Second Chance for the Barren Luna (Talia and Jason) novel Chapter 208

CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED & EIGHT

Nolan’s POV

There was a knock at my door.

“Not now,” I called out.

I sat at my desk with a map spread out in front of me. The circles and cross outs on it had stopped feeling like information and more of a sick joke. Why couldn’t I find her?

Two days of searching my own territory and I have yet to find Talia or the rogues that took her. Something wasn’t adding up. I had Della swear not to tell Silverfang, but I couldn’t keep this up for too long before the Alpha King and Prince Solon began to ask questions.

The knock came again. I stood and opened the door a few inches. It was Maggie. As soon as I saw her, my wolf began to snarl within me.

Maggie’s eyes were red and swollen. She held a folder against her chest with both hands. I looked past her and noticed there were no guards escorting her which only irritated me more.

“What do you want?” I demanded.

“Alpha Nolan,” she said quietly. “I need to speak with you.”

“You need to go back to your room and stay there,” I told her.

“I know you hate me right now,” she said. “I know you have every reason to.” I stared at her. Was I supposed to praise her for owning up to her mistakes?

Maggie swallowed under my gaze and continued, “Marco sent me. He told me to deliver the investigation forms and the new registration documents. He said you needed them immediately.”

I didn’t believe her.

Marco knew I told her to stay in her room. It was more like she snuck out and told a guard, unaware of the situation, that she would bring the folder to me. There was no point in calling her out as she would lie.

I stepped back from the doorway. “Come in.”

Maggie moved quickly, keeping her eyes down. She crossed to the edge of my desk, placed the folder in the corner, and then retreated.

I stayed standing. “I am only giving you this one chance, Maggie. Say what you need to say and then leave.”

I opened the folder. Inside were witness statements, patrol reports, and lists of names. The handwriting was organized and familiar. Maggie had always been careful with paperwork. That was part of what made all of this worse.

I flipped through the first set of forms. I noticed that Maggie had yet to say anything. I looked up at her. “Weren’t you trying to apologize?”

“I am,” she said. Her voice shook slightly. “I cannot undo what I did. I can only accept the consequences and try to correct what I can.”

“You want me to forgive you.”

“Yes,” she said quickly.

“Throw her out. She’s not sincere. She only wants to stay close to us,’ my wolf growled. We couldn’t just throw her out right now. Maggie was our only clue as to what happened to Talia.

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“You will put the past behind you,” I told her. “You will focus on your work. If you do that, you will eventually find your own mate and you will build a life that does not depend on mine.”

“Yes, Alpha.”

“Do you understand what I said?”

“Yes,” she repeated. “I understand.”

“Good. You may leave,” I said.

I returned to the paperwork. I scanned the top sheet, and then the next. Then I reached a section of newly registered names, and I stopped.

Several names were unfamiliar. They were not on any of the older Bloodmoon rosters.

“Wait,” I said before Maggie could reach the door. I held up the form and tapped the page with a finger. “Where did these names come from?”

“They are new registrations,” Maggie explained. “They settled near the northern border over the past month.”

“Explain.”

“Many of them are wolves who were abused in their former packs,” she said. “They ran and sought safety here.”

I stared at her. “And you approved this?”

“I helped them register,” she corrected carefully. “I only helped them settle in vacant cabins because they had nowhere else to go.”

My gaze hardened. “Did you bring them in as rogues?”

“They are not rogues,” Maggie said immediately. “They came to the boundary and asked for a chance. They were desperate. They were like me.”

‘She is the reason why the rogues felt secure to cross into our territory and take our Luna. Her sympathy will be the end of our pack,’ my wolf warned.

“Who gave you authority to do this without my permission?” I demanded.

“You did, Alpha,” Maggie said quickly. “I mentioned it weeks ago. You told me if they were not violent, I could handle it through the proper paperwork.”

I remembered. Not clearly at first, but enough. I had given approval without thinking deeply because I was busy planning how I would get rid of the Alpha King.

I stared at the page again. “You assured me there would be no issues.”

“There won’t be. There haven’t been,” Maggie said quickly. “They’ve been grateful and trying to stay out of the way.”

“Can you say that truly, Maggie?” I asked.

“What…what do you mean by that?” Maggie replied.

I moved the folder to slide it toward Maggie, but instead a single envelope slipped out. It was plain with no seal or signature.

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