Hestia House Book One

Chapter Seventeen

~One Week Later~

~Arynn’s POV~

In one week, our border patrol had suffered 3 brutal attacks. Tensions were growing, and I could see the stress wearing on everyone. Leo had me under guard and it was suffocating. I was currently in the pack house kitchen, baking everything I could think of, with Dakota working on border maps at the kitchen table. They were still working on strategy to get to Alpha Sean, but Leo wouldn’t share anything more with me. I knew he didn’t want me involved in the attack, and truly, I didn’t want to fight. But fighting alongside my pack would be the only way to show them I wouldn’t run or freeze the moment another pack pushed back against me.

A thought had occurred to me a couple days ago, the easiest way to draw them into one concentrated battle. One way to ensure their strongest warriors would be close together, to keep prolonged skirmishes to a minimum. I had called Diego last night to run my idea by him, and also because I had finally thought of a name for the house. He said my plan had merit, and Leo could run logistics for it easy enough. But he harrumphed the name, stating, "If that's what you want." Whatever. He would complain, but I knew he would set the name in writing for me and keep the house running for rogues. I just needed to make it into a council meeting. And the next one was starting soon.

Brushing my hair out with my fingers, I stepped out of the hall bathroom just as the wolves carrying snack trays into the war room were passing. I tapped the last wolf out of line, taking their platter and walking in behind everyone else. My scent wasn’t noticed at first because of the baked goods, and by the time Leo found me in the room, I was too far from the door to be taken out without noise. I answered his frown and glare with a cheeky smile, moving myself to the planning table. Our pack members had the grace to ignore Leo glaring at me. I winced as he mind-linked me, his telepathic tone just as gruff as it would be verbally.

~Arynn, why are you here? You know I don’t want you to be a part of this! It’s too dangerous.~

~Leo, if I can’t even face my old pack, what right do I have to stand next to you in this pack? Also, I will have more layout information than anyone else since I lived there.~ Breaking the mind-link, I just stared at him until he sighed and dropped his head.

“Let’s begin. We are set to attack in two days, and since Arynn is here, she can help us target key points for disabling their defenses. Arynn, can you check our map and direct us to where we should target?” He gestured toward the map on the table, not even meeting my gaze.

Taking a deep breath I studied the map they had on the table. The details were on point for the most part, but there were 3 or 4 places that weren’t correct. As I pointed out the corrections, adding notes to specific things, I felt Leo’s gaze following me, studying me. We were going to have a long talk later, but for now he was accepting my help. Over the next two hours I helped finalize the attack plan, adjusting strategy based on my knowledge of how the pack worked and trained. It was productive, and I slipped out while Leo was wrapping up with the others.

Instead of heading to the kitchen, I went to the training field. I borrowed some work out clothes from another girl, and started a slow jog around the track. After a couple of rounds, I increased my pace to a run, and then ran until my sides ached. Moving to the practice dummies, I ran through the routine Diego had set up for me, only stopping once my arms and legs were sore. Turning around, I was shocked to find half of those training just watching me. A blush started up my neck and stopped when one of the guys watching approached me with a swagger. His demeanor reminded me of one of the drills with Diego, so I just waited. He smirked as he spoke, getting within a couple feet of me.

“Well Miss Luna, it looks like you have trained before. But have you ever faced a real opponent? A training dummy will only go so far. Can I be your opponent?”

Obviously he missed me taking out the she-wolf my first day here, somehow. But I just shrugged and waved him to the match circle. He laughed and gestured to those watching, some of which glared while others laughed and whispered to each other. Those glaring probably thought it was disrespectful to challenge the Luna, or knew how I had taken out the female before. Either way, it didn’t matter to me, because I was about to lay him out. Rolling my neck out slowly, I stepped into the match circle with the swagger pup. The moment I stopped and met his eyes he attacked.

The attack was over in under five minutes. I didn’t want to extend it any further since the damage to his pride would be done either way. Glancing up at the crowd I noticed Leo among them, with an unreadable expression on his face. Every face was solemn around him, especially those who were laughing when I was challenged just minutes ago. Coming up to me, Leo grabbed me by my waist and pulled me into a fiery, feral, possessive kiss. A moment later, while I was reeling from the kiss, Leo turned and addressed the pack. It took a moment for my head to clear enough to understand his words, but the fire that burned inside for my mate burned brighter once I comprehended.

“In three days we will attack Pack Loneclaw for the honor and safety of our Luna. As she just showed us her strength, she will be with me in the lead, lending us her strength and passion as she shows Loneclaw who she truly is. Let’s hear it for our Luna!”

As the howls and cheers from our pack rose around us, I kissed Leo again. My mate would lend me his strength in the coming battle, and now he recognized I could also be his strength.