Page 41 of Chasing Luna
“I don’t think that’s it, Mistress Isabela,” Luca mentions out of the blue. “If others were spying on us from the outside, they’d easily get found out especially if their connections come from the lower levels of the pack. People here don’t exactly filter out their words when talking to others. One way or another, someone’s going to slip.”
He takes Lisa’s water bottle and brings it up to his lips. “What does that mean?” I ask, softly kneading the grass in between my hands.
“It means that if there was a spy it would come from someone with rank. Someone who wouldn’t get questioned when going in and out of the estate. Someone with the skills to pull off an ambush so cleanly like that.” He shrugs.
“And the way they attacked the pack, too,” Lisa intervenes. “It was a little too rehearsed.” I scrunch my nose at that.
“Like the fighting was rehearsed? I don’t know about you but I was there, I saw people die. I killed one myself. I don’t think someone can die twice.”
Lisa shakes her head. “No, Your Highness.” She sighs tiredly. “The news reports them as massive arsonists, burning everything in sight, and leaving nothing to chance. So, how did they know you all were inside the dining room? Together with other higher-ranked pack members? How did they know where you all were in the first place? They had the chance to start lighting everything from the inside and destroying everything here. Why fight? Why take the risk of having everyone fight back?” The more Lisa explains it to me, the more I feel chills run up and down my spine.
“It wasn’t an ambush and not a mere inside job. Someone is working with them.” Luca gets his throwing knives and starts aiming for the dummy targets we set up around the space. “And that someone is probably close to you, Your Highness.” I stay frozen in place as they all get up and do their own training.
Someone close to me?I ask myself, thinking of all the times I may have met face to face with the culprit.
“Mistress Isabela,” Eliza’s voice cuts through my own thoughts. “Your presence is needed in the main hall.” She helps me up and smooths out the wrinkles on my clothes.
“Why am I needed?” I go ahead and Eliza follows close by.
“Something about the rival pack—plans about a new intervention.” I look back at her and she shrugs. “I wasn’t really listening earlier. Sorry.” She smiles politely and I shake my head at her.
“What will I do without you, Eliza?” I say sarcastically.
“Shut up. Make yourself presentable.” She laughs and leaves me to go through the doors on my own.
“Ah, good. You’re here.” My grandmother gestures for me to take a seat by her side. Several pack members are also scattered around the room, some hunters, a few warriors, and my grandmother’s Beta and Gamma are also present.
It feels like we’re going to war,I think to myself as I sit down.
“Your Highness,” a scruff male voice greets me and places a glass of iced coffee in front of me.
“Oh, thanks—oh my gosh, Kenji!” I struggle to keep my voice down as I see the familiar face of my childhood friend smiling at me. His light brown hair is ruffled a bit, his blue eyes twinkle with delight, and his signature dimpled grin brings back so many memories of playing together during summer.
He sits beside me and greets my grandmother and sister. “It’s nice to see you again, child. You’ve grown quite well.” He chuckles a little bit at my grandmother’s compliment.
“Thank you, Queen. I aim to impress you more in the following days.” She scoffs lightly but a ghost of a smile plays on her lips. Kenji winks at me, and I suddenly remember just how big of a flirt this boy was. He scooches a little closer to me. “I missed you,” he whispers and I fight the urge to push him away.
“Stop being annoying, we’re in a meeting,” I utter in response.
“So, no ‘I missed you too’? Do I mean nothing to you?” He pouts at me and I laugh lightly.
Someone clears his throat behind me and I glance back to see Gregory staring daggers at me and Kenji. “Stop that,” I say, sitting up straighter in my chair.
“Alright, it seems that we’re all here. Let me get to the point.” All of them here stop what they’re doing and immediately redirect their attention to my grandmother. “We will organize an intervention later tonight to stop the destruction of this town brought on by those mangy mutts.” She spits out her last few words like they’re poison to the tongue.
The Queen’s Beta steps forward. “We’ve contacted the building administration of the orphanage and have successfully evacuated all occupants as of this hour. For now, we’re working on the decoys to act as the residents of the orphanage as well as the acting nurses and doctors. Once in place, we’ll commence with the operation.”
“Of course, my grandchildren will stay here for their safety and to quell the worries of the other pack members.” My grandmother rises from her seat. “I will be in battle with you. As I always have. Once the decoys have settled in, and the Midnight Walkers have begun their ransacking, we will lock the doors from the outside and surround the entire building. I will remind all of you that we will do these things quietly. It is an ambush, not an all-out war.”
A few more reminders are brought up in the meeting, but I zone out after a while. “It’s really nice to see you, Kenji,” I reveal to the yawning boy beside me.
He smiles at me. “I knew you missed me. It’s impossible not to.”
I roll my eyes. “You’re insufferable.”
“You love me anyway, don’t you?”
A beam forces its way out of me and I laugh lightly. “I don’t,” I tease and he pouts.