Chapter 30 Pre-Battle Preparations
Chapter Thirty
Pre-Battle Preparations
GABE
Preparations for the full moon battle were swift and fierce.
We didn’t waste a second after getting that message.
First, we tried contacting Viktor himself to tell him that we didn’t have Veronica—who we knew was his wife and second under him in the pack—but he didn’t believe us.
We didn’t have time to question why he even thought we had her.
All we could do was focus on rescuing Dylan, and in order to do that, we agreed to fight and end the rivalry between the packs once and for all.
The rest of the night was spent strategizing, choosing who would fight alongside Emmerson and how the battle could unfold.
We agreed that it would be Emmy taking charge, with me and Chris flanking him.
Yuni and Soren would fan out and try to pincer the Savannah pack from the sides, surprising them from the woods and hopefully taking out one or two of them before we even fully engaged.
We also needed to plan for any opposing strategies. They weren’t beyond using iron collars, which meant they were likely open to using even dirtier tricks to get what they wanted.
It was much like strategizing for a hockey game, except the stakes were so much fucking higher.
Emmy’s house served as the staging area.
The atmosphere was tense. There were only two hours now until the moon would rise and our shifts would happen.
I sat in the living room with Emmy, Yuni, Raquel, and Chris, all of us still in our same clothes as the day before.
Eli came in from the kitchen with two steaming hot mugs of tea. He gave one to Yuni and one to me.
“Thank you, baby.”
He sat down next to me, leaning forward and grabbing the mug he had left for himself.
He took a sip and leaned back. The look of shock he had worn to bed and woken up with slowly waned as the day went on.
I hated that he’d been dragged into this pack war, but there was unfortunately no other option.
All I could do now was ensure he stayed safe.
“What I want to know is why does Viktor think we have Veronica?” Yuni asked, shaking her head. “I can’t wrap my head around that.”
Emmy grunted. “All of this is fucked. How did they even get Dylan? And thinking that was a good move? This is going to end them. Their pack will be destroyed.”
“And what if this is a trap?” Eli asked. His voice shook, as did his leg. Up and down, up and down. The couch vibrated with his nervous energy.
“It very well might be,” Emmy said matter-of-factly. “But we have no time to drag this out, no time to investigate. We have to fight.”
His leg bounced even more violently. The mug of tea cupped in his hand was shaking too.
“Come,” I said, grabbing the tea from his hands and placing it on the coffee table. “Let’s get some fresh air.”
Eli stood up and walked with me out into the yard. The soft blue glow of twilight painted the woods behind Emmy’s house. We went over to the fire pit. I pulled two chairs close together, and we sat.
I broke the heavy silence first. “I’m not even going to ask if you’re okay because I don’t expect anyone to be okay under these circumstances. But I want to tell you that things will be okay.”
He took a deep breath in. “You don’t know that, though.”
Touché. He got me there.
“I’m scared, Gabe. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to keep you safe.” His expression twisted with sadness. “On the ice, it’s my literal job to watch your back. And off it, I want to do the same. But I just feel like an ant crawling into a lion’s den.”
I wish I could give him something more solid than simply my words. An actual promise that I wouldn’t get hurt tonight. But I knew that would be a lie. I couldn’t do that to him. “That’s why I want you staying here tonight. Raquel will stay back and watch over you. She’ll make sure you’re safe.”
Eli turned his head to look at me. There was a determination in the set of his jaw I’d only seen a few times before. “No, absolutely not. I’m not staying behind.”
“Elijah,” I said, bringing out the full first name.
“I’m sorry, but this isn’t a matter up for discussion.
” I had to be firm with him. This was to protect him.
And, honestly, myself. Because if he were anywhere in the vicinity and somehow got himself into danger, then I knew I would stop at nothing to save him, even if it meant endangering my own life or the lives of my pack members to trade for his.
“I’m not discussing it,” Eli said, pushing back. “I’ve already decided. It scares me, but that’s never stopped me before.”
As cute as those damn puppy-dog eyes were, I wanted to shake him and knock some sense into him. “There will be six fully shifted weres who are there for a brutal fight. You saw me in my were form. I’m over seven feet of muscles and claws and teeth. You can’t fight them.”
“I don’t intend to. But maybe there’s something else I can do. Maybe I can set off a distraction. Or I can—”
“No.” The word came out with the force of a thunderclap.
Eli sat up like a steel rod had just been rammed through his spine.
I felt guilt for my delivery but couldn’t back down.
Not with this. “I’m sorry, baby, I am. But you have to sit this one out.
You being here, waiting for me, is what’s going to get me through tonight.
I’m going to fight for Dylan, bring him back home, then hold you in my arms and never fucking let go again.
” I reached for his hand. The muscles in his jaw twitched as he ground his teeth.
I brought the back of his hand up to my lips. “I love you.” I kissed his hand. “And I’m going to come back to you.”
“You fucking better, or I’m going to be so pissed.
” The tension in his body eased slightly.
It was a joke, but I could tell the undercurrent of fear and anxiety had gone nowhere.
I squeezed his hand. I was grateful that I’d at least know Eli would be safe here, watched over by Raquel.
Emmy had a shift room inside the house, which would provide an extra layer of safety.
I just had to make sure I made it back to him.
“I promise, Eli. I’ll come back.”
Coral Ridge Park was a massive nature preserve that was relatively popular during the day but rarely ever visited at night due to the large number of predator sightings once the sun fell.
The news often talked of the mountain lions and the bears, but it was the wolves that people seemed most frightened of, just due to the sheer number of sightings recorded and howls heard.
Which meant we were completely alone as we stood at the heart of the preserve, inside a clearing that would be spotlit by the light of the full moon any minute now.
I stood practically shoulder to shoulder with Emmy.
Chris stood on his other side. We were supposed to be following the rules of pack engagement, which meant the alpha and two of his betas met before the shift.
It would be the six of us who initiated the fight.
The rules stated that only five pack members could fight at once, which was why Yuni and Soren were currently in the dense foliage surrounding the clearing.
Viktor appeared from the other end of the clearing with three of his betas.
He wasn’t the tallest or even the most muscular—I recognized two of his betas as players on the Sharks team—and the third beta was a woman who appeared to be a professional bodybuilder, judging by the way her shoulders and arms were corded with muscles.
They were all dressed in similar clothing—upscale athletic clothing—like they had all raided the same Lululemon on the way here.
Viktor strode forward, staring daggers directly at Emmy. He wasn’t breaking eye contact for anything. Alpha to alpha. I glanced at Emmy, who returned the same intense glare. He stood with his hands behind his back. He still had on a Bobcats jersey from yesterday.
It was going to get tattered to shreds in a few minutes.
“Where’s Veronica?” Viktor said, standing only a few feet from Emmy. There wasn’t much time for chitchat. I glanced at my watch. We’d all be shifting in just a couple of minutes.
“We don’t have her,” Emmy replied. His words had the weight of a boulder being dropped onto the field. “Where’s Dylan?”
Viktor arched a brow. He stayed quiet for a moment. Likely trying to judge if Emmy’s words were true.
“We saw a photo,” he said. “Of her with you standing behind her.”
“Photos can be edited,” Emmy answered. “Now where the fuck is Dylan?”
Viktor shook his head. “And the threats? About our territory?”
“We never sent threats.” Emmy took a threatening step forward. His eye contact didn’t break from Viktor’s. Viktor on the other hand glanced over to his pack members then down to the floor.
Something about this felt off. I couldn’t pinpoint what, but it was as if there was some kind of invisible string connected to us, pulling us…
It didn’t matter, though.
Emmy looked up at the sky. I didn’t have to tilt my head back to know that it was time. The buzz of pure energy underneath my skin told me that.
No more words. No more questions.
The moon sat directly above us.
It was time.
Energy poured through me, flooding me, filling me. I shouted as I dropped to my knees. The world became a haze of color and sound and sensations. None of it was painful. Almost the opposite. Shifting at the command of the moon was a euphoric feeling.
My eyes focused as my body settled. I knelt on the ground, my claws digging into the dirt.
A snarl from next to me as Emmy leaped forward. He crashed into Viktor, clawing into his shoulders and yanking him down to the ground. They slammed into the dirt. Blood sprayed from the wound Emmy had inflicted.
I ducked. A claw swiped over me. I reached forward and grabbed the were by the ankle. Pain pierced through me as the were sunk its claws into my back. I twisted my grip, pulled back. The were lost balance and rolled. I flung myself on top of her. My jaws were open; her throat was bare.
Someone slammed into me, throwing me off her. I rolled until my back cracked into a tree. The wood splintered. A trail of blood from my back followed me to where I got back onto my feet. The other were was fast, though. He raced toward me, teeth bared. Saliva dripped from his jaws.
Yuni ran out of the woods on all fours. Her fur was all white, sleek, a lethal blur.
She tackled the were before he reached me.
That left me open to help Chris. He slashed at two other weres. They had the upper hand on him. I dropped to my fours and ran, howling. Chris snapped at one. The fur of his mottled gray and beige arm was stained crimson.
One swung a clawed hand. Chris caught it, twisted it.
He snapped his jaws down hard on the arm.
A pained cry morphed into a rabid growl.
The other were went to defend, but I reached him first. I grabbed him around the waist and threw us both down.
The were snarled and barked. He kicked up and gashed the side of my leg.
Sharp bolts of electrified pain coursed through me. I yelped and rolled off him.
It would heal, but the pain was intense, blinding.
I limped backward.
Emmy let out an anguished howl. Our alpha was in danger; we had to help him.
I turned to spot Viktor towering over him. Yuni ran to him. She was being chased.
Chris barked out a warning. I whipped around.
The other were was coming to finish the job.
I raised my arm and blocked his blow, countering with a swipe upward.
I could feel the tension, his flesh ripping like a knife through butter.
He cried out as warmth covered my hand. I reached up and grabbed him by the throat.
I lifted him up. The were’s light brown eyes were bloodshot. I recognized them.
This was Richie. I’d played against him. He was fighting this because his alpha was crazy. Because he thought something that wasn’t even true. Because he was making a power play.
He didn’t need to die.
No one needed to die tonight.
No.
I had to fight this bloodlust. Instincts were strong, but my humanity… All around me were the sounds of a brutal battle. Maybe I could stop it. Maybe I could—
CRACK.
A freight train must have hit me. All the air inside me was knocked out. I dropped Richie and was pushed down into the ground. I took a breath and felt it burn, like I’d inhaled fire. My ribs must have been broken.
I looked up at the first were I had attacked. Her long auburn muzzle lifted into a snarl.
I knew that was a smile, her teeth bared. They would sink into my neck. I had to fight back. I had to—
A thick cloud of smoke suddenly erupted from a canister thrown into the center of the chaos. It spread rapidly. The cloud hit us in seconds, completely enveloping us in a dense fog. I couldn’t see out of it. The pressure on my chest eased as the were pinning me down leaned to the side.
I tried to get up. Muscles wouldn’t work. They became heavy. Mind became slow.
Wolfsbane.
Eli was right. This had been a trap all along. We’d walked right into it.
Vision started to darken. I tried to fight it, but it was impossible. The sweet scent of the toxic smoke choked me.
All I could think as the curtain drew shut on my consciousness was: I broke my promise.