Page 33 of Howling Love (Hunter’s Moon Ritual #1)

“You look beautiful, little flame.”

My cheeks heated as Thornar appeared in the doorway of the bathroom where I was finishing getting ready.

I’d put on a hunter-green wool skirt that tightened at the waist and went out to my ankles, a pair of black boots and socks cradling my feet.

It was particularly cold out, so I’d even put on a black turtleneck to go with it.

It wasn’t a fashionable outfit by any means, so his compliment gave me a sense of pride.

“Thank you,” I said sincerely as I finished brushing my hair out before clipping back the top half.

I could see the change in my health physically manifesting in how I appeared.

My skin had a pinkish glow, and my hair felt silkier than it had in years.

Even my eyes had a warm glow to them, the dark circles having completely disappeared. “I promise I’m almost ready.”

“Take your time,” he insisted. “I’m more than happy to just watch you for hours.”

My cheeks burned brighter as I turned and stepped toward him. “I have a feeling that might be a bit boring,” I teased. When his arm hooked around me, I melted against his chest like I’d been doing it for years.

“Never.” He smoothed a hand up my throat to hold my jaw. “I’m fascinated by you, Gracie.” A string of excitement and pleasure crashed over me at his simple statement.

It was almost impossible to imagine that a man like Thornar found me interesting, let alone that he was fascinated by me.

“That seems unthinkable to me,” I whispered. “I don’t do anything interesting.”

“ You . You are interesting, not what you do,” he murmured. There was a glint to his gaze that told me he was ready for battle—that if I didn’t believe him, he would point out all the reasons why.

“Okay,” I whispered, smiling. “I won’t try to talk you out of wanting to pay attention to me.”

That may have sounded more pathetic than I had intended.

He let out a low rumble. “Good girl.”

Without any warning, the man dipped his head and slid his lips against mine.

I let out a surprised sound but immediately gave in to his dominant hold.

The way he kissed was both teasing and in control, as if he had all the time in the world.

He tugged at my bottom lip before his tongue soothed over the sting, causing a whimper to slip from my lips.

I felt lightheaded, almost high, by the time he pulled back, my legs almost shaky from the pull the man had on me.

“Wow,” I whispered as he chuckled, the warm sound curling around me as I stared at him in awe.

“I’ll take that, little flame.” He winked. “Come on, let’s get you some food before we leave.” I followed him out of the room, still feeling dazed by the kiss as he intertwined our fingers, brushing his lips over the top of my hand.

It was late morning, the sunshine casting the main room in a bright glow. Ravik was eating breakfast next to a plate clearly meant for me as Thornar pulled out my chair and motioned for me to sit.

“Where’s Basir?” I asked. Ravik looked up from the papers in front of him and smoothed a hand over my leg in greeting.

“Getting ready. Before we go anywhere for the day, we need to go to that meeting,” Ravik explained as Thornar went to make coffee. The scene was domestic in a way I had never experienced before, and it caught me off guard by how much I loved it.

“You don’t have to go to the meeting,” Thornar reminded me. “Only if you want to.”

“I do,” I promised.

When I’d woken to Basir still in bed with me, I’d been thrilled.

Last night had been intensely emotional, and in the light of day, I worried he’d pull back.

I think he’d tried to, but instead had spent at least fifteen minutes with an arm wrapped around me, his lips brushing over my forehead again and again.

When we’d finally gotten up, he explained we had intel from the Cold Moon Pack to review.

I very much wanted to know what Ivan was doing since the failure of his ritual. It was both a terrifying and necessary piece of information for the puzzle of my future.

“I also have a lead on your brother.”

My eyes widened as I put down the fork I’d been lifting to my mouth. Ravik gave me a knowing look as he tapped the plate. I brought it back up to my mouth, urging him to continue.

“I contacted Kaliyah Greene, the one who just hosted the trade council,” he started, and I nodded in understanding. “As well as Waylon Kane. Their territories border the Grimfur Skulk, which Owen would have presumably had to pass through on his way out.”

“Or he could have gone north to Silverpine,” Thornar pointed out.

Ravik nodded. “I did check with them, but they haven’t gotten back to me yet. Although they may not need to now. Eight years ago, an Owen Holloway—mid-teens—was recorded passing into the Scarlet Sloth territory by border patrol. I haven’t managed to track him past that, but it looks like…

“Gracie?”

A small sob almost bubbled out of my mouth. I put my hand over it, my fork clattering to the plate. Relief like I’d never experienced overwhelmed me as tears leaked down my face.

“Shit,” Thornar cursed, moving around the island and smoothing a hand up my back.

Ravik’s hand tipped up my jaw as I looked right at him, not trying to hide my tears. “I really thought he was dead, Ravik. I thought they’d killed him that night.”

Thornar nodded, not saying anything, and Ravik’s gaze filled with understanding. “We’ll find him, Gracie. I promise.”

“Why the fuck is she crying?”

Basir’s voice almost made me jump. He appeared across the island looking panicked, his harsh tone instantly making me worried. Neither of the other men seemed bothered by his reaction in the least, though, as I offered him a watery smile.

“We found a lead on my brother. Good tears.”

Basir grunted, running a hand through his hair. “Rarely are tears good, glow. Rarely.”

I truly believed he meant that.

“Alright,” Thornar said. “Well, before Basir decides to kill us for making you cry, let’s get on to this meeting. We’ll keep moving our search forward for Owen. Don’t worry, little flame. It’s our top priority to find your brother.”

“Thank you,” I whispered, feeling so grateful for these men.

As we made our way to the private meeting room one floor down, the men quietly explained what they’d been doing to monitor Ivan and what they’d found.

At first I was overwhelmed by the amount of information, but when I’d asked to be part of the meeting, they had taken that as a sign I wanted to be informed about everything.

It was unexpected, given how women were treated in the Cold Moon Pack—their opinions or involvement in anything outside of domestic work was minimal—but it meant so much to me.

It made me feel valued in a way I had never felt before.

“We figured Ivan would be reactionary to what happened,” Ravik said, “but instead he went silent, so we sent in a shadow patrol to monitor and gather intel.”

“What’s a shadow patrol?” I asked.

“They’re a special operations squadron. They focus on infiltration and information gathering,” Basir explained.

“Basir was part of one for a bit,” Thornar added casually. Basir shot him a frustrated look that I didn’t understand.

“They managed to return with…a lot. Not all of it fits together in a picture, but maybe you’ll be able to get a better grasp on it than us.” Ravik rubbed his hand across my back.

“They’ve doubled the presence at their borders, and supplies have been moving in and out of Northgrove, some from the Grimfur Skulk territory,” Basir said, his brow dipping. “He’s planning something.”

With Ivan, that was never a good thing.

We stepped inside the meeting room, greeted by familiar faces. The room itself was windowless, maybe the size of the bedroom I’d been sleeping in, and held a large circular table cluttered with artifacts and paperwork.

Two uniformed soldiers stood at attention against the wall behind Alpha Deegan.

His gaze was on the papers in front of him, and Malara spoke quietly to Elowen.

It was interesting who was gathered, and I had a feeling it was purposefully kept very small—filled with only essential people.

Including two that I was surprised to see.

Isara and Solenne stood off to the side, seemingly debating something.

I was surprised they were here until I remembered what I’d read about the priests and priestesses in the territory.

Each was trained in both medical care and combat, for when—or if—they ever had to be on the field.

I hadn’t found proof that it happened often, but it did clarify why they were here outside of their knowledge of the gods.

“Morning!” Elowen said. I offered her a small smile as Alpha Deegan got started.

“Let’s jump right into it. We’ll have to hold a meeting to brief the captains later, but I wanted all of us on the same page first,” he said as we sat down. In front of each chair was a stack of papers—intel reports.

“They’re obviously planning something,” Thornar said.

“It’s not an attack,” Malara stated as she watched Isara and Solenne finally join us.

“No,” Solenne agreed.

“And their troop movement appears to be focused on defense,” Thornar pointed out.

“So they assume we will attack soon?” Elowen frowned. “I’ve spent the past two days studying Ivan and his normal patterns, and that doesn’t really fall in line. He’s very reactionary.”

My gaze moved over the objects on the table—things I assumed were gathered from the compound. A Nyxarra-marked relic and ceremonial banners decorated with a red moon lay scattered among a series of bottles, each filled with different herbs.

“Where did all of this come from?” I waved my hand toward the items.

“One of the smaller shipments we intercepted,” Isara explained. “We were just talking about how it looks like ritualistic elements.”

“He performs rituals monthly,” Ravik stated, looking down at me. I nodded. That alone wasn’t odd, but my gut was telling me I was missing something.

“He also appears to be moving people around,” Deegan said, pulling out a piece of paper. “He’s repopulating the Northgrove compound—almost triple its normal amount.”

“ Triple? ” I pulled out the paper to see it for myself. On it were photos of trucks coming and going, all filled with terrified faces. “Never once in the past decade has he moved that many people to a compound. At least not the one I was at.”

My head began to pulse as they started to throw around ideas.

Closing my eyes, I was hit with a wave of nausea as something tried to break through my consciousness.

A cool wind rushed over my skin and smoke wrapped around me, cloaking me in darkness.

I groaned, feeling my world twist and turn in a familiar sensation.

Nyxarra. This was her doing.

I didn’t land anywhere this time; instead, I floated as the world around me began to flash with images I didn’t understand. At least, not at first.

Thousands of faces were turned upward, their gazes feverish, skin painted with Nyxarra’s sigils.

Above them, the full moon burned a deep, bloody crimson, its light staining the ground as if the earth itself bled.

Ivan stood at the heart of it all, framed in the shadow of a towering beast whose roar shattered the air.

My eyes snapped open as the vision broke. I gasped, a hand coming up to my throat as the taste of blood filled my mouth. Everyone was staring at me in shock, and for just a moment, I wondered if I would pass out. My eyes fell heavy as I heard the softest whisper in my head:

“A sacrifice to open the gates.”

“Gracie.” Thornar’s voice grounded me, my bond thrumming with concern and panic over my state. I needed to say something.

“A vision,” I whispered. “Of a sacrifice. Of thousands, underneath the next full moon.”

Eight days had passed since the previous ritual…

“The Hunter’s Moon.” Elowen floated the name softly. My stomach dropped.

“I don’t understand,” Solenne said in shock. “Are you saying that his reaction to this previous ritual being interrupted is to do a ritual sacrifice of thousands ?”

“A madman,” Isara whispered, horrified.

“Yes…I think that's exactly what he’s doing. He’s going to sacrifice all of them to Nyxarra.”

“But she wouldn’t want that!” Elowen squeaked. “Surely she’s told you that.”

“She must be showing you his plan for a reason,” Ravik agreed.

“I don’t know,” I said. “I really don’t know. His rituals have never helped our territory before, so I’m not sure why he’d think this time would be different.”

Deegan and Malara exchanged a long look before Deegan offered, “Is it possible the rituals weren’t meant for the land, but for him? For his own power?”

Oh. Ivan was always right at the altar, taking in every moment of the rituals…but Nyxarra clearly didn’t want this. So why would she give him her blessing?

“What if Nyxarra isn’t the one making him more powerful?” I asked, testing the idea. “What if the vision I saw of her being imprisoned is because she’s being forced to serve Ivan? I don’t know if that’s possible, but she clearly doesn’t want this to happen.”

My words weighed heavily in the room as each of us considered what it would take to force a god’s hand like that. I needed all of the pieces to the puzzle, but it felt like they’d been thrown across all of Thornfell.

“It can’t happen,” Basir said, his tone final. “We have twenty days if he plans to do this on a full moon.”

“Before he brutalizes everyone in his damn territory,” Thornar rumbled.

Ravik’s gaze locked on mine, his voice low and certain. “If he completes this ceremony…” He hesitated, letting the silence stretch, every eye in the room fixed on him.

“Ivan Rivers will be a god of this world.”

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