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“So they worked with witches too?” I questioned. “I feel like every fucking thing we learn contradicts what we thought.”
“You’re not wrong,” Callum said, but it didn’t bring down his excitement. “But this is it, brother.”
“Honestly, the fact we don’t have to hide is nice since we can’t. Let them see us move, I hope he’s ready.” I laughed.
Callum snorted and clapped me on the shoulder. “You, my friend, have never been one for subtlety.”
“I’d say Vanya agrees,” Antonio goaded. “We all remember angry Leven when she showed up.”
I winced. “In my defense, we’d dealt with some fucking assholes before she arrived. But man, she was glorious when I pissed her off.”
“So what’s our plan when we get there?” Antonio asked before we could dissolve into further comments about our Luna.
“We cut through Gatlinburg and go farther into the smokies until we find them,” Callum said. “It’s bold to settle there. The area is known for bears… but wolves? Not as much.”
Antonio typed away at his computer and laughed. “According to this, there are no wolves known to be in the area, but ‘sightings’ have been reported. Who wants to take a bet on who those sightings are.”
“I’ve always said he’s bold,” Callum said. “Find those sightings and see if you can pinpoint an area. It’ll give us more to go on.”
“Do we leave in the morning?” I questioned.
“Yes?” he asked more than answered. “What do we take, though? We’re leaving this place behind for good. Fuck… I’m so out of my depth here.”
“Breathe first,” I said firmly. “We’ll take down tents and load them into the cargo vans, take everything we can just in case. Leave what we can’t fit, then we can use our funds to settle after this is over.”
“Okay,” he said, not even realizing he let me take the lead. “The hive has rooms, so it’ll just be for after.”
“Outside of everyone’s personal stash and clothes, there’s pretty much nothing else here anymore and most was destroyed in the fire. No one here is worried about material possessions anymore.”
“We’re all worried about survival,” Antonio said. “I’ll start here, Carlo ran for a nap but he’ll help when he’s up.”
“I’ll go tell Vanya the good news,” I said. He nodded, still in a daze as I stood up and walked off. But right now, I didn’t want to focus on anything but our mate. She’d been having a week of hellish hallucinations and was having an even harder time than our alpha.
It took me checking three tents before I found her. She was curled up in the corner of mine with a book in her lap. One of the few that had survived the fires. Apparently one she’d stuck in her own backpacks and had it with her.
“Hey, how are you holding up?” I asked. She looked up but her eyes were clouded. “That good, huh?”
She gave me a shaky smile. “Tell me you have something.”
This time I finally did. “The vampires sent us news. They found the Stonefall Mines and they connected us with a hive out there that’s going to let us stay with them before the attack. Callum is getting word out to any allies we still have, and the archive is reaching out to their own.”
“Do we leave tomorrow?” she asked hesitantly. I couldn’t blame her for expecting something to fall through on this plan. “Gods, if we don’t…”
“We will,” I promised. “In the morning we’ll pack up the trucks, leave what we can’t fit like all of these mattresses, and make our way to the Smoky Mountains.”
Her smile was everything and I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed her usual feisty, teasing self.
“I’m not sure what all Callum plans to do but I’m gonna let him handle the details,” I said as I kicked off my shoes.
“Some second you are,’’ she teased.
That earned her a pillow to the face. Her laughter filled the air and soothed my jagged edges. It was crazy how unaware I was of my own tension and how much I relied on her to keep me sane.
“Hey, you’re the Luna out here with your nose in a book.”
She smiled sadly now, her energy depleting just like that. “It’s less dangerous here. I can’t go outside or be around the pack without getting visions, and I don’t want to risk hurting someone while I’m in one. I literally can’t hear or see anyone.”
The tears in her eyes were the final straw and I scooped her up, carrying her over to the bed and wrapping her in a hug. She melted into my arms and I was angry all over again that these assholes had taken my strong, sure-of-herself mate and reduced her to a scared wolf hiding away. It was one thing to plague our land, it was another to fuck with our Luna.
