Guardians of the Opal Moon

Chapter 32

The scar face man presses down his fear, his strained fingers slowly release from the steering wheel and he leans back in his seat in feigned relaxation.

"It went well?"

Copper eyes look at the male, her eyes are such a beautiful color that in any other circumstance it should be a warm color, but it only brings an icy chill to his heart as he stares out the front windscreen, not daring to meet her eyes.

"They are not my opponents, they play losing game, they might score a goal here and there. In the end it will never be enough, they are bound to lose"

The man's hands tighten once again on the steering wheel and he tentatively asks.

"What is your final goal?"

Eyelids slowly droop, copper eyes narrow as she looks at the man. She laughs a laugh so malicious and spine tingling. It echoes around the tiny space, the man has regret. Why did he ask? It was never a question that he was going to have an answer for.

She looks at the man. Does he really think that they are in some sort of relationship? Does he really think he is her equal? He would have been dead if it wasn't for her intervention. He thinks he is valuable?

***

Ava looks at her mate who is really struggling. While it did get put on the back burner, there are still people searching high and low for his mother. It hasn’t ceased since the moment they took over. Ava was not expecting to find ex-Luna Grace in such a way. It was hoped that she was alive and maybe she was through this whole time. Going by the smell of the corpse there is every chance that she was alive until moments before they entered, there is no smell of decay.

So close, yet miles too late.

Her emotions are crippling her and she is struggling, but there is something more important now. So she pushes down all her own issues.

Her bare feet make no sound on the ground as she walks forward on only the balls of her feet. She stands in front of Hunter looking up at him with big green eyes, worry swimming around her big innocent eyes.

Hunter’s golden eyes don't have the same effect with the dull pain and guilt-ridden emotions rolling through him right now. The golden orbs have lost their sparkle, they have lost their shine, the thing of such beauty that, while they used to sparkle like a jewel, now barely resembles a rock.

Her heart breaks for him. She steps forward, closing the gap between the two, grabbing the back of his head and pulling it down to bury his face straight in her thick blonde hair.

He lets the softness brush against his skin, breathing in big lung full of her scent and finally the tears flow, her arms wrap tightly around his waist and he holds her close. Always and forever his life saving straw. When he is drowning she delivers the oxygen.

He feels like he doesn't deserve her, but right now he needs her so that he is even able to take another breath.

The others all resemble zombies as they shuffle forward and gather in a big group around Hunter, just embracing the two in the centre. No word is spoken, just a big naked comforting hug.

Sadness fills the air, the sense of inferiority really hangs heavily on them.

While all of this is so important, they can not let their packs and families die for them. Such a heavy burden, such a decision sways even the most steady mind.

Just how much will have to be sacrificed for this mission? What are they going to lose? None of the things listed are acceptable losses for any of them.

Can they continue with the needed yet selfish mission if everyone is left defenseless, if their loved ones all die? It is about so much more than the eight of them, they have such a task, it is impossible to complete and they leave everyone else exposed. When they feel so much like failures and so much is on the line, how can they continue on the same path?

But the pups.

The moon goddess.

Their hearts are torn in two directions.

Jade knows that their hearts are swayed, but they can’t just give up now, her pups depend on this, on this small group.

‘We could……. We could relocate everyone to opal moon’

Lucas had thought along those lines, but reality hits. Even if they were to relocate Blue Moon and they were safe, what about Green Meadows? His twin sister is the Luna and the Alpha is Alexis’ best friend. If blue moon was safe, would they not be the obvious targets then? How far do they spread that protection?

Ava is the same, they save the new moon, but what becomes of her birth pack? Her twin is the future alpha of red dawn, would they not become the targets?

Moving three packs to Opal moon would be pushing the limits, but moving five packs? It would become like a refugee camp. Not enough housing means that they would all end up in tents.

So many people couldn’t flood the schools, all the education would be put on hold, training would be impossible.

All the pack members lives would be halted. And for how long? Is this an ongoing threat? At the moment they are making no progress, there is no end in sight.

How long would it be before there is division? The housed versus the non housed. Trying to feed that volume of people.

Alexis looks at Lucas. They have one thought, the barrier between the two minds is completely open, free-flowing ideas. Alexis nods when they finally come to a decision.

‘Since our enemy already knows us, the time for hiding is already done, which makes it a lot easier, no one is going to argue about a mission from moon goddess’

Axel nods, the worst kept secret, all their hiding was for nothing.

‘Agreed, it just makes things more complicated to hide our mission, we keep the pups out of it, others don’t need to know, but the rest, I agree, why hide something that our enemy is already privy to’

‘I will convince Christian and Kira to move to blue moon. With the two combined packs, the security will be better, blue moon will also have more alpha blood present’

He pauses. Alexis and he has already made plans for all. They may play a lot of silly games but they are a vacuum for information. Anything that is told is retained. Since no one else says anything, he will just lay it all out and, if there are objections, people can voice it after the fact.

‘Red dawn can move to New moon. The bigger pack takes the smaller pack. Then Phoenix and Alina, your pack Sunset, can move to the opal moon unless you have trusted allies that we don’t know about. The facilities will be able to cope with the extra influx without overloading it’

A small nod runs through the group. Alexis continues.

‘That takes friends, family and packs out of the equation. All that is left is our love and our life. I understand the goal here, I know what is at stake and I am going to stick it out. I am not going back and hiding, waiting for death. If death is the end result, I am walking straight into that f*cker and seeing how many punches I can throw at the reaper before he takes me’

Lucas squeezes his eyes shut, he knows it is not the time to smile, but he often wonders how he managed to get blessed with this gem. What type of saying is that? She is insane.

Hunter looks through the crowd at his last piece of blood-related family on this earth. He looks around at the group and then at his mate.

Family is what you make it.

This group is now his family and there is no way another family member is getting taken from him.

He will avenge his mother, Brodie, all the others and he will do his best to protect this group.

His golden eyes regain their lustre.

‘Let’s do this, I will grieve when I can offer a piece of our enemy's heart to my mothers grave’

A wave of new found positivity sweeps through the group. They break from the group hug and look around. Jade says.

‘Investigate the area, whatever can be found, find it’

Lucas looks around the room.

‘I am not sure if this is helpful in anyway, but this building nearly looks identical to the one that I was held in between the blue moon and the green meadows packs’

Axel looks around, studying the building itself. He didn't really think much of it, considering it was just a random structure, but maybe there is more to it.

‘The building or the set up?’

‘Both’

‘Did you get any information then?’

‘No, nothing, it was destroyed and the rogues that Alexis and I didn’t kill, they all killed themselves’

‘Rogues working together?’

‘I mean they might have been from a pack, but pack members are not usually so haggard’

Axel moves one of the dead bodies with his foot. It is very true, scars are littering the skin that grips bones, most pack members are quite well built, but that can only be achieved if they have enough to eat. It takes a lot to feed a wolf.

The dead are scraggly and mangy looking. He didn’t notice earlier because of the whole extreme death episode. Blood and tongues took precedence over their looks.

‘Rogues? Hmm makes sense why they would go against their own kind’

‘Bad news that someone is actually able to round up rogues in such a way’

‘The wolves aside, if there are buildings like this in between packs, could it be possible that there are more?’

Jade nods.

‘Good starting point. If we know where they are based, we have a massive advantage’

‘Easier said than done, how many records would be kept from this era?’

‘We have to at least try. It is a good lead and, unfortunately, it is all we really have for now’

All eight fan out searching every inch of the place.