23. The auction that sold Lucy
Tony
The further away from the Estate we drove, the more uneasy I felt, thinking about Lucy and what I’d found about half breeds and the Moon Goddess. The pictures from the book kept scrolling through my mind, but I still couldn’t shake the feeling that I was missing something.
You never told me the rest, Matt said as he swiped across his phone’s screen. About what you found in the attic.
That’s because there wasn’t much else to tell. The necklace is lost as far as the books say, so she’ll only be able to shift during the full moon.
What about all the other stuff? Matt asked. We’re supposed to be able to—
I know, I said, trying not to let the thought bother me. I didn’t find anything about it because I hadn’t been looking.
Do you think we were wrong?
I swallowed. I thought back to when I’d seen Lucy on stage. I remember feeling drawn, but that draw wasn’t what I had ever imagined when I thought of a mate.
Only time will tell on that.
I sighed again as we grew closer and closer to the venue. The trees started to clear and there were less cars. The ground was paved with cement around a large hotel with large glass doors. It was the Black Moon Pack’s pride and glory. It was mostly a place for supernaturals to host events and not worry about humans being there unless the humans were part of the entertainment.
“Let’s focus on what we should be expecting at this conference. Likely another push for Peter’s agenda.”
Matt scoffed. “That blood thirsty psycho. What good will it do terrorizing the humans like that?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “But a large part of me wonders if Peter has more on his mind that trying to terrorize a few humans.”
Matt frowned. What are you thinking?
War.
Matt stiffened. Against the packs?
Against everyone. The Black Moon has been oddly quiet for a long time, especially since the Blood Moon Pack’s last alpha died.
Matt crossed his arms. Any word about that?
None, I said. Though the fact that he handed it over to David and David knows Lucy from being in the human world is suspicious.
You think it has something to do with White Moon?
Probably. I glanced at him. I told you about the necklace, but you saw the mark on her chest, didn’t you.
He nodded. Hard to miss. There’s no doubt that she’s of the White Moon Pack.
The real question is how many others might there be.
And where were they. Knowing David’s father it had to have been a pure stroke of luck that Lucy had managed to survive all this time, but I couldn’t be sure until we really looked into it. The car pulled up to the venue and the driver got out to pull our baggage out. As he drove away, I watched the car disappear around the corner. I took a deep breath and wrinkled my nose. I smelled humans nearby. None fo them smelled good. They mostly smelled afraid. A bellhop came out to take our luggage.
“He wasn’t our usual driver,” I said.
“No, but we got here in one piece, so no problems!” Matt said and walked in. “Let’s get this over with.”
Matt
We walked inside and I rolled my eyes at the tacky red and purple of the inside. Peter had decorated the hotel somewhat like a human casino. I had always thought it was ugly. Tony and I walked into the main hall where a buffet table was set up and servers drifted around with trays of drinks and food in their hands. I was bored within the first five minutes of arriving. My mind kept going back to Lucy as I shook hands and pretended to care about what these old men were saying.
“And your luna?” One of them asked. “I expected to meet her since I didn’t get an invitation.”
Tony’s lips curled into a feral smile. “And your luna? I expected to eventually meet her given how many times we’ve seen you.”
I smirked as he pulled back and stalked away. “I hate him more every time we see him. How many more of these things do I have to go to?”
“All of them,” Tony said. “He’s just upset that he’s not important enough for me to care about. Come on.”
We found out table as Peter called the meeting to start. He looked as confident and as arrogant as ever. The spotlight hit him and made the pin in his tie gleam. His teeth looked fake because of how white they were and there was soft red glow in his eyes.
I rolled my eyes. Who the hell did he think he was trying to impress. Any alpha could do that.
“So glad you all could make it,” Peter said. “You’ll be happy to know that I’ve arranged a very special auction for the evening, so be sure to hang around.”
Did we ever find out who organized the auction that sold Lucy? I asked Tony.
Yes. No connection. Just bad luck and happenstance. Tony set his jaw. Though I’m having a hard to finding her adoptive parents and anyone related to the orphanage.
I’m not surprised. If she really is from White Moon, then there’s a good chance that they tried to clean it all up at one time.
I still suspect that David’s father had something to do with it.
I narrowed my eyes and glanced over at David who looked just as bored as I felt.
But then why leave him there?
Who knows? It’s not like Dad ever really talked about pack politics.
I grimaced at the twinge of annoyance and anger that came through our bond at the thought of our dad, the former alpha of the Blue Moon Pack. Usually the thought of him turned my stomach, but I guess it was because I had other things to worry about that it didn’t this time. Tony’s hand clenched around his glass of water as he took another sip.
You’re never going to let it go, are you? I asked.
Are you ever going to let mom go?
I sat back and crossed my arms, feeling in even worse of a mood than before. I might be able to brush off thoughts of dad, but mentioning mom just made me want to go home and crawl into bed with Lucy.
Peter went on and on about the werewolf stake in the human world. Werewolves had taken over another small town and started pushing humans out. I didn’t think it was peacefully at all, but it wasn’t going well either. I had a feeling that Peter was going to use it as another excuse to either turn most of them or traffic them. Another werewolf-owned, human business had collapsed due to some type of mismanagement. Someone in the crowd looked nervous. I bet that they would be looking for help soon if they’d invested in that company at all.
Potential pawn at three o’clock.
Tony didn’t say anything, and I found that weird that he wasn’t at least agreeing. We needed more eyes and ears into the other packs, especially now. I glanced at him. His eyes were scanning the crowd still, but no one jumped out to me. There wasn’t a single woman in the room as usual. I hated Peter even more. At least when David called these stupid meetings there were female waiters.
“And of course, there’s our dealings with the dragons,” Peter said. “There was another skirmish on the border.”
Started by who?
And was it really a skirmish? Tony asked. Knowing him, I doubt it.
“We lost a few werewolves, but ultimately won the fight, we’ll be talking with them about reparations soon.”
Is he telling the truth? I asked.
No.
There was a soft cheering, but when I glanced across the room, there were only a handful of people who looked unconvinced. David was among them. He took another sip.
“Congratulations, Alpha Matt and Alpha Tony,” Peter said smiling at us. I turned my attention back to him. His smile seemed even more fake than it had been a moment ago. “On your recent mating ceremony. You’ll have to bring her around so everyone can meet her properly.”
Tony smiled thinly. “The Crescent Moon Festival isn’t too far away. Perhaps by then, you’ll have a luna of your own.”
Peter’s lips barely twitched and I watched the way his smile hardened, but he didn’t look away. The glow in his eyes seemed to deepen. I felt irritation rolling off of Tony’s shoulders. I clenched my fists and held still. Was Peter provoking Tony on purpose? Did this happen often?
I looked around the room. There were only about twenty alphas in the room. None of them seem surprised, but when I looked at David, he seemed to be watching us closely. There was something about his gaze that irritated me. He was scheming, but what that plan was I had no way of knowing.
“Wouldn’t that be a thing. We’ve yet to hear what Blue Moon plans to do about the human problem and our position in the supernatural community. Given Blue Moon’s history, we all thought you’d have more to add to the conversation.”
Here we go again.
“Blue Moon’s position hasn’t changed,” Tony said. “And it’s unlikely to ever change.”
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