Page 16 of Howling Love (Hunter’s Moon Ritual #1)

Thornar

The spark in my chest that Gracie had lit was now a full-blown firestorm. The heat scorched my heart, and my gaze—though fixed on the outside world—was shaded by her. My wolf let out a savage snarl in my head, demanding we move faster.

The blades of the helicopter thundered, and I was left to my own thoughts as I perched in the open door, watching the terrain of Iridale blur beneath us.

Silverpine, the country north of Thornfell, had granted us clearance to cross their borders, and our jet had flown straight from Scarlet Sloth territory to one of their military airstrips.

Once the Silverpine officials learned our objective—to infiltrate Ivan’s compound, tucked just beyond the border in the northeast corner of Thornfell—they’d happily given us a corridor and wished us luck. No one fucking liked Ivan, but until now, no one had been ready to stand up to him, either.

And we hadn’t lied to them about the plan. We did plan on extracting information on what the hell he was doing behind those high compound walls. But more importantly, we were here to pull my little flame out of the bleak, sterile hell that was the Cold Moon Pack.

It was a driving, almost insatiable need to have her in my arms again.

To prove to her that she didn’t need to live in fear—that she didn’t need to flinch.

That an existence outside that kind of terror was possible.

It might’ve taken me and my sister years to learn that, but I liked to think I turned out fine.

“Deegan is going to kill us,” I said to Ravik through the mic in my helmet, his gaze locked on the ground below. Basir had his eyes shut like he was sleeping, but I didn’t buy that shit for a second.

I usually didn’t give a damn about other people’s opinions, but Deegan’s?

That was different. Since I’d come to the Ironsun Pack, he’d become more than a mentor—he was like a father to me.

Not by blood, but it didn’t matter. Normally we’d wait for permission before pulling off something like this, but with him currently indisposed, none of us were willing to sit still.

Every second we wasted was a second Gracie could be?—

“He’ll understand. Especially if we bring back extra information,” Ravik said. “I already briefed the other two groups—to grab anyone who looks like they want out. It’ll be easier to get intel from people willing to talk.”

Call me crazy, but I had a feeling there’d be a lot of people who wanted out of Ivan’s grip. The bastard was known for mistreating his people—hell, he fucking bragged about it.

“Deegan didn’t kill us for that mission in Goldmere,” Basir pointed out.

I chuckled. I mean…he wasn’t wrong, but Goldmere wasn’t Thornfell. The politics and interests in the continent south of us were far more discreet.

My eyes closed as I remembered the bruises that covered Gracie’s body, the blood soaking her ivory dress when I found her in that emergency stairwell.

I’d instantly clocked how bad she was hurt, unable to stop myself from moving closer.

Like a moth to flame, completely mesmerized by the way her eyes lit up when she saw me. A wounded creature energized by hope.

My heart had erupted in flames the moment I laid eyes on her.

Unexpected, but completely fucking welcome. This wasn’t recklessness, not this time. It was instinct. Necessary. The second we realized she’d been stolen from us, there was only one thing left to do. Bring her back.

“Five minutes until we’re within range of Northgrove,” the pilot announced, and I reached across my chest to do one last check of the buckles on my parachute.

Our team was dressed in black tactical gear and strapped with as many weapons as possible—something that made me feel confident we could pull this off.

It would be a HALO jump, and we would have to land perfectly within the confines of the camp without drawing attention. We’d already determined that the arena within the compound would be a good place to do so, allowing us to infiltrate the base silently.

There were thirty of us in total. One of the helicopters would be in charge of landing outside the walls and detonating a piece of the compound’s border to create an escape route.

All we had to do was get her through the wall and onto one of those helicopters, and then we would get the fuck out of here.

This wasn’t the first time that the three of us had done dangerous shit like this. In fact, I tended to make a habit of it—although it was never for a reason like Gracie. I just liked to think that I took really fucking well to training. Not to mention, I was fantastic with a gun and explosives.

“This could all go to shit!” I warned, though I didn’t know why. It wasn’t like I was going to change anyone’s mind, even my own. Basir nodded. It was more than likely we wouldn’t walk out of this unharmed, but it would be worth it if Gracie woke up in our territory tomorrow.

It had been less than twenty-four hours since I’d last seen her, and now I was traveling across Thornfell to get her back.

We were totally fucked .

“At least it’s better than sitting through the trade council.” I barked out a laugh. Ravik wasn’t wrong. The TTC had been dry and dull, and considering we had deals with every territory except Ivan’s, completely unnecessary.

Gracie mattered far more than any of that shit.

“There it is!” I called out, feeling a surge of adrenaline as I stood, gripping the handle next to me. The terrain had been slowly becoming more barren since leaving Silverpine, but now I could almost go as far as to say it appeared hostile.

Dead, ashy lands lay below us in the dark, my wolf tracking every inch of it. There was absolutely no life. No vegetation. No animals.

There was an eerie silence over the land, and while I knew our helicopters were loud to me, I knew just how silently they moved through the air above.

“That’s where she’s been living?” Ravik demanded, looking at the approaching compound. My jaw clenched in anger, because the state of the compound was dire.

Fog hung from the sniper towers positioned incrementally along the barbed wire fences, making it clear that outsiders weren’t welcome.

Fluorescent floodlights blasted across the grounds, illuminating the rusted metal shacks that served as buildings for those who lived here.

The compound wasn’t particularly large, but it had a central living space, an arena, and a sizable training center.

Soldiers stood guard at the perimeter of Northgrove, strapped with guns and staring out into the vast, barren territory ahead of them.

I had heard the rumors in the past of sacrificial rituals and trafficking shifters. I’d heard about the cruelty of the Cold Moon Pack. But to see the truth?

I’d never felt such fury.

Gracie had been living like this, presumably for her entire life.

“Shit, they’re using the arena,” Basir said.

A sense of dread permeated the air. That many people didn’t gather on their own or for sport.

They gathered like that for blood.

“Drop us above the central compound,” I told the pilot, “but tell the other teams to blow open a section of the wall near the arena. I have a feeling that’s where we’re going to find our girl.”

After receiving an affirmative, we got into ready positions. When the helicopters moved silently over the empty central space of the compound, I jumped. I had never been one to hesitate, and it sure as fuck wouldn’t start now.

The wind was cold and tasted bitter as I fell through the air, silently pulling to release the parachute.

With a tug upward I slowed, drifting down into the shadows of a large building that appeared to be a house.

My wolf surged forward as I shed the parachute, somehow managing to keep him in his cage.

It wasn’t time for that—not yet. Not until we had eyes on Gracie.

I could smell her vanilla and cinnamon scent. It was everywhere.

It was also tinged with blood.

When my pack brothers landed, we moved quietly, staying in the shadows as we weaved through the dilapidated buildings.

I could feel the tension in Ravik as he tried to contain his wolf, having caught her scent as well.

And Basir, while silent, continuously played with the knife he always carried.

It was a sign that his facade of calm was fractured, close to breaking, which wouldn’t be good for anyone.

I didn’t hide the violence inside of me, allowing it to break out—especially if it meant protecting those I cared about. I knew Ravik felt the same. Basir, though, was a different situation, and it was probably best that he didn’t lose his shit. After all, there was a reason he was an Enforcer.

Ravik motioned for a change in our trajectory, and I nodded sharply.

Tonight, the full moon shone brightly down on the compound, leaving little room for mistakes—but it was clear that everyone was at the arena.

Luckily, because of the mass of people, they wouldn’t notice the shift in power from our arrival, even if each of us carried the distinct dominance and presence that came with being an alpha.

A sense of warning began to grow as we moved beneath the stands of the arena, trying to get a gauge on the space as a whole. How the hell would we find her…

My heart stopped in my chest.

At the center of the arena, amidst haunting ceremonial drums and the scent of sage, Gracie lay on a marble slab.

Blood rushed in my ears, and my wolf began to break free, forcing a grunt of pain from my chest as I barely managed to hold him back.

Ravik was saying something, but I couldn’t hear him. I couldn’t hear anything.

All I could focus on was Gracie, laid out on an altar and surrounded by skulls. Her slight frame was draped in a barely-there dress, ritual paint scrawled across her exposed skin. They’d dressed her up like a corpse, as if she was already gone. But she wasn’t. Not yet.

The woman standing over her chanted melodically as my little flame trembled. What the fuck was going on?

Then she picked up a ceremonial knife, holding it high in the air as if presenting it to The Eight. A snarl ripped from my throat. They were going to sacrifice her to their gods. Discard her as if she wasn’t the most sacred thing we’d ever seen.

I didn’t understand why, or if it was just punishment, but…they were going to kill her.

“We need to pull her out of there, now. Consequences be damned,” I bit out.

“It won’t help her if we’re shot,” Basir hissed, his fury finally breaking through.

“It doesn’t matter—we have to get her,” Ravik said, his voice hard but level. “I’m calling in the other team. I’ll have them detonate the far wall where there aren’t any people. The distraction should give us enough time to grab her.”

Before we could say another word, the drums stopped. The speaker system crackled to life, the expectant silence of the crowd making it feel as if the arena itself was holding its breath. A voice filled with disdain flooded the space, echoing through the compound.

“On this holy night of the Buck Moon, please welcome your esteemed Alpha, Ivan Rivers.”

He was about to sacrifice her himself.

And we were about to bring down the walls of Gracie’s prison.