“I don’t see why Sofia is here,” Luca says, his tone colder than ice. “This has nothing to do with her.”
“I want Sofia here,” Emily says. Her voice is small but sure as she reaches her hand out for me. I sit in the chair beside them and take Emily’s hand in mine. She squeezes my hand lightly, and her green eyes lock with mine. “I trust her completely, and I… I need her here.”
The sting of unshed tears pricks instantly at me. It warms me from the inside out to be needed by someone. Especially someone I love as much as Emily.
“This is ridiculous. There’s no need—” Luca starts, and literal steam must be coming out of my ears right now. My adrenaline spikes, and I cut him off before he can tell me why I’m not welcome in my own brother’s office.
“Luca, I get that you hate me and have ideas about me that are based in literally zero truth, but unless you want me to break your noseagain, I suggest you shut the fuck up and stop trying to prevent me from being there for my friend. Again.”
“Enough,” Ryan barks. “Sofia, as acting Luna and an important part of the pack, is welcome here anytime she wants, as long as she can refrain from assaulting anyone.”
Luca’s eyes narrow and his nostrils flare. As he opens his mouth to respond, the call to Caleb connects.
“Caleb, thanks for joining us,” Ryan says, shooting a glare at me and then Luca. “You’re on with me, Luca, Jackson, Sofia, and Emily. Emily may have some helpful information she would like to share with us.”
Ryan turns his laptop around to Emily and Jackson. The screen glows on her face, highlighting her already pale skin with a blue tint. She takes a deep breath, and I squeeze her hand. “You’ve got this, Em,” I tell her.
Emily smiles softly at me before she explains what she observed when she was in Blood Moon, her old pack. Her words come out slow and measured, like she knows her truth will hurt us but it’s a necessary evil. She tells us about how there was an organization called ‘The Keepers’ that met monthly and how they made a lot of money doing whatever they did. She remembers some addressesthat she saw on invoices off pack lands while doing the pack accounts.
The smell in the room takes on a foul and bitter edge as Emily’s fear ratchets up while she recounts what she knows, and the rest of us join the dots of what she’s not saying. She wasn’t allowed to know anything about what they did, but Aidan was always happier after a weekend with them. A shiver runs down my spine when I think about how awful things would have to be to settle Emily’s psychotic ex, who seemed to get off on torturing the person who he was fated to love.
Goddess, I’m glad he’s dead.
Jackson buries his nose in Emily’s hair, inhaling deeply to steady himself with her sweet scent. They haven’t marked each other yet with Emily still recovering from rejecting Aidan, but his mate’s scent is still soothing Jackson.
Caleb and Ryan start discussing how to stake out the different locations Emily has given them, planning to keep things small until we can gather more evidence. Ryan pulls up a map and shares his screen with Caleb so they can mark off the different addresses. And all the while, I sense Luca’s gaze on me. Glaring at me, ensuring I understand how much he doesn’t want me here. How useless and incompetent he obviously thinks I am.
Well, fuck him.
“What if we hit all potential locations at the same time?” I suggest, my voice coming out sharper than intended. “In case they move them around.”
“Wewon’t be doing anything, Princess,” Luca grits out. “You’re going to stay right the fuck here.”
“I’m sorry, did you challenge Ryan? Are you my alpha? Should I be submitting right now?” I roll my eyes and scoff out a breath, mainly because I know how much it annoys him. Luca sucks in a breath, and his irises go silver with his wolf’s presence again, but he doesn’t say anything. “Yeah, I didn’t think so.”
“Can you two stop acting like fucking children? There are literal lives at stake here,” Ryan snaps, which has us both shutting the hell up like scolded pups.
My head is spinning when Caleb hangs up. We have a plan in place for the next two weeks, and we’ll reconvene again if anything changes—or in two weeks, if not.
“Before we leave,” Ryan says as Emily, Jackson, and I move to head out. “Emily, I owe you an apology and explanation.”
“It’s okay, Alpha,” Emily responds, her voice soft and small. “I’m not part of your pack. You don’t owe me anything.”
My heart aches for her, and I mindlink Ryan immediately to make this right.
“Well, you are now, if you’ll have us,” Ryan replies. “I want to formally extend an invitation for you to accept Lunar Eclipse as your pack. The elders have approved your transfer and will be ready to oversee your ceremony as soon as you’re well enough.”
Emily’s eyes fill with tears, and she nods her head. Even though the past hour or so has melted my brain in so many ways, confirmation that Emily is here to stay soothes my soul. Knowing Ryanmust have organized this with the elders before Emily got here and proved useful softens my feelings towards him, too.
Chapter Six
Sofia
“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Luca snarls at me. His hand lands on my shoulder, and he yanks me back before spinning me around to face him. I don’t back down or even flinch; I won’t give him the satisfaction. Instead, I step closer to him and glare right back.
“I’m going tonight,” I say, my voice clear and unwavering. It’s been a week of staking out the buildings, and nothing has been found. “I’m pulling my weight, something you’re normally so quick to complain I don’t do enough of.”
“You can pull your weight somewhere safer,” he snaps. “You are not going, and that’s final!”
