Chapter 82

[ 1,137 words ]

Theo

Quinnie’s room is warm, with touches of pale soft colors and floral motifs on the bedspread and pillows, breaking up the solid blackened navy blue color that dominated her color palette.

She somehow managed to make the space both claiming and revitalizing.

My nose twitches…and unmistakably laced with Sebastian’s scent.

My wolf perks up, intrigued by the impending drama.

What a fucking gossip.

I ignore him and the scent.

Not my business.

Quinnie ignores it too, moving to sit in a chair by the window.

“Close the door.

And take a seat.”

Once I’m comfortably in the seat, she says, “So, how are you really doing?”

I let out a dry huff and ran my hand through my hair.

Gods, why is this part always so hard?

“You want the honest answer?”

“I only ever want the honest answer.”

I look down at my pants, fiddling with the opening of my pockets.

“I haven’t settled since the accident. Not really.”

Her expression doesn’t change, but something in her posture softens.

“Why do you need to feel settled?”

“Because….what kind of question is that?”

“A damn good one.

You almost died.

Why should you feel one hundred percent in just a few days?

Would you expect anyone else to be?”

“I— No.

I wouldn’t.”

“So why is it bothering you?”

I lean back and stare at the ceiling.

“The Assembly isn’t done with us.

I know this sounds crazy, but when I got poisoned, I wasn’t afraid for myself.

I just kind of went into this space that was still and clear.

And that was when I understood it, what the Assembly really wanted.

They want absolute control over us.

The veil, the rules for shifters, the ban on humans, and now the sentencing of packs who don’t agree with their decisions.

They were exercising soft power the whole time.

They were deciding on packs because they were the only thing they held allegiance to.

And now they’re using extinct magic to get their way.”

“And this realization made you feel unsettled?” Quinnie asks.

“Leaving them did. Knowing that if I gave up fighting, I would leave my mate and my band. They would suffer, and then the Assembly would make them suffer more because it would never be enough for them.”

From order to control, my wolf growls.

From control to chains.

They will always find something else to covet.

Quinnie nods once.

“So, someone needs to be done about that?”

“I need to. We need to. Just knowing the danger lurking and waiting to kill the people I love has taken all my peace. It’s like I have an itch in my skin and I can’t go away.”

Silence stretches between us, but it’s not uncomfortable.

Then she tilts her head slightly.

“That’s normal.”

I frown.

“What?”

“Being vulnerable.” She leans back and hooks an arm on the back of her chair.

“We live in a dangerous world, Theo. We’ve always known that. But this…” she waves a hand around.

“Is more than just danger, it’s the end of something.”

When her brown eyes meet mine, I know she feels it too.

The change.

The only other time I felt like this was before the war.

Before the Syphers were wiped out of existence, the Assembly rose to power.

“Doesn’t make it easier.” I’m not sure if I mean the battle that comes ahead or convincing Ronan we have to take a stand, one that goes beyond our pack.

“No, it doesn’t. But waiting won’t help that. The sooner you tell them, the sooner the burden can be shared.”

She’s right, my wolf murmurs.

I exhale slowly.

“Yeah… I know.”

“Do you need a little boost?” she asks.

I nod.

Part of Quinnie’s gifts means that she could help someone sort through feelings by calming the noise and only leaving the core emotions.

It gave the person a sort of emotional intelligence boost while they were in a state of turmoil.

Quinnie puts her hand on mine, and all my thoughts vanish to the back of my skull, leaving only certainty and fierce determination.

Then I stand.

“Thanks, Quinnie.”

“Anytime.”

***

Night falls fast in the mountains.

The trees aid the rising moon in casting the earth into darkness.

I step out for patrol, the sky a deep, endless black scattered with cold, blinding stars peaking through the canopy of leaves.

“You’re late,” Barric says, arms crossed as he leans against the outer wall of the mountain.

“By thirty seconds,” I shoot back.

He grunts.

“Still late, pillow princess.”

“Fuck you,” I laugh at the running joke.

We fall into step without another word, boots crunching against the rocky ground as we move along the outer perimeter.

After we head into the forest, checking the ground, the trees, scenting the air, and looking for disturbances in the various traps we set.

The sound of the wind and the steady rhythm of movement calmed me.

Then I speak, letting Quinnie’s conversation guide my voice, determined to change our fate before the Assembly takes that option from us.

“I’ve been thinking,” I venture.

“That’s dangerous,” Barric mutters.

I snort.

“Yeah, yeah. But I’m serious. Since the poisoning, something became clear to me, and I think we need to consider it.”

He glances at me, reading the seriousness of my expression.

“Alright. Hit me with it.”

I keep my eyes forward.

“We’ve been playing defense. We all have. The assembly has kept the entire shifter world in a state of waiting for order. But now they’re not just giving orders in the guise of protection, they’re trying to take power, force submission over everything. And we can’t let them.”

His jaw tightens.

“What are you suggesting?”

“It’s time to take the fight to them. To go back to the old ways.”

Barric is silent.

Considering.

Then he says, “I hate to say it, but I agree.”

“What?” I jerk back, surprised at how easy this is all starting to feel.

It can’t be this easy, can it?

“I’ve been doing some thinking of my own. You’re right. Felix’s information made one thing clear, they’ve been manipulating us for far longer than the war, getting pieces in place, and for some reason, Aira and Liam are a threat to that.”

I think about that.

“Yeah. So, will you help me convince Ronan?”

Barric exhales slowly.

“If the Assembly is escalating, and they are, then sitting here makes us targets.

We hit them first, we control the pace.”

“And we use what they fear against them, I’m sure Liam will like that.”

Hunt them before they hunt us, my wolf adds, eager.

Barric shakes his head slightly, amused at my bloodlust.

“We need intel.

Numbers and locations before we move.”

“Felix can get it.” When he had shown us all he had uncovered on the Assembly, I think we all recognized that he was being underutilized.

Not anymore.

Barric nods once.

“True. Then we need to speak to Ronan so we can start planning.”

We turn back toward the mountain, ready to end our patrol and switch with the next pair of enforcers.

As we are walking back, an odd stripe of white against the brown and green background gives me pause.

I look closer, and that’s when I see it.

A crisp white envelope, lying against the dark stone, holding it down like a paperweight.

I crouch, eyes scanning the area, senses stretching outward.

Nothing.

No movement.

No scent beyond ink.

I pick it up carefully.

One name is scrawled across the front.

Aria.

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