Chapter 16

Elena & Tiffany

Elena

Every Luna of any respectable pack had her own personal guard unit. I had never used mine, so the unit had been reassigned to the regular patrol team.

But they were the only force I could command, and with the attack coming up, I heeded them back.

That afternoon, I made my way down to the guard barracks, where I found the captain of the patrol team. I managed to catch him just as he was coming from a meeting.

“Ciel,” I said, matching his long stride. “I’d like to speak with you.”

The aging guard, his salt-and-pepper hair and the cragged scar across his cheek betraying years of dedicated service, merely said, “I’m busy.”

I tapped the pin that was now proudly on display on the front of my blouse. “Too busy for your Luna?”

Ciel hesitated, his steps faltering slightly as he saw the pin. I may not have had the black, clean-cut uniform that he and those under his command wore, but the pin alone gave me even more power than all of his subordinates combined.

“So Killian has allowed you to assume your duties at last.”

I lifted my chin, refusing to let the older man’s thinly veiled barb cow me into submission. Instead, I gestured to his office nearby. “Can we speak in private, please, Captain?”

Ciel stared at me for a moment longer, square jaw working, then nodded. “Very well.” He led me to his office, which was just as bland and austere as the rest of the barracks; it contained little more than a large, hexagonal table covered in a weathered map that had small pieces to represent the various packs scattered across it.

Ciel didn’t offer for me to sit, not that there was anywhere to do so anyway. I found my eye drawn toward the map and picked up one of the pieces—a figurine shaped like a howling wolf to signify Waning Moon.

It would be interesting to attend one of the meetings in this room, I thought. Maybe once I proved myself in the attack to come, they would let me listen in.

But not yet. And no matter how easy it would be to prevent the attack altogether by telling Ciel about it now, I couldn’t. He likely wouldn’t believe me anyway, and once the attack happened, I would become a prime suspect.

“Ciel, I’d like to resume command of my personal guard unit.”

He frowned, his icy blue eyes narrowing. “Why now, all of a sudden?”

I shrugged and tapped the pin again. “As you can see, I’ve taken on more responsibility lately. A Luna should be guarded at all times.”

“You’ve never truly needed a guard before. Pin or not, you won’t need one now. And besides, that unit is invaluable on our patrol. I can’t spare them, not after…”

His voice trailed off, but I knew what he meant: not after the rogue attack that got Natalie killed. Security had ramped up considerably since then, as the rogue attack had been a stark wake-up call to the fact that our military had been lacking for years. And with the election coming up, we needed to be even more careful.

“Surely you can spare a few,” I said, thumbing the little carved figurine.

Ciel’s eyes flicked to the figurine, then the pin, then my face.

“Did Alpha Killian approve this?”

I slammed the figurine down onto the table. “It’s my guard. He doesn’t need to approve it.”

The captain’s jaw clenched, but he was no idiot; he didn’t respect me, not even a little, just like the rest of them, but I was still the Luna. And with this pin on my blouse, he knew he would have no choice but to accept my request.

Suddenly, the door burst open. We both turned to see Tiffany striding into the room with a sneer.

“Ciel,” she said with all the authority of a woman who still thought she held the power Killian had just stripped her of, “you will absolutely not allocate a guard to the Luna.”

I pressed my lips into a flat line. Ciel cocked his head. “Alpha’s orders?” he asked.

Tiffany floundered slightly. “Well, no, but—”

“Tiffany,” I sighed, “I thought you were supposed to be heading to the library wing to look for work. You’re not the female Beta anymore.” I glanced at the spot on her blouse where the Luna pin had once resided, ensuring my look was meaningful.

“Regardless of being wrongfully stripped of my title, I still have a duty to this pack.” She straightened her shoulders and gave Ciel an imploring look. “She’s only using the guard to boost her own image. You must see that, right, Captain?”

The captain’s face hardened, and for a moment, I thought he might side with Tiffany; she’d had all of my authority less than an hour ago, and she had far more respect than I ever had.

My heart sank at the thought that, despite wearing the pin, I might still not have enough authority to make a difference. That I’d have to work three times as hard just to get people to listen to me.

But it was at that moment that a familiar voice said, “I approve my Luna’s request, Ciel.”

Killian walked into the room with his hands in his pockets. Ciel immediately stood at attention, saluting him sharply. “As you wish, Alpha. I’ll reassign the guards post-haste.”

I suppressed a tiny smile at that, especially when Tiffany looked like she was about to have a meltdown in the corner. But my good mood quickly dissipated when Killian hardly even looked at me—he just looked at the captain as if intending to speak with him alone.

Quickly realizing that Killian hadn’t come to my rescue by anything other than chance, I quickly nodded my head toward Ciel. “Thank you, Captain. You can tell my guard to come to my office later today.”

And with that, I left.

I was just exiting the barracks, making my way up the narrow, dimly lit stone steps that wound up and up toward the first floor, when I heard footsteps behind me. I glanced over my shoulder, and was surprised to find Killian taking the stairs two at a time to reach me.

“I thought you had to talk to Ciel about something,” I said, continuing my ascent.

“Why did you want your guard back?”

“I’m just trying to be a good Luna for once. Understanding the pack’s security is an important step in that.”

Killian was silent for a moment, and when I looked up at him, I saw him staring at me with an unreadable expression in his eyes. Then, he said, “Then why not ask me to reinstate your guard? Why go to the trouble of talking to Ciel, who is probably the most prickly bastard in the entire pack?”

I stopped then and turned to Killian fully, folding my arms across my chest. “The most prickly?” I echoed, the meaning clear in my tone.

Killian’s jaw clenched, but he admitted, “Okay. The second most prickly.”

I chuckled wryly and continued climbing the stairs, but Killian caught my wrist and turned me to face him again. I half expected him to try to kiss me once more, but found myself surprised when he merely said, “If you want to be a better Luna, you can work closely alongside me. I’ll help you however I can.”

“I won’t bring you tea and open your letters—”

“Elena, I mean it.” Killian’s face was serious, and in the dim torchlight, his dark eyes looked like two burning coals. “Let me help you.”

I opened my mouth to retort, but this time, nothing would come. Killian’s sudden change should have been a relief—his support and respect were two things I had always wanted from him other than love—but all I felt was suspicion.

He had to have an ulterior motive. He always did.

When I didn’t reply, he sighed and dropped my wrist. “Let’s go out to that restaurant you like tonight,” he said. “Just you and me. Like old times.”

I couldn’t help the faint blush that crept into my cheeks at that. Killian and I hadn’t been on a date since before the wedding, back when we first started courting. Back before he had me fully locked down with a silver ring and a fake promise.

Was he…?

No. The moment was shattered when he added, “It’ll help in the election if we create the image of a happy couple.”

And there it was. I sighed, not sure if I should accept or tell him to shove it, but then felt my phone buzz in my pocket. I checked it to see a text from an unknown number that simply read, “Mr. Fox found a weasel. What do you say to a skip and a hop through the forest tonight, little rabbit?”

Jaxon.

“Maybe another night,” I said coolly as I slipped my phone back into my pocket. “I’ve got other plans.”

…

Tiffany

When Tiffany overheard Elena refuse Killian’s date, a little tendril of suspicion curled in her gut. Elena had always been the doe-eyed, insipid little wife that would never turn down a date with the Alpha.

So what had changed?

“Want me to follow her, Alpha?” Tiffany asked once Elena was out of earshot. Killian was still standing in the stairwell, blinking with confusion at his mate’s retreating form.

He shook his head. “No.” And just like that, he left, his shoulders tense.

But Tiffany wasn’t satisfied; she knew Elena was up to something, and if she could just prove it to Killian, then maybe he would give her old position back—or maybe even more than that.

So that night, Tiffany followed Elena at a distance as she left her office. As suspected, Elena didn’t go straight home, but rather drove through town until she reached an intimate restaurant by the lower east side.

And there, Tiffany saw them.

Elena and Jaxon Adler shaking hands and heading inside together.

Tiffany quickly pulled out her phone and snapped the picture of the two before they disappeared from sight. But she didn’t send them right to Killian—no, she would wait until the perfect moment to strike.