Chapter 13 - Cillian
For the second time in a handful of weeks, Cillian found himself standing in front of his alpha, explaining exactly what he had done to royally fuck up.
Camden listened to Cillian’s story about Chase with growing anger.
Cillian watched that rage grow and swell with every syllable.
But Camden remained silent throughout the story, waiting to speak until after Cillian’s final words died in the air.
“I’d kick your ass for doing something as stupid as going after the Night Pack on your own,” Camden snarled, rage burning in his eyes.
“But it looks like someone’s already done that for you.
So I’m going to skip the lecture, considering we don’t really have that luxury at the moment.
But know that you are an absolute idiot and I’m furious with you. ”
“Heard,” Cillian muttered. He winced as he twisted his torso. Everything still stung, though he knew he’d feel worse if Amber hadn’t been there to help. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to do something that stupid again.”
“For a few days, at least,” Franco chimed in.
Cillian gave him a mock, two-fingered salute. “I’d be pissed off if you weren’t right,” he said.
Camden glowered at Cillian. “You could have gotten yourself killed,” he said. “What the hell possessed you to go out on your own? You know better than that.”
Cillian shrugged. He didn’t want to explain that he’d practically lost his mind with anger when Amber had told him what Eric had done to her.
He’d lost control. Something about Amber made it nearly impossible for him to think straight.
All he cared about was making sure she stayed safe, and he had wanted revenge after hearing exactly what happened to her.
He couldn’t get ahold of Eric, so he went to blow off steam by tracking a guy who might be able to lead him to his main target.
All of that ran through his head while Camden continued to glower at him, waiting for some sort of answer. Only, Cillian found that he couldn’t give it. It was too private.
“It won’t happen again,” Cillian said.
“It better not,” Camden said. “We’ve got enough problems without having to drag you to a hospital.
I know you’ve got a history with these assholes, but I need you to promise me that you aren’t going to lose your temper again.
We need you on your A game. I’ve got Flora and an entire pack to think about, along with a group of shifters targeting some town we haven’t even identified yet.
I can’t worry about you going rogue again just because someone pissed you off. ”
“Understood,” Cillian said.
Camden stared at him for a long moment, still clearly fuming, but he didn’t say anything else.
Instead, he turned back to march around the desk.
He glanced over at Jasper and Franco, neither of whom had spoken since Cillian had started his story.
They wore identical expressions of bewildered exasperation while they gawked at him, but neither of them spoke.
“Now that we’ve dealt with Cillian being an idiot, we can move on to other things,” Camden said, shooting Cillian a murderous glare. “We’ve been getting reports from other towns and packs.”
“What kind of reports?” Franco asked.
“Strange happenings,” Camden said. “I’ve been on the phone with different alphas nearby. They’ve had weird attacks around the outskirts of their towns, and strange sorts of riots crop up out of nowhere. An increase in thieving, so on and so forth.”
Jasper and Franco turned their attention fully away from Cillian at the words.
“That’s definitely unusual,” Jasper said. “Doesn’t exactly sound like a good time, does it?”
“You don’t have to be a genius to figure that out, but no, it’s not good news,” Camden said.
“I’m worried that the Night Pack is up to their old tricks again.
They’re trying to regain power by sowing discord in the area, like Cillian described.
” He shot Cillian another angry look. “We’re going to need your head in the game, Cillian.
We can’t have you charging into the dark on your own to take care of personal vendettas. Not right now.”
You didn’t wake up to Amber screaming in terror in the middle of the night, Cillian thought, his fingers curling into his fists.
It took all of his willpower to keep from snapping at his alpha.
He didn’t care what Camden said—he didn’t regret going after Chase.
The only thing he regretted was the fucker getting away.
“Do you have more details?” Cillian asked.
Instead of answering, Camden slid over a typed piece of paper to Cillian, then identical ones to Jasper and Franco.
Cillian plucked it up and began to read.
His eyes turned to slits, narrowing further with every line.
Reports of electric grid disruptions; of people coming across obstructed roads, only to get attacked and carjacked by a masked crew if they got out of the car to look at it; of increased vandalism and robberies.
If he didn’t know the Night Pack’s patterns so well, he might have assumed that these were disjointed events without any connection between them.
However, he remembered the first time the Night Pack had caused trouble and tried to seize power.
This was almost exactly what they had done.
Their antics had been designed to sow discord and confusion in the area, and their ultimate goal was to instill a lack of trust in the leadership.
It was easier to recruit disgruntled members of a pack.
To bring them over to their side by saying their leaders weren’t doing their job, but that they could make it all stop if they came to power.
“God,” Cillian murmured after a moment. He placed the page back on the desk. Camden watched him closely, as if half-expecting him to explode and march out of the office to go hunt down the Night Pack again.
“You said this is step one of their plan?” Jasper asked, eyes darting across the notes on Camden’s desk.
“More or less, yeah,” Cillian said.
Nodding, Jasper shuffled the papers around to skim the ones that had been buried at the bottom. “So it wouldn’t be too surprising to find out that they’re following old trends,” Jasper mused. “If that’s the case, then what’s going to happen next?”
Cillian didn’t need to think or wonder about that answer. “If they keep up with their past trends, they’ll find a place to target and really focus on in the next few weeks. Once they’ve solidified power there, they’ll start spreading and taking over other nearby packs.”
“Any idea which they’re going to target?” Camden asked. “Because it looks like they’re picking wherever. I can’t get a good feel for where they’re going to attack. Are they always this disjointed?”
Once again, Cillian glanced down at the paper, taking in the pack names. He glanced toward the map pinned on the wall, trying to triangulate the attacks and where they’re most likely to strike.
“It looks like they’re focusing mostly to the west of us,” he finally said. “Based on the towns and packs here, and how frequently each one was attacked, I would guess that they’re targeting either the Oakwood or the Blood Moon pack. But it’s hard to be certain.”
Cillian glanced at the map, looking over the towns, as if mentally checking Cillian’s logic himself.
After a moment, he nodded. “Makes as much sense as anything else. I’ll try to get in touch with both of their alphas and give them a heads-up.
They might even have a bit of insight into who we should be looking for or where they’re located.
I’ll coordinate with them and offer our help. ”
“It’s a better plan than the nothing we had a few minutes ago,” Franco said.
Camden grunted. He glared at Cillian again.
“I’m going to need you to write a report that goes into detail on the Night Pack and how they operate.
Make it as thorough as possible, including names and descriptions of known members—and photos if you can find them—as well as known patterns and other things they should look out for.
I need it by the end of the day tomorrow.
Work on it through the night if you have to.
Franco, Jasper, set up patrols and shore up our own borders.
We aren’t too far from these, and I want us to be ready if something happens.
Have the men report anything strange or anyone coming through the area. ”
It was a blatant dismissal. Cillian nodded and made his way toward the door along with the other two.
“And Cillian?” Camden added.
Cillian turned as Franco and Jasper hurried to make their escape. Camden waited until the door had closed behind them before speaking again.
“Next time you decide to do something as colossally stupid as going after a member of the Night Pack without backup, at least have the decency to go to the hospital after.”
“I had it taken care of,” Cillian said.
Camden growled. “If that were the case, then you wouldn’t have done something that stupid and reckless. You would have thought things through and taken a backup and then had the common sense to go to the hospital after.”
“I didn’t want to risk losing a lead,” Cillian said.
Camden’s expression softened. He pinched the bridge of his nose, inhaling deeply.
When he opened his eyes, he seemed to be considering Cillian in a new light.
Cillian waited for his alpha to argue with him, to tell him he was being an idiot.
He would have every right, but Cillian wasn’t planning on backing down.
He didn’t regret what he’d done. He only regretted that he hadn’t been able to finish the job.
“I really hope you know what you’re doing, Cillian,” Camden said.
Me too, Cillian thought.