Page 38 of Chasing Luna

I sigh, feigning exhaustion. “I’d love to but I just want to be alone tonight, Kat.” I open the door.

“But—”

“Good night,” I cut her off and shut the door gently, locking it for good measure. Once I am sure she is gone, I ask Eliza to come and get the damn dress off of me.

I plop down on the floor, fishing my phone from inside my bedside dresser. Turning it on, I see a couple of messages from an unknown number. A knock on my door gets me back on my feet, and this time I make sure it’s Eliza before closing the door behind me.

“Rough night?” She starts untying my dress as soon as she steps inside.

“You heard?” I ask, scoffing.

“I was in the laundry room when it happened. As soon as I heard some guards yell ‘intruder’ I locked the door and hid in there until I knew the coast was clear.”

“Good. It was crazy inside the dining room. I won’t be going back in there for a while.”

Eliza shakes her head. “I don’t think anyone’s going back in there at all. I saw your grandmother sealing it closed until renovations are done.”

I scrunch my nose. “People died in there. They should burn the entire wing down. Why do we even have so many rooms in this goddamn house?” She shrugs. “I have no idea why rich people have the need to own so many things.” I laugh at that.

“Why are you laughing? All of this is yours in the future.” She pulls hard on the corset and takes it off for me. “What do you want me to do with this?” Eliza asks as she haphazardly folds it across her chest, not caring about the blood stains.

“Burn it. I don’t think those stains will come off.” She nods and leaves me alone. I slip into the shower and, for the second time today, try to scrub off the disgusting and vile things sticking to my body.

Stepping back into my room, I spot my phone on the edge of my bed. Remembering the unread messages from earlier, I sit down and open them up. I almost drop my phone as I open the first text. It’s an image of Katya, with a red “X” mark across her lips and eyes. The next message sends chills to my bones.You’re next, it said.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

“Sometimes I wonder what I did in my past life to deserve this fate,” I tell myself as I make my way to my grandmother’s study.

It’s still quite early in the night, I’m sure she’s still there. “Queen Mother? Are you inside? Might I have a word?” I press on, knocking softly on the door.

“Come in, child,” she urges and I slowly peer inside before stepping in. “What is it?”

Her voice sounds strained somehow,I note. “I need to show you something.” I come closer and sit in front of her. “Here.” I open my phone and show her the messages. “An unknown number sent this to me earlier tonight. I just saw it now because I left my phone in my room.”

She analyzes the contents briefly, handing me back my phone right after. Rubbing her temples together with one hand and tapping the table lightly with the other, my grandmother sighs and almost lets herself slump forward. For the first time in my entire life, I see how exhausted she is. But I feel no sympathy for her.

Good. Suffer in the consequences of your decisions,I think to myself, studying her features. “I already sent it to some of our friends in the police station, and had our own team conduct an investigation and see if they can trace back the number.” She stares at me with her icy gaze, but this time I feel no fear. Just pity. “I just wanted to let you know that I don’t think this will end soon.” I sigh and attempt to stand back up, but she stops me.

“There was a new pack that came into town a while back. Around the same time Katya died. We’ve had reports of them loitering near our territory, sneaking around and scouting us out.” She takes a folder out and pushes it in front of me. “Midnight Walkers pack,” she reveals as I pick the contents of the folder. Dozens of security camera footage and discreet pictures taken of the leaders of the pack unravel before me.

“Where did they come from?” I ask and my grandmother leans back on her chair.

“Somewhere up north, I presume. They have the markings of the northern factions on their arms. Look closely.” I spot a tattoo of a triangle with two diagonal lines cutting across it on a woman’s forearm. Similar styles can be seen in all of the people captured in the photos.

“Why are they here, then?” I commit each face that I see to memory before pushing everything back into the folder. “To challenge us?” I follow up quickly.

She bobs her head slowly. “Most likely.”

I attempt to stand again and this time she doesn’t stop me. “I’ll leave now and let you rest, Queen Mother.” I turn and walk away.

“Child.” I spin back and face her.

“Yes?” I say softly.

“I would appreciate it if you stay out of trouble, and that means no more fighting senselessly. We need the pack to stay together and not fall apart. Do you understand?”

“I do, Queen Mother. I’ll stay out of trouble.” And with that, I bid her another goodbye and walk away. Instead of going back to my bedroom, I walk cautiously toward the Omega’s house all the way to the south wing. It is a long walk, but I have to warn them. “Are you all awake?” I knock on the door and they let me in. I turn on the lone light in the center of the room, letting it illuminate the faces of my own warriors. “I’m so sorry to barge in like this. You all must be tired,” I mention, sitting down on the floor with them. “I’m not going to stay for long, but I’m sure you all know what happened earlier tonight.” They nod. “Good. Then, I won’t have to keep reminding all of you.” I inhale slowly. “It doesn’t seem like a random attack. I spoke with the Queen just now, and she told me that there’s a new pack in town that might be out to get us.”

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