My Lycan Mate of Suicide Forest

"Lucas was down there because he was bringing Zoe food. I think he has a soft spot for her," August said thoughtfully.

"So you think Lucas would want to babysit her?" Graeme chuckled. "I highly doubt it."

"Maybe he would do it for us. If we asked him. He's more than capable of it," she thought aloud.

Lucas was a complicated male to figure out. He was the one who reported to the council that Graeme had brought August onto pack land in the first place. He was the reason Marius showed up at the outpost that first day. And he was always appearing at eerily convenient times and apparently following the elders' orders. On the other hand, he told August that he cared about the pack first and foremost and that if she was Graeme's rightful mate, it would make everyone's lives here easier.

On top of all of that, there was Lucas' response in the dungeon to August's appearance. Her ethereal glow was undeniable proof now that she was the pack's rightful Luna, and his reaction—while super unsettling—seemed to indicate his acceptance of this. Or at least his awe of it. He tried to follow her out of the dungeon, which may have been the instinct to protect her that Graeme had mentioned.

Something told August that despite how things had begun with Lucas, he would be on their side now. Especially if he was aware of what the elders had done against the previous Alpha and Luna.

"Regardless of whether Lucas watches her for us or not, if we want her out of there for the information she has, we should probably do it. If Andreas finds out she talked to me, she could disappear," August said softly.

Graeme groaned. Was he seriously going to have to entertain saving Zoe?

"There's something else she said that I forgot to mention," August added. "Whoever the elders were working with in this plot to kill your parents is still someone they are in contact with. And that person is uh…" she laughed uneasily, "going to be coming for me at some point."

So it wasn't only his pack he needed to fear when it came to August's safety. It was this previously unknown threat.

"Let's go," Graeme growled without further hesitation, stalking out through the back of the house toward the woods. There was no doubt they needed Zoe if she had more information about this person or could help them know what to anticipate.

"When we were in the dungeon getting Sam and Greta, the rest of the cells were empty," August shot a look at her mate as they made their way back to the dungeon.

Graeme grunted. "That's true."

"Then who is in there now?"

He was quiet for a moment and she focused on her feet tracing back through the leaves, the damp smell of the earth, the nature here that always managed to make all her problems seem small and temporary.

"Those in the cells have spoken against you," he said gruffly.

August stopped her walking. "You can't do that," she cried. "You can't lock them up in there just for that. That's not the way it should work!"

"How should it work?" he frowned.

"You will just make it so people fear to speak their feelings! I don't want that."

"Little Red, it is not about what you want. It is about what will keep you safe. And it is about respect for the leadership in this pack," he explained.

"But they don't see me as leadership right now. They don't see me at all!" she started walking again as Graeme had continued ahead of her, and she had to catch up to him else her words would fall on only her ears. "You have been hiding me from them. If they see me—if they see us together—who knows, perhaps their perceptions will change."

Graeme turned to wait for her, catching her hand as she slid down an incline next to him. "What would you do instead, my Luna?" his voice dipped low, intense eyes seeking her thoughts, holding space for what wisdom she might offer rather than dismissing her too quickly.

She was his partner in this, and he had shut her out until now. He wouldn't do that again, but it didn't mean he would endanger her safety either.

August's breath caught with the depth of intensity she was suddenly bathed in again with his eyes. It was so easy to forget this—how he could enrapture her with just his gaze and the fullness of emotion he held for her there, causing her to stumble for her thoughts that had just been there in her mind but fluttered away like disturbed butterflies.

The corner of Graeme's lips tipped up in amusement at how she turned momentarily flustered.

"My Luna?" he prompted teasingly, his voice still holding that depth that seemed to rumble through her to her toes.

"Stop looking at me like that," she blushed, "My Alpha," she added in the same teasing manner.

"Like what?" he asked, feigning ignorance as to how he affected her.

"You need to set those pack members free. Whoever has been locked up for my sake, please. They haven't even had much of a chance if any to know me, and the elders have been deceiving them all these years," her scattered thoughts came back to alight on the prior subject.

"How can anyone be blamed for how they have been led astray by such deceit as theirs? The people here have believed the alyko responsible for your parents' deaths. I mean, we have only just learned the full truth today! If you let them go back to their homes and enjoy Samhain and we find a way to have Zoe share her truth with everyone, then each member of this pack will have a chance to judge the past and the change in leadership more fairly."

As she spoke, her eyes had been darting all over the forest, following her thoughts as they manifested—seeing the plans in her mind—but when they arrived back to her mate and saw how his fondness had only turned deeper somehow, she licked her lips and smiled shyly.

"Why are you looking at me like that?!" August giggled and pushed playfully past her mate to continue walking, but he caught her around the waist and drew her securely into him.

"Because you are the center of my everything: my thoughts, my desires… the entire universe of my being and you have been for weeks, that hasn't changed," he breathed against her radiance, "But now you are even carrying our child. Suddenly everything inside of me is so full. I don't know how to contain it. It will leak out of me, I think. What should I do to not be consumed by these feelings every moment of my waking days, my moon? How can I concentrate on anything else but the brilliant, radiant gift of your light and the kindness and patience you offer others who would speak against you?"

August's wide eyes were glittering with surprise as she breathed against his warmth, caged against him by his arms. What had she done to elicit this emotion from him? She was just talking about his prisoners! Was it only because he had been distant for days and now their bond was surging with all that had been suppressed?

"Concentrate on my words, my Alpha," she spoke softly against him. "It may help."

"That is what has made me so profoundly in awe of you at this moment," he spoke just as softly in response. "You are what I have been missing. I was so angry and frustrated and getting nowhere with only Sam and the others. It was because I needed your optimism and hope and light to help guide us. Even Sylvia and Charlotte speak so wisely, but their words do not thread through and pierce me the way yours do. I am sorry that I let my fear blind me to your truth."

"You have already apologized. There is no more need for it," she pushed with her slight resistance against his arms.

"So you would have me free them now, my Luna?" he asked, releasing her so they could continue their walk side by side.