Chapter 104

Elroy POV

As we ran, I felt more powerful than I ever had before, and the feeling was so heady I could almost understand how some alphas fell prey to its corruption.

But along with that new power came an increase in my balance and in my self-awareness. I knew it was because of Olivia at my side, flying down the streets even with her belly swollen with our unborn child. I wondered if she realized the serenity she projected at moments like this. She was born to be Luna, and along with power and balance, I felt a greater pride in my pack, as though our run through Lunaris were bring down a bit of the moon to run with us.

We could have this all the time, I thought. Our lives could be this made of this harmony.

So, why weren’t our lives more like this moment? My jealousy and paranoia were greatly to blame; I knew it. I wanted Olivia so fiercely that I kept trying to take away her ability to leave me.

We reached the city wall together, hundreds of wolves behind us, and we ran up the embankment, sat back, and howled. The others joined in, and it was thrillingly deafening.

Olivia was right that a Luna’s duties did not traditionally include battle, but after we had spent a peaceful night together nourishing our child, I found myself asking her to join me in my final strategy meeting with Lunaris’s war master. I knew it was the right call when she looked gratified.

A few eyebrows were raised as we entered the war room together wearing our official dark blue and white robes and Olivia overtly pregnant, but no one said anything or looked ready to growl, so I called for a briefing to start us off.

At the center of the room was a large wooden table carved into a topographic map of Lunaris and the surrounding Rogue territories. It was helpful in remembering just how much territory the city covered and how much the landscape changed. Ravencrest territory was largely mountainous, and much of Eclipse Pack lived along the long curve of a lake so vast sections of its bore different names.

One of the generals’ aides had placed small wooden wolves carved with their various pack sigils facing off against the smooth-backed Rogues. While some attacks were in Eclipse Territory, it was clear Denis had mostly targeted Moonshadow and Ravencrest sections. I wondered if the “Rogue King” were trying to show some special regard for his former pack.

As I continued to look over the map, I could see a second pattern of Rogue attacks emerge. They had begun with small, brief skirmishes right inside the city walls and had slowly been creeping inward toward the palace and the keeps.

War Master Eleanor, an alpha half a head taller than everyone else in the room, looked down at the table and shook her head.

“It’s clear they’re setting up bases inside the city to further their encroachments, but it would help us tremendously to know how they breached the walls when they began.”

Several ideas were offered to the room, including tunnels, camouflaged ladders, unknown gates, and bribed guards. During this, I saw Olivia quietly walk up to a Palace Guard and ask him something. He nodded and left the room to be replaced by another guard.

I was going to ask what was going on, and then I remembered I was supposed to trust her. She knew what she was doing.

“It’s clear our city’s reputation for impenetrable walls has become apocryphal,” said Elder Thornton.

“It’s also clear they must have a means of egress here, in the Blue Moon sector,” Eleanor said as she pointed at the sites of several nearby attacks.

“It’s the Northwest Corridor,” a new voice said.

We all turned to see Fay standing there next to the palace guard Olivia had spoken to.

“The what?” Eleanor demanded.

“There are several passageways under the walls,” Fay explained, “some no more than long holes dug in the dirt, some fortified and centuries old. We call the letter ‘corridors’ to distinguish them.”

“Impossible!” exclaimed General Richard, one of my most experienced betas.

“I’ve been through one of them,” Olivia said calmly.

Fay nodded. “We used the Eclipse Southern Passage then.” She looked around the room. “How do you think White Paw Pack survived for so long outside the walls? The answer is that we weren’t always outside.”

She approached the table while everyone digested that information and looked down. “I didn’t realize the Rogues had been so busy in the city.”

“Their ‘busy’ state has cost almost four hundred lives,” Eleanor said, but her tone was grim, not hostile.” She looked closely at Fay. “How many passages are there in total?”

Fay frowned. “I’m sure White Paw did not find them all, but we located nine and were working on making a tenth one ourselves.” She nodded at the table and began to point to different section of the walls while naming the passages by location and size. When she looked up, she frowned at the surprise on people’s faces.

“Lunaris is now White Paw’s sanctuary. Your future is our future.” She looked at me. “Your Alpha is now mine, and your Luna is my Luna.”

“Beta Fay,” Councilman Lucas said.

I made sure my body did not go tense. If he tried any of his bullshit right now—

“Councilman,” Fay said evenly.

“I have been investigating the claims you have made regarding the rights and treatment of omegas in Eclipse Territory, and it is clear that I, and the others responsible for protecting our pack, owe you an apology for our blindness to the truth you brought before us.”

Now I had to keep the surprise off my face. Olivia met my eyes, and I could see how much she was pleased.

“Your apology is accepted,” Fay said solemnly. “As is your reminder that this council is now my council.”

There was a moment of solidarity in the room that I allowed to last just a second before it turned mawkish.

“This has to stop,” I said, as affected as everyone else not only by the weight of Lucas’s apology but also by these clear signs of our city’s vulnerability.

“We’ve always had the odd attack here and there by Rogues,” I continued. “Wolves make packs, which means there will always be wolves who have lost their packs for crimes or other means for exile.” I waved at the table. “But this is much more than that.”

“It does,” General Richard said. “I was ready to dismiss Denis’s challenge, but he is presenting a credible threat to Lunaris.” He looked at me. “We must commit ourselves fully to end him and his ‘army’ of Rogues.”

“The main challenge here is that he has no intention of meeting us on a proper battlefield,” Eleanor said. “He fights like a jackal, nipping at us here and there, looking for weaknesses, attacking civilians.”

“But you can use knowledge of the passages to stop the Rogues from entering the city,” Fay said.

“Those you know about,” Eleanor told her. “Also, it’s clear they have footholds throughout the city at this point. I highly doubt Denis is currently outside the city walls.”

“The issue is, how do we find him?” Fay said.

“Respectfully, I disagree,” I told her. “The issue is, how do we get him to be where we want him?”