25. Hettie
Chapter 25
Hettie
“ T his is the last of the wolfsbane you located, Luna. This last dose will cure a child. Perhaps even a small female wolf.” Lucielle inspects the vial of lavender-colored liquid. The last medicine we have.
“How many cursed wolves do we have?” I probably should know this answer, but I haven’t been able to stomach going back into the infirmary. It’s fucked up on my part because I’m not the one dying, but seeing my packmates suffer brings an unexpected sadness that sits heavily on my chest.
It’s been a week since Rip and I made our appearance back into pack life. A week of harmless jests and teases from Tallie about surviving my first rut. It’s also been a week of constant work, pulling me one way and Rip another. The time spent at the cabin feels like so long ago.
“Upwards of thirty. Maybe forty.” Lucielle sighs, placing the medicine back into the holder. “We would have had more, but with the wolfsbane you found, we were able to heal close to ten wolves.”
“Forty?” Tallie speaks up from her perch in the corner, ignoring what Lucielle said about healed wolves. Grass lies over her legs as she strokes his head. He’s all but ditched me for Tallie, but I can’t say I blame him. “That’s the most we’ve had in a long time.”
“Yes, well…” Lucielle shakes her head. “I fear it will only continue to get worse until we break this wicked curse or have enough wolfsbane to counteract it.”
I feel the eyes of the other healers on me. I don’t need to hear their thoughts to know they are waiting for me to play my part as their Luna. I found wolfsbane once, but haven’t been able to do it a second time.
I haven’t even tried. I’ve been busy enjoying my mate when I should have been helping my pack.
Guilt threatens to drown me. Is this what Rip feels all the time? If so, he shouldn’t be carrying this burden alone.
Before I can dwell on my shortcomings as Luna, the door to the lab opens, and all heads swivel in that direction.
Thorne walks in, scanning the room until his attention falls on Tallie. His features soften, and he smiles in a way that’s reserved for her. Then his gaze lands on me, and his smile dims some. “Luna, King Alpha Rip requests your presence in his meeting. I can escort you when you’re ready.”
I look back at Lucielle and Tallie. Both women nod at me, telling me it’s okay that I go. “I promise to look for wolfsbane soon, Lucielle.” Though I don’t know how to keep that promise. I’m not sure how to make the plant sing for me—or whatever the hell Tallie said it did to call me. But I’ll figure it out. Somehow.
I offer my companions a soft smile before turning to Thorne. “I’m ready to go. Take me to my mate, please.”
I’m the last one to enter Rip’s office. Thorne shuts the door behind us. The room feels austere, lacking the warmth I associate with Rip and our pack. Rip sits behind a mahogany desk. The corners of his lips twitch up when he sees me.
“Your Luna is here, King Alpha,” Thorne says, keeping up the formality when in the presence of…someone.
There are two people seated on the opposite side of Rip’s desk. They are large, like my mate, and possess the same aura of strength he does. Neither man looks at me as I cross their paths, moving to find my seat by Rip.
It’s only when I’m next to him do I realize there’s no chair for me. Does he expect me to stand like some intimidating bodyguard? I shift uncomfortably from foot to foot until Rip grabs my waist and pulls me into his lap.
“My mate, Luna Hettie,” he introduces me.
My face heats in embarrassment, but I do my best to smile at the two men. Neither seems fazed by Rip deciding to be my chair, but I try not to read too much into it.
“Hettie, this is Alpha Grant and Alpha Maximus. Both serve as our army commanders,” he explains.
Alpha Grant is the older of the two, with salt-and-pepper hair. He’s shorter than Maximus, at least sitting down, but both men feel equally powerful. Maximus looks young, younger than even Rip. There’s a certain hardness in his expression, hinting at a rough life.
“It’s good to meet you, Alphas.” I offer my hand in greeting, expecting one of them to take it. Maximus and Grant simply stare at it until my cheeks flush red, and I drop my hand.
Rip rubs my back gently. “It’s frowned upon for other alphas to touch mates who don’t belong to them. Especially the Luna.”
“That would have been good information to know five seconds ago,” I murmur.
“Our humblest apologies, Luna. We mean no disrespect.” Grant offers me a half smile. I awkwardly return it. Clearly there’s plenty I still need to learn about shifter culture and customs.
“None taken,” I assure.
“It’s good to finally meet our King Alpha’s Luna,” Maximus says in a deep voice.
“We were just discussing Michael. I wanted you here to listen to the report,” Rip explains, and I straighten my back, fully tuned into the conversation.
“Did something happen? Was there another attack?” I think of the poor wolves already in the infirmary at capacity and the healers with nowhere else to put them.
“Not yet.” Something in the way Grant speaks doesn’t reassure me. “But we believe it’s only a matter of time.”
“The wolves on morning patrol report seeing Michael speaking to a creature described as monstrous. We can only assume the witness spoke of a Nephilim, but there’s been no confirmation yet,” Maximus adds.
“More sightings of these monstrous creatures have come almost daily for the past week. If these creatures are Nephilim, and we have no reason to think otherwise, we believe the war for our kingdom isn’t far off.” Grant runs a hand through his buzz-cut hair, sighing.
“We believe it is time to call in for backup,” he continues. I wait for him to explain, but he doesn’t .
“What does he mean by backup?” I ask Rip.
Rip is deep in thought, and at first, I don’t think he heard my question, but then he sighs. “He means Malix.”
I don’t need to ask why he hasn’t reach out yet. Rip and his other alphas are proud. But surely he can see any outside help would benefit us, not make us weak. “Is he an actual dragon?” I feel like that’s an important factor in our aid situation.
“When he wants to be, yes.”
I blink. Once. Then twice, waiting for Rip to say he’s kidding and of course he already sought help from an actual fucking dragon.
When he doesn’t say that, I test my power here. “Alpha, I don’t think we should turn away aid.”
“Neither do we,” Maximus speaks up. “We believe it’s time to accept the dragon’s help. I can compose a letter?—”
“No letter,” Rip interrupts, shaking his head. “We can’t risk it getting intercepted. Grant, how many men would you need to take a team to Dragon’s Keep requesting aid?”
The older alpha purses his lips, taking a moment to think. “We don’t have the count of how many rogues Michael has, but we can assume it’s over twenty from the last attack. We also don’t know how many Nephilim are lurking in the forest. To be safe, King Alpha, I would want to take no fewer than twenty men.”
“Twenty men?” I blurt, unable to help myself. “You want to take twenty of our alphas and leave us defenseless?”
To be fair, I don’t think we would be completely defenseless, but I also don’t think it’s smart to lose that many alphas. It would be a prime time for rogues to attack, once they find out we are without half of our protectors.
Through our bond, I feel unease. I turn to Rip, but he’s not looking at me. He clenches his jaw, lost in thought. I know he doesn’t like this any more than I do.
“Twenty alphas is a hefty number, Grant. With so many of our wolves cursed and our omegas more frightened by the day, I don’t know if it’s best to send so many. We may be able to spare a few betas,” he says.
“Is it better to send a few to their slaughter?” Maximus asked. “Because we can expect the full force of the rogues and Nephilim if we’re caught. This is not ideal; we won’t pretend like it is. This journey is too strenuous for many of the betas. They will better serve you here as fighters. But it is of utmost importance that nothing stops us from reaching Dragon’s Keep.”
I’ve been in the pack for a little over a month, give or take a day or two. These men have been engaged in conflict a lot longer and know more than I do. Still, I can’t help but feel like this isn’t the best plan of action. Rip says this is my pack too, and as their Luna, I’m keeping their best interest at heart.
“I don’t think it’s wise to send so many wolves away when we have so many cursed lying in the infirmary,” I say. Maximus tenses. I’m clearly not making the best impression on him. “I do think we need assistance, but I don’t think we need to risk so many of our wolves.”
I expect Rip to back me up. Not because we are mates, but because he sees the flaws in this plan. He clenches his hand on the table so hard, his knuckles turn white. His rigid posture doesn’t ease the doubt creeping in.
“Can you promise me you can get there and back with twenty men at your disposal?” Rip asks, and it feels like hands wrap around my heart. It’s not a good feeling.
Grant nods. “It’s better to be safe, King Alpha. The forest is a dangerous place. Too many enemies lurk in the darkness. We need to stay vigilant.”
“We must remain vigilant here too, protecting those who can’t protect themselves.” My anger threatens to boil over, and I wait for Rip to say something. Anything. But he’s still not fucking looking at me.
“Twenty men and twenty men only?” Rip asks, and the hands on my heart grow tighter.
“Yes, sir. Not a wolf more,” Maximus assures.
“So be it. Pick your men, report to me in the morning, and plan to leave in two days’ time,” Rip says.
All the air from my lungs leaves my body as if he sucker-punched me.
“Of course, King Alpha. Thank you.” Grant bows his head in respect. None of them are even looking at me. So why the hell am I here?
Wordlessly, I push off Rip. He reaches for my wrist, but I dodge his hand. “Dove?—”
“Don’t fucking Dove me,” I growl, finally giving in to my anger. The other alphas in the room tense, but I ignore them.
“Why did you even want me here if you weren’t going to listen to a damn thing I said?” I feel like a fool in front of these men. Two I don’t know and Thorne, whom I consider a friend. Thorne has wisely stayed quiet, but I have a feeling he agrees with the majority. I hate this feeling. I’ve been here before. Asked by boyfriends to attend a meeting—usually of an illegal nature—and paraded around like a fucking object.
Rip’s eyes narrow. Anger blooms in our bond, but I push mine back just as hard. “Next time, don’t bother asking me to come.” I spin on my heels and head straight to the door.
“Hettie, wait.” If I were any other member of his pack, his alpha command would make me obey. But I’m not just any member; I’m his mate. His command does little but piss me off more.
If Rip wants to run the pack and make decisions by himself, so be it. But I won’t be the pretty plaything he keeps on his lap while he does it.
Rip calls my name again, but I’m already out the door, heading to the staircase. I don’t turn back once, even though I feel his heated stare on my back the entire way. When I’m away from him, away from the other alphas in the room, I allow the first tear to drop.
I thought he’d be different.