Chapter 9: Unwanted Visitor

Kyon POV

No one doubted Jiro when he said, “We have an intruder.” That was his job, after all.

Dane stood, outwardly calm. “Inside or outside?”

Jiro concentrated, listening, sniffing. “Outside.”

Kyon rose, too. His instincts and his wolf told him to attack. But his brain said he needed a strategy and there was strength in numbers. Azandra and Lilia stood as well. Lilia had her glowing crystal in hand, ready for anything.

“Someone’s either brave or stupid if they think they can just walk in here,” Kyon said. “Especially after we defeated Cyran.”

Patch’s eyes darkened. “Maybe that’s why they’re doing it. They think we let our guard down.”

Kyon tuned into the sounds outside. At first, he didn’t hear anything, and Dirge strained to hear, complaining that he didn’t see what all the fuss was about.

Then he heard it.

A wolf growling, and not a friendly growl.

“A rogue wolf?” he asked Jiro.

The intelligence chief shrugged. His turquoise eyes glittered with determination. “Not one of our pack, at any rate. And not someone from a friendly pack like the Silverpaws, for example. I can summon guards.”

“No,” Dane said with his jaw firm and fire in his eyes. “That way we lose the element of surprise. We five plus Azandra are more than a match for a single wolf … and it smells and sounds like a single wolf.”

Dirge bounced up and down, agitated. “I hear it. It definitely sounds like a lone wolf.”

“Unless they want us to think that,” Azandra muttered.

She was sharp, no question. The Cresta brothers all looked disturbed that they hadn’t thought of it.

“On the other hand,” Azandra continued, “if it is just a single scout, maybe capturing him or her will make the rest run for the hills.”

“Him,” Jiro announced. “It’s definitely a male, by the scent.” His eyes turned hard. “But yes, whoever is giving him orders will regret picking Cresta House as a target.”

“What pack is he from?” Ravyn asked. “I’ve heard that different packs have different scents.”

Jiro concentrated. “My sniffer is not that sensitive. I’d have to get within striking distance.”

Dane addressed the others. “We’ll handle this. Lilia, Ravyn, and Anneliese, your magical powers would be helpful once we do. When we corner the intruder, maybe you can stun him or put him to sleep.”

“Consider it done,” Lilia assured him, and the other two witches nodded. Anneliese rubbed her hands in glee and Ravyn had the look of a warrior.

Azandra raised her hand. “Aren’t you forgetting someone? I’m going to fight alongside you.”

“We may need you for healing,” Dane suggested gently.

Azandra gave him the kind of stubborn stare Kyon wished she would use on her parents. “I can fight and then heal afterward. You’re not leaving me behind.”

Dane tilted his head in Kyon’s direction, a question in his eyes. Kyon nodded. “We can use all the help we can get,” he said.

Azandra smiled. In a twinkling, the human changed to the sleek silver wolf, while all around her, the Crestas transformed into their equally impressive wolves. Nose pointed toward the intruder to the south, Jiro took point as the small squad rushed out of the dining room together.

Kyon and Dane followed Jiro while Azandra and the two youngest menaces brought up the rear. Jiro’s nose kept facing south and west, which meant that the intruder was probably lurking near the southwest corner. It had the deepest shadows, so less likelihood of being spotted.

Kyon’s ears constantly twitched, perking forward toward the sounds. More frequent now.

They all crept outside the house with Lilia, Ravyn, and Anneliese following them, the trio of witches casting haloes of light with their crystals. New Moon City looked peaceful, with the front of the great house serene in the deepening darkness of the evening. One would never suspect an unwanted visitor.

They all surveyed the scene, sniffing. The sounds and scents of ordinary life in New Moon City surrounded them. The smoke and crackling of cooking fires, and the aromas of food. The growls and the smells from wolves engaged in either sparring or mating. Human laughter and tears. Humans at work and play.

Because he was on high alert, the scent and the tiny sounds of the intruder hit Kyon like a fist. “Dane, Jiro, can you identify–”

Jiro’s response was swift and serious. “Wintertail Pack.”

Dane paused, then growled through the mind link, “Their Alpha, Marcus Mond.”

Azandra gasped. “Moon Goddess. They WOULDN’T.” She meant her parents.

Chills shot through Kyon. “NO. Are you sure?”

Another growl from Dane. “Are you questioning me? I know all the Alphas.”

Kyon was silent. He didn’t put it past Azandra’s parents to surprise her with her suitor the very same day they announced her betrothal. And Dane had met Marcus Mond, so no chance of mistaken identity there.

Jiro asked, “How tough is Marcus Mond in a fight?”

Dane sounded tense. “Right now, no one is fighting anyone … but I hear that he’s at least as good as any of us, and as fierce as Alpha Jude of the Silverpaws.”

Azandra growled, “I disagree with you about no fighting. I feel like biting my parents, or at least challenging them to a showdown.”

Patch quipped, “Watch out for your mother, I think she’s the tough one. She once pinned someone to the ground because they both wanted the same spice when the spice traders came.”

“Patch, this is serious,” Dirge wailed. “Azandra can’t go with Marcus Mond.”

“Excuse me, I can speak for myself,” Azandra huffed. “And I’m not going anywhere with anyone, thank you very much.”

An idea struck Kyon. “Oh, but you are.”

“Excuse me?”

Moon Goddess, he loved her fiery spirit. “I want to show you something.”

“NOW?”

He nudged her with his nose. “Yes, now. And it’s good timing. We’ll take a little trip out of the city, just the two of us, and I’ll show you my favorite spot in the world other than Cresta House. And by the time we get back, things should calm down, right, Dane?”

Dane’s teeth flashed in a warlike smile. “Oh, yes, most assuredly.”

Dirge sounded impressed. “Kyon, that’s really … adventurous.”

“And romantic,” Patch added. “I had a feeling you had it in you.”

Meanwhile, Jiro and Dane stalked toward the corner, where, unless Kyon’s eyes were playing tricks on him, a wolf-sized shadow was moving. Dirge and Patch, with identical mischievous grins, followed their brothers while the three witches stood ready for anything.

Lilia signaled Kyon by waving her crystal, and so did Ravyn. Kyon couldn’t see Anneliese’s face in the dark, but he suspected she was cheering him on. She adored schemes like this.

Encouraged, he nipped Azandra gently on the ear. Not a mate mark, no. He grazed her fur with his teeth. “Come on!”

* * * * *

Azandra POV

She talked about biting her parents, or fighting them.

She felt like doing worse … namely, going on a rampage through Birdcliff and ripping to shreds all the wall hangings, fine furnishings, and anything she could get her teeth and claws on. Breaking the fine china from the elves and the treasures made by the orcs. Everything her mother apparently valued.

Azandra loved luxury and fine things too, but above her parents? Above her pack? Above her loved ones’ happiness? Never. She’d tried to do everything to please her parents. Hadn’t they learned from the fiasco with Dane and with other suitors?

She had. She wasn’t going to make the same mistake again.

Besides, no one could deny the mate pull or the will of the Moon Goddess. She desperately wanted to ask her mother why she defied what had worked for her with Azandra’s father. Unless she disliked her choice, which Azandra found difficult to believe. Her parents always seemed suited.

She didn’t want to think about them anymore, or she really would go on that wild rampage, which might feel good in the moment but cause all kinds of trouble, especially guilt.

How to deal with this situation in a calm, rational way? It wasn’t Marcus’s fault that her parents had lured him here, probably even before they ambushed her. His scent was musky and welcoming, although not as pleasing as Kyon’s. She felt terrible about having to reject him. It could be tricky, and strain the relations between packs. Suddenly, escaping with Kyon seemed like the best idea in the world.

But running away left a sick feeling in her stomach.

“Are you sure?” she asked Kyon. “Isn’t this cowardly?”

“No,” he said with quiet assurance. “Dane can smooth over what you and your parents have created.”

“Me?” she yelped.

“We can discuss that later, but unless you want to see this situation spin out of control …” He budged her again with his nose. “Move before he senses you. They must have told him you’re here.”

Azandra vowed she would make him explain what he meant just now. “Lead on.”

He turned and raced off in the direction of Mount Alder, but veered off, heading in a direction that would take them away from the mountain but heading north still. Wise, considering Kyon was attacked while in the area surrounding the mountain.

Azandra gave in to her need to run and to run with her fated mate. It suddenly became her strongest desire. It felt like freedom when she raced behind Kyon, with her eyes on him and a hunger she couldn’t deny. She wanted to catch him, to … to …

Moon Goddess.

She wanted him. Wanted him with a blazing fire that consumed her. It took her breath away. She hadn’t felt anything so strong in her life. Not for Dane, not for anyone else. It was the difference between a small trickle and a wild, untamed sea, or a tiny spark and a thousand fires.

The moon above her and the night wind blowing around her, plus the cool earth beneath her feet, guided her onward to be with her mate.