Chapter 120

Iris POV

I confess, it was with some astonishment, hopefully hidden, that I watched Olivia oversee the Rogues’ repairs to the carriage. The men and women, alphas and betas—there were no omegas among them—worked quietly and efficiently, and soon the carriage was sound again. I think it might have been better than before.

They were a sorry-looking bunch, I confessed to myself. Denis hadn’t treated them well, which was disgusting for any Alpha. I saw what were obviously clothes for children poorly patched and stretched out for grown men and women. I saw extended bellies and sallow eyes.

In short, I saw a group of people on the edge of starvation or other means of extinction, and it made me sick to my stomach. These were my fellow wolves and beneficiaries, as Olivia had reminded us all, of the same Goddess. I and every wolf I knew held responsibility for the state of their health and welfare.

After they fixed the carriage, Olivia took them through the supplies we had brought with us and distributed food, water, and some small medicines we could spare, considering that we were going to Claudia, to the Rogues. I helped as best I could, but I confessed to myself that I was more used to helping alphas with their maladies than helping a group who had been living so roughly.

I made a promise to myself then I would study the basics of care for those without regular food or guaranteed shelter. I wished I had made such an oath before.

When that was done, they stood around awkwardly waiting for her to direct them again.

Gently, she explained she wanted them to go to the Palace and report to the captain of the guard. She assured them they would not be put in the cells and that she would tell the Alpha that they were to be treated well.

When the leader, whose name was Ordil, we learned, asked how Olivia would send word before they got to the Palace, she just smiled. I had to work hard not to laugh, I confess.

It was so odd being held between my incredible shame over the Rogues’ state and my incredible pride in my Luna.

After seeing the Rogues off, Olivia and I took to horseback and rode quickly to Moonshadow Keep. In three hours, the keep’s black skyline rose up against the red-orange sunset.

Olivia sighed, and I pulled my horse a little closer to hers.

“Are you all right?” I asked.

She was looking at the sight of the keep ahead. “It doesn’t remotely feel like home now.” She looked at me and made a small face at herself. “I miss the Palace.”

I laughed. “There’s a great deal there to miss.”

We rode on in silence, and while I was by no means a young woman, I realized I had never before in my life felt so comfortable in another person’s presence. Despite the urgency of our mission, I had never felt such peace and companionship.

We made the keep before true nightfall, though the moon blessed us with some light as we entered. I watched as Olivia looked around us as though the sight were familiar and foreign at the same time. I understood that disconnect and made no comment.

We were shown immediately to Alpha Claudia’s chambers, and there on the ornate, slightly dusty bed I saw her lying there under red velvet covering looking pale and wasting away. Olivia choked back a sob, and I knew that whatever antidote we might have with us, we might well be too late.

As I stood there trying to decide what to do, I became aware of a smell, a faint order of decay in the air. In that moment, I took in the reek of eight years of being enthralled to a poison, eight years of not knowing her life. I took in the incredible violence that had been done to Alpha Claudia.

I trembled.

Olivia looked at me with a question in her eyes, and I steeled myself. I looked back down at my patient while some chambermaid fussed around us with her warm water and confusion. I knew the fluid in the vial was an antidote, but how much should I use? What sort of side effects should I look out for?

What was the use of all my studies if I couldn’t save her?

“Take my hand,” Olivia said while extending her right hand to me.

I did, and as soon as her palm was nestled in mine, I felt a rush of power and light so strong I worried I would fall to the floor.

It was so powerful, and yet so odd. There was a silver light both in the room and behind my eyes. I felt connected to the earth and yet soaring above it. I saw the moon and the sun together, and I felt I could conquer the world even as I worried I would collapse in a heap.

I let go of Olivia, and with steady hands I drew the vial from its little pouch, opened it, and poured three drops onto her dry, chapped lips.

I knew to stop then. I didn’t know why.

I looked at Olivia, who just nodded at me as though she knew what I was thinking, and then we drew chairs to Claudia’s beside and sat.

It was a quiet night, even for a wolf. Outside the tiny windows of the ancient keep, I could hear brave crickets and sly foxes. Beyond that was the creak of tree branches and the occasional call of an owl.

On the other side of Claudia’s bed, Olivia just seemed to stare into space. She was a woman of exceptional beauty, but I knew she thought, quiet rightly, that her understanding of the Luna’s position was her greatest strength. I admitted I was proud she was my son’s wife, though I certainly had nothing to do with it.

I had been more than impressed at her Luna powers as she confronted the Rogues, which worked inevitably against my desire to see her as family and friend. In the years ahead, I knew Olivia would need friends, not worshippers. I had heard about her interaction with the pregnant wolf who had asked her, not the Goddess, to bless her child.

I knew the dangers that sort of admiration brought. As we sat there at her mother’s bedside, I asked the Goddess to keep Olivia safe from the idolization of others.

But then I looked at the poor child’s face as she sat at the side of her ailing mother, and I just wished her peace.

A shaft of moonlight made its way to a sliver on the oaken floor. Olivia shook her head, frowned at it, and then went to the window to open the curtains wide. She crossed back through the room and sat without a word.

Mesmerized, I watched over the next hour as that little line of moonlight grew as the Goddess changed her angle, and then the now-patch of light made its way up the bed. Then it was glowing atop the covers themselves, and then the tiniest edge of light made its way to Claudia’s face.

She woke up gasping.