Sitting in my office, I go over the emails that I asked Asteria to forward to me. After the meeting learning about the real reason behind my parents’ deaths and how ruthless Valor is, I pulled away from Rune, needing some quiet time. The bonfire is still going strong, but I no longer feel like celebrating.
It was just over a year ago now that I became an orphan. I thought my parents were doing their job protecting Valor and Rune – their Alpha and Alpha Heir. Now knowing that it was a scheme created by Valor to get me out of the way caused me to wonder just what else did I miss seeing growing up in Pine Moon.
Luna Clairice was an amazing Luna, always striving for the good of the pack and I always wanted to be just like her. She was close to my mother and Asteria but never joined us for vacations. Now knowing that Valor kept her under lock and key makes me wonder if this was the fate Rune would have had if he hadn’t left.
“Brynlee?” My office door opens and Quincy pokes his head in with a worried gaze. I sigh, motioning for my friend to come in and thankfully, he shuts the door.
“You okay? Everyone but you came back to the bonfire and I got worried.” He makes his way around my desk only to lean against it while facing me.
“I am not even sure how to describe myself.” I sigh out, giving Quincy a sad smile.
“Okay is not even the right word. I feel far from it.”
“Want to talk about it?” He asks, reaching out and taking my hand in his. I can feel the sincerity of the question and honestly, the idea of telling him how I feel sounds perfect but I am still processing what I just learned. I finally decide to say something when Quincy’s smile faulters.
“Long story short, Valor – the Alpha of Pine Moon – might come after Rune and I. We need to train our pack to be stronger and faster in case a war breaks out.” I state in the end, watching shock fill Quincy’s face
“A war?” He asks in disbelief, pushing off my desk to pace the length of my office.
“Why would Valor cause a war with us?” He demands and for once, I see panic in my friend’s eyes.
“Because Rune betrayed him and I am alive.” Quincy stops at my answer, turning to face me with a worried look.
“He sent Viren to kidnap me, thinking that if he and I mated and I became Luna of Onix Moon, Rune would give up on me. In the end, it was Valor and Tanya having an affair that was the final straw for Rune.” I decide to give him a small snippet of what was discussed, not ready to tell Quincy or anyone about Luna Clairice’s and my parents’ deaths.
“So we train?” Quincy confirms.
“We train. We have about a year to prepare before Valor and the other Alpha’s learn that Asteria is the Alpha and I her Beta when we show up to the Annual Assembly of Alphas next year. From there Valor will go to war with us.” I continue, not holding back my words.
“What makes you sure he will go to war with us? He seems quite happy with Rune and you gone!” I can see that Quincy is trying to wrap his head around this notion and his denial agitates me. Taking a deep breath, I look back to the screen with the email Valor sent to Viren. It was the one taken just after my high school graduation back in May. Just three days before I turned eighteen. I was excited to be done with school, ready to take on my heritage as a Beta and train under Asteria and Jett for a few years before Jett retired. Then my birthday came and the rejection on June first.
“Because this year, Asteri and I can skip the Annual Assemble of Alphas due to growing a new pack and our identities are kept hidden for now. We have a year until the next Assembly to train, to grow and to prepare for worst case scenario once Valor knows the she-wolf he tried to kill and his sister are leaders.” I yell back in frustration, eyes widening as I realize what I just said. Quincy takes a few steps forward, his eyed locked on mine as I see the anger replacing the panic.
“What do you mean he tried to kill you?” He demands.
“It’s exactly like she said.” Before I can answer, someone else does. Rune steps into my office, two plates of food precariously balanced on his arm left arm while he closes the door. Ignoring the tension in the room, he makes his way to the front of my desk, setting the plates down before me.
“I thought you would be hungry so I brought you something to eat. Even got you your favourite cream soda.” He smiles at me as he takes out a can of cream soda from his pocket, placing it beside the plate closest to me. Quincy scoffs at this, rolling his eyes as I tentatively take the plate of food and sniff it. After my stunt with Viren, I am still cautious of my food being drugged by others. Rune notices this and his smile turns sad before reaching over and snatching a piece of fruit from the plate and popping it into his mouth, chewing it slowly before swallowing it.
“It’s safe Bryn. I promise that.” The small bond hums as he tells the truth, his concern for me adding another point of healing. Deciding I can trust the food, I take a bite of a sausage while Quincy looks at me like he would a traitor.
“Back to the conversation I seemed to have walked into, Valor tried to have Brynlee killed last year. It’s the event that killed her parents.” Before I can stop him, Rune explains everything Jett told us earlier. Quincy listens intently, shock, horror and sadness flashing across his face while I quietly eat my food. Rune was right, I am hungry – hungrier than usual actually.
“So, because your father-”
“That man is no longer my father.” Rune cuts Quincy off with a snarl, making me growl at him. He is still a Rogue and will not disrespect my friend and Head Warrior. He turns to me shocked I would growl at him before realizing his mistake and quickly apologizes to Quincy for snarling at him.
“Got it. You disowned him.” Quincy mutters after silence settles over the room.
“Because Valor wants power, he agreed to the Betrothal and then killed your mother because she was ready to turn him in to the Council so that Brynlee and you could be together like she saw in her vision?” Quincy continues his train of thought. I nod and Rune hums a noise of agreement as he picks a sausage from the other plate of food and takes a bite.
“But no one else really knew about the Betrothal except a set few and so to stop Brynlee’s parents from stopping the future wedding of you and Tanya Cross, Valor had Rogues attack you, Bryn, Caspian and himself and had them kill her parents.”
“And tried to kill me as well.” I add in.
“Has any one told you that your life sucks?” Quincy asks Rune, getting a laugh out of him.
“Brynlee used to all the time when Valor and I would get into a fight. Then Caspian took over that role when she…when…” Rune answers, his voice trailing off as he turns to look at me. The guilt is still there, but it is slowly leaving him as we grow closer. I can even see the wounds on his face beginning to heal and wonder why they were still so prominent on his face weeks after the incident.
“Either way, Valor is to blame for everything.” I decide to say, breaking the awkwardness.
“With Jett, Caspian and Rune here, we can prepare for the war I have a feeling will inevitably come and have their help with training everyone else. Give me another few days of bed rest and I will be joining everyone in the training facilities.” Quincy sighs before agreeing that war is inevitable now that he has the full details. He plops himself into the arm chair, running a hand through his hair as Rune and I munch on our food.
I link Quest, asking him to find and bring Caspian to my office. Asteria will be busy planning our decoy town for the next few months, maybe even the next year, while playing diplomat with the packs around us. This means training and war preparations will be up to me and the sooner I form a plan, the quicker we can prepare. Quest appears soon, Caspian trailing behind him grumbling he wanted to go home with his Mate when he takes a seat on one of the available chairs.
With Quincy and Rune taking the lead explaining our impromptu meeting, Caspian agrees that the threat of war is imminent and that he is ready to help prepare Crescent Phoenix. With everyone in agreement, we get to planning. The first step for me will be to have a clean bill of health. But until then, I can help organize training schedules and set up an emergency evacuation drills.