The Luna’s Choice (Theo and Ayla) by Kat Silver
Chapter 256

Chapter 256: Theo Kieran was bouncing around in my mind, itching to be let loose, as we watched them disappear. Morethan anything, I wanted to go with them. Apparently Dasha did, too. But we couldn’t. Not yet. We hadbusiness to finish. Ayla and I turned our attention to the other pack leaders. “Alphas, Lunas,” I addressed, “I believe the demonstration can be considered a success. As such, thishas provided Ayla and I with a renewed sense of urgency on the matter of the Moonstone. It is ourbelief that the Moon Goddess requires this from us. We are ready to take a vote.” “All those in favor of Alpha Theo and Luna Ayla reconstituting the Moonstone…” Kingston announced,raising his hand. The rest of the pack leaders followed suit, lifting their hands in agreement. Save for Alpha Trent. Therest looked at him sternly. “Alpha Trent,” Alpha Harden growled softly. “I’ll agree to this on one condition,” Alpha Trent insisted. “Before you do this, you have to provide all ofus with the same ritual that broke the Moonstone in the first place. I think we all deserve a failsafe if yougo back on your word.” “I don’t think we’re going to be needing that,” Kingston replied. “But we’ll provide it all the same,” Ayla stated. “You all will be able to review it by the ceremony. Afterthat, it will be kept with the Moon Haven Order. Able to be accessed by all packs.”

Alpha Trent sighed. “Fine.” He raised his hand. “Then it’s settled,” Alpha Harden said judiciously. “I think it’s time we all returned home. We have a lotof preparations to do before the solstice. And we’ll have to inform our packs of the changes that arecoming.” “Of course,” I said. “We will keep everyone up to date on ours as well and all lines of communicationwill be open for the interpack arrangements.” “We will leave you two to yourselves,” Luna Victoria said with a smile before taking Alpha Harden’s arm

and guiding him away. The rest followed, except for Kingston. “Will you be leaving as well?” Ayla asked him. He gave her a gentle smile. “I have one more visit with our friend Lloyd,” he said, “but yes, it’s time forme to head home. Pierce has held things down long enough. Besides, I have to retrieve the rest of thestone. Can’t do much without that.” “Yes, indeed,” Ayla laughed, “all of this would be pretty pointless without it.” “It’s safe, right?” I asked. “Do you think you need extra protection getting it here?” “It’s in a safe place,” Kingston confirmed. “I should be okay getting it back. After all, we didn’t disclosethat I was actually still in possession of it. They believe both pieces are still here. So, you may want toprepare for possible interference. And hey, you need to open that da mn box first. It would be even lessconducive if the other half wasn’t even in there.” I had almost forgotten about that, but I wasn’t worried. After everything that had happened, I didn’tneed to see what was in there to know. Ayla didn’t either. “We’ll get it taken care of,” I said. I started walking back toward the packhouse, my arm wrappedaround Ayla. “Did you manage to get anything out of Lloyd in all your time with him?” Kingston stiffened a little. “Not what I had hoped,” he replied. He had seemed very distracted lately. He wasn’t present much outside of the required meetings. Hehad reportedly been spending a lot of time in the cellar, both questioning Lloyd and researching. Aylahad previously voiced concerns about his behavior. I had assumed some of it had to do with being hereaway from his pack and around me and Ayla together. But even I could tell there was something else weighing on him. “Nothing more on Grogan?” Ayla probed. Kingston gave her a tight smile. “Nothing I can do anything with, unfortunately,” he said evasively. “Nowthat Anderson and Malcom have been taken down, it’s likely he’ll go underground. I’ll keep searching,though. I’ll replace him someday.”

“You know we’ll help you however we can,” Ayla urged. “He’s still a threat to us,” I pointed out, “whether he has the Waar Pa k baking him or not.” Kingston nodded a little absently. “Yes, I suppose he is. But he won’t get far. I’ve already startedspeaking to some of the other Alphas to help track him down.” “What if he hides in rogue territory?” Ayla asked. “That is very possible,” Kingston agreed. “Since the nearest rogue territory is along our borders, we canassume he would be there if he is. We can use that to our advantage at least. Speaking of… I wouldlike to help supervise the Moon Haven transfer. They’ll have to travel directly through rogue lands. It’s agood place for an ambush.” “Do you really think they would attack them?” Ayla asked. “What threat do they pose with us having thestones?” “They have knowledge,” I offered. “And a lot of it. Sister Mona said we’ve only begun to explore whatthey have to offer. I can imagine there is a great deal of information Grogan would love to get his handson… and/or keep out of ours.” “Yes,” Kingston agreed. “The last thing we want is Grogan replaceing a way to manipulate some prophecyor text against any of us. The sisters need to be protected. I’d like to ensure that happens.” “I think that would be a big help,” I said. “Run it by the other pack leaders. They may want to offer theirassistance as well. The more people we can put on this, the better.” Kingston gave me a tight smile and a nod. “Of course,” he replied. “Well, I’ve got some packing to do.And I know you two are dying to try and catch up with your pack mates. So, I’ll leave you to it.” “Thank you, Kingston,” Ayla said sweetly.