Chapter Twenty-Four

Pearl

My heart ached for Estella and her wolf. She’d been through something horrific all while trying to help her ungrateful sister. I couldn’t imagine what she must have felt during those final moments, but I was happy that the Moon Spirit intervened. She didn’t deserve any of what happened. All to heal her sister’s heart, who then took hers and gave it to an evil entity.

I couldn’t fathom how she was able to accept it all. I supposed by the promise that she would one day be united with her wolf again. Judging by the grip that Deacon had on her, the Moon Spirit had blessed her with a mate too. I didn’t know really Deacon, but by observing him with Estella, I knew that the Moon Spirit had chosen well. They were meant for each other, though I wasn’t sure if either of them was aware of it yet.

“I don’t know what to say.” My heart was broken for Estella and her wolf. They’d been dealt a horrible hand; one I couldn’t imagine ever coming back from. I admired her bravery and courage. Knowing her story made me appreciate her presence all the more.

“We can’t change the past.” Estella turned so she could see Deacon’s face. “I’ve been given a second chance. I’m not going to waste it.”

Deacon leaned his head down until their foreheads touched, their eyes drinking each other in. My chest warmed at the affectionate display. I wished them all the luck in the world.

“Your story makes me understand my mother a bit more.” Ledger frowned, his head falling back against the wall behind him. “That doesn’t excuse her actions.”

“No. It seems like she upped her game once the Alpha Seeker escaped from prison and a new one was appointed,” Rylan added, his brows furrowed as he tightened his hold on me.

“She thought Faela’s death was the end until she realized there was a new Alpha Seeker. The Moon Spirit was cunning. As far as we knew, the Alpha Seeker title was always inherited, not bestowed.” Ledger’s voice was soft, but I could hear his pain in every word he spoke.

“What are your thoughts on all of this?” Rylan directed his question at his cousin, and I could sense through our bond that he didn’t want to hope that Ledger was on our side now.

Ledger’s lips twisted while his chest rumbled a growl that I’m sure his wolf was dying to let out. “She may be my mother, but she’s manipulated me and my father for years. Not to mention all of the other lives she’s ruined, plus bringing a Shadow Wolf to life.” He shook his head and bit his lip, as if fighting back emotions. “She’s too far gone.”

“So, you agree that she must be stopped, no matter the cost?” Rylan asked the burning question everyone was thinking. Was Ledger on our side now?

“I never had a choice before, but now that I’m free of her manipulations and the darkness she let fester inside of me, I’m ready to say that she must be stopped. I don’t care how.”

“I’m glad to know that you are on our side,” Rylan replied, but I could feel that he wasn’t entirely sold on the fact that his cousin would stand with us. It was his family, after all, and blood was thicker than a pack. We’d just have to wait and see what happened.

I’d been inside of his head and felt that terrifying darkness that did its best to corrupt my light. It wouldn’t let go so easily. The threats it made still echoed through my thoughts, making my stomach clench with unease.

We will rip through your kind and remake you.

I didn’t know what it meant by ‘remake’, but from the burning sensation in my arm and the way my heart thudded in my ears, it couldn’t have been good. For any of us.

A yawn took me by surprise, my jaw popping as it overtook me. My eyes grew heavy, and I knew that if I didn’t get to bed soon, I would fall asleep right here.

“I think that’s our cue,” Estella said, stifling her own yawn. “Let’s go back to the house and rest.”

I nodded, too tired to form words.

“You two go on ahead.” Deacon helped Estella to her feet and held on to her until she was steady. “We’ve got more to discuss but will be along soon.”

“All right.” I yawned again, snuggling closer to Rylan’s chest, soaking in his warmth for as long as I could.

“I’ll come with you,” he announced, squeezing me tightly.

“No, I’ve got her. Let’s go, friend.” Estella took my arm to better support me while her wolf stood pressed against her other side.

‘I love you,’Rylan whispered in my mind, making me grin like a schoolgirl with her first crush.

‘I love you more,’I countered in a teasing tone.

Rylan mock growled in my head, and I chuckled.

‘Don’t be too long.’

‘Don’t tell me what to do,’he shot back, but I knew full well that he liked it when I told him what to do.

Thinking of all the sexy situations we’d been in due to me telling him exactly what to do made my mouth salivate. There would be time for more of that soon enough.

Estella opened the door to the cellar, and the cool air slapped me in the face, pushing my exhaustion away just a tad. The door closed behind us, and we both took a deep breath, looking up at the stars that littered the dark sky above. After what I’d been through in Ledger’s head, the darkness didn’t hold much appeal anymore, but I tried to enjoy it regardless. I was the Alpha Seeker, and I wouldn’t let our enemy taint what I enjoyed.

‘That’s the spirit,’my wolf said, fighting her own exhaustion.

‘With Ledger on our side, I think the tables have finally tilted in our favor.’

‘We’ll see.’She didn’t sound convinced.

‘What’s up?’

‘I just feel like there’s more going on than we realize. I can’t pinpoint why I feel like this, but I’m expecting a shoe to drop at any moment.’

I frowned, trying to get my sluggish mind to speed up so I could figure out why she was feeling this way. From the beginning, I felt like there was more going on than just Tamra wanting to control all of the packs. Discovering the darkness had helped the puzzle pieces fall into place, but maybe I was missing something else. Tamra had control of the packs at the moment, except for our small one. What more could she want?

My wolf was right. There had to be more to everything that she was doing and had done in the past. What was her end game?

The crossroads that the Moon Spirit revealed to me popped up in my mind from the night everything was revealed to me. The left path was extinction, the universe’s way of righting the unbalance with our species. The right, safer option was nearextinction. Neither one was great, but was the universe ready to take that sort of drastic measure?

The Moon Spirit thought so, and that had to be enough for me. For now.

Estella and I were halfway to the cabin when a sudden chill ran down my spine, followed by a decrease in temperature. We both stopped, looking around the area for any sort of danger. My wolf was alert, ready to push forward and protect us from whatever the threat was.

Estella’s wolf let out a low warning growl, making my muscles tense.

What was going on?

Instinctively, I reached for Rylan to alert him that something wasn’t right out there, but my thoughts ran into a wall that cut off our bond. My heart lurched, panic bubbling up inside me when I couldn’t reach him. My wolf rammed against the mental barrier, but it didn’t budge.

Rustling from the shadows drew all of our attention. Estella’s wolf moved between us and the shadows, her teeth bared and a growl rattling her chest. A figure stepped out of the darkness, and a second later, one became two.

Estella’s white wolf in front of us charged, but the first figure backhanded her, causing her to fly backward and hit the ground with an audible whine. Estella dropped my arm and rushed toward her wolf but was intercepted by the second figure.

The first grabbed me before I could help. Its icy touch made me shiver. My arm burned, and I thought it might combust. Darkness pressed in around me, and my arm hung uselessly at my side. I tried to summon the light like I had in Ledger’s mind, but nothing happened.

Terror slammed into me when a deep chuckle sounded from the darkness. I’d already heard that voice tonight.

I opened my mouth to scream, but a cold hand wrapped around my throat, the fingers squeezing, cutting off the sound before I could get it out.

“We meet again, my little moonbeam.”