Page 53 of Nyte's Rejected Luna

I watched as my mate pulled out the pendulum, dangling the black stone over the map. The stone began to spin; her hand was still as she moved her arm over the map, watching as the pointed stone spun faster and slower as she moved it over different areas of the map.

“Closer,” she whispered, moving the stone further inland from the city limits.

I leaned over, watching the area where the pendulum began to spin the fastest.

“Shit,” I whispered, Alexander, leaning over the map and looking for himself.

“You’re sure?” He asked.

“Yes. I can narrow it down when we get there, but this is the general location. They’re somewhere in the state park.”

Alexander nodded, then looked up at me. “A deal is a deal,” he said, looking at Beta Jose. “Gather everyone for the passing of power.”

“Alpha,” Jose gasped.

“Tell them that their new Luna has found the missing packs. She and their new Alpha are going to be leading us into battle. We should get the power transferred quickly before we have to leave.” He looked back at me again. “It’s a long drive to Cuyamaca Rancho. We don’t have much daylight to spare.”

Chapter twenty-five

Paige

We arrived in the state park parking lot, all the San Diego packs pulling in behind us. The lot quickly filled with vans and trucks loaded with werewolves. I stepped out of Nyte’s car, holding the pendulum in my hand as Alpha Alexander approached with a map. It was lucky that the park ranger was a shifter. Otherwise, we may have faced issues with the number of people we were bringing into the area now.

Alexander laid the map out over the hood of the car for me, the pendulum feeling hot in my hand as I dangled it over the map. It began to buzz with magic, spinning and swaying as I held it over each path on the map. I felt its heat in my hand as its speed increased the closer I got to where we needed to go.

The area was marked on the map as pure wildlife, with no marked paths to follow. There were even some warnings about stepping off the marked trails with a statement that any rescue would be at the cost of the wandering hikers. The vampires chose their hiding place well. Only the most adventurous humans would have wandered near their hiding place, and those unfortunate souls would have never been seen again—just another lost hiker in the wilderness of California.

“We need to head west,” I told Nyte and the others, pulling out a marker to circle where we were heading. “This path will get us the closest, but we will have to move off the path from here.”

Nyte leaned over to watch where I marked, nodding to Madi to join us. “Madi, spread the word to the other Betas. We are going down this path first and breaking to surround this area. Everyone needs to be on high alert. The sun is setting soon, which means the vampires will be more active with the setting sun.”

“Got it,” Madi said before running off to Thompson and Jose, who stood with another Beta who had joined his pack.

“How should we proceed, Alpha Nyte?”

I looked up at the other Alpha who joined us, Nyte’s uncle. He smiled at me briefly, his face in a permeant serious expression. Nyte glanced at him before pointing to a spot just north of the area.

“There is a cave system where the vampires are keeping the missing wolves,” Nyte explained. “I want you to move over the entrance as best as possible. If you need to shift, do it. We need to ambush the vampires as they run out of the caves. I want no one to escape. We can’t have this incident repeated.”

“Understood,” Alpha Blake nodded, turning to pass on the plan to his Beta.

Alexander looked at Nyte next, waiting for the order of the Coronado pack. Nyte responded immediately. “Alexander, you will lead the others to surround the outside of the cave when we find it. As my uncle’s pack ambushes from above, you will corral the vampires and prevent them from escaping.”

“Where will you be?” Alexander asked, looking between Nyte and myself.

“The Ancient and his witch are at the deepest point of the cave system. There is no ceiling there; they could escape that way. We are going to pinpoint that area and lead the Oceanside pack to ambush the caves from that area.” I explained. “The pack will push the vampires out of the cave and free the stolen packs while Nyte and I fight the witch and Ancient one.”

Alexander looked between us before nodding in understanding. “Where do you propose we split then?”

Nyte answered him this time. “We will first locate the cave. Once we have found it, we will split up to our places outside the cave.”

“We will have a limited time, so make sure every pack knows their place,” I added. “There is a spell over the area of the cave. When I break through it and reveal the cave to everyone, the witch will notice.” I glanced over at Nyte’s uncle as he reappeared, nodding in understanding.

“How long do you suppose we will have to get organized?” he asked.

“A matter of minutes,” I replied. “She is a strong witch. The ripple of her magic breaking could even alert the vampires without her notifying them.”

“How are you so certain you will break through?” Alexander asked.

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