Page 35 of Pack Reclaimed (Blood and Moonlight 3)

“It started by being thrown in the Grave Packs’ dungeons,” I admitted.

“He went willingly to protect our pack,” Vanya clarified.

“Admirable,” Victor said, his formality falling away as he leaned forward. “Tell me, what was it like on the inside?”

Their faces remained impassive as we detailed everything we’d witnessed, Holt chiming in when he could, and then the others filling in the rest.

“Of course they have a fucking medieval dungeon,” Alexander said with distaste. “They have over fifty of our people already, probably chained up and starving.”

“They move quickly,” Victor agreed solemnly.

“It’s not about moving quickly,” I countered. “He has an immense amount of guards under his claws. He uses manipulation, coercion, and dark magic to keep them compliant. The guard we caught said they had their loved ones in captivity, using them as a means to ensure loyalty.”

Victor let out a deep breath. “I’m not surprised to hear that, we suspected but we hadn’t had the full details yet. We were just now clued in by the archive.”

“They’ve been invaluable,” I said. “We’ve learned a lot from them. And they were the ones able to crack the clue that led us here.”

“Clue?” Harrison asked.

“My sister is in those dungeons,” Vanya answered. “Her mate reached out to me via a vision to tell me where they were. But it seemed they’d used some of their stolen magic to strike the name from every map and resource.”

“My Luna here has been targeted. There was a tracker after her and apparently, he snuck into our pack and stole something of hers. The dark witch now uses it to connect with her, keeping tabs on us through mirrors. That was what the mate used to contact her.”

“She forces visions onto me, but someone is with me all of the time. It’s as under control as we can get it, but we want you to be aware as well,” Vanya explained.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Victor frowned. There was a hint of sincerity in his voice.

Vanya gave him a stunted smile. “I’ve been through worse.”

“I can’t believe all of this was happening for so long without notice,” Victor sighed, shaking his head. “We do have some int—”

Victor’s words cut off as a sharp knock echoed in the room and a confused Clara came in.

“I’m so sorry, master, but someone has just delivered something for you. They said it was urgent,” she said as she handed over a bright-red envelope. My blood ran cold at the sight. I fucking knew exactly what it was.

“How did the delivery person get past our barriers?” Victor asked with enough bite in his tone that Clara recoiled.

“I don’t know,” she answered with a shaky voice. “They just knocked. I assumed it was someone who knew of you.”

“Dismissed,” he said, barely holding in his frustration. “Alexander?”

“On it,” the vampire answered as he pulled out his phone and stepped into the next room, closing the door behind himself. The yelling started almost immediately. I didn’t bother to point out that it likely wasn’t something they could have prevented. It wasn’t my place.

“Look, sorry if I’m overstepping,” Holt called out. “But you have a human on staff? Do you not have the same laws we do?”

Victor laughed. “I was waiting for this one, actually. And the easy answer is that not all humans have boundaries. We try to keep them in the dark but every so often there’s one who takes things too far. When they uncover our secret, they have two choices, become one of us or stay with us because we won’t risk our people for one human. She chose to stay.”

“That makes sense,” Holt said respectfully.

Victor turned his attention to the envelope, finally opening it. He frowned before sliding it over to me.

“It’s for your mate, Alpha,” he said. My hand was like lead as I reached forward, afraid it might combust on contact. That had been our luck lately.

“Want me to open it?” I asked my mate. She shook her head and took it, that hard determination back on her face.

Her face paled as she flipped it open and read, a choking sound tearing from her throat as she turned to make eye contact with Torryn. The other alpha ripped the note from her hands and read it out loud.

“In case you’re wondering why you, Vanya, let me fill you in. I had a deal with your former alpha, little wolf,” Torryn read. I growled at the use of my nickname for my mate but he ignored me and continued. “He begged for your pack to be safe, in exchange he offered me something I couldn’t refuse. Two wolves, mine for the taking when they reached the mating age of twenty-five. From the moment I saw you both, I knew that it would be worth the wait. That, little wolf, is how all of this started. You were the first, though I had to wait the longest for you. Once you’re mine, I won’t be letting you go, mate or not.”

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