94
Callum's POV
A beep on my phone. It was Samantha.
My fingers became fast to touch the screen immediately I saw it was from her.
"Found something that could be helpful," the text said, "but you have to be careful so he doesn't notice something is off."
I shot a gaze at Ryder who stood just beside me and had read the text along with me.
"We need to get to her ASAP," I suggested. "We can't sleep on any slightest chance to push our plan further."
"Definitely." Ryder nodded, his arms folded across his chest. "Now, what's a good location to meet up with her?"
"In the empty apartment of your brain—" Someone's voice intruded from the far end of the hall.
My veins tense immediately I realized it was Frank.
I gritted my teeth hard, fighting hard to suppress my irritation. I knew it was speak of the devil and he'd show up. But no one spoke about this bastard. Not even a single thought.
He began to clap his hands as he approached. "Yeah, what a smart plan put together by two grown men at the disadvantage of an innocent lady."
"Yo! Why do you always have to show up at the times your present isn't needed?" I asked.
"Isn't it obvious?" He spread his arms out, questioningly. "To teach your asses that you're in a battle of men and a woman doesn't have to be dragged into it."
"Dude," Ryder grunted, slapping a palm onto his face. "She's not getting involved in any dangerous thing. How do I explain this to you? She's just there to spy and act as a decoy. That's all."
"Yeah, a decoy... In order to save your lovely mate, right?"
He couldn't have been more correct. I held myself back from nodding, it'd only make matters worse.
"It's not fucking safe for her!" Frank yelled. "You know what your psycho brother is capable of doing!"
I folded a fist. What was this clown being to sentimental about? And, when did he start caring so much about his sister?
"If you don't have any idea how war is fought, then I'll demonstrate it to you," Frank said. "I'm sending an army to the Darkmoon pack."
"Fuck no you're not" I voice out.
"Why?" He raised an eyebrow.
Ryder didn't say anything. Perhaps, he probably fancied the idea of waging war against Max. But that asshole, Max, didn't look like he was joking when he said he'd kill Liv if we waged war against him. He'd bloody do that without a second thought.
"You don't know Max," I said. "One false move at the Darkmoon, count Liv as dead meat."
"Samantha, as well," Ryder added. "Cause, I'm pretty sure there's a part of Max which doubts she's there for any good reason."
"Hell yeah." I agreed. "That's why we have to proceed with caution."
Frank scoffed, his eyes darting to the paper and pen on the table. He tutted, his nose drawing lines of irritation on his face.
This was war we were talking about. Charging in on an enemy without prior plan was no different from jumping into the sea during a heavy storm. At the end of it, only one body would be brought up to the shore.
Frank turned around and made for the door, his jaws clenched hard. I could imagine the mental frustration he was going through, and that was the more reason he had to stay out of the matter and let Ryder and I handle it.
I turned and looked at Ryder who glanced back at me.
"Someone's gotta chain that idiot down until we've saved Liv," Ryder said.
"In his own pack? You really don't wanna make this worse, do you?"
"Then, he'd better stayed out of our plan. I don't care if his sister is involved. We've already promised him that nothing would happen to her," Ryder said.
I shook my head. "All we have to do now is act fast before that asshole does anything rash. That's the only way."
I grabbed my phone and quickly sent Samantha a text. "Let's meet in the woods close to the Darkmoon. Be sure no one sees you."
There was no need adding the last part. I was confident that she was smart enough not to leave any trails behind.
"So, what now?" Ryder asked.
"I'll go meet her," I said, adding emphasis, "alone."
"Alone?" His brow shut up. "Are you throwing me to the side or what? Trying to claim all the glory to yourself?"
I palmed my face, almost laughing at the fact that he couldn't understand the basic fact that only one of us had to meet Samantha in the woods. But I was too exhausted to laugh. All the hours spent on making our plans had really drained me.
"We both can't fall at the same time, Ryder. Are you too daft to understand that? I trust Samantha, she's smart. But we've got to think outside the box as well," I said.
"You mean, Max could be using her to lure us out?" He asked.
"Exactly!" I sounded my palms together, adrenaline pumped up.
He was lost in thought for a minute, but it seemed each passing second gave him the realisation that what I told him was the right thing.
"Alright," he approved. "Go on, but you have to call if anything goes wrong."
"Yeah. Hopefully, nothing will," I said.
I headed off to the woods by the Darkmoon. Once a place I roamed freely, I proceeded with caution now. It was my brother's territory now with his command stretching out everywhere. A fucking big risk.
There was an abandoned cabin out there in the woods. It was nothing but a crumbling wreck of rotten wood and rusted zinc now, a perfect habitat for spiders and other tiny insects.
But the cabin didn't fail to bring back memories of when Max, Ryder and I used to play a lot of games there as little kids.
That was my rendezvous point with Samantha. It laid out in an open space in the woods, but the mist and that covered the area at night would help with hiding sneaking in and out.
I got to the cabin and carefully sniffed the atmosphere. There was nothing but the smell of wood and the suffocating smell of wild animal dungs. And then, Samantha's scent. She was there.
"Come out," I said as I walked into the cabin.
I saw her dressed in a hood, hiding close to what used to be a finely polished wooden table, but feasted up by termites beyond recognition.
"Hey." Her words came fast, a bit nervous.
"We don't have time on our side, don't we?" I said, stretching an arm out for whatever the helpful thing she found was.
She tucked a hand into the pocket of her hood and tugged out a short, thick book.
"Here," she handed it over. "It's his diary."
My brows folded. A diary? Was that really why I took this risk?
"There's a lot of helpful information in it," she said quickly, clasping it into my hands. "I have to head back now before the guards begin their night patrol."