The bombs were heard all over the territory. The fires were visible for miles and the fallen ash
settled on the ground even in the most far fetched corners.
The soldiers flocked to the army centre and now I was stood amongst a crowd of thousands of
whispering men awaiting an explanation.
I held my hand up, ordering a silence which instantly swept over the entire army.
“I’m sure all of you heard the explosions. And before rumours spread and the truth is distorted, I
better inform you of the truth,” I began, speaking loudly so all could hear, “Tonight at quarter past
midnight, bombs planted by Andrea Martinez were detonated in the homes of Commanders
Eduardo Siciliano, Paulo Salvatore, Mario Rossi, Emiliano Fruili and Rafaello Carlucci. They and their
families were all killed.”
I had every single set of eyes on me as a deadly silence took hold. Only the crackling of the distant
fires and cries of wild animals trapped in the flames could be heard.
“And whilst this is a huge tragedy for the Stella pack and those men will not be forgotten, we have
no time to grieve. We have already lost too many lives at the hands of Andrea Martinez and for now
the mourning and funerals will have to wait. We will honour the deaths in another way: by taking
him down once. By protecting our civilians, our children, our mates, our elderly and our sick
There was a cheer of support throughout the army.
“Martinez has shown us tonight that he wants to play dirty,” I continued, “So fine. We will do this his
way. That means we will show no mercy, we will take no prisoners, there will be no rules and no
tactics will be considered too brutal. This will be like no war we have ever fought before but we will
carry the same Stella strength, bravery, resistance and resilience that has taken us to victory time
and time and time again. We have never been defeated before and if Martinez thinks his bombs and
machine guns can, he is gravely mistaken. That fucker is a dead man. He has been since he first set
eyes on my Luna all those months ago and his inevitable fate is long overdue.”
There was another cheer. This time louder and more passionate.
“We may have lost our head commanders,” I added, “Five strong, skilled, intelligent, cunning
warriors. But it’s going to take far more than that to bring the Stella pack down and I’m sure their
deputies will do them proud in stepping up to fill their roles and lead our squadrons to victory. So
arm up, soldiers and prepare for battle. Your seniors will deliver your first orders shortly.”
With that, they all disbanded, with lary shouts and applause.
But I couldn’t bring myself to smile and cheer like they did. My speech had been a success. I needed
to keep up the morale if we are to stand a chance but with the sky still aglow with the blaze of the
explosions, the victory I talked of wasn’t in sight. Not yet. Maybe not ever.
I marched over to Blair who stood briefing the five deputy head commanders, now just the head
commanders. Their faces were all paled, probably the shock of losing their bosses or maybe the
immense pressure they suddenly had on their soldiers.
But Blair and I had devised a plan for each of the five divisions they commanded. All they needed to
do was carry out my orders.
“So in summary,” Blair began, “Division one: border defence. Bombs on the roads, machine guns
hidden in the trees, Patrols covering every single possible entrance. That includes Seattle and the
airport.
Division two: base defence. The fortification is nearly complete. There are towers to position snipers
and machine guns. Soldiers on patrolling the walls are to be unarmed with additional hand
grenades. Scouts with communication devices are to be position a mile around the base ready to
feedback information and stop them before they get anywhere near the civilians.
Division three: targetting Martinez. Your job is simple. Track the bastard down and kill him. But
simple doesn’t mean easy. He’s sly and cunning. We know he’s not easy to find. But the men in
division three are the only soldiers permitted to delay the deaths of Martinez’s men. Get information
out of them. They are weak-willed, disloyal and will spill without much effort. That’s Martinez’s
greatest weakness and you will exploit the fuck out of it. Some of them won’t know a word of
English but you have recording devices and a system to send files back to translators. Use it.
Division four: Second line of defence. You will be between the borders and the base hunting down
and killing Martinez’s soldiers by any means you can. Explosives, machine guns, snipers, hand
grenades. You have free reign over the armoury.
Division five: For now you will join division four. But as the situation develops and we know more
about Martinez’s tactics, your role will become more apparent. You are crucial to the plan to adapt
to whatever Martinez hits us with. Remember we are going into this with very little information. We
have no idea what to expect.”
They all nodded.
“Anything to add Alpha?” Blair asked turning to me.
“Division three. If you have the chance, make his death as slow and painful as possible,” I said,
“Make him suffer.”
“But I assume that means that an opportunity to kill him shouldn’t be missed on the grounds of
being too merciful,” Blair said.
“No,” I said through gritted teeth, “His heart stopping is your priority. If that means he doesn’t suffer
before it beats for the last time, I will at least take some satisfaction in knowing he will still suffer in
hell.”
Half an hour later, I was watching as the divisions disbanded to fulfil their allocated roles.
“Elena, Maria, Allison,” I said calling over my sisters and their best friend.
Since the war against Haden’s pack years ago, they’d stayed members of the army and trained
alongside our brothers. They were incredible soldiers, just like the other one hundred women that
had been recruited in the last few years since the policy changed to allow any woman who can pass
the physical tests to join. They were still a minority and Ella still considered the tests unfair on the
female body but they are there to ensure a soldier is up to standard and ultimately to ensure their
safety. I wasn’t going to let anyone I didn’t think was strong enough fight. Same goes for the men.
And they are welcome to train hard as they like in the civilian training centre until they can pass the
tests.
They responded to my call and approached me
Maria’s bows and arrows had been replaced by a sniper and bullets. Elena gripped a gun as long as
her arm whilst Allison carried a box of explosives.
“I know you don’t like being coddled or treated differently to any other soldiers on the grounds of
being women or my sisters but…” I began, “You know what happened to Ella. You know these men
have no morals. Keep your guards up.”
Elena nodded, “Don’t worry, Leo. If you thought Maria was dangerous with that bow you should see
her with a sniper.”
I smiled, “I know. I certainly wouldn’t mess with you three. But just be careful and look out for each
other,” I said.
They nodded before Elena and Maria gave me a quick hug before continuing with their
preparations.
I then spotted Max over by the armoury.
“Ella, Milly and the kids are in the vault I trust?” I asked as I stood next to him.
“Locked and bolted,” he confirmed.
I nodded and sighed a slight sigh of relief, “Were they okay?” I asked.
“There was some tears and worried faces from the kids. But Ella held it together,” he replied, “She’s
amazing like that. No matter how hard things are for her, she’ll do whatever she must for those little
kids.”
I smiled, “She sure is amazing. And she has a huge heart too. She feels terrible about what
happened with Milly. She’d change it in an instant if she could.”
Max nodded before he looked up to me, “I know… but she can’t.”
I sighed.
“And do you regret it?” he asked, “Because we all know at the end of the day it didn’t matter
whether Ella supported it or not, it was your decision as Alpha to test Milly’s powers. So do you
regret it?”
I paused for a second, “No. I am sorry that it turned out this way but I am not sorry for clasping at
what could have been an opportunity to save this pack from certain doom.”
I quickly bit my tongue and looked around. The soldiers were all still busy and I had fortunately not
managed to turn any heads.
“Certain doom huh?” he asked, “You think we’re fucked?”
“I’m not willing to underestimate Martinez for a piece of mind,” I replied. “Now push your spite for
me out of your mind and focus on at least trying to win this war. If by some miracle we succeed, you
can leave with your sister and never have to look at me again. And keep your mouth shut. I need
morale to stay high.”
I knew Max was entitled to be mad about Milly but he certainly had a way of pissing me off when I
was already on edge. As I walked away from him, another man was approaching me.
Haden.
Just what I needed.
“Is it important?” I snapped as he began to follow me.
“Last time you had to lead anything of this scale on home turf it was against Ayas,” he said, “It’s an
honour to fight alongside the great Alpha Loren rather than against you.”
“Fuck of Haden,” I replied, “I don’t have time for your pointless wittering.”
“I just wanted to let you know you have my full support,” he said.
I stopped walking and turned to face him. Having once been a powerful Alpha, he was nearly as tall
as me and still stood with the posture and nerve of the man he once was.
In the years since the end of our official feud, Lia had forced us into many failed attempts to get
along. Whilst he had no choice but to comply to my orders, he had hardly ever been the submissive
type and done everything with the most resent and reluctance possible. He irritated me beyond
measure and much to Lia’s dismay, any endeavours for civility and peaceful “family time’ only ever
ended with arguments. So to hear him give me his “full support’ was something I never thought I’d
experience.
“I don’t like you, Loren,” he said bluntly. “But I don’t like Martinez more. He kidnapped my nephew
and he poses a threat to my own family too. So 1 will fight for you to take him down.”
“You are a member of my army and you don’t have a choice…but I appreciate it. Thank you, Haden,”
I said with a half-smile, “Now get back to your division before I am forced to discipline you.”
He nodded and finally left me alone.
I spent the next half an hour, watching over my men as they prepared. I helped them load up their
trucks, buckle up their bulletproof vests, hand out helmets and package emergency first aid kits.
There were apprehension, nerves and tensions but these men certainly didn’t lack courage. They
were hardened, experienced soldiers. And they were ready to lay down their lives to protect this
fight and they certainly weren’t scared of Andrea Martinez.
“Alpha,” Blair said approaching me as I stood in the middle of the facility, “Everything’s ready. Shall
we give go ahead?”
I nodded and waved my hand to the drivers of the trucks and the patrols ready to file out, “Let’s do
this.”