Chapter 28 Mona
I’m sweating, my arms hurt, and though I’ve stopped bleeding, I let the drying blood cover my right eye so Andrea takes pity on me.
It barely works. Ever since she found out about Ingrid—especially since we found out Ingrid has been captured, though I haven’t told her what else I saw—Andrea has been unhinged.
It might not seem so to the naked eye. She’s still her typical, militant, uptight, abrasive self. But she’s a little wild. Reckless. She’s supposed to be watching after me, but honestly, it kinda feels like I’m watching after her. Making sure she doesn’t do something crazy.
She’s going after her mate, and I’m her only source of information.
Unfortunately, I don’t have that much. I’ve been doing what Ghost told me to do, opening my mind, asking my omega to show me the deltas every night before bed.
But what I see is already happening, and I have no control over my environment once I’m there. I can’t save them.
To make matters worse, Ghost showed up last night, and again at the breakfast table this morning.
One minute he’s nowhere to be found, the next he’s haunting every corner, and I can’t let myself believe he won’t disappear again.
What’s weirder, instead of bristling and hovering like they normally do when Ghost is around, the guys just nodded at him in the way guys do, then kept eating.
I think Ghost wanted to talk to me, but then Andrea walked in and honestly—a week ago, I would’ve given anything for that look, tripped over myself for a moment alone with him.
Today? My heart’s too bruised. I’ve got nothing left for him, I’m too fucking drained to handle his emotional carnival ride.
“Stop bleeding,” Andrea demands.
I can’t help it. I snort trying to hide my laugh. “And how do you suppose I do that?” I ask when she reaches for me and hauls me up to a stand.
She is making you a warrior, Beep says. Warriors bleed. Tell her it is her privilege to witness our transformation.
This time my laugh grows louder, and I’m nearly keeling over with it while we garner attention from the other enforcers.
Andrea eyes me skeptically, then suddenly grips my forearm like talons and tugs me close. Leaning in, she takes a deep sniff. “Why do you smell strange?”
I yank out of her grasp and sniff myself. “What? I don’t.”
“Yes, you do.”
Tell her she smells strange. Like an abomination, Beep snarks.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” I mutter to Beep. To Andrea, I say, “I don’t smell weird, I smell fine.”
“You smell… I don’t know. Different. Stronger. Richer.”
“Like good fortune is coming my way?” I ask brightly.
She deadpans, “Sure.”
Ignoring the expectant look on Andrea’s face, as if I might have any sort of explanation as to why I smell weird, I turn and head out of the gym. If I don’t drag Andrea out of here, she might actually hurt someone. Me, namely. And I can’t handle Beep’s delusions of grandeur at the moment.
“Hospital?” I ask when we step outside. The sun is hot, blazing high in the sky. Still, I pull on a loose, long-sleeved cotton shirt to protect my skin over my sweaty tank top.
Andrea walks toward the hospital without answering me. It’s nearing the end of summer, but despite the humidity, you can still feel the start of fall coming. It’s in the leaves, the air. The nights are getting cooler, and the days aren’t quite as long. The bugs are less noisy, too.
“Have you explored much of the mountain?” I ask Andrea.
She grunts in response, so I nudge her. With a long, suffering sigh, she says, “Obviously. I’ve lived here all my life. I’m a hundred and twenty years old, Mona.”
She is sad. Give her omega energy, she will thank you for your consideration.
Beep, I reply in my head, exasperated, Andrea doesn’t want to be soothed.
She wants her mate safe. And aren’t you usually all, it is not a gift to you—it is a gift to them, be kind and be gracious, Mona?
I quote back to her the things she said to me, back before I understood how it felt to let my omega energy soothe someone else’s pain.
Beep harrumphs at this. Beep and Andrea occupy this strange space, where they are actually a lot alike, and Beep respects Andrea immensely, but doesn’t like to admit how much stronger she is than we are.
There are different types of streng—
I cut Beep off before she can start waxing poetic about the strength of all our magical omega abilities, and nudge Andrea again, who walks stiffly beside me.
“You’re right, that was a dumb question. I knew you grew up here. Have you ever thought of living anywhere else?”
She looks like she’s about to say something cutting.
She knows why I’m asking. Her mate—her pack—lives in Arizona.
I’ve gotten to know Andrea pretty well over the last few weeks, and while she takes some getting used to, I can’t imagine not being friends with her now.
But, depending on where her head is at, she isn’t always easy to get along with.
She’s about as soft as a cactus, but I keep at it, wearing her down until she lets me in.
It seems impossible that Andrea could get any more tense, but she does, so I apologize. “Sorry. I’m just—”
“No, it’s okay. I’m sorry. I’m just—” she lets out a small sound of frustration, softening slightly.
“I get it,” I remind her. I didn’t fully understand Silas was my mate when I saw him in my visions when he was still under Deidre’s control, but a part of me knew. My omega knew. It hurt watching him go through all that. And then, finding out what the years had done to him.
Andrea’s voice drops an octave. “Yeah, I guess you do. And for the record, no, I’ve never given any thought to living anywhere else. But mostly just because I know this place so well, I make a good soldier here. But I could be a good soldier somewhere else.”
There’s a slight smile in her tone, barely perceptible, but it’s there.
Hope. That’s what that means.
But I don’t want her to analyze it or grind it down, so I stop pushing, hoping she’ll bask in a little bit of light for the rest of the walk.
While I think of it, I ask, “So, what exactly does a Luna do around here? Am I supposed to be organizing bake sales or something?”
Andrea’s eyes narrow, and I can tell I’ve successfully diverted her attention. “Bake sales? Seriously?”
“Well, I don’t know! Everyone just…” I throw my hands up, then let out a heavy sigh, realizing how much this has actually bothered me. “Everyone has a job to do. Hilde preps the food, brings it to the cabin—”
“She did that before your arrival, and that’s because the Lune is very busy taking care of the clan.”
“Okay… fair point… but what am I supposed to be doing?”
Andrea’s sigh is softer than I was expecting.
“Being an omega changes things. The previous Luna, Grayson’s mother, she was…
” A faint smile crosses Andrea’s lips. “She had this way about her... soft-spoken, but you never crossed her. Sweet, but fierce. I think you’d have to be to put up with Silas and Grayson as pups.
” We both laugh. “But an omega has other responsibilities.”
I raise an eyebrow. “You mean that thing where I walk into a room and suddenly everyone needs to be within arm’s reach of me?
” As invasive as that sounds, it’s not so bad.
I’m getting used to it. But it is exhausting.
I feel physically wiped when I’m around that many people at once, all vying for my attention.
“Exactly. Don’t worry about Luna duties while you’re still adjusting to the omega thing.
You’ll have time—shifters live long lives.
” Andrea glances over at me. “A Luna does what the Lune does: spots what needs fixing in our community and fixes it. Finds teachers when the school’s crowded.
Get Doc an apprentice. Help Hilde in the kitchen.
Maybe you notice a young shifter who’s been overlooked and needs a little guidance.
We’re community-oriented pack animals, but we’re also creatures of habit.
We miss things. A Lune and a Luna notice when there are gaps in the system. Make sense?”
“Yeah, actually, it does.” And it makes me feel better.
No wonder no one’s been asking me to help—I’m still figuring out how to be a shifter, let alone a Luna.
Once we deal with this witch situation, I’m going to really look for my place here in Silent Peak.
Even if I feel like I’m faking it at first, I’ll find a way to be useful to our clan.
I’m feeling pretty good as we round the bend, and the hospital comes into view with my mates and Kendrick gathered outside.
Andrea’s fragile hope must be rubbing off on me, because as I stand there and watch my mates—all four of them—for the first time since the visions started haunting me, I consider taking a break, just for one night, so we can be together without all the chaos nipping at our heels.
It’ll still be there in the morning, but maybe, just for tonight, we can escape into each other.
The thought of the four of them and my nest comes to mind, and I have to sit on the small grassy hill beside the road before I do something embarrassing. Andrea sits beside me, lost in her own head.
I’m not stupid. Andrea’s planning something. Her questions about what I’ve seen are obvious. What worries me is what happens when Andrea’s patience runs out and she strikes out on her own.
Feels like a clock ticking.
And all I want is to soak up every moment with my mates while I can. Before whatever’s coming changes everything.
From this distance, they’d need to look toward us deliberately to know we’re here. And while I’ve learned to give wolves privacy, I can’t help but eavesdrop when I see all of them together.
“We’ve searched everywhere,” Grayson says, responding to Kendrick. “My wolves are combing through towns miles from here. Nothing. Not a single trace of the witches. Even with Mona’s blood, they don’t seem to be working on getting her back.”