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So he wasn’t trying to deceive her? This felt very out of character for him.
“Sergei. Slow down. You’re not telling me what I need to know.”
Sergei growled in frustration. “Fine,” he said. “The final nail in the coffin was when Victor came down here yesterday, looking to recruit people from our pack in his war against you. I don’t know if he’s gotten people from your pack on his side, but he’s building an army.”
“And we’ll be ready for him when he decides to strike,” Luna replied, betraying her outer presentation of calmness with a deep internal panic. Did Sergei really not believe they could handle Victor? And if not, why wasn’t he here to join the fight?
“No, you won’t. Because they’re not looking to fight fair. They want to ambush you. Today. And they’re going to pin everything on you and Adrian.”
Luna looked at the full room before her. Everybody was at the ceremony except for those Victor had twisted to his side. She saw defenseless women and children who hadn’t bothered to learn to fight.
If Victor attacked now, it would be a bloodbath.
She thought of Darius lying bloody on the ground next to her, and she hung up the phone.
From her left, Luna heard a hushed, urgent whisper and saw Sasha beckoning her over.
In the shadows, she saw Adrian’s muscular form, garbed in a dark tuxedo with a green undershirt, standing tall above her. She remembered the superstition that it was bad luck for him to see her in her dress before wondering if mating ceremonies carried the same superstitions as weddings. She walked briskly to the officiant, nearly stumbling in her heels.
“I’m so sorry,” Luna said to him, and he hung his head in frustration. “It’s just going to be a bit longer.”
As she ran over to their improvised dressing room and study, she waved to the crowd gathered there, letting them know they’d be starting soon. Several of them looked down at their phones and watches in response, confirming the time. She entered a barely lit room with a bent wire birdcage sitting on a stone pedestal and toppled shelves lining the walls. And before she did anything, she rushed over, hugging Adrian in a deep embrace.
“I had no idea where you were,” she said, running her chin along his chest.
He returned her affection but pulled away to stare down at her with a smoldering gaze. He had an intensity to him that confirmed he knew something.
“Is what Sasha said true? Is Victor really planning an attack right now?”
Luna nodded, unsure of how Sasha had pieced that together from what she overheard.
“Then we have to hurry,” Adrian replied.
Luna shook her head.
“I just don’t know how we’re going to tell all those people we’re postponing the ceremony.”
Adrian chuckled. “Do you really think I’d be that short-sighted, calling you here and organizing this whole ceremony without a plan?”
Looking up at him in confusion, Luna tried to make sense of his words.
“No,” Adrian added. “We’re not postponing anything.”
“But they’re trying to frame your pack, Adrian,” Luna countered. “You. Me. Sasha. Your enforcers. We would all go down so Victor could seize leadership.”
“And that’s not going to happen. We’re not going to buckle to his pressure. If we do that, Victor wins.”
Luna shook her head, realizing that everybody was going to die and that she’d be the one taking the heat, taking Adrian down with her. Her mind ran through the worst-case scenarios, and each one was less acceptable than the last.
“This is all my fault,” she said quietly, meeting Adrian’s gaze before gaining a sense of urgency. “Please let me postpone this. If we do this, we’ll just be cursing our love.”
Adrian smiled in response, putting his hand on Luna’s shoulder. Her wolf wanted to nuzzle into the contact.
“All those people are gathered out there for us, Luna,” he said, looking through the cracked door to the ceremony. “Your grandmother’s looking lovely.”
Oh God.
She had only just met her grandmother, and already, she was going to lose her. She looked out, seeing her grandmother sitting in a violet dress. She looked like her spitting image, only several decades older.
