The Shadow Howlers
Chapter 9 - Secret Place

The following day, Bianca and Gunnar sat down to talk with Austin, Jessica, Marisa, and Cyril to make preparations for the mating ceremony. They would mark each other in front of the pack and then introduce Bianca as the official luna.

“Is there anything special you want?” Marisa asked Bianca excitedly.

“I’d be happy just to mark each other and be done with it. I don’t need a fancy party or anything else.” She looked over at Gunnar and took his hand. Having him by her side was all that was important.

“Well, that’s not going to happen. This is a big deal. Let Jessica and I take care of it. After the day you had yesterday, you need a break. Why don’t you take the girls down to the river and have a picnic? We’ll have the ceremony the day after tomorrow. All you two have to do is show up.” Marisa practically pushed them out of the room. Bianca and Gunnar looked at each other and laughed.

“I think we should take your mom’s advice. Let’s take the girls to the river.” Bianca said, pulling him down the stairs to get Trisha and Polly.

“Okay, but I would rather have some alone time with you. Last night, we were so tired we barely did anything,” Gunnar whined while she giggled.

“How much more did you want? We had sex so many times we passed out.” He smiled while looking off into the distance.

“Yeah, I know, but that doesn’t mean it was enough. I’ve been waiting for twenty-six years.” Bianca and Gunnar could hear the girls giggling from the hallway. They had tried to give Trisha her own room, but the pups wanted to share. Trisha and Polly were playing with a doll house when they walked into the bedroom.

“Hey, you two, how would you like to go down to the river and have a picnic?” Gunnar asked. The girls jumped up and squealed excitedly.

“Can we ride on your wolves?” Polly asked. Gunnar looked at Bianca with wide eyes.

“We’ve been together for three days and haven’t even let our wolves meet.” Both wolves growled lightly.

“Well, let’s rectify that, shall we? We can pack some food from the kitchen and let the girls ride on us to the river.” Bianca said with a smile. She’d completely neglected her wolf, Jenna.

They went to the kitchen and had the kitchen staff pack them a basket full of sandwiches, fruit, and drinks. Bianca and Gunnar went behind the trees to remove their clothes and shift when they got outside.

Bianca had seen Conan the day Omar planned to attack Last Moon. This would be the first time he and Gunnar saw Jenna. After shifting, Jenna stepped out of the trees, shyly looking at the large black wolf in front of her.

Conan couldn’t believe his eyes. Jenna wasn’t your normal brown wolf like he’d expected. She was snow white with dark grey paws, tail, and ears. He’d never seen such a beautiful wolf.

“She’s so pretty. I hope my wolf Lily is pretty like Jenna when I can shift,” Polly said, rubbing her hand along Jenna’s back while she and Conan sniffed each other. Trisha picked up Bianca and Gunnar’s clothes before climbing onto Conan’s back while Polly climbed onto Jenna’s.

Taking the picnic basket in his mouth, Conan began running toward the river. Jenna ran next to him.

About twenty minutes later, they arrived at their destination. After putting the basket down and the girls had jumped off, Conan and Jenna rubbed against each other. Polly and Trisha giggled as they watched the wolves. When they’d had their fill, they shifted to their humans. Bianca and Gunnar put their clothes on where Trisha had left them on the edge of the tree line.

“Jenna is beautiful. I’ve never seen a wolf like her.” Gunnar said as they joined the girls.

“I always tease her that she was supposed to be all white, but they ran out of paint, leaving a little grey on her.” Everyone laughed as they sat on the ground and pulled out the food.

“Where did your pack get the name Shadow Howlers?” Bianca asked, taking a bite of her ham sandwich.

“Our pack was formed by one of the kings many years ago. He made our pack from the strongest warriors he had so he could have a pack that would do his policing. He called us the Shadow Howlers because we were trained to stay in the shadows when we were observing a pack. We’re constantly checking in on packs to make sure they’re not doing anything they shouldn’t. Sometimes, we get fooled because they know how to hide their bad deeds.” Bianca and Trisha stared at Gunnar as though he was telling them an intriguing story.

“So your pack has always been close to the kings. That’s incredible. Our pack tried to stay away from everyone else.” Bianca looked toward Trisha, who was staring down at her hands. She could see tears in her sister’s eyes.

“What’s wrong?” She asked, pulling Trisha onto her lap.

“Our pack was bad.” She answered softly.

“What do you mean?” Bianca asked, looking toward Gunnar. They’d been careful not to say anything about what happened at Last Moon in front of her or Polly.

“I saw mommy and daddy hurting people. One night, I got up late to get a drink. When I looked out the window, I saw them with some of the pack warriors pulling people by their hair.” Trisha was sobbing while Bianca rocked her.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” She asked her.

“I was scared they would hurt me too. I didn’t want them to take me to the secret place.” Gunnar moved closer and took Trisha’s hand.

“What secret place?” He asked gently.

“Daddy told someone on the phone that he could get them someone from the secret place. I don’t know where it was. I won’t have to go back there, will I?” Trisha buried her face against Bianca’s neck.

“You’ll never have to go back there, and you won’t ever see anyone from that pack again,” Gunnar assured her. He rubbed Trisha’s back while thinking about the Last Moon pack lands. They had demolished the dungeons and all the buildings, but did they miss something? The only way to find out was to go back and do a thorough search.

The four of them finished eating with lighter spirits. When they were done, they let the girls splash around in the river while Gunnar and Bianca watched from the river bank.

“You want to go back there, don’t you?” She asked him.

“Yes. I want to see if there’s a secret place like Trisha described. It would have to be away from the pack buildings so those not involved wouldn’t know about it. Do you feel like going back there tomorrow? We’ll take Austin, Jessica, Omar, and a few warriors. I’d feel guilty if people died because we didn’t check.” Gunnar answered. The thought of humans or shifters being stuck somewhere with no way out made him sick. He’d never forgive himself if they were left suffering because of him.

“Why don’t we go today after we take the girls back? I can tell this is eating at you; it is me, too. If people are being held captive there, I don’t want them there longer than necessary. Can you mindlink the others and tell them to be ready?” Bianca asked, standing to round up the girls. Gunnar nodded as he mindlinked his beta.

“Get Jessica, Omar, and a few warriors. We need to go back to Last Moon to check on something,” he told Austin while packing their picnic leftovers.

“Will do, but what do we need to check?” Austin asked.

“Trisha told us about a secret place where her dad took people. I want to make sure we didn’t miss anything while we were there. He may have been hiding the humans somewhere on the outskirts of the pack lands,” he answered.

“You girls ready to get back?” Gunnar asked as they ran to his side.

“Yep. Trisha and I are going to help Gram with your ceremony. I can’t wait. Can we wear really sparkly dresses so we look like princesses?” Polly asked excitedly as they began walking back to the pack house.

“You can wear whatever you want, and make sure to tell Gram I said so,” Gunnar answered her, and the two of them squealed in delight before running ahead. Polly had always been a happy pup, but he’d noticed she’d had started acting her age rather than a borderline adult since Trisha showed up.

“I hope Trisha is wrong, and there’s nothing there to find,” Bianca said quietly while falling into step beside Gunnar.

“Me too, but I’ve learned that packs like these have more buried secrets than you’d expect.” They walked the rest of the way in silence. When they reached the pack house, everyone was waiting for them. They piled into several vehicles to drive to Last Moon, hopefully for the last time.

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