who you belong to just as much as you want the females to know who I belong to.” He lifted his brows, challenging her.
The corners of her lips lifted. “You think you have me all figured out.”
“Not even close.” He leaned down until their mouths were inches apart. “I’m going to enjoy getting to know you all over again. I loved you before, and I’m going to love who you are now even more.”
She started to push him away while shaking her head. When she opened her mouth to speak, he placed a finger over her lips. “Don’t say it. You’re not the only one who has changed. I’ve made so many mistakes. The biggest one was walking away from you. I’m not doing that again.”
“We need to find the stone. And I still want to transfer the power or find a way where I can pull on the power to defeat Faelin.” She lifted her chin in stubbornness.
He worked his jaw and searched for the right words that would send her on the defense. “Only if the odds of you dying from it is low, like in the ten-percent bracket. I’m being generous about that percentage because I’d prefer a zero percent chance.”
She nodded. “Fine. I don’t want to die, but if it comes to me or hundreds or thousands of innocents, it’ll be me.”
He’d have to make sure there was another way before she had to make that decision. “Let’s get the supplies inside and everyone settled for a meeting. We’ll need to divide the group into teams so we can cover more ground.”
“Great plan. We need to get the stone before Faelin realizes we found it.” Luna’s stomach growled.
“I need to feed you. How about a run?”
She smiled, her first full, beautiful smile at him since he showed up on her doorstep at Ashwood. “That would be amazing. After the meeting. I can wait that long for food.”
Just as she said the words, the scent of food filled the cabin. Stepping away from Luna and exiting the room, he stopped when he saw Nyla and Kirk in the kitchen area, emptying bags of Chinese take-out boxes. Nyla met his stare and grinned. “We brought dinner.”
“Well, food is covered,” Luna said before darting off to help Nyla.
Faelin lounged on a worn sofa inside his office in an abandoned underground bunker he made his west coast HQ. He ran across the location when he was searching for the moonstone before he discovered Royce had it all along.
From the looks of it, the place used to be a prepper’s home—entirely off-grid and underground. It was now Faelin’s. It was also the place he was going to transfer Luna and Nyla to before the females escaped.
The sound of the hatch opening then closing echoed down the hallway into the main area and the office. Faelin scented the air to confirm who he guessed it was. His spy, Oscar. The male wanted to meet in person for his latest update. Faelin hoped Oscar wasn’t wasting his time by telling him shit he already knew.
Oscar entered the office with a smirk as he sank into the chair across from Faelin’s desk. Narrowing his gaze, studying the male carefully, Faelin said, “This better be good.”
“Rafe and Luna left with a team this morning to search for the second moonstone.” Oscar traced the circular patterns in the fabric of the chair arm.
“As we guessed they would as soon as Easton gave them the information.” One corner of Faelin's mouth lifted as he turned to his computer screen. After clicking a few buttons, the video feed of Easton’s little hideout appeared on the screen. “I do have to say that planting the information where Easton could find it was smart.”
Faelin had his suspicions that his Beta would betray him. Now he knew for sure that Easton had switched sides.
“Luna had made it clear that she wants the power of the moonstone transferred to her.” Oscar’s words were soft and careful, like he was unsure how Faelin would take the news.
“That would kill her…” Faelin trailed off, not finishing that thought out loud. He wanted Luna to rule at his side, not dead. There was a chance the power wouldn’t kill her, but it would turn her insane, especially since her wolf was as feral as it was.
Oscar shifted slightly in his chair. “It’s possible that she will seek help from her Pack Hunter and the elemental.”
That was likely. The elemental Oscar referred to was Zorana Andrews,