Page 80 of Rising Luna
It was clear why Valko wanted us to come see.
Lupe had at least thirty wolves with her as she stood just outside of the ten yard line of the territory. Following the people around her, I could see she had many more people than we would have expected wrapping around the property line.
She somehow built a small army.
There weren’t enough of us in the pack to fight off all of them. We would all have to double up to keep them all from getting to Dylan. If Lupe fought us, too, then we needed to have someone just on her. There was too much doubt in me to think Lupe would fight cleanly and not have others flanking her the whole time. And looking at her, I saw her staring at Dylan.
My mate was right. Lupe knew she would come here to keep her pack safe from any attack, and this was where she would wipe out the people who opposed her from this pack and took Dylan for her experiment.
My wolf snarled at that.She won’t touch her! We won’t allow for that!
He was right. I wouldn’t let anyone get close enough to my mate.
Dylan stepped forward and evaded my hand, trying to snatch her back. She walked to the very edge of the porch, and I could feel her power swelling as her anger grew.
“You are an idiot to come here, Lupe! You should have known we wouldn’t let you come here without a fight.”
Lupe stepped forward, and I could see the smirk on her lips from the moon’s light. There was something off about her; it was like she was trying to walk like a human but wasn’t pulling it off. Lupe kept eye contact with Dylan and ignored the three of her mates walking up to stand behind Dylan.
“I’m theidiot? Oh no, Dylan. That title has to go to you. Interesting for you to come here when you know I am searching for the most powerful Shadowborn to complete my revolution.” Her eyes panned over to where Silas stood, and her smirk turned into a smile. “Silas’s mating to you means you now fit the bill.”
We all growled in Lupe’s direction, but she didn’t seem to care.
“Hmm. I guess love can conquer all. I’m assuming that is how you broke my hold on him.”
“He was mine, Lupe. How you thought I would let you take him from me was your mistake.”
“Maybe, but you also stepped right into what I wanted you to do. You’d think you would just hand yourself over instead of allowing everyone here to take the fall for you.”
What did that mean? Lupe couldn’t be seriously thinking Dylan would hand herself over to her. Dylan would rather die than be the reason our entire race suffered. It was a prominent reason I believed she should be queen among our people. Shemay appear heartless and cold, but deep down, it was all a mask. Dylan wouldn’t let anyone die for her, or because of her, if she had a choice in the matter. Handing herself over would mean the end to werewolves. Once the Monarch heard about Lupe taking out his people, he would come down hard on her, but Dylan would rather take out the problem than leave it up to someone else.
This was our mess for not killing Lupe sooner. We wanted to wait to have the evidence to bring to the rest of the council, but in reality, we should have just taken care of the problem.
“Are you trying to strike a deal? Seriously? Go fuck yourself.” Humor rang through the bond, and I couldn’t stop my mate from saying what she said next even if I tried. “Oh yeah, looks like you will have to since your mate would never want you back.”
Yeah. Dylan went there.
Lupe’s face grew red with rage, but somehow simmered down and collected herself before she exploded. “Weak men are not what I’m after.”
“Louve! Stop this!”
Teowulf pushed us out of the way and stepped down onto the grass to get Lupe’s attention. The man was stupid to think he would get his mate to back down when she had taken a big leap into the dark side, but if love could conquer all, this would be the moment for us to see that.
“A revolution is coming, dear. You are on the side of change or on the side to keep our wolves suppressed. I am disappointed to see you are on the side of suppression. It was a mistake to trust you for all those years. I should have rejected the bond when you first told me our kind was already perfect the way we were.”
My eyebrows raised at hearing Lupe talk to Teowulf like that. I witnessed no one say anything like that to the man becauseof how scary he could be. Yet Lupe thought it would be a good thing to tell him he was a disappointing mate?
Teowulf roared, and I could feel the anguish of the cry I heard mixed in. Dylan took a step toward Teowulf, and Silas caught her before she did and yanked her back against his chest. She squirmed to get away, but he kept her locked in his embrace.
Lupe cracked her neck on both sides and rolled her shoulder before Teowulf took off toward his ex-mate. We watched in horror as Lupe lifted her hand in the air, and with a snap of her fingers, the army charged forward.
The battle was on.
Chapter Twenty-Seven: Dylan
Silas threw me back into the house when Lupe’s fingers snapped. Hunter and Jackson blocked the door to keep me from coming out, and Sera came up from behind me with panic in her eyes. Sera had only been in little fights her whole life, like sparring matches for training. This was all unfamiliar territory for her. The terror I could smell on her triggered my wolf to come to the surface, and I itched to shift to take Lupe on.
Hunter turned to face me and shook his head. “Let us get the numbers down. Teowulf is going after Lupe. If he loses, you are our only hope of taking her out.”
