at the very least, pack relations might improve.

Even then, trapped as I’d been, something about Dante Reid had struck me as brittle. He was too young to be alpha, too harried and awkward and, thinking back on it now, it was like he’d been starving for something. Still, I’d hoped it would be him to take the place of Alpha Reid, because I needed to believe there was an end to all this.

I should have known better than to think it’d be that easy, but as we came to a stop across the wooded clearing from the Reid pack enforcers, my eyes still scanned them for any sign of him. He’d been an ally. Maybe he could help now.

But there was nothing—not that I’d recognize him shifted, and there were plenty of wolves in that clearing. Already, there was a metallic scent to the air, like the ground was just waiting to soak up spilled blood.

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