167
Lucy
"According to the Bond of the Moon, you will be taken in by the Blue Moon Pack, led by Alpha Oren and his sons Tony and Matt."
Lucian growled, his jaw clenched and his fists tightly balled up as he jumped to his feet.
"To hell with that!” he snapped, his voice filled with anger. "You high-handed bastards think we believe in that bullshit? The Bond of the Moon is only applicable if—”
“If one of you is formally bonded to a member of that pack,” she said and then she looked at me. “Lucy Graves was mated in a formal ceremony to Alpha Tony and Alpha Matt.”
Her words echoed in the room, I felt a sense of panic creeping over me. I couldn’t breathe.
“Lucy?” Duke said softly. “Lucy, look at me.”
I couldn’t. I saw my dead eyes looking at me through the glass. I saw Tony behind me. I saw glowing red eyes. I heard the Moon Goddess cackling again.
Was it never going to end?
"Lucy, focus on your breathing," Duke urged gently. "Inhale deeply, and then exhale slowly. Okay? Lucy, listen to me or you’re going to pass out!”
I closed my eyes, attempting to follow Duke's instructions, but the waves of panic continued to crash against the shores of my mind. My heart raced, and my palms grew damp with perspiration. It felt as though the world around me was spinning out of control, leaving me adrift in a sea of terror.
I felt his hands on his face. He turned me to face him, staring into my eyes. I couldn’t hear what he was saying. I heard the other talking, their voices distant echoes amidst the chaos whirling though my mind. The edges of my vision started to turn. I could hear certain words.
Decided.
Coming.
“… be here soon.”
“Like hell, I’m letting us stay here!”
One of them went to the door, but they couldn’t get it open. She looked haughty.
“As if it would be that easy.
“Come on, Lucy, you have to breathe.”
I struggled to find my voice, my words caught in the grip of my panic.
“No,” I got out. “Not. No. Not. No bond. No bond.”
Duke looked pained and turned back to Lucian.
“Just breathe, Lucy.”
I managed to shake my head. “Can’t. Can’t!”
Duke pulled away and Jessie came to me, cupping my face. Her magic washed over me. I could hear her voice in my mind.
"Picture yourself in a serene place, surrounded by nature's beauty," she suggested. "Feel the warmth of the sun on your skin, and let its healing light penetrate your soul."
I tried to imagine the tranquil scene she described. I tried to picture myself in a peaceful meadow bathed in golden sunlight. But the meadow turned dark. Wolves howled.
“What the hell is going on?” I heard Duke say.
“Someone’s interfering,” she said tersely. “Come on, Lucy stay with me. Stay with me. Peaceful, Lucy. Think of a peaceful place! A safe place!”
The darkness grew thick, swarming around me, and then, I saw a large dark figure bounding towards me.
“David?” I gasped.
I saw Duke’s eyes widen as I tried to fight my way through the panic. I felt Jessie’s magic still washing through me, but it wasn’t enough.
I reached out for the dark figure in front of me. I was so close.
Then, I heard David’s voice. “You’re safe, Lucy… Think about Shell Cove and the endless waves. The sun… the lounger outside by the fire.”
I could hear the sound of the ocean, pushing and pulling me out of the forest. I heard the Moon Goddess screeching behind me. As I opened my eyes, the world began to regain its focus. The panic still lingered, but I felt a glimmer of control returning. Jesse’s eyes were filled with bright green light. Duke was nearby holding a phone to my ear.
“David?”
With each breath, I willed myself to release the tension and panic. My body started to slump forward. My mind cleared and everything that had been said before came back to me.
Lucian was considered a “rogue,” which was why the little girl couldn’t go with him.
The Bond of the Moon was something that would force us to join Blue Moon because they had gone through the mating ceremony.
“I’m here,” David said softly.
“What makes a… mating ceremony legal?”
“… witnesses and paperwork.” I blinked at the woman who was still talking. “Both parties have to sign the paperwork.”
“I didn’t sign anything,” I said, my voice sounded so distant.
She turned up her nose. “As if that matters. They bit you. They marked you.”
“The marks didn’t stay,” Duke said.
She smirked. “They consummated the bond. It doesn’t matter. She will forever be bound to them magically.”
My stomach lurched and I shook my head.
“That’s bullshit,” David said in my ear. “Who the hell is that?”
“I don’t know,” I said stiffly. “Who are you?”
“I’m a council representative.”
“Riley?” Lucian asked. “What the hell is she talking about?”
She shook her head. “I… I really don’t know. I’ve never heard of anything like this.”
Lucian snarled and lifted his hand, summoning a staff and aiming it at the door. “I will blow this place to hell before I join Blue Moon!”
The baby started to wail.
I felt panic rising in my chest, but I tried to remain calm and think rationally. Jordan's words about family units being considered packs echoed in my mind. I knew there had to be a way to make this work without compromising our freedom.
"Wait," I interjected, trying to find my voice. "What if we form our own pack?"
The Council representative raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Form your own pack?"
I nodded, feeling a newfound sense of determination. "Yes," I said. "We’re werewolves. We’re family. We should be able to form our own pack, meaning we wouldn’t have to join Blue Moon or anyone else?”
The representative hesitated, clearly unsure how to respond. "Well, technically..."
I didn't let her finish. "A family unit consisting of three or more werewolves who can sustain themselves, are over a certain age and employed can be considered a pack.”
Lucian’s eyes lit up and he grinned. “Riley?”
She nodded. “That’s true.”
“It’s too late for that!” The representative cried.
“It’s never too late,” Riley scowled. “All they’d have to do is fill out some paperwork.”
“She’s mated!”
“Lucy has no bond to those fuckers,” Duke snarled. “Why can't we be our own pack?"
The Council representative seemed taken aback by the question, but she still didn’t back down.
"Forming a formal pack is a long and complicated process," she said. "The Council would have to--”
“You’re lying!” Lucian roared. “There’s a child involved. She needs a stable and safe environment, and you want to put her in the house with an alpha so feral he’s killed his own pack members and his sons are wanted for human trafficking! Who the fuck do you work for? The Council or Blue Moon?”
The Council representative sighed. “As I said, it will take time, which you don’t have. Smaller packs always end up joining bigger packs for protection.”
“Then, we’ll join another pack, not Blue Moon!”
“Blue Moon has the right of first annexation,” she said. “That’s the Bond of the Moon.”
“The Bond of the Moon can go to hell. White Moon doesn’t exist anymore!” Lucian roared.
“You all are still registered as refugees of White Moon,” she said. “Unless you can prove otherwise, you don’t have a choice.”
“Tell her she’s full of shit,” David growled in my ear. “But we’ll play the fucking game. I’ll get to Trent. All you need is a house, an alpha, and to put in a liaison application. A senior liaison can sign off on your request. I’ll get you a house. How many people?”
A senior liaison?
My eyes widened and I grabbed my phone, I called Dagon. Duke went back to talking to David.
“Hey, Lucy, how are you?”
“I need your help, Dagon, you’re a senior liaison right?”
“I’m a bit higher than that, why?”
“Could you sign off on reforming the White Moon Pack?”
He went quiet for a moment. I worried my lip, wondering if he’d hung up.
“Dagon?”
“I’m here,” he said. “Your alpha?”
I glanced at Lucian. “Lucian Whitetower.”
“City of Residence? Address? Pack Count? Ages? Alliances of note?”
I gave him all the information as quickly as I could. Riley grinned madly and rushed out the door. The Council Representative turned bright red. Duke was talking to David and gave me information about an address for all of us to live in.
“Blood Moon,” Duke said looking at me. “And Hecate. Shell Cove.”
I blinked and passed the information to Dagon quickly.
“Thank you so much for your help,” I said.
Dagon chuckled warmly. "You're family. We take care of our own, you have our allegiance too. I’ll get in touch with Rile and get back to you."
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