Chapter 161 AURORA
I was out of bed and down the stairs in minutes. I found Morwen, one of our coven allies, in the control room where all of our security—both magical and non-magical—connected back to. She was standing over a small model of Broken Ridge pack lands that seemed to float before her in a large orb, almost like a soap bubble. A silver dome arched over it, looking like it was made of magical lace. One side of the dome was flashing gently red and orange. All around, other magical miniatures floated in their own bubbles, showing areas Morwen and her witches had enchanted. They looked strangely whimsical against the wall of screens with CCTV feeds and the tables full of computers and other tech, but with Morwen at the center of it all, it somehow worked.
“Tell me,” I said as I entered, already fully dressed in the dark gray fitted shirt and pants I wore when there might be combat. Not that I usually saw it, wolfless as I was. But since being given magic, there had been a few times. Morwen—a short woman about my age, with chin-length, wildly curly red hair, who liked combat boots, coffee, and giant, oversized sweaters—spared me only a short glance from her wide hazel eyes. “Nothing good. This magic is strong.”
Despite looking like she’d be better suited to crafting drinks at a coffee shop or working in a cozy bookstore, Morwen was the head witch of the most powerful coven east of the Rocky Mountains. Morwen herself might just be one of the strongest witches in the world. She was definitely one of the smartest. She was the genius behind most of the wards and magical barriers that currently kept key locations in the US safe. She was no-nonsense and blunt, which I liked. But she drove many of my wolves crazy by having half a dozen feral cat familiars that wandered the woods and hissed at us from the trees on a regular basis.
“You’ll deal with them if you want me,” she had said pertly when cautiously approached on the subject. So, the cats stayed—though they didn’t come anywhere near the pack house, keeping to the woods around the spot where Morwen had a small cottage. She was so useful; I’d give up more than a cat-free forest to keep her on my side. Besides, I liked her, and so did the twins.
“Do you think your barriers will hold?” I asked. I went to stand beside her, but I couldn’t sense her or her magic the way I could other wolves. Wolf magic is tied to the moon. Witch magic comes from the earth.
Morwen tapped her lips, then looked to me. “Under an assault this strong? I don’t know. I wasn’t expecting any fighting until he had at least attempted to negotiate. The coven has the barriers going at full power, of course, but there are other things in the works. Things that will make them stronger. I just haven’t had time to finish them yet.”
More wolves were joining us in the control room now. I touched the pearl pendant at my neck. Maybe this was the moment to try the desperate, crazy thing I had wanted to do since Dane was taken from me.
“I think it’s time to put my other plan into action,” I said. I should have been afraid. Dane was attacking, after all, despite the moment he and I had shared with the twins earlier tonight. But I couldn’t help the feeling of excitement that tingled in my fingertips. This might be my chance. My first, real chance in two and a half years, to get him back.
“No!” Trajan immediately barked. “It’s too soon.”
I gave my beta a dry look. “No?”
Trajan subsided with a grumble. He might have been pulled from sleep, but like me, he found a way to look polished, even in the small hours of the morning. His dark hair and beard were neat, his black clothes immaculate.
“I would advise against it, Luna,” Trajan amended without apologizing for his outburst.
“You’ve ‘advised’ against it from the moment you heard about it,” I said. But I had already decided. “But I’m going to do it anyway.”
I scanned the small crowd of my most trusted, high-ranking wolves. Trajan, Evander, Evelyn, and the four female wolves who served as my bodyguards most of the time were all there.
“This is an opportunity I’ve been hoping for,” I told them. I touched the pearl at my throat again. I could feel the water-cool magic of the moon goddess emanating from it, but it was also interlaced now with the summer-warm strength of wood and stone. Enchantments woven by the witch covens that I could call on in an instant.
“What opportunity is that, Luna?” Evelyn asked. She looked grumpy at being pulled out of bed, and unlike Trajan, she didn’t know about my plans.
“The chance to capture Dane, of course. Using myself as bait.”