Luna of Rogues

Part 24 - A Brief Reunion

"Happy birthday, Skye," my little brother said quietly.

Both Alphas turned to stare at him. They were trapped and in danger of their lives, yet it was their prisoner who was currently worrying them. I sighed again.

"You know her?" Jace asked.

Jaden looked between the two of us and groaned, obviously remembering the time when we had tricked him into thinking Rhys was attacking me. He muttered to his brother, "They're siblings."

Rhys ignored both of them and make an attempt to walk towards us. Jace grabbed his collar and dragged him to a standstill. It was difficult for Rhys to resist without the use of his hands. I tried to go to him instead, but Jaden stepped in my path and narrowed his eyes at me.

"What you're doing right now? Not very clever," I told him. It was like the lot of them had a death wish. Keeping me away from my brother, while in my territory and surrounded by my pack? What morons.

"Now, now. Let's not get nasty with each other. It's four against four here. I don't know about you, but I fancy our chances if it came to a fight," Zach teased.

I looked around in confusion and realised that Fion, Leo and Ollie were the only wolves showing themselves. "Oh, sorry — almost forgot."

I snapped my fingers. A bird in a tower spooked and flew away squawking, but not much else happened. Things just weren't going my way that day.

"Uh, guys, that was the signal," I shout-whispered. The fighters finally seemed to get the message and moved out from the shadows to surround them. Those with rifles levelled them at the Alphas.

Zach smirked as if our efforts were amusing him. Jaden cursed. The Luna moved out from behind her mate, finally realising the redundancy of it. But Jace just kept staring at me impassively. It kind of unnerving, which was exactly what he was aiming for.

"Closer to four hundred against four," I corrected. "Don't any of you know how to use your noses?"

Finally, the Alphas moved slowly to the side. They knew they were beaten. I marched straight through the resulting gap to wrap Rhys in a relieved hug. It had taken long enough.

I couldn't see Rhys grinning, but of course, he was. "You know I'd love to hug you back, but I'm a little tied up at the moment."

I let him go, cursing the Alphas under my breath. He was restrained that way so he couldn't shift without dislocating his shoulders. A cruel but widely used way of controlling prisoners. I snapped my fingers at Jace. "Key. Now."

"Well, as you asked so nicely," he muttered and threw over a piece of metal. He didn't have much choice, now that there was a gun pointed at his head.

The lock was stiff, but after some frustrated manoeuvring, I heard the tell-tale click and opened the cuffs. His wrists were rubbed raw and ringed in yellow bruises. All three Alphas were clearly annoyed that I was releasing their prisoner, but they could hardly complain at gunpoint.

Rhys ruffled up my hair and threw an arm around my shoulder. We went back over to re-join Fion, who had her turn for a hug. Ollie received an affectionate thump, while even Leo got a grin out of my brother. The five of us stood in a close-knit group in front of the gates.

The Alphas weren't happy about any of this. Even Zach was showing symptoms of a restless wolf — oozing irritation and darkened eyes. Somehow, I didn't think they would go quietly now that they had lost Rhys and had their 'Alpha pride' dented. And it wasn't long before I was proved right.

But it was Jaden who announced in growling tone, "We're not leaving without the prisoner."

"Who said anything about leaving?" I asked. "We have plenty of room in the cellars for trespassers. When someone treads on your lawn, you lock them up, right?"