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“Who is that?” I asked, pointing at a woman behind him and squinted, trying to see her features better. She looked familiar, but the image was blurry.
“Let me, Luna,” Evergreen said, shifting the laptop toward him. He worked his magic, then turned the laptop back towards us.
“Sandra,” Markus growled.
I tried not to let myself get worked up over it. I knew I would see her again one day. I took a little satisfaction seeing that she still had burn scars on her face.
“So what’s the plan?” I asked them.
“I am not a hundred percent sure right now.” Markus sighed. “Clearly he’s getting ready to make his move. I think sending this picture to the council will get them to send some additional resources to us, if for no other reason than to re-capture Sandra. If they don’t, we can ask Diego and Rhett to send us some support. At least until the pups are born, and you can train again.” Markus looked at me with pleading eyes.
“In the meantime, I know how much you hate it, but all three of you are under guard even in the pack house. Unless you’re with us, your guards will be keeping watch,” he said, looking at Camila, Maya and me. I sighed but nodded, and he looked relieved I didn’t object. When the girls didn’t argue, Markus turned to the guards.
“I called you here because we trust you with our mates and the future of our pack. Without any one of them, this pack would not function as well as it does. You will be guarding them at any time they are not with us. I want two shifts. Divide it how you see fit, but provide us with a schedule at the beginning of each week. I suggest keeping Brenda and Gabriel in the same shift hours. Your duties begin as of now, and any other duties are on hold until the threat passes. Delegate them or let your direct supervisor know they need to be re-assigned until further notice. We’ll be in here working until dinner, so go make whatever arrangements you need between yourselves and your family.”
“Yes, Alpha,” they all answered in unison and left. Markus turned back to us.
“We should tell Rhett and Kelly about this. If we need help, they are the closest pack we can count on for support.” Gillian nodded at him.
“I’ll arrange for them to come for a visit. I think this is better explained in person,” Gillian stated, pulling out his phone, his fingers flying on the screen.
They began discussing the security measures in place and whether they should beef them up, but I started to lose focus.
Kara?I asked.Was our friends dying my fault?
No.
Is this one of those things that was meant to come to pass?I asked, desperately trying to keep myself from spiraling down a path of misplaced guilt, anger and fear. I had been talking to a therapist, and I hoped I’d learn enough to keep my head above the waters because I could not afford to have a breakdown right now.
I think so. I don’t know everything, but this is not our fault. Even if he was looking for us, his actions are not ours. This is on Huitzilopochtli. His obsession with revenge is to blame,Kara said, mourning along with me.
You think they suffered?
I hope not,she answered quietly.
‘Tuli, I can feel your grief. Please talk to me,’Markus asked, and I noticed that he’d brought me over to the couch, and I was sitting on his lap. Everyone was gathered around him, looking at me with concern. I hadn’t noticed I’d even been moved.
“I’m okay. I was having a conversation with Kara,” I explained, offering a small smile.
“It was like you were gone. We were all trying to talk to you, and you wouldn’t even react,” Camila said.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you. I–I feel like maybe this is my fault. If I hadn’t lied about who I was...” I trailed off, not allowing myself to cry and pushing past the lump in my throat before I continued. “I know it’s not, but all those girls... my friends…” I said. “We can’t let that happen to anyone else. Huitzilopochtli needs to die.” I looked at Evergreen. “Any updates on that dagger I described?”
“I have been looking, but I don’t have anything concrete. There have been a couple of mentions of similar daggers throughout history, but nothing we can corroborate. I am still looking,” he assured me, and I nodded.
I theorized that if we could find the crystal dagger Selene had used, we could use it on Huitzilopochtli. It was our only thread of hope at the moment because otherwise, how do you kill a god?
“Do you want to take a break?” Markus asked, worried about me and the pups.
I shook my head.
“We have work we need to do today. The distraction will be good,” I comforted him with a kiss on the cheek. Markus sighed but nodded. I knew he would feel better if I was near him anyway, and I was used to taking naps on this giant couch throughout the day. It was comfortable, and even Maya joined me on the other couch occasionally, though her own little bump was not as tiring as two alpha pups. Or so Dr. West pointed out to me when I complained that she didn’t seem as tired as I was at that stage.
I turned and addressed Camila.
“We should send out a pack-wide message, letting them know we have spotted rogues near the border. Everyone should go over their emergency response plan again, in case it's needed.”
When she nodded, I turned to Danny.
