Chapter 92

Zeena's POV

“The council is here.”

The words kept repeating, over and over, until they were all I could hear ringing in my ears. They were enough to slap me out of whatever dazed, hollow state I had slipped into.

“The council?” I asked, my voice coming out rough. “Where?”

“At the borders,” Laura replied.

“The borders?”

Restlessness crept under my skin, fast and unbearable. My mind kept racing ahead of itself, conjuring every possible outcome. What would they do if they found out what had happened? What would they do to Ryder–injured, helpless–or to the pack, already hanging by a thread? And what would they do to me?

“What are they going to do?” I asked, the words tumbling out. “Laura, what if they–what if they touch Ryder? What if they decide the pack is responsible? What if they find out I killed him?”

“Zeena,” she said firmly, grabbing my attention, “get a hold of yourself.”

“I can’t,” I forced out a breath. My chest tightening as panic rose fast and ugly. “I can’t go out there. I can’t leave him here. I can’t let them see me…Laura, they’ll take me away. I need to stay with Ryder.”

She said my name sharply, cutting through me. “Can you get it together?!”

I snapped.

“I can’t get it fucking together!” I shot back, anger and grief crashing into one another.

“He’s in here battling for his life, and you all stood there and watched him fight Elliott. You watched him bleed. And now–now I’ve just fucking killed someone. Laura, can’t you get that? Can’t you understand what that does to a person?! And now what? The council is fucking here!”

She didn’t back down. Instead, she stepped closer, placed her hands on my shoulders, and shook me hard, I could literally feel my teeth grinding.

“Get your shit together,” she said harshly. “The world doesn’t stop because things didn’t go your way. You can deal with this later. The council is outside our borders. There is no time for a pity party.”

Her voice dropped. “Ryder isn’t going to die just because you step away for a few minutes. You killed someone. Fine. Congratulations. You just stepped up. In this world it’s predator or prey. Now move. And act like the Luna you are.”

Hot tears burned at my eyelids, heavy and insistent, this was becoming too much to handle all at once but I refused to let them fall. I told myself I wouldn’t cry. Not now.

I sucked in a shaky breath and forced my thoughts into order. Ryder would already be thinking if he were awake. He would already be planning, even if my brain was still foggy the least I could do was get it together.

I nodded once. “Let’s go.”

We moved quickly through the pack grounds, not surprised to find it empty. Laura asked if I could shift so we’d get there faster. I shook my head.

“My wolf’s gone deeply quiet,” I told her. “And… I don’t want to be seen like that…or smelt.” Thankfully, she didn't push it. “Then we run.”

By the time we reached the borders, my legs felt so damn heavy and my lungs ached. Laura spoke as we ran, warning me that the men would be intimidating, that I shouldn’t cower, that I needed to stand my ground.

“My bigger worry,” she added, “is them figuring out you’re Dragonclaw.”

I stopped abruptly. “Then why am I even here?” I demanded. “My presence alone could throw everything into chaos.”

“And make things worse when they ask where the Luna is?” Laura shot back. “Besides I can't smell your wolf that much, whatever she's doing, she should continue.”

Celeste had almost gone extinct. I could only imagine the kind of grief she felt to almost vanish this way. I exhaled slowly and tilted my face toward the sky. “Moon Goddess,” I muttered, “please just help me get through this.”

They were already waiting when we arrived.

Laura greeted them by name–Warren and Frederick. I took them in carefully, trying to look as unbothered as I could. Warren stood to the right, older, broad and sturdy, dark hair framing a permanently scowling face. Frederick was younger, calmer in appearance, but something about his gaze made my skin prickle.

I was so busy assessing them that I didn’t realize they were assessing me right back.

Someone cleared his throat. I blinked and realized the Warren guy was staring directly at me.

“You must be Ryder’s Luna,” he said.

I swallowed and cleared my throat. Hopefully this should go well. “Yes. I’m Zeena. Luna of Stormfang.”

He nodded curtly. “Good to know. But we weren’t expecting to see you accompanied by the Beta. If you were to show yourself, we assumed it would be alongside Alpha Ryder.”

His eyes hardened slightly. “Care to explain why he isn’t here to receive us?”

Laura started to speak but Frederick cut in without taking his eyes off me.

“I think the Luna should answer that,” he said coolly. “Or is that not how things work here?”

Rude much?

I forced a tight smile. “We weren’t expecting your arrival, so Alpha Ryder couldn’t be present. He’s indisposed at the moment. But we can attend to you regardless.”

“Indisposed?” Warren asked, one brow lifting. “How?”

Please moon goddess, please moon goddess.

I drew in a breath to respond when Laura spoke quickly.

“He was meant to meet another Alpha regarding border tensions.”

My heart skipped violently. What?! I had to hold myself not to turn to look at her. We had not discussed this. What if things go south?

Frederick’s gaze snapped to her. “The council has no knowledge of this movement,” he said. “I hope nothing inappropriate is taking place.”

“Not at all,” I said stiffly, forcing steadiness into my voice. “May we ask why the council is here? Is everything well?”

Their posture shifted instantly.

“A council member hasn’t returned,” Warren said. “We lost contact with him. Last sightings placed him near this territory.”

“What sightings?” I asked.

“That,” he replied flatly, “is council business.”

I smiled politely, hoping–praying–that whoever they were searching for had nothing to do with the figures we’d found lurking near our borders.

Laura spoke up smoothly. “We haven’t had any council visits recently. Border patrol hasn’t reported anything unusual for a while–except a Dragonclaw near the human borders.”

My stomach dropped.

What the fuck is Laura doing?

Warren studied her for a long moment, then nodded. “Noted.” He said. “We know where to look now. We’ll return to see Alpha Ryder.”

Laura nodded, smiling tightly. This surprisingly went better.

They turned to leave, and I was already sagging with relief when Frederick stopped and glanced back at me.

“What are you, Luna?”