Chapter 33 Grayson
The phone sits silent in my hand. Unless he finds something about Lily or Silas, Kendrick won't call back today. I keep glancing at the blank screen anyway.
Across the room, Mona and Orion play chess. A distraction I typically enjoy, but my mind is elsewhere. I glance up at the clock. Past midnight. I debate urging Mona to go to bed. Her eyes are bloodshot, but I won't suggest she sleep. Last time I tried, her scowl nearly skewered me.
Kendrick's call came during dinner—no point hiding it from Mona, and I wouldn't, anyway.
The Ghost successfully infiltrated the high priestess's coven in Canada. I'm not surprised how quickly he got in. I doubt he's gained the trust of Deidre's inner circle yet, but he confirmed he scented wolves on the property. That in itself was a blow.
We've suspected Deidre was behind the disappearances for months, but had no proof.
Our original plan was to raid her compound during next month's full moon, but after Mona's prophetic dreams—and finding out she's been suppressed by magic her entire life—Kendrick pushed up the timeline. This month's full moon is in three days.
We are dangerously unprepared.
Now that I know The Ghost confirmed wolves are on her property, it's all I can think about.
For years, I've been furious with my brother.
But I swallowed my frustration and anger and searched for him alongside my pack, all the while assuming he'd done what he always did—fucked off on a selfish whim until the mood struck him to wander back.
Not with his tail between his legs—no, Silas was incapable of shame.
I didn't have to clean up his messes, he'd say. He was perfectly capable of doing so himself. I hated him for that dismissiveness. That fucking arrogance.
I never said those words aloud, but he knew, and it led to years of resentment.
And when he vanished, I'm ashamed to admit I felt… relief. I didn't have to deal with his bullshit anymore. I didn't have to clean up after him, deal with missed expectations.
As the years passed, that relief transformed into worry. Even for Silas, his absence stretched too long.
And then along came Mona. A strange, mysterious omega with a story, and the first sighting of my brother in nearly five years.
I need to pull this thread, to know if my brother is out there. If he's working with the witches, or if he really was one of the stolen, like Doc and Orion always believed.
I need my brother back.
"You should go to bed, firefly." Orion bravely nudges our mate.
Her head snaps up. "I'm awake!"
He chuckles and climbs out of the leather chair. Mona sits in the one I usually claim, curled with her knees up, toes tucked under like a cat. Orion kneels before her, gently caressing her leg with his thumb.
"Come. Let me take you to bed. You need sleep."
Mona groans and stretches out, then rubs her eyes. "I guess you're right. If we're going to raid the coven, I should probably stockpile sleep now."
Orion freezes, his eyes meeting mine.
She misses nothing. "What?"
"You're not coming with us," I tell her definitively.
She's certainly more awake now. Mona sits up and pushes Orion away, though he doesn't go far.
"What do you mean I'm not going?"
I let out a groan, and I don't even feel bad about it. "There's no fucking way you're going with us, Mona. You can't fight. You can barely shift."
Orion sighs, mumbling something under his breath about how I'm an idiot.
"In case you forgot, I'm the one who was poisoned her whole life, asshole. Me," she thumps her palm against her sternum. "I have just as much against these witches as you do. Besides, I'm the one with the dreams. And if Silas is there—"
"Exactly—if—we don't even know if Silas is on the property. You heard Kendrick. His man on the inside only said he scented wolves, has no idea who it is."
"What do you expect me to do, Grayson? Just sit here and wait?"
"I expect you to do as you're told. Same as every other wolf in this clan."
"I don't work for you, dummy. I'm not an employee, or your enforcer. I'm supposed to be your mate. You can't just tell me what to do and expect me to fall in line."
"That's exactly what I expect. Not because you're my mate but because you are a part of this clan—this pack—and your safety means more to me than anything.
I'm the boss here. I'm the one with the responsibility.
I have to shoulder the burden of all this shit weighing down on us—not you.
Besides, we don't even know what we're walking into. "
"So, you two are going, and you're leaving me here?
" She looks incredulously between me and Orion, who's still kneeling by her feet, though he's leaning back on his heel now.
It's unlikely she'll allow him to lift and carry her to bed like he'd intended.
I'd feel bad for the guy if I wasn't in worse shape with her.
Though at the moment she's just as pissed at him. A minor relief.
Orion speaks up, voice low and apologetic, "He's right, Mona. We can't risk you. Not near Deidre's magic. She's one of the most powerful witches alive. She is the High Priestess of Northwood. That title implies the entirety of the north."
"It's okay for you to go, then?"
Orion opens his mouth to, who-knows-what—defend himself, the plan, shift the blame to me—instead, he snaps his mouth shut and comes to a stand, looking to me for help.
Of course. Because that's what I do. Be the bad guy.
"Orion and I are strong enough to overpower the witches. And we won't be alone. Kendrick and some of his men will be there. Together, we are the strongest shifters in the fucking country. And the witches won't know we're coming. Frankly, it should be easy. In and out."
"Then why can't I come?"
"Because you can't," I snap. Then immediately feel bad. Fuck, I'm not good at this. I don't know how to have a mate, how not to treat her like she's just one of my wolves. Maybe the Moon Godden made a mistake.
Too bad if she did, though. Mona is mine and I'm never letting her go. So, I apologize as best I can. Crossing the room, I snatch her hand in mine and pull her up. She comes easily.
Even towering over her as I do, she still has all the power here. In moments like these, it may not seem like it. But no one, not since I was very little, and even then—only my parents—has the kind of power over me like she does.
"It's too much of a risk." If something happened to her, I wouldn't be lost—no, I would become a one-man army. I'd destroy everything and everyone in my path to get her back, to avenge her. Lune or not. Responsibility to others, or not.
She jerks her chin up, defiant but sad. "So I'm just supposed to wait? What if something happens to you?" Her voice is so small.
"Nothing will happen to us. And it will be easy, I promise. But if you came, we would be distracted, and then something could go wrong. It's safer for you—for all of us, and for whoever they are holding at the compound—if you don't come."
"You think I'm weak."
"That's not—" Orion starts, but I cut him off.
"We're not saying you're weak. We're saying, you're not expendable."
"And you are?"
I let out a groan, knowing this is just going to keep going in circles.
Mona must sense the same. She stabs me with a finger and hisses, "If something happens to either of you, I'll kill you both myself.
" Then she shoves past me, bare feet slapping the hardwood, and stomps up the stairs.
The bedroom door slams loudly, enough to make the pictures on the walls rattle.
Orion scrubs his face, then slouches into the chair by the chessboard.
"If she came and something happened, we'd never forgive ourselves. I can handle her mad. I can't handle her hurt or dead," I defend.
He nods, but won't meet my eyes. Then picks up a knight from the board and moves it up and over. "I know. Just feels like we're two steps forward, one step back with her."
I huff a laugh and pick up a pawn. Mona's lost a few of them, but not all. You can still win a game and take the queen with a pawn.
"You've just never had a woman in your life. You should go out west and visit your mom and sister more often, then you'd know how to handle one."
"You aren't seriously comparing all women to each other. Or all women to her—" he points toward the stairs. "No wonder you're such a slut. You couldn't keep one happy. We're doomed."
I laugh for real this time. "Nah. Relationships, I mean. Two steps forward, one step back… that's still progress. You're just shook because it's the first time she's mad at you, too." I slide the pawn forward one move. "I, for one, and relieved not to be singled out for once."
Orion snorts. "You're an idiot, my friend.
A brilliant strategist—" he nods toward the board, where I'm about to take his queen in three moves or less.
"But an idiot all the same. You keep saying shit without thinking, without taking her feelings into account.
One of these days, she's not going to forgive you. "
I wave him off. "I'm not worried about that. She's my mate. She'll always forgive me."
He laughs with a cough, and I refuse to fidget against his accusation.
I may not have any experience keeping a woman, but that's because I've never tried.
I'll show him. And Mona. I'll figure out this communication thing.
I don't need to coddle her. I just need to keep her safe, and as long as she understands that, we'll be fine.
We finish the game, and Orion re-stacks the pieces. It's late, but there's too much on my mind to consider sleeping. He must feel the same.
"We have two days to prepare," I say finally. "Kendrick's guy will give us what he can, but the only thing he's promised is to drop the shield protecting the property before the moon hits its peak. We'll need to move fast."
"Kendrick's guy—you know how he's getting in?"
"No clue. Kendrick didn't share."
Orion traces his thumb along his lip, gaze distant. "Deidre's second—Pierre. You met him before?"
"No. But he's a sadist, from what I've heard."
"Aren't they all?"
I hum in response, remembering this story about Deidre my father once told me.
She had her sights on a married man. Turned the whole town against the wife, eventually marking the poor woman's entire female line as pariahs.
Mother, sisters, aunts, cousins. The townspeople tortured all of them as Deidre fanned the flames of hysteria.
Ironically, accusing the women of witchcraft.
In the end, she bewitched the husband, only to grow bored of him a few months later. Killed him, then left town.
An entire family line, slaughtered on a whim.
I wait for Orion to move his queen. We're quiet for a few minutes, moving swiftly. I take two of his pawns.
Orion smirks. Then his smile fades. "And Silas?"
I hesitate. "If he's there, we get him out. No matter what."
He nods. "Even if he's working with them?"
"You think he is?" I ask, surprised. He's always believed Silas was taken against his will. Or killed, though neither of us would accept that, not without a body. But it's possible his feelings have changed since Mona came into our lives as she did. Covered in half-moon scars from Silas's teeth.
But he shakes his head. "No. I don't. But… who knows, really? It's been years. It's hard to imagine they'd be able to spell him, let alone for this long."
We finish our game and set up the board for another night. I wonder if Mona's dreaming of Silas and Lily again. Or if she's seeing something else, something that could be useful to us.
"Get some sleep," I tell Orion. "Tomorrow we'll go through the plan.
Every angle." Kellen and Eli will stay behind, in charge in my absence.
Eli is my third and stronger than most. His mate Kellen is one of my best enforcers—not the strongest, but well respected and loved—they will stay with my mate while we're away.
Orion claps my shoulder, then heads up the stairs, slow and heavy. I hear him pause outside Mona's door. I can picture him, ear pressed to her door, like a simp.
Like I'm any better.
A minute later, though, he continues down the hall toward his room. I sit in the dark a while and listen to the house settle.
I glance over. Like I can see the memory. Me and Silas, shoving each other down the stairs. My father lecturing us about honor and duty. My mother, carrying a basket full of wildflowers, fine lines framing her warm smile.
I want my brother back, but I'm afraid of what I'll find. If he's even still him.
I head for the stairs. There's no light coming from under Mona's door. I consider knocking, despite my earlier insistence she get some sleep.
This isn't at all how I thought having a mate would go.
When I see other couples around town, they look happy. They don't seem to argue or get annoyed with each other. Granted, I'm not looking behind closed doors.
But I can't say anything to Mona without shoving my foot in my mouth. I don't even mean to do it, I just don't have a gentle touch. I never have. I've never had to hope someone would listen and do as I say. They just do.
Hell, most of our clan can barely argue with me. My alpha is too strong, too dominant. And while my alpha bark would likely work on her, every other tactic I usually employ does nothing. She just flips me off and ignores me.
She's all fire and defiance. It's frustrating. Makes me want to pull my hair out. Tie her up, force her to listen.
It's annoying.
Maddening.
It's… fuck.
It's exhilarating.
I close my eyes and press my ear to her door, like Orion did. I listen for her inhales and exhales.
I should go. I should leave, let her sleep.
Except…
There's a hitch in her breath. A frustrated sigh, and the sheets rustle, like she's turning over.
I shouldn't do it.
I tell myself this, even as I turn the knob.
She'll probably kick me in the balls for it.
I step into the room.
She might actually stab me.
I close the door behind me.
"Grayson?" she calls out, annoyed.
And I smile.