Chapter 129 AURORA Dane idnt stick around after his pronouncement .


    After one more long look at me , he left the infirmary .


    Eventually , Celia came back to stay with Evander .


    I asked her to alert me immediately when he woke , even if it was the middle of the night .


    He knew about the twins .


    We had to find out what .


    And if that failed , Dane was right .


    We knew where the Reeds would be on the night of the new moon , and they would have our children with them .


    I waited for Holden to make good what he had said , that I was going to be punished .


    But since that moment , hed been quiet .


    That was worse than anything else he could have done .


    Without the twins and Evander to distract me , I had way too much room for fear .


    I didnt see Dane for days .


    It was strange because Id been without him for five years and survived .


    Now , his absence was a sharp ache in my chest .


    Chapter 129 2/5 Trajan knew .


    He worried worse than Dane and stuck as close to my side as a burr caught in a wolfs fur .


    It was so strange to think that if things had gone ording to our original ns , way back when Id first arrived in Georgia after being gone so long , Trajan and I would have been the only two h Alpine wolves here , anyway .


    The twins and their daring escape and flight from home had brought them and Evander , and now all three of them ….


    I couldnt think about that .


    The ceremony was only days away .


    Even though I knew I had no wolf , and the children had no way of hearing me , I tried to reach out to them at least a hundred times a day .


    Mommy is here .


    Im thinking of you .


    Ill save you .


    It didnt help , knowing how the Reeds had treated me as a child .


    From the haunted look Id seen in Danes eyes , it seemed he felt the same .


    It was so strange to think that my family had kidnapped him , had him in the same house as me , and Id never known .


    Of course , with as little as I remembered , maybe it wasnt so strange .


    The night before the new moon , I hardly slept .


    I tossed and turned in my sheets , thinking about the next day and what it might bring .


    Chapter 129 3/5 Evander still hadnt woken , but otherwise there was nothing wrong with him .


    So we kept doing our best to give him food and water , and we waited .


    But the moon waited for no one , and now the time to take the relie had arrived .


    This was everything we had been working for .


    What we did today would hopefully end the scourge of shadow monsters that , rumor had it , was making its way through the countryside .


    They were attacking surrounding packs more and more frequently .


    If we didnt stop this , the Council would start breathing down our necks soon , demanding answers .


    As much as I hated it , I suspected the reason they werent , yet was because of Holden .


    I dont know what he told his parents about us , or if hed told them about us .


    But they did sit on the Council .


    And if they thought I was their daughter inw … Because Holden had forbidden me tomunicate with anyone about what hed done , I couldnt tell my grandmother , either .


    But when I spoke to her , I did tell her Holden was gone from Blue Ridge .


    Oh , I know .


    He told me .


    But dont worry , he said hes still watching .


    He has his ways .


    A spy , right there in the middle of them , and they dont even know .


    She winked at me , like that might make me feel better .


    But I didnt feel better .


    I felt like I wanted to throw up .


    Chapter 129 Because the spy was me .


    4/5 To say she was excited that we were finally going to retrieve the relic was an understatement .


    Even though she was a stoic old woman , when I spoke to her the morning of the new moon , she was practically dancing in her chair .


    this up .


    And get All you have to do now , Aurora , is not screw this my heirs back , of course , she said primly .


    Then she smiled , and it was the first warm smile Id seen from her in a long time .


    Once the relic is retrieved , well use it to bring your wolf back .


    Youll be true Luna heir atst , my love .


    Just like my darling Celeste was supposed to be .


    I swallowed at the mention of my mother .


    I wished so hard I could remember anything about her .


    I hope she would be proud of me .


    She would , Grandmother said .


    She was always rather easy to please .


    That evening the pack who was going to take ce in the ceremony to get the relic stood on thewn outside the pack house .


    Fall was starting to cool the air , and the breeze was scented with pine and dry leaves .


    Trajan stood at my side .


    Dane was down on thewn .


    He was speaking with Archer .


    Chapter 129 5/5 The beta never had caught up to my foster brother .


    Remington was still out there , somewhere .


    Evelyn was there , as well .


    Once upon a time , she had been the princess of the Blue Ridge Pack .


    She couldnt go anywhere .


    without dozens of people following her , admiring her .


    Now she stood alone except for the mysterious female wolf who had shown up the night of the ceremony .


    Dane didnt even look in her direction .


    Something felt different about those two , like a final cut had been made between them .


    I longed to know why , but I didnt feel like I could ask either of them .


    The night was dark .


    No moon shone .


    Dane stepped up beside me , as if out of nowhere .


    His sister , Piper , was with him .


    Its time .


    He met my gaze , and there was something in his I didnt like .


    Aurora , he said, Youre not going .