58. Sam
Chapter fifty-eight
Sam
My brain was still three moves behind the conversation, which pissed me off because I was supposed to be the one who saw things coming. I hadn’t even considered that Mina—our Mina, the tech genius who’d kept Annabella and her crew alive through impossible missions—had been AJ’s mate.
The Moon Goddess had a sick sense of humor.
“Anyone else have secret identities they’d like to share?” Gideon’s voice brought me back to the room. “Surprise relatives? Hidden love children?” He spread his hands. “No? Just the one spy? Excellent. Then maybe we can talk about the part where Kane just kicked our asses.”
Annabella stood rigid beside me, hands shoved in her jacket pockets.
I felt the war happening inside her; fury and grief and the ache of betrayal by someone she’d trusted.
Betrayal I recognized. My wolf paced beneath my skin, restless.
We’d done that to her as well and it broke my fucking heart to see her go through it again.
I wished I could spare her the pain or take it away.
Zeke hadn’t moved from his spot against the wall. His face was blank in that way that I knew meant everything underneath was falling apart. Mina had been his crewmate. She had been his friend. And now—
Now we had bigger problems.
Derek’s head snapped toward Gideon. “You think this is funny?”
“I think standing around looking tragic isn’t going to bring back the dead or catch the assholes who killed them.” Gideon’s voice had an edge now. “So we can all process our feelings, or we can figure out what Kane’s actually doing and how to stop him. Pick one.”
For a second, I thought Derek might go for his throat. Sofia’s hand found his thigh and squeezed. I watched my twin wrestle himself back under control, tendons taut in his neck, then a slow exhale through his nose.
“Gid’s right,” I said.
Derek’s glare swung to me. “Excuse me?”
“Kane sent Morrison to deliver a message. We received it.” I pushed off the wall, moving toward the center of the room. “Now we need to figure out what comes next, for him and for us.”
“What comes next is we fortify,” Ryan said. His voice was steady, but I could hear the strain underneath. The weight of eighteen dead pressing into every word. “We rebuild our defenses, bring in reinforcements—”
“And then what?” I cut in. “Wait for Morrison to come back with more men? Better weapons?” I shook my head.
“Kane didn’t hit Three Rivers to test your defenses.
He hit you to prove he could. And right now, he’s sitting in Council headquarters knowing you’re going to do exactly what every hit Pack does: dig in and pray. ”
“We’re not scared,” Mai said quietly, Victoria still asleep against her shoulder, one small fist curled in her mother’s shirt.
“No. You’re furious.” Gideon’s gaze swept the room. “Which is useful, if you point it at the right target.”
“So what’s the right target?” Mason’s voice came from near the door, quiet, measured, the way Mason always was.
I looked at Derek.
And there it was.
It happened the way it always used to. That old frequency humming to life between us. The twin bond that used to let us finish each other’s sentences, anticipate each other’s moves, know what the other was thinking before the thought fully formed.
His eyes met mine, and I saw it land, the same idea arriving in both skulls at the same time, the way it used to when we were fifteen and running cons on tourist wolves at the summer gatherings.
Don’t chase. Bait.
Make Kane come to us.
End it here.
His chin dipped. Barely a movement. But I caught it.
Yeah. Same page. Finally, the same goddamn page.
“We don’t wait for Kane,” I said. “We choose the time and place.”
“Explain,” Ryan said.
I moved to Waylen’s laptop, pulling up the map of Three Rivers territory.
“Kane’s expecting one of two things. Either we fortify and wait for the next hit, or we scatter and hide.
” I traced the perimeter on the screen. “What he’s not expecting is for us to become more of a threat. A rallying point.”
“A rallying point for what?” Mason asked.
“Everyone who’s against Kane and his humans-first agenda.” I turned to face the room. “We already sent word that Three Rivers is a safe haven. Refugees are coming. But that’s defensive. That’s us playing his game.”
I tapped the map. “What if we change the message? Not just sanctuary, a call to arms. Every Pack that’s been hit by the HFD, every human who opposes Kane’s ideology, every Shifter who’s lost someone to ripple, come to Three Rivers. Not to shelter and hide. To fight.”
I caught Annabella’s scent shifting beside me. Interest sharpening through the bond.
“You want to turn Three Rivers into a war camp?” Mai asked. Victoria stirred against her shoulder, face scrunching in that about-to-wake way that could go either direction. Mai adjusted automatically, one hand stroking her daughter’s back, and Victoria settled.
I swept my arm toward the window. “Three Rivers is already a war zone.” Outside, the market was gutted. People were setting up medical tents in the wreckage. I could see Old Pete and Marsha Tun triaging the wounded, Amara moving between stations with Jase at her side.
I turned back to the map. “I want to turn it into a symbol. Kane’s power comes from one thing: everyone’s too scared to stand against him.
We change that. Right now, the opposition is scattered.
Talia and Bethany Rose are directing Wolf Council supporters into safe houses.
Other Packs are keeping their heads down, hoping the HFD passes them by.
They’re all waiting for someone else to make the first move.
” I looked around the room. “We make that move. We give them a reason to fight. We tell them it starts here.”
“That’s insane,” Carlito said from the table. “You’re talking about painting an even bigger target on our backs.”
“The target’s already there.” Derek stood, moving to stand beside me at the laptop. Shoulder to shoulder.
“Kane hit us because we’re a threat,” Derek continued. “Because Three Rivers has the resources and position to resist him. Making ourselves smaller won’t change that. But making ourselves bigger, making ourselves impossible to ignore—”
“It forces his hand,” Gideon finished. He was grinning now, that dangerous grin that meant his brain was running hot. “Kane can’t afford to let a coalition form. Every day we’re out here gathering allies is a day his grip weakens. He’ll have to crush us before we get too strong.”
“You’re betting he attacks before he’s ready,” Ryan said.
“I’m betting he can’t afford to wait. Kane’s playing a political game.
He needs to look strong. Decisive. A bunch of scattered refugees hiding in the woods?
Not a threat to his image. But a coalition of Packs and ex-Council members openly defying him?
That’s a legitimacy crisis. That’s the thing that keeps a man like Kane awake at three in the morning. ”
“He’ll come with everything he has,” Mai said. “Council resources, the HFD, his own forces. He’ll want to crush us completely. Make an example.”
“Yes.” I didn’t flinch from it. “But he’ll be coming to us. On our ground. Where we know every tree, every building, every escape route. Where Ryan’s territorial power is strongest.”
Waylen looked up from his laptop, something fierce flickering behind his glasses. “Give me forty-eight hours.” His fingers were already moving. “These fuckheads are going to wish they’d never heard of Three Rivers.”
“It’s not enough,” Jem spoke from the booth where Esme was curled against his shoulder.
“Our only chance is forcing Kane to attack before he’s consolidated his power base.
Before he’s ready. You send out that call, and yes, he’ll be forced to act—but not immediately.
He still has time to gather allies and plan.
We need something to force his hand. Something that makes him come here now. ”
Shit. He was right. I could feel the air shift as everyone reached the same conclusion—the plan was good but incomplete. We needed a trigger.
Annabella glanced at me. “We use Simon.”
Everyone’s gaze snapped to me.
“We have him. I burned his magic out, but his mind’s intact.
He still knows everything: the secret alliance with Kane, the ripple operation, the HFD, their plot to start a war between Shifters and humans.
All of it.” Her eyes swept the room. “We let it slip that Simon Webster’s here.
That in three days, he’s going live, broadcasting his confession to the world. ”
“Kane can’t let that happen,” Derek said slowly. “If Webster talks—”
“Kane will panic,” I confirmed. “Unless he stops it, every Pack that’s been on the fence turns against him. Every human who’s been following HFD orders because they didn’t know better suddenly knows better. His entire narrative collapses.”
“You’re giving him a deadline.” Gideon’s grin had widened. “Seventy-two hours to stop the broadcast, or his empire crumbles. That’s—” He actually laughed. “That’s deliciously devious. I’m impressed.”
“It also only gives us seventy-two hours to be ready,” Mason said. “You’re baiting Kane into attacking Three Rivers with everything he has.”
“Yes.”
Mason was quiet for a moment. Then he looked at Ryan. “It could work.”
“It’s our best shot,” I said. “Kane’s stronger than us.
He has more resources, more manpower, the full weight of the Council behind him.
In a straight fight, we lose. But this isn’t a straight fight.
We make Kane desperate and overconfident, throwing everything at a target he thinks is ill-prepared, recovering from his HFD attack.
In reality, we make full use of the home ground advantage and a coalition of allies who are done being afraid. ”
“And if it doesn’t work?” Mai asked. “If Kane wins?”
The question hung in the air. I could smell the fear in the room. Not cowardice, just the honest animal understanding of what we were risking. Children. Families. Everything.
“Then we go down fighting.” Derek’s voice came from beside me, low and certain. “On our feet. Together. Instead of waiting for him to pick us off one by one.”
Mai looked at Ryan. Ryan’s jaw was tight. Mai’s eyes were steady. Between them, Victoria slept with the absolute peace of a child who didn’t know the world was burning.
“The children,” Mai said finally. “The elderly. Anyone who can’t fight?”
Ryan smiled sadly, then kissed Mai’s forehead. A gesture so tender in the middle of all this ruin that something in my chest ached. “The evacuation starts tonight. Anyone who can’t or won’t fight goes to Bridgetown. Everyone else—” He looked around the room. “Everyone else, we prepare to fight.”