Chapter 222

Ava

I stayed up late every night for days after that, my eyes burning as I pored over medical textbooks and ancient manuscripts. The stack of books on my kitchen table grew taller with each passing day, but no matter how many pages I turned, I couldn’t find anything helpful.

“There has to be something,” I muttered to myself, rubbing my tired eyes. “Some remedy, some cure... anything.”

But the black fungus spreading through our dear friend’s lungs remained a mystery thanks to the undocumented nature of the damn stuff.

No homeopathic remedy I found seemed even remotely applicable. No medical texts ever even mentioned the blight. The only thing I could find was a single passage from some old medical journal that was talking about the effects of poisonous mushrooms on the lungs, but it didn’t at all apply to the black fungus in Leonard’s chest.

I slammed another useless book shut, a plume of dust spraying up as I did. A curse ripped from my lips, and I shoved the book aside.

“On to the next,” I growled.

Chris found me like that, slumped over the table, surrounded by open books. I hadn’t slept all night, too busy poring over whatever scrap of information I could find until I was on the verge of going mad.

“Goddess, Ava,” he said softly, placing a hand on my shoulder and leaning down to peer at the pitch black circles around my eyes. “You need to rest. You’re going to kill yourself if you keep this up.”

I looked up at him, bleary-eyed and startled by his presence even though he had been in the kitchen making coffee for a solid ten minutes now. “I can’t,” I growled, ripping my arm away. “Leonard needs our help.”

Chris sighed as he pulled up a chair next to me. “I know you want to help him, but you’re no good to anyone if you run yourself into the ground.”

“Have you found anything?” I asked, rising and walking over to the coffee machine to pour myself a cup of something strong and black. I chose to ignore his earlier comment about running myself into the ground.

He shook his head and sighed. “Nothing yet. But we’ll keep looking, Ava. I promise.”

I sipped my coffee and winced at the bitter taste. “I just feel so helpless.”

“We all do,” Chris said. “But we can’t give up hope. Not now. Not when we’re so close…”

Swallowing the black coffee and ignoring the way it burned my throat, I turned to look out the window. Outside, the pack was bustling along as usual, the blight momentarily forgotten now that the Packhouse had been neutralized.

If only they knew that one of our own now harbored the blight inside of him. Maybe that was why the science team had been able to find and destroy the catalysts in the Packhouse; the spores had found a new host.

And perhaps the rest of us would be next. Perhaps, if we didn’t hurry, we would all carry the spores in our lungs.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. We exchanged a glance before Chris went to answer it.

“Alpha,” a voice said. “The messenger from the crossroad has returned.”

Chris ushered the messenger in, and I straightened up, smoothing down my rumpled shirt in an attempt to look more presentable.

“What news?” Chris asked.

The messenger, a young man with a bit of peach fuzz above his upper lip, wrung his hands nervously. “One of Alpha Winston’s men came to the crossroads, sir. They took the invitation to the summit.”

“And?” Chris prompted.

“They returned a day later with this,” the messenger said, reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out a sealed envelope.

Chris took it, his brow furrowed. “Thank you. You may go.”

As soon as the door closed behind the messenger, Chris tore open the envelope. I watched his face as he read, my heart sinking as I saw his expression darken.

“Fuck!” Chris cursed, throwing the letter onto the table.

“What is it?” I asked, reaching for the paper.

“See for yourself.”

I picked up the letter, my eyes widening as I scanned its contents. The words seemed to swim in front of my eyes, but their meaning was clear: Alpha Winston had not accepted our attempt at peace.

In fact, he was officially declaring war on Moonstone.

“Oh, Goddess,” I breathed, feeling like I might faint all of a sudden. “He can’t be serious.”

“He’s a fucking moron,” Chris spat, pacing the room. “Trying to start a war when the other three packs are behind us? What is he thinking? It’ll be a massacre.”

I sank back down into my chair, stunned, as Chris continued to rant. But as I listened, an idea began to form in my mind.

“Chris,” I said suddenly, cutting off his tirade. “Maybe we can use this to our advantage.”

He stopped pacing and looked at me. “What do you mean?”

“Think about it,” I said, standing up again. “This could be our chance to draw Winston out for the summit. If he comes, he’ll be face to face with all four other Alphas: you, Fabian, Bernard, and Edward.”

Chris’s eyes widened as he caught on. “And maybe together, we can talk some sense into him.”

“Exactly. Try to pull his forces back here without bloodshed, then corner them in Moonstone on the night of the summit. If we’re going to use the summit to draw Olivia out, then talk of a battle could make her even more likely to come.”

“She’ll think that the chaos will be a perfect time to infiltrate,” Chris finished for me.

I nodded. “Two birds with one stone.”

Chris was quiet for a moment, considering. Then, he muttered, “It’s risky, but it might be our best shot, considering the fact that time is stacked against us right now.”

“So, what’s our next move?” I asked.

“We need to change the date of the summit,” Chris said, already shuffling through the papers on the table until he found a blank one and a pen. “And we need to let the other Alphas know what’s going on. Tell them to prepare for a potential fight.”

For the rest of the day, Chris and I worked tirelessly, drafting letters to the other Alphas. We explained the situation with Winston, our plan to confront him at the summit, and the need for a united front.

By the time the sun began to set, we finally sealed the last letter. Chris stretched his legs out beneath the table, his joints popping and his stomach grumbling audibly. We had been so busy, we hadn’t even thought to eat all day.

“I’ll have these sent out first thing in the morning,” he said, stacking the envelopes neatly.

I rose, putting on a pot of water to boil—simple pasta, something to fill our bellies before we passed out from exhaustion. “Do you think it’ll work?”

Chris sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Honestly? No clue. But it’s the best shot we’ve got right now.”

We made our way to the living room, collapsing onto the couch in front of the fireplace. I leaned into Chris’s side, finally letting my head relax against him for the first time all day.

“What if Winston doesn’t come?” I whispered.

“Then we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Chris said, wrapping one arm around me. “For now, we’ve done all we can.”

I nodded, watching the flames dance in the fireplace. The crackling of the fire was soothing, and I felt my eyelids growing heavy. Suddenly, I lost the drive to cook dinner.

“You should get some sleep,” Chris murmured, kissing the top of my head. “I’ll wake you up for dinner.”

I snorted. “Good luck waking me up once I’m down.”

Shrugging, Chris just held me tighter. I rested my full weight on him, already feeling myself drift off to sleep. The flames in the fireplace seemed to dance and take on shapes of their own, my mind making up orange creatures and faces as I slowly slipped out of consciousness.

“Ava,” Chris said softly, breaking the silence.

“Hmm?” I mumbled, half-asleep.

“I just wanted to say... I’m glad to have a Luna like you by my side.”