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Reeling as my mind started to drift into the familiar furious state reserved solely for Sam and the revenge I so badly wanted, I crumpled the note and held it there.
I felt their eyes on me, and Sebastian was the first to say something.
"What's that about?"
"It's another threat from Sam," I said, dropping it onto the table. The wrinkled wad of paper bounced closer to his spot, and without missing a beat, Sebastian picked it up for himself. "I expected it after Jane's best friend moved to our side, but he's adding more fuel to the fire."
"He's getting bolder. Sending notes to my business," I muttered with a scoff. "What's he going to be willing to do next?"
He peeled the paper apart until he could see the message inside, and his dark brows came together. "What turns is he talking about?"
"First, I stormed his grounds and bruised his fragile masculinity in front of everyone, then I convinced Ivy to move into town for Jane's sake. In his mind, I took two of his, and now he probably wants to make it a numbers game."
"He'll want to get even," Beau suggested.
I nodded. "Exactly. I was hoping he'd let his guard down after I agreed to take Jane so I could catch him off-guard, but he seems to be just as invested."
"Don't even give him the chance to take this supposed turn. Bring the fight to him," Ezra said, proposing an option I was considering.
"It might be too soon. I don't know if the others would follow me," I said as I tapped my fingers against the glass table. "They could get caught in the middle of it."
"You already know that a portion will blindly follow whoever wins, but the ones who care more about who their leader is, those are the ones you need to look out for," Sebastian murmured.
I nodded absently. "Some might be questioning Sam already, which would give me the upper hand. But there will likely be some wolves who still believe I killed that human. They are the ones I'm more concerned about. Their input could sway the others."
"I guess you'll find out whenever the time comes," Sebastian added as he leaned back in his chair. "In any case, we're all more than ready for you to knock this guy into oblivion."
The others chirped their agreement, and I was glad we were all on the same page.
***
Despite how the Sam issue weighed heavily on my mind, I did my best to focus on the meeting. By the time we left the office for the night, I felt like I had been thrown back into that time—back to the early days of dealing with my exile and managing a rag-tag group of followers.
As much as I tried to stay strong for them, I had been so angry. Everything I worked towards was taken from me, and I had to build my pack from the ground up.
It wasn't the worst punishment to be away from the likes of Sam and his most dedicated betas, but it shifted my entire trajectory.
I wished I could just forget about the others and focus on the followers I did have, but I couldn't leave them behind. Those instincts were too strong to ignore, and in some strangely divine way, I could feel they needed to be liberated.
At the very least, I no longer need to worry about Jane being concerned for Ivy. With her in my pack, I had an opportunity to hit Sam's pack again, but without the negotiations.
There would be less guilt involved, as we would mostly target the shifters that couldn't be swayed onto my side. They likely wouldn't abandon Sam at any point anyway.
But I knew there were innocent lives there—people who didn't need to see any kind of conflict. Plus, I knew how damning it would look to return and not uphold my end of the bargain. They likely wouldn't trust me even more.
As much as I wanted it all to be over, I had to be careful and strategic.
No innocent lives needed to be in jeopardy because of Sam. While revenge was certainly still on the table, the most important part was getting the pack to trust me again.
The endless thoughts jumbled in my head as I drove home, relieved to finally pull into the garage. Hopping out and heading toward the door, I was surprised to see Jane standing outside the nearby park with several others around her.
My brows lifted with interest the moment I realized what was going on.
They were all speaking with her, exchanging kind smiles and laughing. Their eyes gleamed in a certain way that only ever happened with devoted followers, and it seemed they were all smitten with her.
From what I could tell, her hair had been braided meticulously, including different kinds of flowers. Even from there, I could've sworn I smelled hints of rose and bergamot.
There was no ignoring the pride that swelled in my chest as I wanted her from afar, amused by how they gathered around her like moths to a flame.
