Sleeping With The Moon Goddess

The Price of War

Once we reached the office, we headed up to the top floor. Aiden has Keegan and Ian meet us all there. We walk in and Ian comes over to kiss my lips before taking my hand, earning a look from Keegan, “Sorry, still getting used to that”. He chuckles

“So, what’s the update on Ronan?” Aiden asks.

“Well, this morning we received this email.” Keegan explained as he produced a printed note and handed it to Aiden, “It’s from Ronan, he basically says that everything has been a big misunderstanding and he asks if he can sit down with Aiden and Damien this Friday to smooth matters over.”

Aiden passes the note to Damien, and I lean over his shoulder to read it as well.

“He specifically says that he doesn’t want me there. I don’t get it?”

“I’m sure it’s because he’s afraid that you might try to challenge him. He has to know what happened at Fallen Leaf with Alpha Felix.” Damien replied.

“Also, why Friday? That’s three days from now.” Aiden asked, confused.

“It’s a trap” Ian replied, “This was the other news that I heard. I got a guy who is working inside Alpha Stratton’s Beta. Apparently, Ronan is planning to attack in two days. I believe this meeting is a distraction to try to get us to lower our guard. Word is that more rogues will be moving into Silver Creeks territory tomorrow with plans to attack the following day.”

“That son of a b***h! Well, let him come. We will be ready for him. We need to reach out to Kable and the other packs and make sure everyone is ready. Let’s see what we can do about keeping Silver Creek as controlled on the forefront as we can.” Aiden spat out.

Aiden and Damien started to move towards their desks to get to work but the look on Ian’s face told us that that wasn’t all he had heard.

“There’s more” Ian said, his jaw now even more clenched. “I figured out what Stratton and Ronan want with Camille.” His words were venom as he spoke, I could see Ian start to tremble slightly.

“Apparently, Ronan promised Stratton that in exchange for helping him take Camille and take down Blood Moon, he offered Stratton a pup from the white wolf after Ronan had already claimed one from her.”

I instantly felt sick to my stomach. That’s why Fallen Leaf tried to capture me, that’s why they wanted me. I knew oracles were often coveted because of the misconception that they would bring power to a pack, but they didn’t just want me for power, they wanted to breed me. They wanted me to have their pups. The thought of their hands on me, touching me, brought bile to the back of my throat. I was suddenly brought back to the present when the sound of Damien smashing his desk into two shook me awake, followed by the loudest growl from Aiden that shook the entire room.

“HE WILL NOT TOUCH HER!”

I could see Aiden’s wolf about to come forward. I went over and put my arms around him, trying to calm him down. He was shaking, it took him a minute before he finally wrapped his arms around me and breathed me in, taking deep calming breaths.

I looked up at Aiden, “He will never touch me like that. We won’t give him the chance. It will be okay.”

“Keegan, I want everyone ready.” Damien ordered, “In two days, we will take Silver Creek and Alpha Ronan down to nothing.”

“Understood” Keegan said with a bow before turning and leaving the office.

“Ian” Aiden said, “Reply back to Alpha Ronan and tell him that Damien and I agree to meet with him Friday. Tell him that we will expect him at noon at the Ace of Spades Bar bordering our pack lands.”

Ian raised an eyebrow, questioning.

“If what you say is true, we can’t let Ronan know that we suspect otherwise he might attack early. This way lets him think that he will catch us off guard.”

“Will do” Ian replied with a bow.

“And then I want you to take Camille home. She does not leave your sight.”

I shot Aiden a look, but I didn’t question him. He looked like he was ready to murder someone. Heck, they all did. And truth be told, I wanted Ian to take me home because if I have two days until I must face Ronan, I want to be ready for him.

It wasn’t long before Ian and I were heading back home. As soon as we were there, I changed into my workout clothes and found Ian. We went downstairs and spent the next several hours working through ground techniques. Knowing Ronan, he would try to get me to the ground to overpower me, so I had to be ready.

Ian made me take a break to eat something for dinner. I don’t think either of us were very hungry, but Ian wouldn’t let me continue until I did. He worked with me for another two hours until he called it. Especially after everything last night, he didn’t want to push me too hard.

We finally decided on starting a fire outside while we waited for Aiden and Damien to come home.

“You’re going to try to challenge him, aren’t you?” Ian asked after a few minutes of silence.

“Yes” I continued to stare into the fire. I knew if I looked over at Ian, I would see the concern and worry on his face. “That is what I’m supposed to do, and I trust in you and her to help see me through it. I don’t want any member of Blood Moon to die fighting in a war because of me.”

“I don’t know Camille, something about this whole thing though just seems off. We know already he doesn’t want to kill you. I can just feel it. Something isn’t right, I don’t think you should do this. What if Aiden or Damien challenged him instead? Why can’t they?”

I finally force myself to look over at Ian. I can see how torn up he is inside. I stand and go over to him, he immediately pulls me down onto to his lap and puts his face against my neck.

“I agree, something seems off and I don’t trust Ronan, but you just said yourself, he’s not trying to kill me, he wants me alive. You, Aiden, or Damien, on the other hand, he wouldn’t hesitate to kill because he knows that that would break me. I couldn’t live with myself if anything happened to you guys. If I can kill him, then I can put a stop to all of this. I need you to trust me.”

“I do trust you; I just don’t want anything to happen to you. I love you.”

“I love you too, Ian.”

I feel like ever since I’ve arrived at Blood Moon, I’ve just been making things difficult for everyone. I’m sure the last thing Aiden and Damien ever wanted was a mate who would have all these weird abilities that would start wars with neighboring packs. This isn’t fair to put the pack members through this. For once, I wish I could just have been normal.

A few minutes later, we heard Aiden’s car pull up and then the front door open. I went to go meet them at the front door. Damien walked in and smiled before pulling me into a quick hug. Aiden also gave me a small smile and then took note of some fresh bruises on my arms and shoulders from training today.

“What are those from?” His voice was soft, but I couldn’t help but feel like there was some disappointment in there.

“I had Ian train me, if I have to fight Ronan in two days, I want to be as prepared as I can.”

Aiden growled, startling me slightly. I wanted to embrace him but the look on his face kept me away. I could feel through the bond that he was a mess of emotions. It was overwhelming, to say the least.

“I’ll be downstairs.” Was all Aiden said before he headed downstairs towards the gym.

I watched him head down the stairs, disappearing from view without another word. I couldn’t help the hurt that I felt.

“Did I do something wrong?” I asked quietly, looking over at Damien.

“No baby girl, you didn’t do anything wrong.” Damien put his hand on my back and gently rubbed, “Between everything last night, and then everything that happened today. He’s just really on edge. Give him some time and let him work it out. He’ll be ok”.

I wanted to believe Damien, but I also wanted to run after Aiden. He was normally the one who was always so in control of everything. He was always so strong, carrying the weight of the pack on his shoulders, but tonight, he looked almost broken. It was hard for me to see him like that.

“Come on, let's go to bed.” I didn’t want to but Damien’s hand on my back gently guided me towards our bedroom.