CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED & FORTY NINE


    Talia’s POV


    “Resume normal duties for now,” I said. “Nn will confirm the patrol schedule and tunnel assignments.”


    Walden nodded and looked at Nn.


    “Before you go,” Nn said. “The men who worked on the tunnels did good work. Make sure they are rewarded well for it.”


    “How would you like it handled?” Walden asked.


    “Generously,” Nn replied. “It was a huge task and they delivered withoutint and without anyone outside finding out. I want them to know that we appreciate their efforts.”


    “Understood,” Walden said.


    “Starting tomorrow, reduce patrols,” Nn continued. “We need two guards stationed near each tunnel entrance, but nothing obvious. They need to rotate every six hours. With the wall built, no one will think twice about the reduced patrols. Put the remaining guards into training.”


    “I will have the full schedule to Marco before the end of the day,” Walden said.


    “Good,” Nn said. “That is all for now.”


    Walden bowed to me lightly and left.


    Nn was quiet for a moment after the door closed. He looked at the pile of documents on his desk and then at me. With everything that had happened, there was a lot that had been neglected.


    “I can…” I started but Nn shook his head.


    “No. You have done enough, Talia. You need to rest,” Nn said.


    “We are a team, Nn,” I argued.


    “Yes, and I am tagging in. I can handle this paperwork,” Nn responded as he picked up his pen. “Take the map and lock it in the study.”


    “What about Landon?”


    “I will let him know that Leslie is fine and that she received his gift,” Nn answered.


    “I will not be long,” I said. “With the both of us, we can knock out this paperwork in a few hours.”


    “I mean it, Talia. Go take a bath or go with De and rx. You deserve it.” Nn looked up at me. “You have not stopped since before the gathering. The wall, the visit, Landon, Leslie. Let me finish this.”


    I could tell from the glint in his eye that he was close to Alphamanding me into rxing, so I nodded and left the office.


    The walk to our wing was uneventful. It felt odd that it was so quiet after the past two days.


    ‘Do not jinx it,’ my wolf said. ‘We need to rest. We do not need anything else today.’


    ‘Just the map,’ I told her. “Then we are done.’


    ‘Good,’ she said. “Then go take the bath Nn suggested.’


    The living room in our wing was empty. I went straight to Nn’s study. I was about to open the door when I heard footsteps stopping behind me. I turned around.


    Maggie was standing in the hallway. She should not have been anywhere near this part of the pack house. “What are you doing


    ARTY NINE


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    here, Maggie?” I asked. I had been very clear about Maggie never cleaning our wing again, so what was she doing here?


    Maggie’s eyes went to the map in my hands before she spoke. “I was passing by and saw you. I wanted to see if you needed help with something.”


    “No, that’s okay,” I replied. “Thank you, Maggie.”


    “Are you sure? I can take that for you and store it away,” Maggie suggested. “I know where everything goes in this wing.”


    “I have it covered, Maggie,” I said firmly. Maggie nodded and stepped back. I pulled the study door closed and locked it from the


    inside.


    The shelving along the back wall was floor to ceiling and the lower shelves were deep enough to amodate storage boxes. There was one on the second shelf from the bottom, pushed back behind a row of reference texts that had not been moved in months. I pulled the box out, ced the folded map inside, and slid it back behind the books. I checked the spines were even and stepped back to look at it from a distance.


    From the doorway the shelf looked undisturbed. I left the study, pulled the door closed, and locked it.


    I turned around and almost bumped into Maggie. She was close enough to the door that she probably could hear where we walked and moved around in the room.


    “Maggie, is there something else?” I asked.


    “I was just wondering,” she said. Her hands were folded in front of her, and she was not quite meeting my eyes. “About lunch. Whether you would be eating here today or in the main hall?”


    “The main hall,” I answered. There was an awkward pause between us because it seemed like Maggie wanted to say more, but she thought better of it.


    “Of course,” she said. She nodded once and walked away.


    The kitchen did not need advance notice for one person eating in the main hall. Maggie knew our wing was private and that the study was not a room anyone came to without being invited. Yet here she was, twice in the space of ten minutes. The first time could have been exined away. The second could not.


    My wolf growled within me. ‘She wanted to know what the map was. She is going to try to look for it.’


    I went back into the study and moved the map to a different location entirely. If Maggie had seen which shelf I used, she would find an empty box. I locked the study again and stood in the hallway. My wolf was still growling quietly.


    I was not going to confront her about it.


    I would test her first and see.


    J Judith GW


    Author


    Hi my dear readers! Thanks so much for reading! Will she lose control again and hurt our Luna Talia?


    Drop your thoughts in thements


    16


    What do you think Maggie will do next?


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