Page 5 of Howling Love (Hunter’s Moon Ritual #1)

Gracie

The last time I’d been inside a car was a decade ago when we’d been transferred from our farm to Northgrove, our compound.

Of course I’d seen them come and go through the gates, but as I pulled the seatbelt across my chest, I couldn’t help but compare the cold, sterile military truck from that night to the luxurious SUV I now sat in.

The leather smelled polished, and I tried to take a breath to calm myself before Alpha Ivan got into the car with me.

The last thing I wanted was to be in a confined space with him.

I knew the act, if you could even call it that, would drop very soon. I could already feel it slipping in the way he spoke to his Beta and Enforcer outside of the car. There was a harshness to his tone, a calculating cruelty.

Adjusting my jacket, I put my hand into my pocket and felt the herb pouch Thalira had given me. Eyeing the three men outside, I quickly took it out and peered inside. A note sat folded alongside a vial, the parchment warm in my fingers as I gently flattened it out.

“Only use this if there’s truly no path left. This will carry you back to The Eight.”

Inhaling sharply, I watched as the note broke down into ash, falling through my fingers and back into the pouch—removing any evidence of its existence.

The words were seared in my brain, though, and I swallowed nervously.

What had Thalira predicted that would require such extreme measures?

I eyed the vial, realizing what it was: poison.

Would I really need to use it? That terrified me more than the contents of the vial itself.

As I stuffed the pouch back into my pocket, the car door opened. I tried to school my expression, silently eyeing the silver trim on my coat.

“We’ll meet you at the airport,” Clint said before closing the door for Alpha Ivan.

The two of us sat in silence.

This was going to be a horrible car ride, especially if he continued to stare at me like that.

“I have some calls to make. I expect you to stay silent.”

My gaze moved toward him, and I nodded in understanding. His charming smile was gone as he looked down at his phone and dialed a number, the sleek metal device very different than the phones I remembered.

As his call began, I looked out the window, watching as the compound gates opened.

I was leaving its walls for the first time in ten years, something that was impossible to fathom.

Leaning forward, I watched the cold, dead landscape pass by minute after minute.

It was early fall, but there was no vegetation.

No longer did bright, vibrant orange and red maple leaves decorate the trees.

My expression must have been obvious, because Alpha Ivan’s voice was hard and sudden, making me flinch. “The territory you remember doesn’t exist.”

Clearly.

“Why do you think that is?”

His question had panic tightening in my throat. I couldn’t say the real answer, that The Eight had abandoned us and the land. It was a trick question, and if I answered it wrong, I’d get hit. Hard. That wasn’t an assumption, either. I’d suffered at the hands of his pack for far less.

“I don’t know,” I answered softly.

“The vermin that lived here salted the land before our coup. Because of them, nothing grows.” His answer had my wolf snarling.

The sensation made my heart seize in surprise.

My wolf had been silent for so long, but with what we’d gone through in the past twenty-four hours, something had ignited in her. In us.

And Alpha Ivan’s answer? Ridiculous. I had lived on a farm my whole life, and this kind of destruction didn’t come from salt alone. Not to mention that I was one of the vermin he referred to.

Luckily, I was saved by another phone call, and my gaze returned outdoors. An airplane—a jet, more specifically—sat waiting for us behind a chain link fence. I loathed the idea of flying. I had no reason to, but I’d never been on a plane in my life, even before the coup.

And I didn’t want to start now.

Questions began to grow in my head, accumulating—amassing—as the silence itched beneath my skin. I needed to know…something. Before I could stop myself—before fear could drown the words—I spoke.

“Where are we going?”

Alpha Ivan stared at me with contempt, as if any spoken word from me, unless it was in direct response to his prompting, was an insult. Sinking back against the seat, I let the question hang rather than apologize. I didn’t want to make it worse.

“I suppose you deserve to know,” he said, hanging up his phone. “We’re going to Central Thornfell. The TTC is being held in the Scarlet Sloth territory.”

Bear shifters. My wolf didn’t seem nearly as upset about that as she had about dragons, so that was a positive. Now I understood why we had to fly. Central Thornfell was a long way from the northeast corner of the country where we lived. At least a few hours, minimum.

The only hope I felt was in the significant fact that if I was truly being “left” or “given away,” it would be far away from the Cold Moon Pack.

The car came to a stop, and Alpha Ivan motioned to the door with his head. “Out. Now.”

I scurried out of the seat, straightening myself and keeping my gaze on the plane, avoiding eye contact with the gray-uniformed men around us. All men—except for one woman descending the jet stairs. Her once-over had me shrinking into myself.

“Alpha Ivan. Good morning for flying.”

“Velina. I expect you have everything ready?” he asked sharply.

She nodded, then looked at me again, analyzing me with a hawkish gaze. “This is the one?”

“Yes. She’ll need a debriefing before we land. Assume she knows nothing.”

I hid my reaction by looking down at my heavy shoes, brow furrowing with annoyance. I’d been kept ignorant, I knew that, but I didn’t like being reminded of it. I would have given anything to live in the larger world instead of clawing through each day just to survive.

I didn’t even realize Alpha Ivan had moved past us and up the stairs until Velina’s hand gripped my forearm, snapping my attention back to the present.

“If you want to survive this, girl, you’d better school those reactions. Now come.”

Velina’s words had the desired effect—fear.

An hour later, I was tucked away in the back of the jet, avoiding attention from the pack leaders.

I could smell alcohol in the air and hear the sound of glasses clinking, as if they were celebrating.

The gray uniforms had disappeared, replaced by dark, expensive suits with flashy watches and silver embroidery.

They matched the luxurious nature of the jet perfectly, and I had to wonder: if Alpha Ivan liked this type of lifestyle, why was his compound so depressing?

Was it just to ensure we suffered, or was he putting on a show for the event we were going to? I had no idea, but considering the way Velina was trying to drill information into my head, I was going to assume the latter.

I’d already been berated for my inability to hide my reactions, and I couldn’t even disagree with her—Ravina had told me it was a problem.

I probably wouldn’t be able to hide it, though.

Not completely. I had learned how to get by in the compound by staying invisible, unnoticed in the shadows.

But that wouldn’t be an option here—so if keeping a blank face meant staying out of trouble, I would try.

Unsurprisingly, I’d also been told that I shouldn’t speak unless I was asked a direct question. That I should smile, but not with teeth to ensure I didn’t come off as too forward.

I was supposed to look peaceful and demure to serve as a useful representation of the Cold Moon Pack. Which was funny, since the Cold Moon Pack was none of those things.

“Your education is sufficient enough that you appear capable of a conversation,” Velina said, opening a binder.

I’d been told that Velina was some kind of assistant or emissary for the Alpha.

I didn’t know what that involved, but she seemed very thorough at her job.

“You can read and write, which is more than some, but make sure you do not overstep or seem too curious. Questions don’t come off the way you think they do. ”

I would’ve been insulted by how she was talking to me, but it made sense that someone in her position would view me no better than Alpha Ivan did, so I simply nodded.

Now was not the time to argue that I was actually fairly smart.

Not as smart as some, but intelligent enough to think for myself. Or at least I liked to think so.

“You do not have any education, though, on the politics of Thornfell or its leaders.” She said it with the certainty of someone wholly aware of the walls Alpha Ivan had built around us, both physically and otherwise.

The world could’ve burned down in the past decade, and we probably wouldn’t have even realized it.

“Read the first one. Out loud.”

She slid the binder my way, and I glanced over the chart of the leaders expected to attend the TTC.

“Alpha Graeme Sharp from the Grimfur Skulk, located south of us on the eastern coast of Thornfell.”

“Fox shifters,” Velina supplied, “known for trade in industrial supplies and seafood. Already considered an ally, so you should have no need to interact with him. However, if you are called upon to be useful, you should answer immediately.”

I really didn’t like the sound of that.

“Next one,” she prodded, and I glanced down at a now-familiar name.

“Alpha Waylon Kane from the Stark Flight, located in Southern Thornfell.”

“Dragon shifters, hopefully soon-to-be allies. They are known for trade in animal products—mainly livestock and meat. When you meet Waylon, you need to ensure you hold his attention. He should be the only Alpha that you substantially interact with. Understand?”