Heart of Stone (Part III)

III. Chapter 35 | Part 2 - Aubree

Following Justin into the community center, she asked if she could stop by her room in the basement and change her clothes. He gave her a funny look but nodded.

She followed him back up the stairs to the second floor with a wide scoop-neck top that showed off her mark.

These werewolves had to know who was boss of the Blauwald Pack around here and, thus, had to keep her informed on everything they knew taking place around their territory.

When she walked into the conference room, Alpha Jackson, Luna Leanne, Justin's mate, and two other guys and a woman were waiting. They stood up, held their palms up in greeting and welcomed her to the meeting.

As she took her seat across from the Alpha, he introduced her to his Gamma (third in command) and his Head Warriors before asking how she would like to proceed. "We can call your mate and have Alpha Stone on speakerphone, if you wish. It might be beneficial to us all to get the details with the battle in his land."

She nodded. It was easier to agree so she wouldn't have to regurgitate everything they said later and potentially forget something.

While she dialed his number, she felt their eyes studying her mark and she grinned to herself as she pressed the phone to her ear.

Stone answered a few rings later. "Hello, Love."

"Hi, hun. I'm just sitting down to a meeting with the Lancaster Pack. Care to join us?"

"Yes. One moment." There was some shuffling on the other end for a minute before the line became quiet and Stone's voice returned. "We're ready."

We? Was everyone there? "Hi, guys. I'm going to put you on speaker now."

A chorus of "Hello, Luna," greeted her and she recognized Alistair, Gwen, and Gunner's voices before she tapped her finger on the screen to put them on speaker and set the phone down on the table before her.

"Okay, where would you like to start, Alpha?" she asked as she looked across the table to meet Jackson's eyes.

"Well," Jackson began as he looked down at the phone, "there's not much to tell here. All of our able-bodied wolves were out last night hunting and we didn't find a single trace of vampires. My guess is that they banded underground in the downtown core of Chicago and used whatever means possible to slip northwest out of the city. The only pack within the Chicago Area to pick up on any of the vampires reported smelling dozens of varying scents headed northwest, but only managed to capture and exterminate a handful of them."

"Were they able to gather any information from the bloodsuckers?" Stone asked.

Jackson shook his head. "No. They were killed on sight because they were attacking any wolf they encountered. The Millwood Pack lost three wolves last night and had a dozen or more injured."

"I will call them later to express my condolences," Stone said, which made the werewolves tilt their heads.

Aubree shifted in her seat. Three werewolves were killed because the vampires were migrating to Minnesota.

Three werewolves were killed because of her.

Because Carina sought revenge for Stone killing someone who meant something to her.

A nagging voice in her head made the hairs on her arms stand on end.

And she would have killed you too. After Dan turned you and Stone went insane with grief, she still would have killed you because of what Stone did to the one she loved.

What had she done to warrant this death sentence besides exist as Stone's soulmate?

"Yes, well," Jackson said, "we will take the necessary precautions again tonight and convene with neighboring packs tomorrow to decide what course of action to take next."