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My gaze darts to my packmates. We’re all thinking the same thing.

“There’s not an easy way to say this, but they were both found dead in a ditch on the outskirts of the Southside. Cause of death was a bullet to the head, shot execution style.”

Luna’s eyes go wide and she covers her mouth with her hands to stifle her gasp.

Madden is beside her in an instant, wrapping his large, tattooed arms around her and holding her tightly to him.

She buries her face into his arms, her shoulders shaking with what look to be silent sobs.

They were horrible fucking parents to her, but they were the only parents she knew. I can only imagine how hard it is to hear that gruesome of a death.

I clear my throat.

“Thank you for letting us know, Officer.”

“You’re welcome. Goodbye.”

The silence that follows the officer ending the call is almost deafening.

“Shot execution style?” Chase huffs, leaning hiselbows on the countertop and gripping his head in his hands. “That’s insane, right? I’m not the only one that thinks that’s batshit crazy.”

“They were a loose end,” Archer adds softly. “They knew who the alpha who abused Luna was and he didn’t want that.”

“Guys, shut the fuck up,” Madden growls, glaring at us as he pets Luna’s hair in his attempt to soothe her. “You’re freaking Luna out even more.”

“Oh fuck, I’m so sorry, Moonlight,” Chase says, walking over to Luna’s barstool and crouching down in front of her.

Her eyes are teary and wide with fear. “He—he killed them.”

She’s clinging to Madden’s arm desperately, as if that’s the only thing keeping her from falling apart.

None of us can fight the urge to go to her and soon, we’re all huddled around her.

“He did,” I nod, solemnly.

“They—they’re dead.”

“They are, little one.”

Her gaze is distant, as if she’s starting to go into shock.

“I—I’ve never dealt with death before.”

The ghosts of my parents seem to crawl their way back up my throat, making it difficult to breathe.

“Death is a fucked up thing,” Chase adds. “You’re allowed to feel however you’re feeling right now, Moonlight.”

“Even though—even though they… abused me?” She whispers, her voice so quiet if we weren’t all right next to her, it would be difficult to hear.

“Yes,” Madden says, leaning down to brush his lips against the top of her head. “It’s all you knew for so long, Angel.”

She takes a deep shuddering breath in before blinking up at the four of us.

“O—okay, I—I don’t want this to ruin our day. It had such a great start.”

“Then let’s have a great day,” I say, extending my hand out toher. “I got a new delivery of some books, why don’t we work on organizing your own shelf?”

She wipes away the last of her remaining tears and smiles up at me.