We know. Vampires are trailing off and heading your way. Get inside the manor and find the control
room to try and disable it.
Colton’s fast response is ragged and strained and I can tell they are really in the thick of it and not
doing so well. I can feel his fatigue, hear his stress levels in just one link. Without seeing what’s going
on, I can tell the valley must be a bloodbath right now. They are fighting hard to stay in control and god
knows how many have died already.
Are you okay? I reply in panic, not knowing how to feel with the way things seem to have suddenly
combusted and are no longer in our control. Our plans have gone to hell and I feel useless and
somehow cut off from what’s going on. No sense of what to do or how to help.
We’re holding on and pulling villagers with us. We’re coming to you as soon as we can but just do as I
ask. There are more of them than us and half of the Valley wolves are weak and sick.
We shall Alpha. Be safe… Luna…. He’s right. We need to disable it.
Radar breaks into the link, which Colton sent using the sub pack bond before I can formulate a
response. I’m still rooted to the spot as I let this sink in and try to think. The urgency around us
hemming in on me so I feel instantly suffocated and my brain doesn’t want to cooperate. It’s spiraling.
Take care of her for me. Colton ends the link and goes back to fighting to save his people with one last
commanding order.
“He wants us to go inside and disable the tone that’s making the wolves weak.” I relay to those around
me who weren’t part of the pack link.
“Get these boys up, they’re coming with us. Move. We don’t have time to wait around.” Leyanne’s
commanding voice comes at us from behind, startling me, and it’s only now I realize she wasn’t with us.
She’s moving fast, followed by a high-flying stream of crows as she paces at us, her robes flapping in
the speed of her own motion. I have no idea where she went but she’s good at doing the disappearing
and reappear act.
“The manor?” I ask with uncertainty and am caught by the wrist as she passes and tugged towards the
house with hurried force. “What about Juan?” I yelp in fright with the sheer strength of her maneuver.
“He’s not important right now. The wolves are losing because of his damned weapon. We need to turn
it off but leave the defense intact so they vampires don’t use theirs. My magic can’t do a thing with
technology.” She for once sounds ruffled and majorly annoyed. Dragging me from the center of my
pack and with her towards the stairs. My guards seem momentarily shocked that she would haul their
Luna this way and then scramble to follow while dragging our prisoners with them. Carmen doesn’t
question but hops behind me, Sierra on her tail and I can tell that like me, they are now uncertain and
worried. It’s only a matter of time before the frequency affects us too and we don’t know how long that
will take. Like a slow poison invading our systems.
“The control room for the cameras used to be on the ground floor near the sub common room.” Carmen
flits to human form, pushing in front of us with speed as we get to the door of the manor and halts
before she grabs the handle. The door isn’t boarded or blocked but she hesitates and holds up a palm
behind her to stop us moving forward.
“What?” I blanche in irritation.
“Wolfsbane…can’t you smell it.” She leans in and around the door, her nose inching close, scrounging
up her face in disgust and then moves to the handle with caution.
“Really?” I snort in amused disbelief “He would swoop as low as tainting handles with wolfsbane.
What’s wrong with him?”
“What’s right with him?” Carmen retorts with gritted teeth and moves aside to let the witch try the door.
Wolves are harmed by wolfsbane even with the simplest touch. It’s one of the few poisons that merely
grazing our skin can burn in the most agonizing way.
I flinch a glance at Radar from the corner of my eye and watch that proud wolf form tense slightly. His
eye scar came from a combo of using a silver dagger and wolfsbane and I know it’s one of the few
things in life that still makes him nervous. Even in the grimoire library we banned it from the house as
it’s so potent against us we cannot be around it safely. It’s our Kryptonite and yet Juan has smeared his
own front door with it. It sums him up entirely.
“I guess he never ventures out this way, or out at all.” Leyanne observes and one of our wolf prisoners
let’s out a wry laugh.
“Why do for himself what he can make others do. Juan only takes the likes of us in, and we don’t come
back out.” Taemin snarls and then slumps against Radar, who is still holding him tight as though he
doesn’t even have the energy to hold himself up anymore. They have been exposed to the frequency
for god knows how long and I’m worried about their usefulness and health if we take them further.
Carmen seems to gaze into the distance for a second, her body stiffening and I know she’s
momentarily lost in memories of what was done to her in this house.
“Hmmm…. Seems he doesn’t care all too much about protecting the way in. This wolfbane is nothing
more than a deterrent.” Leyanne shoves the heavy door open after a few taps on the lock and a spark
of light, which I assume is some magical unlocking ability and swings the heavy wooden slab back into
the once familiar hallway.
Inside it looks the same as when we left, only dark, dusty and unused as though it’s sat dormant and
empty for months. The air is stale, and the lights are all out, leaving an eeriness in as Leyanne lights
the way with the glow from her hand to cast some illumination. It’s too still, too empty. We know Juan
and his minions are inside this manor, but it seems they care little about protecting the main door or
leaving life down here.
“Where are they?” Sierra also turns human and moves in beside me, taking my hand in hers as we
creep in quietly. My guards let go of the prisoners and flank around us in a semi-circle immediately.
Realizing they pose no threat when we are literally walking into the lion’s den. Aiden moves to the
nearest couch and sinks down exhaling heavily and seems to instantly pass out. Taemin and the last
wolf edge back to the door and stay there seemingly afraid to come in. They’re spent and they have no
fight in them anymore. They won’t help nor hinder and my guards leave them be.
The hair on my neck stands up and my skin goosebumps all over as we move further in, tiptoeing, and
yet we all sense something and stop abruptly.
“I don’t like this” I point out with a nervous waiver in my low tone.
“Me either” Carmen whispers almost into my ear as she moves in against my other side and takes my
free hand. Squeezing it tight as though needing assurance or giving it.
“Let’s find the control room and quickly.” Radar also turns human, moving past us fast and heads down
the dark passage to what once was our daily route, keeping eyes on our surroundings and using his
ability to sense for others. To our once loved common room and place as a sub pack we liked to be
together. For a second I long for Meadow and Colton beside me to go through with this and cross my
fingers that both and the rest of our pack are safe. They’re warriors and some of the fiercest fighters of
the Santo pack, but I’m still scared to death about what they are enduring right now, out there. I need
Meadows presence here to fire up my own courage and regret not asking Colton to send her by my
side too.
We move as one fluid unit in rapid speed, alert to our surroundings even though it truly seems
deserted. We get to a small door just past our old corridor and Radar kicks it in with ease, breaking it
from its hinges and the heavy door falls backwards into the pitch-black space with a grind and thud
before finding a resting place against shelving. Leyanne moves in behind him and lights it up with both
her palms glowing bright white. That room of monitors and keyboards and endless wires and tech. This
used to be manned around the clock and now it sits here ticking on its own, like some lonely forgotten
entity. A dark empty and airless space with only small red lights blinking quietly to themselves to
indicate some things are running.
“Where is the one who was controlling the camera out there.” I ask quietly remembering one of them
was operational and trailed our movements. Someone was definitely watching out there.
Radar moves inside and flicks at the wall bringing illumination to the room and scans the space to be
sure we’re alone.
“Either its movement sensitive and automatic, or else they are using security from somewhere else
too.” He moves across the desks with his fingers, clicking buttons here and there and trying to locate
the audio control for the speakers outside.
“They left this running by itself because he’s short on manpower.” Carmen butts in and moves Radar
out of the way while she too starts pressing buttons and brings a seemingly dark monitor to life. “This is
the main system to access the audio feed to the perimeter speakers. It’s on a loop and comes from a
frequency recording they made at the lab. I can access the main files here. We need to separate it out
from the new tone that’s weakening the wolves.”
I gawp at Carmen and this new sudden ability with computers I never knew she had. I know Radar was
familiar with the security and the feed as he was a sub pack captain and often came in here, but
Carmen seemed oblivious to this side of things.
“She was often on Rota for control room duties” Radar reads my mind and nods at Carmen, making me
blush at my stupidity for a moment. I forgot that all wolves at some point got switched around to cover
almost every chore we ever had in this manor. I just never lasted long enough to get these kinds of
duties.
“Why aren’t they protecting this?” One of the Luna’s guard wolves pipes up behind me and Radar
shrugs.
“Who knows. Like the main door being vacant, and the grounds outside. Maybe Juan has really lost his
mind and up there hiding in the shadows like some kind of feral beast.” He snorts in disdain.
“Move, let me work. I can do this if you give me some space.” Carmen enters bossy mode and yanks a
seat out so she can slide in at the desk and proceeds to pull up different screens on the monitor.
Instantly immersed and looking competent with a keyboard as she starts pounding it noisly.
“This seems too easy. This doesn’t feel right.” I point out and Sierra squeezes the hand that’s still
enveloped in hers. She has been silently looking around and summing things up yet doesn’t seem
phased at all by the progression of things. There’s a weird calm to her and a hint of fire that was always
lacking. I wonder if this is how Luna Sierra of the past was and how she managed to run to save a child
when she was on the verge of being ended. Seeing her this way, a silent strength and ease, I suddenly
feel confident with her presence.
“We should look around. Try to make sense of what’s going on here. Alora’s right. Something’s off and
knowing him like we do, he would never just leave this so open and accessible.”
“Colton wanted us to stay put. Near the entrance until they get here.” Radar warns but Sierra shakes
her head.
“If Juan really is hiding in here like some deranged coward then we might put a stop to this if we drag
him out and throw him to Varro ourselves. Isn’t that why he’s here? Look around, does this seem like
the set up a sane Juan would have?” She splays one palm wide to gesture our surroundings and Radar
only dodges her and shrugs. That stubborn in him only adhering to orders.
We all stand quiet for a moment, even Carmen pauses her typing as we throw one another looks. All
human now as we stand in this small open doorway and narrow hall and the witch who has been
pensive breaks the silence.
“From a magical perspective. The air is strange, and it does seem that living energy is faint and few. If
he’s here, he doesn’t have many men left with him and he’s certainly not down here.” It’s almost like
she’s agreeing with Sierra and Radar seems to hesitate. His aura getting bristly because he doesn’t
like being questioned.
“Less than half a dozen, on the upper floors. Changes nothing.” He grits his teeth and then looks away,
a strange expression on his face. One of his gifts is finding bodies at distance, even through walls and I
guess from the second we got in here he pinpointed where all the dangers lurked. I know he’s being
cautious and wants to protect us as Colton ordered and I understand this is how he is.
“There’s more of us than them. We can do this. You know where they are.” Sierra turns to him with a
pleading expression and like always he lowers his head to avoid her gaze. His face flushing with some
color because he doesn’t want to argue with his Rema and he definitely will never disobey her son.
“With due respect Rema, the Alpha told us to say by the entrance and to disable the audio tone. We
are not going further in.” He turns his head away, stiff and pointed in tone and I know how much he
must be hating saying No to her. Sierra digs her heels in though and that flash of fierce shows face as
she tries to bring her small frame nearer to his tall height, her eyes ambering out.
“I trump the alpha’s commands when he isn’t around, and the only one who can say no right now is my
Luna…. Whom I doubt will do so.” She smiles with a wicked and almost smug expression and throws
me a raised brow as though challenging me to deny her. I swallow hard, eyes flickering from Radar’s
bowed head to the witch and then Sierra as I feel cornered about how to answer. My throat instantly dry
with the pressure to say something.
“Sierra, I don’t…” I make a feeble start to reason with her, not sure about what we should do but she
isn’t backing down.
“I’m going to look, so either come with or don’t. I’m not afraid of that man anymore and I’m not without
my own talents. Besides, Leyanne will come, right?” she nods to the witch, makes a move to step
around him and Radar explodes. He catches her by the shoulder and pushes her back enough to make
her step back inside again.
“Over my dead body!! You stay with the Guards and you stay by my side! I’m not even joking with this
bullshit. He’s up there, whether sane or not, armed or not…. you stay put and do what the alpha told
you to do! There’s no arguing with this, or me…. Do as you’re told!” His voice booms crazily loud, his
tone enough to make even me tremble and all of us flinch. I think it’s the first time I have ever seen
Radar lose his temper in such an explosive way, with a ripping growling tone that puts the fear of god
into all of us.
Sierra turns her face away refusing to engage with the death glare he throws her way and I blanche at
the irony of this. The first time his direct look at his Rema is in anger while she sulkily looks elsewhere.
“We should look around even a little. To secure the ground floor at least.” I try weakly to diffuse the
sudden tension with a soothing hushed voice, dampening the sparking air around us and Radar softens
slightly. Instant submission as he regrets his outburst, and I can almost taste his apology in the air. He
nods and then bows my way, returning to respectful sentinel. Knowing that he shouldn’t disregard my
request.
“I’ll take three and do a sweep while you all stay here hemmed in with the rest to stay safe, Luna. You
go nowhere but right here while we scope the floor.” Radar commands and I nod, even though I’m the
one who should be issuing orders. I’m already tired and uptight and I know Colton will explode if I
disobey what he told me to do. “You three…come.” Radar clicks his fingers at the wolves standing
furthest out from the door and motions them to follow. Fast to do something because I think he needs
some breathing space to calm down. The others split apart to let him leave and they disappear without
a backwards glance into the darkness, transforming to wolf like giant dark silhouettes in the hallway as
they go silently.
As soon as they are far enough away to not hear us anymore, Sierra turns to me with a defiant gleam
in her eye, determination ebbing my way. Her posture strong and upright and her eyes are glowing with
orange fire.
“Let’s go. Radar means well but he can’t stop us from doing this. Juan needs to be found and thrown to
the enemy as soon as possible.” Sierra pushes past me, marching towards the door and despite
coming face to face with a wolf blocking her path she faces them down with ferocity. Carmen freezes
and turns her head to stare, while Leyanne smirks and shrugs at the sudden show of psycho Sierra. I
exhale loudly my head beginning to ache and wonder how I ended up with a mother-in-law who has a
sudden death wish.
“Move or suffer.” She snaps at the nearest wolf and I know Radar made a wrong choice in picking his
three men. He left behind those who won’t stand up to a Rema or Luna and I know I better pick a side.
One word from me and they won’t argue. They know better. I falter, seeing the anger growing in Sierra
but the witch pushes me forward and I know I’m at a loss. Sierra is right and my confidence is knocked
from what happened in the forest. I’m hesitating because of the babies in my belly and knowing I
cannot turn.
“Come on…with me you’re safe. Maybe we can end this quickly.” Leyanne’s voice seems to entwine
inside of me like a warm hug and I am calmed with her warm touch on my arm.
I’m pushed forward to Sierra’s side, no more thought required, and with a click of fingers the wolves
move, although I know they are immediately linking Radar to report this, so we better run.
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