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Chapter 44
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A Time for Strength Chapter 45
Lenora’s POV “Luna, we need you at the front gate.” A guard knocks on my office door. “It’s urgent.” I look up at the clock. It’s almost midnight. Why the Hell do they need me to go to the gate? “Urgent?” I close my laptop and go to the door. “What happened?” “There’s four uniformed Council warriors asking for entry. They have, um, prisoners?” The guard looks like he’s not too sure about the word prisoners. “Council warriors?” I furrow my brow. “Do you know why they’re in our jurisdiction? They’re bringing rogues they caught?” “N-no, Luna,” he stammers while I close and lock my office door, “not rogues. They have the Beta, Marco Sanchez, and Arnie Ikeda.” I stop on the spot. “Excuse me?” “Leni? Sugar, I’m sure you’re mad, but please don’t be mad.” Milo’s voice comes through a mindlink. “This entire thing is bullshit. I swear.” “Milo, what the Hell happened?” “Is Randall there yet?” “Randall?” I stop again. “No, why would he be here?” “These dipshits let it slip that he’s o
A Time for Strength Chapter 46
“Lenora, if these men don’t get their hands off of me-” “First of all, it’s LUNA Lenora. And you’ll do what, Elder Randall?” I spin around and put my hands on my hips, glaring at him. The guards holding him by the arms stop and stand tall, trying to avoid eye contact. “Thanks to you and the rogues you let onto my territory, we’re on lockdown. As much as I’d love to have my guards unhand you, I can’t. No one can come on to or leave pack territory. Besides, your actions are an act of treason against the Elder Council until they convene and decide your fate.” “I told you, they were chasing me!” He snarls. “If they were chasing you, how come they were in front?” I challenge his lie. “And how come you didn’t signal the guards? Sam from Security showed it to you the last time you were here.” Randall’s face turns dark. If he wasn’t being restrained, I’m certain he’d lunge at me. He looks around for help, but there is none. The rogues who he was with were all killed by our guards. “I pan
A Time for Strength Chapter 47
“Traitor?! Randall, your wolf literally attacked Justice on our own territory and you’re going to stand here and call ME a traitor?” I’m trying to hold my temper, but my grip is getting weak. “Since I became Luna I have accommodated every single one of your requests from the mundane to the ridiculous. I have complied with every stupid, fake, pompous order you mandated. You haven’t found a single flaw in our operations, because there are none. Blood River has done exactly what the Council has requested every time we’re asked. And for what? To be chastised by you? To be accused of treason?! I would say I’m insulted, but that would be a gross understatement.”“She’s deflecting from the fact that she could have killed Basalt! She held him down until guards came to my rescue.” He snarls in return. “We need to start with the head of this pack to cut out the poison. Lenora needs to be removed as Luna and the Blood River pack needs to be seized by the Council immediately. Bronx Mason needs to
A Time for Strength Chapter 48
Milo and Reggie leap forward to pull Bronx off Randall. Saint roars and fights against them. “Get this maniac off of me!” Randall whimpers. The Elders wedge themselves between the angry Alpha and their peer. I think calling him a peer is an exaggeration. The Elders seem to take pleasure in punishing him. I wonder what happens behind closed doors. Orderlies burst into the crowded room to help Milo and Reggie. They push past me, knocking me off balance. Ashley catches me from falling and looks at me with concern. “Lenora, are you alright? You look pale.” She murmurs in my ear. “I’m fine.” I stand and collect myself. “Just a little overwhelmed.” “Sit down.” She squeezes my hand. “I'll get the doctor.” “Take her advice, child. Something’s wrong.” Justice sounds far away. “I won’t show these dickheads any weakness.” I say out loud. “I’ll give the cue. You get them out of here, Ashley.” “Promise to sit down?” “Sure.” My head swims as I clap my hands to get everyone’s attention.
A Time for Strength Chapter 49
Milo’s POV—Flashback—One day, I wanna own a flower shop so I can give Mom flowers all the time. Fancy ones like Dad gets for her. I’m only ten, though. I gotta be older and have money for that, though. It only takes twenty minutes to get to the top of the mountain where the meadow is. I’ll get her flowers from there for now.Today is like a movie. The sky is so blue, and the air is like… it’s like when the teacher lets us go outside for recess. Like that. Oh waaaooooowwww!!! Check it out! The meadow is so pretty! There're red flowers and yellow and orange, purple and pink too. There are, like, millions of them! And a girl? I squint my eyes. Yeah. A girl, sitting in the middle of the field. I sniff the air. I can’t tell what she smells like.“Hello?” I yell at her. Her hair looks more red when the sun shines on it. She has blue eyes and as many freckles as the meadow has flowers. Her nose is kinda pointy and her mouth is dirty from eating wild berries. At first, she looks happy, bu
A Time for Strength Chapter 50
“Ryuu, thank you for coming.” I shake his hand. “Thank you for honor to Dina-chan.” He bows to me.Lenora steps forward and hands him a bouquet of white and yellow chrysanthemums. “Ryuu, we have ordered a headstone, but we need to wait until the ground has settled for six months before we place it. In the meantime, we have a bronze placard with her name and birthdate being made. We’ll place that until we can install the headstone. It’s our tradition to not include the day she died, because we believe her spirit’s journey will continue. If that’s okay with you.”“Yes, thank you.” He takes the flowers and bows again. “I speak about her?”“You mean during the service?” Lenora smiles sympathetically. “Oh yes, absolutely. We would be honored if you would join us for dinner as well.”When we have the details of his visit solidified, we walk quietly and meet Bronx, Reggie, and the rest of the unit near Dina’s grave. The closer we get, the more difficult it is to breathe. Lenora takes my han
A Time for Strength Chapter 51
Lenora’s POV“Miss Mason, welcome to MasonCo HQ. I’m Sonja. It’s so nice to meet you!” The bubbly receptionist comes around from behind her desk to greet me. “We are so excited to hear that we’ll be seeing more of you around here! I’m going to show you and your assistants around. This is Hana and James, I take it?”“Thank you.” I swallow back my jitters. “Yes, will they have their own offices?”“We have a bullpen situation for them outside your office, but we can get them their own if you’d like, Miss Mason.” Sonja looks worried.“No, that’s not necessary.” James gives her a charming smile. “As long as we are situated close to Miss Mason, in case she needs us.”It feels like the first day of school, except I don’t know anyone. That isn’t really true. Over two hundred pack members are employed by MasonCo. The rest of the employees are human. Yeah, I go to human places, but I don’t interact with many humans on a regular basis. I guess that changes now that I’m going into the office. Hon
A Time for Strength Chapter 52
“Luna, you have no idea how much this opportunity means to my mate and me.” Sondi gushes as she collects her things to leave. “The Alpha and Luna from our old pack would have never trusted me to do something like this. Scott works in the hospital wing as a medic now, since there are no surgery positions open. We could really use the money to help bring our daughter here.”I feel my brow furrow. She’s separated from her child. Dad wouldn’t help them transfer their pup when he let them become pack members? That makes no sense.“Oh, you’re from another pack? Is your daughter with family back home?” I ask as I lead her toward the door. “What made you come to Blood River? The war?”“Oh, no. Our former Alpha, um, he sort of-” “Luna, security sensors are going off in several places in the building.” James bursts in. “Don’t leave your office. Lock the door. We’re going to check it out. Mrs. Eklund, you too. We’re on lockdown until we clear the building.”“We won’t go anywhere.” I take Sondi
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“Good Morning, Beta.” Sondi Eklund pokes her head into my office. “Would you be able to review these retirement package updates I’m proposing to the Alpha?”I look up from my spreadsheet and try to smile at her. “Of course, Sondi. Please come in.”“I already highlighted the sections in question.” Sondi comes in with her staccato, bird-like movements. “Oh, Beta Lenora, are you ill? Forgive me if I’m overstepping, but you look exhausted.”“I’m alright, Sondi. Being a new mom is exhausting.” I’m careful not to go into too much detail. Sondi and Scott still haven’t found their daughter. I don’t want to be insensitive. I quickly change the subject. “That and I feel like I’m running in circles trying to decipher some of the information on this spreadsheet. They’re supposed to be client names, but I can’t figure out how they’re coded.”“Would you like a fresh set of eyes?” She looks eternally hopeful. “I’m happy to help.”“Um, sure.” I turn the laptop to her. “I’ll look at these updates whil
A Time for Strength Chapter 150
“Kaaas?! Are you sure you and Codi will be okay?” I yell into the living room. “I can call the daycare and see if they have someone who can come up.”“No, we’re fine.” Kas’s voice sounds strangled.Milo peeks his head into the living room and pulls back quickly. He doubles over in a silent laugh, pointing to the living room. I look out to see Codi had a handful of Kas’s hair in a death grip. Kas’s mouth is open in a restrained cry of pain, trying to untangle the chubby fingers from her sparkly locks of hair. I nudge Milo who’s on the floor in tears with his hand over his mouth. “Knock it off, Milo. She’s trying her best.” I pull him off the floor. “Kas, give her the rattle that’s on the coffee table. The one that looks like a tiger's face. She’ll let go in a heartbeat.”After a pause, Kas calls back. “Oh my Goddess, it worked! Thank you!”“Okay. We won’t be gone long. Mindlink if you need ANYTHING.” I walk to the living room and kiss Codi on her chubby cheek, then kiss Kas on her for
A Time for Strength Chapter 149
“And this is the Alpha’s private archival library.” I hold up a slip of paper for Musu to read. “Memorize this number. It’s your personal access code and don’t share it. Understand?”“Yes, Beta.” She stares at the paper. “I got it.”“Good.” I punch in my code and let the door slide open. I step inside, motioning for Musu to follow. She steps in and looks around in awe.“The Goddess has truly blessed our Alpha.” She takes a few more steps trying to take in the library's beauty. “I’ve never seen a private collection this large.”“Well, he’s been collecting them since he was a child, and it has proved useful.” I clasp my hands behind my back and look around, then point to a book on a pedestal covered with a glass case. The page is open to the painting of The Moon Goddess with the Menae. “This is how we found out Kas is a goddess.”Musu looks down on the image and chuckles. “Is it inappropriate to say The Moon Goddess and Endymion were more like rabbits than wolves?”Justice lets out a wh
A Time for Strength Chapter 148
Lenora’s POV“Delilah, if anyone asks, your family is from France. You went to culinary school there. That’s how you met James. Bronx gifted Kas private lessons. James was a security guard for Kas while she attended the school. You’re twenty-three-”“But, no, Carly Ann Miller, I am one hundred and-”“You. Are. Twenty-THREE. Delilah.” Ashley interrupts. “No arguing.”“You expect me to just LIE?!” Delilah holds her hands to her chest and looks mortified at the thought.“Yes.” Ashley, Carly, and I all say in unison.Delilah falls back in her seat, distraught.“It’s not that we want you to be dishonest, Delilah.” Ashley softens her tone. “It’s a matter of self preservation. For all of us. You included. Whatever technique you’ve used in the past to deflect attention won’t cut it anymore. You and Kas are going to be approached by paparazzi all the time now. They need to believe you’re human. We’ve given both of you believable, respectable human profiles. The fewer people trying to dig into
A Time for Strength Chapter 147
“Alright, Big Guy.” I toss the plastic gun on the arcade game. “You win. I’ll never beat you at Duck Hunt. I’m out of cash to feed the machine anyway.”“I mean, you tried. I’ll give you some props, man.” Marco blows into the barrel of the plastic gun and looks at his watch. “It’s been two hours. That’s gotta be a good sign. Right? Musu woulda called me if Lenora chased her out.”“Yeah.” I pout my lip. “No mindlinks either. Down your beer. Let’s check on them.”Marco raises his pint glass and chugs the remaining beer. “Rita! Thanks, darlin’!” I hold up more than enough cash for our tab and toss it on the table. She gives me a thumbs up from across the restaurant. “Don’t be strangers!”“Ah man, that fresh air.” Marco takes a deep breath when we step outside. “Nothing beats summer in Montana except maybe spring in the Coven’s realm.”“Did you hear that?” Ghost gasps, suddenly at attention.“Huh? Hear what?” I shorten my stride and look around.“A warbler.”“Okay… and?”“They leave afte
A Time for Strength Chapter 146
There’s a quiet knock on my office door. Instinctively, I look down at Codi. She’s still fast asleep. I set down the report explaining there were absolutely zero useful bits of information on Randall’s tape recorder other than rambling about a trip to Portland to see a warehouse or something.We still haven’t been able to determine the identities of the girls in the photos other than Evie. There was no rhyme or reason to the codes associated with each one. The unusual names don’t exist anywhere either. The team is still looking into it, but I’m not very hopeful. Randall sneaks under the radar on everything.“Come in.” I say in a hoarse whisper.Milo peeks his head in with a huge smile on his face. I put a finger to my lips and point to the travel bassinet next to my desk. He tiptoes in and silently closes the door behind him.“Hey Sugar.” Milo whispers. “Is this a bad time? Are you busy?”“I always have a minute for you, Milo.” I blush when he hands me a bouquet of wildflowers. “They’
A Time for Strength Chapter 145
“Tyree, have you finished the sweep of Randall’s suite?” Milo paces behind his desk.“Just about Beta.” Tyree’s voice comes through the speakerphone. “He took most of his stuff, but there were a few things left on the kitchenette counter. A folder with some paperwork, an envelope, like one of those ones you mail photos in. Ya know? Feels like there’s something inside. And a voice recorder.”“A voice recorder?” Milo asks, confused.“Yeah. I don’t want to open anything or push play in case it’s booby trapped.” Tyree replies. “Fool me once.”“Good call. Bring everything to my office.” Milo pushes his finger into the desk. “I’ll get a forensics team to take it off our hands.”“Yes, Beta.”“Don’t let anyone in that room until they get a deeper sweep.”“Yes, Beta. Marco will stand guard. I’ll be up in ten minutes.” Tyree confirms and hangs up.“Milo, what do you think he was up to?” I bounce Codi gently in my arms. It’s not because she needs it. I have too much nervous energy to hold still.
A Time for Strength Chapter 144
“An apartment in Paris? Who would have ever pegged your brother as a hopeless romantic?” Mom swipes through images of the apartment Bronx bought for Kas as a wedding present. “It’s absolutely gorgeous!”“Yep. She needs to sign some paperwork, but I don’t think she understands enough about real est-” I bite my lip and point at Dad who’s making wolf faces at Codi on the other end of the sofa. Mace tests out a growl to see if it will startle her. She makes a sound that could be a growl back at him.“So sweet.” Mom places a hand on her heart. “Meeting codi is all he’s talked about since we got the news that you were pregnant. So what's next? Have you thought about a little brother for Codi, maybe?”My heart squeezes. “Justice, what do I say?”“As much of the truth as you can.” She sounds unsettled. “We don’t really know anymore. Do we?”“You know how hard it was for me to get pregnant, Mom. Let alone survive Codi’s pregnancy. We haven’t really talked about having more yet. If the Goddess
A Time for Strength Chapter 143
It’s been two days. Kas has isolated herself in her apartment, still convinced that she needs to hide herself away. I brought Codi up so she could snuggle with her niece in hopes it would lift her spirits. I let her take Codi to the bedroom while I go talk to Marco.“Hey, Beta. Everything okay?” He salutes me.“She’s not handling it well. Maybe I should invite her to go to the meadow?”“I wasn’t talkin’ about the Luna.” He lowers his chin. “You been avoiding me?”I immediately feel my face flush. “Wh-what? I-”“Sorry. I didn’t mean to sound like that. I know you’re busy with your pup.” His tone softens. “I need to stay in my lane.”“I mean, I-I guess I kinda thought, um, your mate wouldn’t want me talking to you.” I confess. “So… yeah. I guess I have been avoiding you?”“Ah, Leni, come on. I’m fuckin with you… kinda.” He looks sheepish. “Me and Musu was talking about our ranked members. I didn’t tell her about US, but I told her you and me grew up together and that we still close frie
