Chapter 53

— Sienna’s POV —

I sat in my Blackmoon hotel room, my eyes glued to the hooded figure on screen, their voice twisting the pits of my stomach into a horrible nausea.

“We have your friends, your leaders. They are ours now,” they said, making my heart work in overtime.

So they had Julian. Who else? We hadn’t been able to do a headcount yet, unsure of anyone else who might be missing.

The packs would have to check on their own accord, because everyone from everywhere had been in attendance to the charity event. From the most important to the insignificant.

“We will not stumble, nor will we fall. No matter what you throw at us.”

I could hear the sneer in their voice. They were so content with themselves for achieving something as difficult as attacking Blackmoon, and it really showed.

“If we could take your most secure pack without a problem, imagine what else we could do.”

I really didn’t want to imagine that.

“This world, our world, will never be ruled by any King. We have no King, only ourselves.” They let out a sharp laugh, taking a slow breath in. “And that concludes our little announcement.”

Then the screen went black.

No explanation, no demands. The prisoners were just that…prisoners. Indefinitely.

I immediately wanted — needed — to talk to Lucius, and as sour as things had gotten between Asher and I, I had to admit that I needed him too.

The hospital was barely a minutes walk from the hotel, so I was up and out within a second, pushing my way into Lucius’ room.

Of course, Asher was already there, which didn’t surprise me one bit.

“Hi,” I said a little awkwardly, standing in the doorway. “Clearly you saw that transmission too.”

The solemn look on both their faces answered that for me.

“I’m not gonna lie,” I sighed, taking a few steps closer to the bed, relieved to see Lucius looking a lot better than this time yesterday. “I’m scared.”

“We should be,” Lucius murmured, watching as the TV flickered back to the news as though nothing had happened.

“So it’s pretty much confirmed that Julian was taken,” Asher spoke up, leaning back in his chair.

“And others we haven’t even realized yet,” I said somberly, only glancing at him very briefly.

“Everyone needs to do a headcount. Issue a mandate to return home.” Lucius sounded focused, his true Alpha coming out.

“Hopefully everyone else is already doing that as we speak,” Asher nodded, his eyes flitting over mine. We were both still feeling the tension from the talk with Mia.

The talk where he didn’t stand up for me one bit, I thought to myself bitterly. That had stung.

Really stung.

“What about Julian’s pack?” I asked the question that had become the elephant in the room.

“I’ve got an idea,” Lucius smiled, propping himself up a little more in his bed.

Asher raised an eyebrow, clearly unaware of the idea, too.

“Nightfall borders your pack, so it makes the most sense for you to absorb it while Julian is away.” Lucius gave me that look of admiration again, the one that made my stomach fall out of my body entirely.

How does he do this to me every time?

“I’m sorry — me?” I asked in disbelief, not sure I heard him right.

Had he really said that I should take over Nightfall in Julian’s absence?

It’ll look really good for you, my conscience whispered smugly in the back of my mind. Really really good.

“We can’t leave his pack Alpha-less. Someone has to step in, and I think you’re the perfect person,” Lucius grinned, knowing exactly what he was doing to me.

“Mia wouldn’t agree,” I mumbled, my sharp gaze passing over Asher at the mention of her name.

“Lucius is right,” Asher said, startling me a little. Good to know he supported me even though he seemed to always take Mia’s side in arguments.

“I have the power to announce a temporary Alpha, and I’m going to announce that you are Nightfall’s.” Lucius had made his decision, and there was nothing I could say that would change that.

Though a part of me didn’t want it to change. It scared me, yes, but having the chance to step into Nightfall would provide them with a comparison against Julian’s psychotic behavior.

It could get me a lot of brownie points, and I needed every single last one to fight back against Mia.

“Mia will just find a way to turn this against me,” I grumbled, my throat tightening from the thought of it. The stress was coming, ready to settle itself on my shoulders indefinitely.

“Don’t worry about her, okay?” Lucius reassured, and I couldn’t help but look to him, seeing the confidence in his eyes and settling just a tiny bit.

“It’s hard not to,” I said under my breath, knowing they’d both still hear me. Of course, Asher wasn’t saying a word, as usual.

God forbid he say one bad thing about his angel, Mia.

“Look,” Lucius interjected, the strength in his voice returning. “I’m sending out word of this to everyone. I think it would be good for you to go to the pack and call a meeting, because they’re probably all confused.”

“Honestly, though, with Julian’s behavior lately, it wouldn’t be so surprising if he just disappeared out of nowhere, would it?” Asher chuckled, lightening the mood by the tiniest amount.

“Not at all,” I laughed slightly, knowing he was right.

But of course, Julian wasn’t targeted by the Elder’s for his erratic behavior that was actually affecting the efficiency of his pack.

No, he didn’t have a little gnat flying around him all the time, watching his every move and distorting the truth. He got away scot free.

Except now he’s kidnapped, so is it really the better place to be?

“Go to Nightfall, tell them what we know. Announce that you’ll be taking control until Julian is back.” Lucius had transformed into his Alpha-self again, his voice low and commanding.

“If he even comes back,” Asher muttered, and Lucius looked to him, silencing him further.

“We all might be in agreement over Julian and his behavior, but he’s still one of us,” Lucius said valiantly, and I knew I couldn’t deny it.

We couldn’t just leave him to die.

What we could do is take his pack while he was gone and convince them that he wasn’t fit to rule. This was a golden opportunity, a gift from fate to set things right.

“We’ll go to Nightfall now, then take a headcount at Nightwind,” Asher said to Lucius, meeting my eyes for a moment. I nodded back to him, thankful he’d be at my side for this, no matter how tense things had been between us.

“Present yourselves as that unified front you say you are,” Lucius murmured, and I picked up on the tiniest hint of regret in his words, which made me shiver.

“We will,” Asher responded for me, standing from his chair. “Keep getting better.”

Lucius only nodded back, now in full blown leader mode, not a whiff of humor on his face.

Asher met my eyes from the other side of the bed, giving me a quick nod. “Let’s go to Nightfall.”

“Let’s go,” I nodded back, ignoring the spike of nerves that swelled in me.

Here we go.