Page List

Font Size:

“Lionel?” Flora asks in surprise.

“Alpha, Luna!” he yells, clear panic in his voice.

Elden must have gotten some information through the mind link already because he jumps up on his feet, his expression, one of worry. “What’s happened!?” he roars.

“I’m not sure,” Lionel hurries to explain. “But Tori and one of our friends from Moon Blood were knocked unconscious.”

“What?” I jump up, dread filling me. One of the girls from my pack? I try to go through the names of girls at the bonfire today. A whole bunch are here. Damn!

Elden stares at him, eyes darkening. “Explain,” he commands. “What happened? Who was attacked? And how?”

Out of nowhere, I can see Brian approaching us. His normally happy expression is replaced with a deadly serious one. “Alpha Celine,” he starts without further ado. “It’s Jazz. She and the other girl were hit with a blunt object. They are both in the infirmary right now. They haven’t woken up yet.”

Flora’s eyes widen in shock. “Goddess, what!?” she whispers.

“That’s not all,” Lionel blurts out, waving at us with both hands and clearly panicked. “Two girls are missing. Terry and I can’t find them anywhere. They should have been with the others! Aurelia and Nox are searching for them now. There was trouble earlier too. Goddess, I hope it wasn’t the same assholes from before,” Lionel starts muttering to himself as he paces back and forth, pulling at his hair in obvious confusion and frustration.

Flora approaches Lionel and places her hands on his shoulders; she squeezes and gives him a sympathetic smile. He’s taller than she is, but she manages to calm him down. It’s amazing how these lunas always manage to slip into their supportive role, it’s like they give off a calming aura. Annie is like that too. The rest of us tend to charge into things headfirst. I know that Elden is probably so pissed he would have yelled at Lionel to spit out what he knows instead of trying to calm him. “Lion, you’re not making any sense, dear. What happened? And who is missing? Start from the beginning, alright?”

He nods, taking a deep breath. “My group was meeting with Jazz, Val, and Marilou for the party. Marilou is a girl from Red Claw.”

“Valerie?” I ask in shock and exchange a glance with Harmony. Did something happen to her?

“We were having fun, but at one point, some creepy dudes hit on Val. Nox and I chased them away, but Aurelia felt something was off about them and went to look for them to make sure they left pack grounds.”

Elden nods, most likely on par with his daughter’s decision.

“The girls started feeling sick after a while and headed to the restroom. When they didn’t return, Terry and I began to worry and went looking for them. We found Jazz and Tori knocked out. Marilou and Val are missing.” He pauses. “This is my fault!” he blurts out. “I shouldn’t have let them go to the restroom on their own.”

“They were four girls together. Four.” Flora says soothingly. “This is not your fault. No one could have imagined that someone would attack a whole group.”

“I agree!” Elden paces up and down, his expression angry. “No one could have predicted such an inconceivable attack. Do we know how they managed it?”

I let Lionel’s words go through my mind before I look at him inquiringly, “They all felt sick at the same time?”

“I promise they didn’t drink too much,” he blurts out, slight panic in his voice. “Jazz wasn’t sick, just tired, but the other three felt really unwell. But honestly, we were with them all night, and no one drank that much.”

“That’s not what I was implying,” I say, frowning deeply at my own thoughts.

Harmony looks at me in understanding. “That’s too much of a coincidence.”

“Jazz is a beta she-wolf, and she’s pretty strong. Her body could probably handle it better…”

“What do you mean?” Elden wants to know.

“Someone probably put drugs in their drinks,” I point out. I try to will my anger down so I can think rationally. “There’s no way they’d have all gotten sick at exactly the same time. They must have eaten or drunk something…”

Brian looks at Elden. “Elden, Valerie was very sick growing up. I’m scared her body might not handle drugs well.”

Elden takes charge instantly. “Alright. Brian, would you go to the infirmary and tell me when the girls there wake up?”

Brian nods. “Of course.” He hurries off instantly. Having him with the girls sets my mind at ease. Jazz knows him; she will feel safe with him around.

“Vincent, gather our trackers and search the pack grounds for the girls’ scents. This doesn’t sound particularly well planned; they have to be around here somewhere.”

“Elias can help,” I throw in.

“The more, the better,” Elden agrees. “Lionel, you’ve seen these guys? You know what they look like?”