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“Serge is as bad as Conri was. A rebel group is trying to overthrow him. Eike is with this group, but with Serge’s alpha powers, it’s difficult.”
“I always knew Serge was a prick, but this … this is too much.”
“There’s more,” Shane said, voice tight. “Delco and the Ironfang are watching the power struggle. Delco came to Eike and offered to help, if the rebels and then the rest of the Whitecrest accept him as the alpha.”
“Delco isn’t the best choice either.”
“I know.”
“And he wants you to go there and do what? Kill Serge and become the alpha? Don’t we have enough on our hands as it is? I don’t want to add a fight with Ironfang to our to-do list.”
“He didn’t say he wants me to be the alpha, but he wants help taking down Serge.” He looked at me, sorrow in his eyes. “Serge is still a Nightshade wolf, technically. He’s my responsibility.”
I frowned, remembering how the pack and I had suffered when Conri was alpha. I couldn’t think of another pack going through something similar. If we could help, we should. “You have to go.”
His eyes widened. “I agree, but not now. Not when we have to prepare to kill Paimon, and to find a cure for your—” He clamped his mouth. He always had a hard time saying it aloud.
“But if you wait, the people will suffer more. Who knows what will happen? Serge will kill the entire rebel group, then Delco will attack, another war will start … what if Serge kills Delco and becomes alpha of Ironfang too? That will be on our heads too.”
“Shit,” he muttered.
I rested a hand on his chest, right above his heart. It beat steady and strong. “Go, Shane. I’ll be fine. I won’t die so soon.” He flinched. “Unless Paimon comes up with a surprise attack, we won’t attack in at least a few days, not until someone comes up with a good plan.” And from what I heard, all the leaders had been disagreeing on how to proceed. That was what happened when there were a dozen, two dozen powerful supernaturals in the same room. “Go, even if it’s to assess the situation and create a plan for them. You’ll go and come back in no time. Meanwhile, I’ll be here, training as much as I can.”
Shane wound a strong arm around my waist and pulled me to him. He rested his forehead on mine. “I don’t want to stay away from you for one second.”
“I know,” I whispered. “But like you said, Serge is our responsibility. We can’t have him be a tyrant and let an entire pack suffer.”
He sighed. “You’re right.” His arms tightened around me. “I don’t want to go, but I should.”
I placed a kiss on the tip of his nose. “It’ll be okay, Shane. We’ll be okay.”
The truth was, I was a little nervous about this. What if Serge had gone rabid and Shane got hurt while fighting him? No, I couldn’t think about that. I had to believe Shane was stronger and smarter, and his pure heart would be enough to defeat a foul wolf.
A throat cleared a few feet behind us. We turned and saw a maid placing a large silver tray on a round table. “Here’s your lunch. Enjoy,” she said, before retreating into the castle.
I stepped away from Shane, but held his hand. “Let’s eat. We can continue this conversation after.”
14
SHANE
There was no easy conversation after. During lunch, I made up my mind. As much as it hurt to leave Raika behind, I had to stop Serge. I couldn’t be responsible for him torturing, or even massacring, an innocent pack. I never liked Nortrix, and he had allied himself with Paimon, but not everyone there had agreed with their alpha. I had to save them from this.
After lunch, Raika returned to training with the witches, and I went to the village. I met with Killian, Dom, Lucille, Hamill, and Tyren and Hugh.
The moment we were all in the room, I told them right away, “Serge killed the rightful heir of the Whitecrest pack. He’s alpha now and he’s torturing his people. He’s my responsibility and—”
“Was.”
I looked at Tyren. “What?”
“He was your responsibility,” he continued. “The moment he turned alpha of Whitecrest, he stopped being a Nightshade wolf.”
“True, but he only did that because I banished him. It is my fault and my responsibility.”
The other wolves nodded.
“Let me guess,” Dom said. “You’re going to fix this.”
