Chapter 81
Matt
Matt was getting tired of these endless meetings. Meetings meant more attacks. More attacks meant more innocent lives lost. It was like a more gory version of "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie."
He would much rather be talking to Rose. While she hadn't ghosted him again, there was definitely something going on. She said she was just busy, but Matt knew her better than that. He wanted to get to the bottom of it, but these meetings were getting in the way. Couldn't the werewolf just take a night off?
Matt looked around the room at his friends. They were all armed to the teeth. If he looked close enough, he could see the outlines of their hidden guns and knives. If he hadn't had so much training, he probably wouldn't have seen them at all.
They may have been at a slight disadvantage, physically, in their human form, but werewolves could just as easily be killed with a well-placed bullet. The chances of anyone on their side rose exponentially if they duked it out in wolf form.
Even when they weren't actively hunting, they had to be prepared for anything. While he didn't think the rogue would come bursting through the wall like some kind of wolfy Kool-Aid man, the chance of it happening wasn't at zero. It was better to have the weapons and not need them. If they needed them and didn't have them, it would already be too late.
Nina sat in her chair, tipping it back with one foot on the table. She used a dagger to clean beneath her fingernails. Her posture wasn't fooling anyone though. Her eyes kept flicking back and forth, her lips pressed together in a thin line. She was just as nervous and on edge as the rest of us.
Enzo sank into the chair beside her, a hint of amusement behind his sleep-deprived eyes. "Are you going to use it as a toothpick next?"
Nina glared at him, waving the dagger in his face in an idle threat. "Maybe I should use it as a skewer instead. Anyone up for an eyeball kebab?"
Enzo laughed, holding his hands up in defeat. "I prefer to have both my eyes, thank you very much. The better to see you with, my dear." He ended his sentence by batting his eyelashes at her and she rolled her eyes.
Their lighthearted bickering had broken the strained silence. The rest of the members began talking amongst themselves, keeping the conversation topics light and happy. There would be plenty of time for doom and gloom later.
"Hey, do you know when Jack is getting here?" Nina suddenly asked and Matt looked at her in surprise. Jack wasn't supposed to be coming today. It was his turn to walk Celeste home.
Matt told her as much and her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "He said during class today that he would be here. Do you think he forgot?"
Matt scoffed. Jack was way too overprotective of Celeste to have forgotten. He took his job as her older brother very seriously. "He probably just answered without thinking. You know how he is."
Nina frowned. "I don't know. He seemed pretty excited to share some ideas that he had that could potentially solve our problem. Do you think he might have asked someone else to walk Celeste home?"
Matt shook his head. There were very few people Jack trusted and all of them happened to be in this room. He wouldn't have asked anyone else. Especially after what had happened the other night.
Thank the stars he had found her when he did. It hadn't been too hard to follow her scent. He knew it as well as his own, if not better. But it had been too close of a call. If anything ever happened to Celeste…
Matt closed his eyes. He couldn't think about that right now. He shouldn't have been thinking about Celeste at all. He had Rose. Not to mention that fucking promise hanging over his head.
He pulled out his cell phone, shoving everything in a box and pushing it to the furthest recesses of his mind. He could take it out later. Right now, he needed to know that Jack was doing what he was supposed to be doing.
The phone had barely begun to ring when he heard Jack's ringtone out in the hallway. Matt shoved away from the table, bounding across the room in three quick strides.
He wrenched open the door, hoping that someone had just found Jack's phone. That he would not see his best friend on the other side, but his hope fizzled out as he took in Jack's startled expression.
"What are you doing here?" Jack asked and Matt felt ready to strangle him.
"What am I doing here? What the fuck are you doing here? You're supposed to be walking Celeste home!" Matt growled and a little bit of his wolf came out. He struggled to rein it back in.
"Me? I thought it was your turn," Jack said and the rising panic in his eyes caused Matt's own heart to beat wildly in his chest. They didn't have time for this. The moment that man realized Celeste was alone, he would strike. Matt was sure of it.
Matt checked the time on his cell phone. It had already been twenty minutes since she had gotten out of school. She had only waited thirty minutes the last time. Matt knew she wouldn't wait much longer, even with the threat hanging over her. She wanted her independence and she was willing to risk her life for it.
"You don't have much time. Go!" Matt practically yelled. Jack turned and ran down the hallway without another word. Matt watched him go, wishing he could be the one to go after her, but someone needed to stay here for the meeting. It was just another sacrifice he was going to have to make.
Jack
Fuck. How could he have been so stupid? How could he have forgotten that he was the one who was supposed to walk Celeste home? His little sister had been counting on him and he had let her down.
He was almost certain that the man was from the Crescent faction. Who else would be after her so persistently? They wanted their precious "holy maiden" back, but Jack would rather die than to see her become something he hated. She was the last of his family and he was willing to do anything to save her.
He finally made it to their meeting spot. But Celeste wasn't there. She wasn't anywhere near where she was supposed to be. Double fuck.
Jack gritted his teeth. Thank god he had put a tracker on her cell phone. Celeste might give him shit for being overprotective, but it was at times like these that it came in handy.
He pulled out his phone and opened the app. Celeste's little blue dot was only a few streets away, heading toward the house. He could definitely catch up to her. He started running in that direction, periodically checking his phone to make sure she hadn't changed course.
Jack was only a block away when the blue dot disappeared. The signal had been lost. Triple fuck.
