172
Lucy
Next, we were taken to the communal dining area. The long wooden table and all the chairs looked like they were just waiting for people to arrive.
My stomach rumbled. Blue smiled.
“Food will be ready soon. We picked things up too.”
As the tour came to an end, we returned to the main hall.
The other survivors of White Moon came bustling in through the front doors.
“It’s time for a family reunion!” The man who came in, lifting a large bags in his hands. “Who wants burritos?”
Lucian let out a loud laugh and rushed towards him. “Pascal, you rascal! Where the hell have you been?”
They embraced, and I smiled, watching them. More people came in. Stella and Blue started guiding them up the stairs to where they could pick out rooms.
Soon, everyone else was here. There were more people than there had been at the meeting earlier.
Duke nudged me. “Somehow, Lucy… you managed to save all these people.”
“Me?” I asked.
“You panicked, but you still remembered what Jordan said.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jordan drifting around the house, grinning and talking with people even as they cried. He looked so excited, meeting the kids and the others who were around, eating.
“Maybe.”
Duke nudged me again. “Don’t sell yourself short, Miss Enforcer-To-Be.”
He stood. “Now, let’s go meet the family, hm?”
I took his hand and let him lead me toward the nearest group of people.
“Do any of you recognize me?” Duke asked.
All three of them laughed. “You look just like your father, and you act just like him too!”
We were pulled into hug after hug. The whole house was full of celebration and relief.
I was surrounded by family. All of them had a story to share about the old pack house. I didn’t remember anything still, but it didn’t matter. I wanted to bask in this feeling as long as I could.
Duke looked like he couldn’t decide whether he wanted to cry or laugh most of the time. Other people pulled him around and me around to re-introduce us.
I found myself catching Duke’s eye often, grinning as people laughed and joked around us as if we had
always been as close as we are now. It was strange to think that just a few days ago, I had been worried about meeting all of ten people from my family, and I had no idea that I was related to Duke. Now, there were at least thirty people in this house, and we were cousins.
As the night wore on, fatigue began to set in, but there was a newfound sense of peace within me. I waved people off to bed as they carried kids upstairs or shuffled upstairs because they also had to go to work.
I saw Lucian, Blue, Stella, and another woman talking. He looked flustered and like he was trying to reject something.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” the woman said. “Aside from Kenna, you have no idea what financial state any one else in your pack is in yet. This is what allies do…”
“But you’ve already done so much.”
Blue took his hand and put a wallet in it. “If you don’t take it, I’ll tell him that you’re stepping all over his sense of duty and his feelings. He’ll just triple it and probably do something really extravagant.”
“But—”
“He is his father’s son in all the ways it matters.”
Lucian’s shoulders slumped. “Okay.”
“He learns!” Blue said. “Do make Duke eat at least two meals before he comes home, or I’m going to be cross with both of you. And I’ll see you in the morning with your clothes.”
“Wait a second!”
Blue was already leaving, motioning to the others that were coming out of the kitchen to leave. I approached.
“Is everything okay?”
He shook his head. “Our allies are… generous.”
The woman smiled. “If it makes you deeply uncomfortable, perhaps consider that you are not the only person who enjoys Blue Moon being thwarted a great deal?”
She turned to leave, and Stella headed into the kitchen. Lucian turned to me with a wry smile.
“Come sit with me?”
I nodded and followed him. Duke was already in the common area, sitting by the crackling fire. The house was so quiet now that the crackling of his snack wrappers seemed loud.
Lucian settled with us as Duke started eating, looking like he’d been scolded. Lucian and Duke both looked more relaxed and at ease than I had ever seen them in a long time. As the clock struck midnight, I felt a sense of hope and excitement for the future.
“Everything you two imagined in a family reunion?” Lucian asked, fiddling with the wallet in his hands.
“More,” Duke said. “And I still got scolded. I didn’t know… my appetite was practically hereditary.”
Lucian pat his shoulder. “Your Dad had problems putting on and retaining weight because of his healing gifts. I’ll show you how to brew an appetite potion, so you’ll eat more.”
"Lucian," I began hesitantly, "is the White Moon Pack bigger than the Blue Moon Pack?"
“Why do you ask?” Lucian asked, chuckling. “Planning for war?”
I shuddered. “No, I just wondered because of the medical wing and the size of the house. It’s bigger than the Blue Moon house.”
Lucian hummed. “Well, I don’t have an exact count, but maybe. In reality, the real difference between White Moon and Blue Moon, since the beginning, has never been about size. It’s about structure."
He leaned back in his seat with a soft sigh. “The White Moon Pack has always had a more familial structure. We are mostly family, a few adopted people here and there. We always have been."
“In contrast," Lucian continued, "the Blue Moon Pack has a rigid structure that’s more of a hierarchy. The alpha sort of gives orders, and everyone else takes them. It’s part of the reason that the packs broke up.”
“What do you mean?”
“White Moon had a matriarch who believed in cooperation. Her brother, the first Blue Moon wolf, wanted to be in charge because he was more powerful. The matriarch refused but drafted the Bond of the Moon as a way to keep the door open. The brother added clauses that seemed to make it fair in that either sibling’s pack could absorb the other. This was before the official break.” His voice turned hard. “The ink had barely dried on the agreement when she was killed, and the packs split up.”
He shook his head. “It’s all ancient history. There are so many different versions of the story about how the first break between the families happened. It’s honestly not worth it to worry about.”
“Sounds like Blue Moon has always been full of assholes,” Duke said, munching on his snacks.
“That’s pretty accurate.” Lucian laughed. “The simple answer is probably. With that maniac starting fights and killing his pack members, I wouldn’t be surprised if we were bigger than the Blue Moon pack. They weren’t always that great with managing their money either, so people probably left too.”
“So they’re broke too?”
I laughed.
“Maybe not so broke any more. I think the twins, for all of their issues, have pulled them out of the red, so to speak. It’s hard to make smart money decisions when you’re irrational and emotionally driven.”
He shook his head. “Since we’re talking… How can I give this money back to David?”
“You can’t,” Duke and I said.
Lucian sputtered. “What?”
“He’s not going to take it back,” I shrugged.
“We don’t need it,” Lucian said.
“Doesn’t matter,” Duke said. “He wants to give it to you. He’s not going to take it back.”
Lucian sighed. “I see. I was afraid you were going to say that.”
He stood. “Don’t stay up too late, you too. You’ve got school and all that, don’t you?”
“We do.”
We got up. Duke gathered his snacks, and we followed Lucian upstairs. We waved goodbye at the top of the stairs as he turned left. We headed right to where the guest rooms were.
I walked in and smiled. The room looked comfortable and cozy, with large windows that overlooked the surrounding landscape. I could see the forest around me and the clear night sky. Even though we hadn’t been here long, it felt like home in a way I couldn't quite explain. Maybe I would have to move in sooner rather than later just to feel this sense of peace all the time.
I sighed and got into bed. As I lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling, my heart filled with a newfound sense of hope. We were safe from Blue Moon, at least for now.
As I drifted off to sleep, I felt a sense of peace and contentment, knowing that I was heading to exactly where I was meant to be. I heard a lullaby in the back of my mind and didn’t dream of anything.
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
