Page 34 of Luna: Posy 2

His smug tone made me look down to see he'd thrown paper while Ash and I had both thrown rock, and Ash and I groaned in defeat.

I could tell that Ash didn't like it any more than I did, but we had a long-standing agreement that Rock-Paper-Scissors results were indisputable.

#

Ash

Beta Gisela and Ranger returned a few minutes before midnight and filled us in on the last bits of information they'd gathered on their way out of Tall Pines territory.

From what Gisela could see through the windows, the shifters in the dining hall were not in good shape. We'd specifically asked her to look for the little girl and the pregnant woman that Julio had told us about.

"There was a pup who was pale and limp in her mother's arms," she reported. "She didn't look good, to be honest, so that might have been her. And I only saw one pregnant woman. She seemed okay. She might not be able to move fast, but at least she wasn't in labor."

"Good thing we brought the supplies," I said, gesturing to the huge backpacks waiting for Mase, Ranger, and Gisela.

They planned to hit the dining hall first and hand out enough food and medical supplies to get everyone stable enough to move, then one of them would lead them back here to safety.

The other two would repeat the process at the prison.

Once the Tall Pines shifters were here, the king would break their bond with Halder so that he wouldn't be able to link or command them.

Luke had made a roster of all the Tall Pines pack members. If he hadn't missed anyone, the shifters in the dining hall, plus those we had captured at Five Fangs, added to the number we believed to be in the cells would equal about sixty wolves unaccounted for.

Of that number, Julio had estimated forty were loyal to Halder without coercion.

Wolves whose end would come under our fangs. Sid was especially looking forward to killing any of them who had hurt pups.

King Julian gave Mase the last of Ariel's amulets, and we wished them happy hunting.

"Don't make me tell Posy that you got injured," I told Mase as I gave him a bro hug.

"Wouldn't dream of it," he snorted and clapped me on the shoulder.

Then the three of them headed off, and the rest of us sacked out to catch a power nap while our wolves held the watch. By that time, I could hardly keep my eyes open, but took a second to check on our girl.

Throughout the day, we'd been picking up on Posy's emotions. While we had loads of experience as alphas with keeping things out of a bond, it was all brand-new to her. We didn't mind, though, because it made us feel connected to her while we were so far apart.

There were a couple of times something caught our attention, but when we linked her, she said everything was okay. And the betas gave us a report every hour until she linked us to say good night right around the time we were settling in here.

Now, I held back sleep to sink into the mate bond, where I found the gentle rhythm of her breathing and steady heartbeat. The comforting sounds lulled me and, smiling, I took them with me into the darkness.

#

Mason

"You smell that, Mase?" Ranger asked.

While Gisela led the dining hall wolves back to the motel, Ranger and I tackled the prison. It was a rectangular block building with one hallway going straight down the center and doors on either side. We'd found only two guards that we'd knocked out, not wanting to risk Halder feeling their deaths through the pack bond.

After dragging their bodies inside the prison, we propped them up in a corner by the door and searched them, smirking at each other when I found a ring of keys.

Now, as we approached the first cell door, Ranger was insisting that he smelled something unusual.

"I smell body odor, urine, vomit, and blood," I told him. "How can you smell anything else over that fugly fume?"

"How can younot? It's so strong, and it's making Coal crazy."

I had an inkling of what was happening and grinned despite the circumstances.

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