Page 43 of Moonlit Nights & Northern Lights
“That’s not possible,” Kit stated.
“That’s… definitely possible,” Felix mumbled. “Give it to me.”
Kit stared at his brother. The silence stretched between them, taut and uncomfortable. Finally, Kit exhaled heavily through his nose, his shoulders slumping in defeat.
“Fine,” he spat, pulling his phone from his pocket. He unlocked it with a series of rapid taps before handing it to Felix, expression pained, like someone submitting to an invasive medical procedure.
Felix’s fingers flew across the screen. “Got it,” he announced, immediately connecting Kit’s phone to his laptop.
The projector screen flickered before displaying an email. The sender line read “Alexander Thorne,” with the subject line “Pack Gathering - Attendance Request - Please Read.”
The room fell silent as we all read the message that appeared on screen.
Dear Nephew,
I trust this message finds you well, though I suspect my name in your inbox comes as something of a surprise after all this time.
Know that there are still members amongst the pack who miss both you and Rory greatly.
I write to formally invite you both to attend our Spring Equinox Gathering next Friday. Your mother specifically requested your presence, as there are important pack matters that require the attendance of allThornes by blood. Many other packs will be in attendance—for the Equinox falls on a full moon. It will be the first such gathering in nearly two decades.
I understand there have been “difficulties” in the past, but family obligations transcend personal grievances. Alpha Edina has declared this a mandatory summons for all pack members, regardless of current standing.
You’d be welcome to stay within the estate in the days leading up to the event. Should you decide to attend or not, my door remains open to you both, as it always has been.
Please confirm your attendance by Wednesday.
Your faithful uncle,
Alexander Thorne
“Mandatory summons,” seethed Kit. “Like she can wave her wand and have us magically appear. I wish Alex had told her where to stick her invitation.”
“I need to go to Scotland,” Rory said, his voice unnervingly steady as he stared directly at Kit, chin tilted upward in defiance.
“But… how do we know for sure all this is connected to Dev?” asked Priya.
Rory’s arm flew towards the screen. “Really? Dev goes missing, and his phone just happens to ping back to life for a few minutes right by pack land? It’s too much of a coincidence, Pri. Come on.” He looked to Kit. “We have to go.”
Kit’s face drained of colour. “I… can’t,” he whispered, deep remorse etched into every line of his face. His hands were trembling slightly at his sides, a sight so disconcerting I found myself shifting uncomfortably in my chair. “I can’t do that. I’m sorry, Rory. But I can’t.”
“But—”
“You shouldn’t go either,” Kit interrupted, voice unsteady. “It isn’t safe.”
Rory’s jaw set in his special stubborn way. “I’ll go alone, then.”
The room erupted into chaos. Priya immediately protested that Rory couldn’t possibly go alone, while Flynn suggested that he’d happilyaccompany him, only to be roared at by Seb. Felix resumed his frantic typing that I suspected was merely pretense. Eventually Sebastián shouted over all of them that he needed everyone else here in London, that they couldn’t spare a single person with everything else happening.
I stared at Rory—his blond hair sticking up in defiant tufts, the flush of determination colouring his cheeks. A man who was willing to walk straight into the lion’s den for his twat of an ex-boyfriend. The same ex he believed traded him in for a prettier model. Yet here he was…
“Please, Rory,” said Kit, his voice cracking slightly. “Don’t do this.”
The fear in his voice startled me. What could possibly be so terrifying about his childhood home in Scotland that he couldn’t even consider returning for his younger brother’s sake?
As if answering me, Rory’s thoughts crashed into my mind—pure terror, his mind a scattered mess of fragments.
…can’t face her alone…won’t survive it…she’ll destroy me…they’ll all see how broken I am…
