Chapter 89

[ 1,365 words ]

Ronan

The woods are quiet.

Still.

There haven’t been any patrols of Assembly warriors.

Or any movement at all.

No birds.

No insects.

After the second hour passes without Liam’s signal, a niggling feeling starts to creep into my mind.

What the hell is taking them so long, my wolf growls.

Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s necessary, I say more for me than my wolf.

I know Liam.

He won’t call us in unless he is sure the time is right, unless he knows I had access to Aldren.

I have to trust him.

I have to wait, even though every fiber of my being, my most primal animalistic side, wants to tear my way inside until I have Aria beside me, where I know she is safe.

It’s only the thought of making whatever they are facing worse that keeps me in place.

I stalk between the shadows overlooking the distant outline of the Citadel, hidden beneath thick forest cover and darkness.

The gaudy fortress rises from the mountainside like a black scar against the horizon, its towers lit with pale silver fire.

It is everything the Assembly wanted it to be: noticeable, intimidating, a symbol of their power.

Power is a bit of a stretch, my wolf snorts.

Theo sits against a fallen tree nearby, hands on his knees.

He has been visualizing or whatever the fuck he does before he goes on a killing rampage.

Our bond is steady, strong.

However, the edginess from our unease makes it feel like a rippling tide above and undertow.

Sebastian stands beside him, sharpening his claw against a tree trunk with slow, methodical strokes while Kiara keeps watch deeper within the tree line.

Dex stalks our perimeter on the lookout for our allies.

Kade disappeared scouting nearly twenty minutes ago and hasn’t returned.

“Liam hasn’t given the signal yet,” Theo says finally.

“No, he hasn’t.” My voice is tight even to my own ears.

“So what are we going to do about it?” Theo says.

Kiara doesn’t look away from the woods when she answers.“We wait. Liam will signal when the time is right. We just have to be ready.”

Her words are sharp, controlled, but I catch the tension underneath.

The plan was simple in theory.

In practice, nothing could be further from the truth.

We all knew we were going to be at a disadvantage, whether or not our potential allies choose to join us.

Sending in a team of three to infiltrate was already sketchy.

But it was supposed to be.

It was supposed to inflate the egos of the Council and make them complacent with their assumed victory in sight.

A nice, simple plan.

Too bad simple plans rarely end the way they start.

Hell, from my experience, they are a bomb waiting to go off.

My wolf prowls harder inside me.

We should already be moving, my wolf says.

No, we have to wait.

My wolf huffs and continues his pacing.

But charging the Citadel blind would be a massacre, one I can’t be sure we would all leave alive.

Even with allies standing beside us.

Not that I ever counted on having any.

If they do come, that is great, and if they don’t, well, I’ve always been prepared to go without.

I’m no stranger to clawing my way to the top, and this fight will be like any other: brutal, hungry, and completely fucking gritty.

I don’t need an army to kill Aldren.

I just need one opening.

One moment close enough to rip his throat out.

My wolf growls in approval.

His final hours are quickly approaching.

“Movement,” Dex says, halting from his rounds.

Every wolf in the clearing goes still.

Then the scent of wolf enters my nose, and I hold up a hand, letting the others know to stand down.

Figures emerge from the darkness moments later.

Soja, one of my enforcers, leads Elliot into the clearing.

Five enforcers walk behind him with expressions that scream they are ready for their pound of flesh, even if they have to do it with us at their side.

Elliot stops several feet away and grins crookedly.

“Well, this is already the worst alliance I’ve ever been part of.”

Theo huffs a laugh.

“Still time to leave.”

“Nah,” Elliot says.

“I’d hate myself forever if I missed watching Aldren have to go claw to claw for once in his sniveling life.”

“Good point,” Dex says from behind me.

A few of his enforcers relax slightly at the banter, though not much.

Understandable given the fact that we are still waiting for more allies.

That is, if any show.

That doesn’t worry me.

Most people think that in a fight, anger makes you reckless.

And it certainly can, if it blinds you.

But honed anger, the icy hot rage that comes from those you love being at stake and you back against the wall, well, that makes you dangerous.

Elliot’s gaze slides toward the Citadel.

“How long have you been waiting?”

“Two hours, give or take.”

His expression darkens.

“That’s concerning…”

“Not yet, it isn’t,” Kiara said confidently.

“I’ve seen Liam make it out of worse odds. You just concern yourself with being ready.”

More movement stirs through the trees, and the enforcers I sent out slowly start arriving with the members from the packs we reached out to.

I exchange respectful greetings with the other Alphas and welcome their enforcers.

Trust is a fragile thing in the shifter world, and it is moments like this that change the course of truces.

Blood binds.

My wolf acknowledges the shift, our enemies becoming our allies.

In total, we have fifty-three wolves.

I can feel the tables shifting in our favor just the smallest inch more.

My wolf smiles darkly inside me.

Now this feels like war.

Like chaos.

Like rebellion.

I crouch beside a roughly drawn map of the interior of the citadel.

Before we left, Felix had used his hacking to get the layout from their servers.

Another advantage that could make all the difference.

The others gather around while we map out the best ways to close off escape routes for the Assembly members.

“We break their outer defense lines here and here.” I point toward the eastern approach.

“Force them to split their attention.”

“What about the prison access?” Mara asks.

“Liam’s team will handle it and meet us in the main courtyard.”

“And if they don’t? If the signal isn’t sent? What do we do then?” one Alpha mutters.

Silence falls briefly.

There is the possibility, no matter how much I don’t want to acknowledge it, that the Assembly has gotten the better of them.

That Aira doesn’t make it to Hazel.

That they are all captured or worse.

Everyone is thinking it.

Hell, I’m thinking it.

I push aside the torrent of emotions that threatens to take over, and ignore the comment.

“Our objective does not change. If the signal isn’t sent within the hour, we move forward. Aldren will die tonight.”

And if he touches Aria, that death will be slow.

My wolf snaps his jaws in agreement.

“Once he falls, the Assembly fractures.”

“Assuming Kane doesn’t immediately try to take control,” Elliot says.

“He might,” I admit.

“Which is why he dies too, and any other assembly member that tries to challenge us.” I look around, holding each Alpha’s stare.

“This is not a negotiation, this is a dismantling, and we will destroy the assembly by any means necessary.”

A grim smile spreads across several faces.

“Everyone, go and get some rest. We move at sunrise,” I say.

We slowly fracture into smaller groups discussing strategy while scouts rotate positions around the perimeter.

I step away from the others briefly, needing air.

Or maybe it’s the distance from the tension choking this clearing I need.

Footsteps approach quietly from behind.

Elliot.

“I figured you’d be the one smart enough to step away from the group politics,” he says.

“I’m not here for politics.”

“No,” he agrees.

“You’re here for blood. I have to say that for once we agree on the method.”

I glance at him.

“Is there a point to this little powwow?”

His expression shifts slightly then, and I can’t seem to place the emotions going through them.

“In the name of this little alliance we’ve got going, there’s something you should know.”

My body stills instantly.

I arch an eyebrow, giving him the space to continue.

Elliot checks the surrounding woods once before speaking.

“Some of my enforcers have been keeping tabs on the Assembly. They uncovered something interesting. It seems there are whispers that the Assembly’s holding a sypher hostage.”

Everything inside me freezes.

Completely.

My wolf stops moving.

The forest disappears.

The world narrows to that single word.

Sypher.

I think back to the funeral.

Lorain’s house.

The claw marks Liam found.

She wasn’t killed.

She was taken.

Elliot studies me carefully now.

“You know who it is.”

Not a question.

“Yes.”

I stare at the Citadel through the trees.

This has gotten a whole lot more complicated.

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