Rejected His Miracle Luna (Dorothy and Ignatius)
Chapter 66

Chapter 66 -Dorothy-

"Idiot." I muttered under my breath as red paint spilled across the floor at my feet.

During all of my recent irritability. Kita had decided that it was time I got back into painting again. I had dabbled on and off over the past few months.

But as of late, she had insisted on locking me away in some sunny corner of the house and leaving me to scribble across Large sheets of paper instead of snapping at anyone who breatheil near my vicinity I reached down with a groan to pick up the empty jar from off of the floor. I put a hand to my lower back that hadn't quit aching since the previous morning and frowned down at the watery splash of crimson paint that was inching in increments towards my feet like blood on a battlefield,

"I'll clean you up later" I snubbed at the mess on the floor and mined to examine the damp sheet 1 had been painting on with vigor for the past few hours.

Unlike my usual detailed pieces, this one was abstract and unhinged. Most of the page was blank and bare, save for the harsh slashes of red and black and orange in the center of it. It looked like smoke and flames rising from the paper like a funeral pyre set ablaze.

Itore the sheet in half and let the pieces wait to the floor to join the wet red mess.

Not only were the physical effects of pregnancy getting the better of me, my mood recently was becoming increasingly soured by the sheer amount of waiting around I was expected to do.

All around us, packs were locking in combat. War was spreading across the country and the Bielke was one of the main Largeis.

As much as I wanted to help as best I could, Ignatius was insistent on keeping me and our children safe and that involved. confining me to our house by the sea while the elders debated what to do next. When Ignatius had finally cottoned on to the fact that I was less than happy with my uselessness, he asked Rita to come over and keep me busy while he went about meeting with the few allies we did have in order to discuss strategies.

I couldn't be too mad at him though. He was juggling multiple roles at once. Alpha, strategist, pacifist, warrior, lover, and father-to-be. He was trying his best and I couldn't fault him for that. My frustrations by with myself and my inability to assist in any way.

A knock on the door had me scrambling to clean the mess on the floor. "Dorothy?"

Ignatius voice was tentative. "Angie's back."

I paused my haphazard cleaning attempts and opened the door, Ignatius face was grim and my heart sank. Clearly, we had been delivered even more bad news, Reports had been coming in from all over Bielke territory about attacks from other small packs.

They were all quelled quickly enough but the Bielke was spread so thin in our attempts to protect our borders that we were left with no time or manpower to even consider fighting the Tally head-on.

I wiped my hands on my paint-stained jeans and followed Ignations through the house to the living room where Angie was waiting. Her shoulders were slumped in defeat and her face was drawn and pale. "Hey, Carrol Top Long time no see."

I hadn't seen her since she had k*ssed me in the garden but I decided that conversation would have to wait for another day. We had bigger problems to deal with at the moment. "Hey, a

7, any more news on the Tally's movement?" 10:59 Fn, Jan 26

Chapter 66

Angie nodded gravely as Ignatius and I sat down opposite her. She explained what had happened just outside of our territory and Ignatius sucked in a sharp breath when she told us what Lance had done. My hand instinctively went to the bump of my stomach and 1 gripped my mate's arm with force.

Nothing and no one was safe in this war. Ignatius was thinking this too and his arm around my waist tightened to something fierce. He shook his head as if to knock to the storm of his own dark thoughts from his mind.

"We need to act now," he said with absolute resolve. "We can't go on like this."

Angie's hands were balled into fists and her knuckles turned white in her fight to maintain her cool exterior. "You want to fight the Tally head-on? We don't have the strength or the numbers."

Ignatius' voice rose with indignation, "We can't just sit around and play defense while they throw innocent people at us to keep us busy. How many more small packs are they going to upheave in order to weaken us? We're playing right into their

hands

Angie put her head in her hands and groaned. She looked tired and worn down, drawn thin by all of the chaos going on around her.

"You didn't see them. Ignatius. They have numbers on their side I'm not even sure all of their members are even human anymore. They're stronger than us, bigger than us. And they know it."

"All the more reason to strike now. What do we do when they arrive on our doorstep? We can't afford them invading our territory. We have to take the fight to them.

"And leave the rest of our people vulnerable?" Angie countered his frustration with her own raised voice. "What if you take your army to meet them and they send soldiers here instead? We can't afford to leave everyone vulnerable."

"What about an undercover attack?" I suggested under my breath.

Both Ignatius and Angie were volatile when frustrated and expected my idea to be brushed aside immediately.

But Angie tilted her head in question and I continued. "You said they're doing something to heal themselves quickly. Maybe they have a healer like me on their side.

Or maybe it's something else. But they've sent Johan to infiltrate our ranks and weaken us from the inside. Why not do the same to them?

Angie bit her lip. "They don't have a specific territory as we do. They move from place to place. Anyone who attempts to cut them down in secrecy would be going in blind."

Ignatius had been quiet up until now but he leaned forwards, deep in thought. "It's possible. If I can take a small group of soldiers and we can get to their leader, we might stand a chance.

"Or at least learn a little more about how exactly they have managed to grow so quickly and put a stop to it. I already have my suspicions and if it's what I think it is then we might be able to stop them before they attack us directly

Angie leaned forwards too and the three of us huddled together and spoke with hushed voices as if the house itself could be listening. "Suspicions?"

Ignatius chewed his bottom lip. The shifters who were attacking us since New Year, they all had the same crazy symptoms. Super-strong, inhumanly fast, and almost impossible to kill unless burned up completely."

He locked eyes with me as he continued, "And then there's Johan, himself. Angie, you said he looked different. Bigger, more unhinged, and pretty much immune to pain. It's almost like they're corpses that are somehow still moving.

"And finally there's the case of the Not Deers turning up all over. They haven't been spotted in our woods for years and now more and more of them have been mauling our members who wander out into the forest. There could be a connection there. If the Tally is using magic from the deers themselves, then we have gained a small advantage"

Angie raised her eyebrow and frowned. "I don't see any advantages, to be honest. They have superhuman soldiers powered by witchcraft and we have, what exactly?" 60%

Chapter 66

"Shifters are vulnerable to silver, we all know that. But witches, like the faeries, are vulnerable to iron. And we have plenty of the stuff to go around.”

Angie's eyes widened. "We would have to test the theory, maybe capture one of their members. But if that's true then we at least have a better chance of defending ourselves."

I struggled to keep up with their scheming and turned my questioning gaze towards Ignatius. "Armored wolves? How old school of you.

Ignatius shrugged but his eyes were lit up with the faintest glimmer of hope. It flickered like the tiniest candle flame in his sce-blur eyes, but it was there all the same. "Hey, if it works, it works. Our great, great grandfathers would be proud."

"It's settled then. Angie locked her fingers together, her own hope reignited by the new plan. "First order of business, capture a Tally shifter."

I reached out suddenly to cling to Igantius's arm.

"Dorothy?" concern in his voice. "What is it? What's wrong"

"The babies," I whispered. Both cuphoric joy and paralyzing terror rushed through me at once. "I felt a kick. I felt them.

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