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“This is my shift. You taught me how to cook. I know when to get them out. Go sleep.” I nodded over to Dad, who nodded back and guided Mom out. I looked around at the stuff she had going and quickly figured out what she planned, so I sent Evie to see if anyone needed me urgently and then got to work. Before long, the dining table was full of all the goodies she’d cooked and another set of dishes I prepared after Evie told me I wasn’t needed. Tenoch woke up sometime during the cooking, relieved to see our mate was fine and we’d found our sister, but he was devastated to discover everything that happened while he was unconscious.
Uncle Helios and Aunt Nat woke around the time Uncle Theo, Uncle Seb and Jo showed up with my cousins and grandpa. After helping Bells set them up in guest rooms, I took Uncle Helios and Uncle Seb, and we ran around the perimeters of the borders to check for any fresh signs of rogues. Things were quiet, and there were no signs of rogues anywhere.
In the meantime, Evergreen was busy ordering supplies to set up a security perimeter. Dad volunteered to do this back when Bells first mated to Brandon, but Brandon insisted their pack was peaceful and they’d never had issues with rogues. His decision cost him a lot.
‘The council is here,’ Evie mind-linked me. Tenoch nodded at Ezequiel, Uncle Helios’ wolf, and Olly, Uncle Seb’s wolf, to turn back, and we went back to meet with the council. They went through the pile of rogues, and counted over seventy bodies, making this the largest rogue attack in over two hundred years. Bells’ pack only had close to five hundred members before the attack, and most of them were not fighters. They didn’t stand a chance.
Once the council finished assessing the situation, they promised to bring a few guards to help protect for the next few months in addition to the ones we were leaving behind. Later that afternoon, we sat with Bells in a conference room with the council to figure out the next steps, at Bells’ request. I was frowning not too far into the meeting, though, as I heard my twin’s plan.
‘You’ve got a little over two hundred members; less than a quarter of those know how to work the fields. The vineyard has over fifty acres of grapes that need to be harvested in the next few weeks, and you don’t have workers for it. Your plan is not sustainable, Bells,’ I said over mind-link, but she ignored me as she fought to keep and lead the pack.
The council agreed to allow her to continue to lead the pack alone as long as Crescent Moon and Guardian Moon agreed to support her. When Areli promised the support of Blue Moon as well, the council was swayed and granted her a probationary period to prove she was capable. They left before we lit the pyres so we could send the deceased back to the Moon Goddess.
I thought it was terrible when Blue Moon was attacked, but there were over two hundred deceased in Redmon Moon. It took us hours to build over fifty pyres. We had to group families together to do it or it would take us a week. On the side, we had two smaller pyres for Tori and Brandon. Bells still hadn’t gotten in touch with his mother, but she didn’t want to wait until she returned.
I went up to see Violet after dinner. She was awake now and finally able to get off Christopher’s lap; however, she’d freaked out when he tried to leave, so he was sitting on the couch, trying to continue his nap. He woke up growling when Violet screamed as the door opened, then relaxed when he saw me coming in.
“Hey, Vi, can I come close?” I asked from the door. Violet nodded nervously, and I approached even more so. I sat a on the bed a few feet from her.
I wanted to grab her and hug her like I did when she was hurt, but she wasn’t the same Violet, and I needed to respect her current boundaries. It didn’t take Aunt Nat to tell us what happened to her; while she’d healed her body, some scars remained, and the mental scars might never leave her altogether.
“How are you feeling, Bug?” I asked.
“Okay,” she was barely speaking above a whisper, and she flinched when I moved forward a little to hear her better. My heart broke, but I smiled at her.
“Do you want to come for dinner?” Violet quickly moved back on the bed, shaking her head vehemently, a look of panic in her eyes. “Can I bring you some dinner, then?” I asked quickly to abate her panic.
“Mom brought me dinner,” she answered.
“Can I get anything for you?”
“I want to go home,” she answered, a tear falling from her eyes.
“Soon, okay?”
I looked over at Christopher. He had headphones on, trying to give us some privacy, which told me I wasn’t the first person to try to talk to Violet today.
“Link me if you need anything, Bug. Okay?”
I stood up to leave and was surprised to feel her hand on my arm. I looked down at her, and when she saw she had my attention, she quickly removed the hand on my arm and returned to her spot.
“Can you ask Bells to come see me? Mom told me what happened,” she said quietly.
“I’ll tell her. I love you, Bug.”
“I love you, Cory”
I mind-linked Bells Violet’s request, then left to look for my mate, who was helping Evergreen on whatever system he was working on for the pack.
“Can I steal your daughter for a moment?” I asked.
“Of course, Cory. Just bring her back soon. I need her opinion on some stuff,” he answered.
‘He doesn’t. He’s just uncomfortable letting me out of his sight,’ Evie answered. ‘He’s been asking me the dumbest questions about things he taught me to do himself.’
‘Give him some slack, love. I’m sure he was going insane with worry,’ I replied, wrapping my arm around her waist and leading her away.
‘I know, and I hate that I did that to him, but it was the only way.’
