“Ask your Alpha what?” My father’s voice resonates through the room, loud and sturdy.
Alpha Cain and Fenris enter the conference room, and eyes as cold as mine stare back at me. It’s like looking in a mirror.
All the pack leaders feign friendliness, briefly discussing the current statuses of their packs, before we get down to business. I hand them a printed and highlighted document detailing all the demands of the felion in order for a treaty to be signed. Alpha Ferdinand seems hesitant, and my father remains silent.
“I think these are fair requests of the felion, but I do believe we should get some time to come up with a list of our own,” Alpha Duncan says, and I nod in agreement.
“Absolutely.”
Alpha Duncan smiles, his long, dark hair coming down past his shoulders. “Your performance together was excellent, and it’s clear to anyone that you and your fiancé have worked incredibly hard within both communities to foster harmony between the lupion and felion. I commend you.”
“Thank you,” I say. I wait for my father to speak, but he remains silent.
“I think this concludes our meeting,” Alonso says. “I look forward to working with you all again when we meet to sign the treaty.”
“Likewise,” Lennox says, and his eyes meet mine, staring me down with so much heat it could melt ice.
Alpha Ferdinand and Alonso leave, followed by Alpha Duncan and Lennox, and I wait for something to happen, but my father just glares at me.
“What?” I finally say, breaking the silence.
“We’re ready to activate the mission.”
It shouldn’t come as a surprise or even bother me for him to say this, but it does. Every fibre of my being is on edge now, my heart thundering as I wait for him to give me details.
I knew this day would come, and that I would have to say goodbye to this life I’ve grown to love. I kind of want it to end, in a way. I want to complete the mission and prove myself to my father. And to my pack.
There’s a part of me that misses Pack Escalus and The Cathedral, and wants to be home with Zuri and Clio and everyone I’ve grown up among, but there’s another part of me that doesn’t want to say goodbye. It shouldn’t be this hard—I shouldn’t care so much, but I do. Undoubtedly, I have become attached, and now that attachment is my burden to bear.
“What do you need me to do?”
His lips form a thin line. “Just as I’ve said before, you’re going to kill Draven Orzath.”
“I still think we should be targeting Reina,” I say, my mind flashing to this morning when she called me temper. If I’m being honest with myself, I don’t want to kill anyone, but I’d rather it be her than Draven.
“No,” Fenris says, his tone finite.
I cut him off. “Reina is the one who?—”
“I don’t give a shit what you think!” My father shouts, and it strikes genuine fear into my chest. “I need you to kill Draven so we can take down Raph Morningstar.”
Bile creeps up my throat, threatening to spill from my mouth. This is not at all what we agreed to. “When did Raph become a part of this?”
“Raph has always been a part of this. Now, I’m just giving you access to the other pertinent details,” my Alpha explains, and something in me recoils at the venom of his words. “It’s all part of a greater plan. We will fill you in as we deem necessary, but as of right now, it’s safer you don’t know all the facts.”
He sounds less like a pack leader and more like a cult member, completely and utterly brainwashed by his own twisted sense of right and wrong.
“How can we get all the carnival members together without alerting anyone outside of the carnival?” Fenris asks.
“I mean, they all sleep near one another,” I answer. “If we’re going to go through with the mission, we should do so at night.”
“If?” My father’s voice is cold and calculated. “If?Do you not care to avenge Tyrus and defend the pack?”
“Of course I do,” I say, voice cracking.
“Then you will do as you’re told,” he says.
We go over every detail of the plan, ironing out any wrinkles or potential issues that might arise. It makes me sick to my stomach, hearing how he wants to execute everyone. He fully intends for me to lure him to them like fish waiting in a bucket. The thought pains me.
