Chapter 31
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Lina
The meeting room was buzzing with newfound hope.
Everyone was talking at once, voices overlapping in a wave of relief. Ryder had Knox’s location pinpointed on his phone screen, that little blue dot pulsing steadily somewhere deep in the southern wilderness. It was a lifeline. A beacon in the darkness that had threatened to swallow me whole.
I stared at that dot, my heart hammering against my ribs so hard I could feel it in my throat. That little glowing point on the screen meant everything. For the first time since Lucio had walked out of that bedroom with my baby in his arms, I felt something other than despair.
I felt resolve.
Something cold and hard settled into my bones, making me feel stronger than I had in hours.
Like someone had poured steel into my spine.
I wasn’t the scared woman who had woken up in a hospital with no memories anymore.
I wasn’t the broken shell who had collapsed on the floor and screamed while her family was taken from her just hours ago.
I wasn’t the helpless human that Knox had described to Lucio, the powerless creature who couldn’t fight her way through enemy territory.
Fuck that.
I was the Luna of this pack. And it was time I fucking embraced the role.
“Alright,” I said, and my voice cut through the noise like a blade. Everyone went quiet immediately, all eyes turning to me. Good. They should be looking at me. Their Alpha was gone, and someone needed to step up. “Here’s what’s going to happen.”
I didn’t ask for permission. I didn’t look to anyone else for guidance or approval. I gave orders.
“Cole.” I met his eyes, saw the raw determination burning there.
He looked ready to rip someone’s throat out, and honestly?
Same. “Get our best fighters together. I want wolves who can move fast and stay quiet. Not just the big guys who hit hard. We need people who can sneak in without being seen. We’re not gonna charge in there like idiots. This has to be smart.”
Cole nodded sharply. “I know exactly who to pull.”
“Good.” I turned to Sawyer. “Work with the Moonfang wolves. I want everyone on the same team, not two separate groups bumping into each other. We move together, fight together. Cole calls the shots until we get inside. After that, we do what needs to be done.”
Sawyer’s eyebrows rose slightly, like he was surprised I knew what I was doing. Join the club, buddy. I was surprising myself too. But he nodded. “Understood, Luna.”
“I want trucks that don’t look like pack vehicles,” I continued, the words coming easier now.
Like something had clicked into place in my brain.
“Normal ones. Nothing that screams ‘hey, we’re coming to rescue someone’ from a mile away.
If Mary’s people are watching the roads, I don’t want them to know we’re coming until we’re already there. ”
“We have contacts in Pine Valley,” Noah offered. “Humans who owe us favors. I can have unmarked vehicles here within the hour.”
“Do it.”
The room erupted into motion, wolves scrambling to carry out orders, phones pressed to ears, hushed conversations filling the space. It was weird, watching them all jump to do what I said. I’d never really given orders before. Not like this. Not life-or-death stuff.
But I wasn’t done.
I pushed back from the table and stood, ignoring the wave of exhaustion that tried to drag me down. My body was running on fumes at this point. Adrenaline and fear and anger, all mixed together into something that kept me upright when I should have been collapsed in a corner crying.
There would be time to fall apart later. After Knox and Blake were safe. After Mary and Lucio and Mira were nothing but bad memories.
“Where are you going?” Noah asked, falling into step beside me as I headed for the door.
“The armory.”
He blinked. “The armory? Lina, you can’t shift. What are you planning to do with-”
“I’m not going in defenseless.”
The pack didn’t usually use weapons. Why would they?
Wolves had claws and teeth and supernatural strength.
Human tools seemed kind of pointless when you could literally turn into a killing machine.
But I wasn’t a wolf. I was a human woman walking into a fight against at least three hostile shifters, and I refused to be dead weight.
If I was going to do this, I was going to be useful. Or at least not a total liability.
The armory was located in the basement of the police station, the building right next to the pack building.
On paper, Ravenshollow had a small law enforcement presence.
The sheriff and a few deputies who handled traffic tickets and noise complaints.
In reality, the “deputies” were all pack members, and the station was more of a front than anything else.
Something to make the human authorities happy.
But it had gear.
I pushed through the door and looked around at the racks of equipment. Bulletproof vests. Tactical stuff. Radios and flashlights and things I didn’t even recognize. Most of it was dusty from sitting around, but it was all maintained and ready to use for emergencies.
This definitely counted as an emergency.
I pulled a vest off the rack and strapped it on, fiddling with the straps until it fit snugly over my chest. It was heavy and uncomfortable, and I felt kind of like a turtle wearing it.
The weight pressed down on my shoulders and made it harder to move.
I didn’t care. It might save my life if things went sideways.
Next, I grabbed a taser. I wasn’t a violent person by nature.
Like, at all. The idea of hurting someone, even someone who had kidnapped my baby and threatened my family, made my stomach do uncomfortable flips.
But the taser felt right in my hand. A way to defend myself without actually killing anyone.
As an afterthought, I grabbed a wicked-looking knife from a display case and sheathed it at my belt. Just in case the taser wasn’t enough. I hoped I wouldn’t have to use it. I really, really hoped I wouldn’t have to use it.
Noah watched me with careful eyes as I geared up. “You don’t have to do this,” he said quietly. “You could stay here. Coordinate from the pack building. No one would think less of you.”
I turned to look at him. “Would Knox stay behind?”
Noah’s expression flickered with something that might have been admiration. Or maybe he was just impressed I hadn’t fallen apart yet. “No. He wouldn’t.”
“Then neither will I.” I straightened up, adjusting the vest one more time. It still felt weird, but I was getting used to it. “I’m done sitting around while other people fight my battles. Tonight, I’m going to help get my family back.”
He stared at me for a long moment, really looking at me like he was seeing someone new. Then he nodded slowly. “Knox is a lucky bastard.”
“He is. Now let’s go get him.”
The convoy assembled in the parking lot behind the pack building. Three unmarked trucks, dark colors that would blend into the night. Just regular vehicles that could have belonged to anyone. Construction workers. Delivery drivers. Normal humans doing normal things.
Not a rescue mission heading into rogue territory.
The strike team loaded up, checking their gear and talking in low voices. I recognized some of the wolves from around the pack. Others were Moonfang, people I’d only met in the last few days. All of them looked serious and focused. Ready for a fight.
It was the middle of the night when we moved out. The trucks rolled out of pack territory, headlights cutting through the darkness. The roads were empty at this hour, just us and the occasional pair of deer eyes reflecting our lights from the side of the road.
I sat in the back seat of the lead truck, Cole beside me. Noah was driving, his hands steady on the wheel despite everything. Ryder rode shotgun with his phone propped on the dashboard, the tracking app open. The blue dot pulsed steadily, leading us toward our destination like a heartbeat.
Nobody talked much. What was there to say? We all knew what we were heading into. We all knew what was at stake. The air in the truck felt heavy, pressing down on all of us.
I stared out the window at the trees rushing past, my mind locked on what was coming. Somewhere out there, Knox was being held captive. Blake was with him. Thomas too, if what we suspected was right. Three innocent people in the hands of crazy women who wanted to destroy everything I loved.
The bond with Knox was there in my chest, faint but steady, pulling me toward him like a string tied around my heart.
I had never really understood the mate bond before.
Had always thought of it as something wolves felt more strongly than humans could.
A supernatural thing that I could kind of sense but never fully experience.
But now, sitting in that truck heading through the darkness, I felt it more clearly than ever. A connection between us that distance couldn’t break. He was out there. He was alive. And every mile we drove brought me closer to him.
I closed my eyes and tried to send him something through that bond. Strength. Hope. A promise that help was coming.
I’m coming, I thought. Just hold on. I’m coming.
I didn’t know if he felt it. I didn’t know if the bond worked that way for humans. But I had to try.
Then I remembered what Knox had said about the necklaces.
About the warmth that spread when one person touched their pendant, alerting the other.
I reached up and wrapped my fingers around the crescent moon at my throat, pressing it against my palm.
Willing all my love and determination into that small piece of metal.
For a long moment, nothing happened. Just cold metal against my skin.
Then the pendant grew warm in my hand.
Not just body heat. This was different. I knew it was an answer. Knox had felt me reach out, and he was reaching back.
He knew I was coming.