Chapter 15 - Cillian
The Night Pack was on the move.
It didn’t make sense. The last time the Night Pack had reared its ugly head, they had stayed localized. They had spread chaos, but only in a specific region. They hadn’t tried to spread their influence or their discord to other packs until they had solidified their hold on one.
This time, though, it was different.
Cillian and the others stared down at the map, each mark on it a location where an attack traced to the Night Pack had occurred.
As the marks trailed, they had gotten less frequent, as if the pack were only whetting their appetite while they made their way somewhere else. The question was where that might be.
“This is weird,” Franco muttered. “Right? I’m not the only one looking at this who thinks it’s weird.”
“Any ideas?” Camden asked, regarding the map with a knitted brow.
“None at all,” Cillian said. “They didn’t act this way last time.”
“We’re sure it’s them?” Franco asked.
“As sure as we can be,” Cillian said. “Witnesses to each of these attacks describe at least one person who matches the description of people from the Night Pack. There are probably more, but these are only the ones that we can definitively connect to them.”
They all stared at the map, trying to make sense of the bizarre movements.
Cillian tried to recall them doing anything like this before.
Last time, the attacks had been almost within a radius around the pack’s home base, a way to expand their influence.
They hadn’t stretched out like this, not until they had successfully taken over another pack.
“If I didn’t know any better,” Jasper said, hovering over the map, frowning, “I’d say that they were making their way here.”
“Why would they come here?” Franco asked. “That seems pretty coincidental, if you ask me.”
“It does,” Jasper agreed. “But that doesn’t change the fact that it’s looking like they’re heading this way.”
Camden considered this, drumming his fingers. “Is there any way they could have found out about us? That we were hunting for them.”
Realization struck Cillian like a speeding truck. Groaning, he pinched the bridge of his nose, frustration and comprehension washing over him simultaneously. This was all his fault.
“Yeah,” he said, more than a little bitterly. “Chase. The one who got away.”
He could kick himself. Chase had probably run straight to Eric and told him about the guy who had attacked him, demanding information on the Night Pack.
If Eric had asked for a physical description, it would have been easy enough to connect the attack to the strange person who had bought Amber off him.
How much work would it have been from there to find out who Cillian was and connect him to the Silverrose pack?
“He recognized me,” Cillian said. “When we were fighting. He knew that I was part of the team that went after them the first time. He probably told Eric, and Eric would have made the connection between the guy who bought Amber from him and the attack once Chase gave a description of me. It’s only a short jump from that to the Silverrose pack. ”
None of them responded right away. Instead, they all stared at the map, each absorbed in their own thoughts.
“I’m not going to berate you for your stupid decision again,” Camden said, though it sounded as though he was barely holding back his anger. “Because you already know how stupid it was, and it’s not going to do any of us any good. At the moment, we need to deal with the fallout.”
Cillian nodded, his fingers curling into fists as he tried to hold back his anger. He’d been stupid and impulsive. But berating himself wasn’t going to do anyone any good right now. He’d fucked up, and now they needed to find a way to correct his mistake.
“What do you suggest?” he asked.
“Eric knows who you are now,” Camden said. “That’s going to make things a lot more complicated.”
“Well aware,” Cillian growled. His damn impulsivity. If he had thought for more than two seconds, they might not be in this mess. Now they were racing against a ticking clock, but they had no idea when the timer would run out.
“How certain are we that they’re coming here?” Jasper asked.
“I’d say there’s probably an eighty percent certainty,” Cillian admitted, his brow creasing as he looked at the notes in front of them.
Camden snarled, but bit back the retort Cillian sensed was looming just below the surface. Every time Camden glanced at him, Cillian could sense him wanting to snap.
“What do we do?” Franco asked. “Should we consider evacuation?”
Camden considered this for a moment, staring at the map, his brow creased in consideration. He rubbed his chin. Cillian could see the calculations behind his eyes as he weighed his options.
Eventually, he shook his head.
“Not yet,” he said. “We don’t have enough information. We don’t know where they are or when they’ll strike. If we evacuate now, we might send everyone straight to him. We need to scout more and figure out what we’re dealing with before we consider anything like that.”
Franco nodded.
“We should still plan for them to come here,” Cillian said. “Even if they change their pattern, we should assume this is their destination.”
“Of course,” Camden said. “But I’m not going to spread panic or rush into a decision when I don’t have enough information to go on.” The alpha glanced pointedly at Cillian, but at least had the decency not to bring up his mistake. Instead, he turned back to the map and scowled.
“How long do we have until they get here? Assuming they’re coming this way,” Camden asked.
“Based on the dates of the attacks, they’re traveling slowly,” Franco replied. “Probably because they’re trying not to draw too much attention to themselves. We’ve got some time.”
“That’s assuming we have a good idea of their movements.” Camden pointed to the most recent mark, only about thirty miles from the Silverrose pack. “The last report was five days ago. They could be lying low for a few days while they figure out their next steps.”
Cillian stared down at the map, still kicking himself for his stupidity. He should have known better. He’d let himself get hotheaded, both in going after Chase on his own and during the fight, getting angry enough to the point of distraction. This was all his fault. His mess.
“No use dwelling on it right now,” Camden barked.
Cillian raised his head to look at his alpha. Camden wasn’t happy with Cillian, not in the slightest. But they had more important things to deal with at the moment. They didn’t have time to waste going for one another’s throats.
Cillian gave a curt nod, which Camden returned before glancing over to Franco. “I want you to double patrols,” he told Franco. “Triple them in the west, if possible. Look for anything out of the ordinary. Go after anyone you don’t recognize. If anyone complains, they can take it up with me.”
Franco nodded, then walked out the door, followed by Jasper.
“You all right?” Camden asked.
Cillian tugged his attention away from the table to look at his alpha. Though he could still sense the frustration lingering beneath the surface, the leader had a look of concern on his face.
“Yeah,” Cillian lied. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
After another moment of scrutiny, during which Cillian kept his expression neutral and even, Camden nodded.
“All right, then,” he said. “We’re going to figure this out.”
“At least you didn’t say ‘we’re going to fix your mistake,’” Cillian retorted.
Camden smirked. “Seems pretty obvious that you don’t need me to berate you anymore,” he said. “I think it’s better if we just move on and get this taken care of. We’re a team. I just want to know what caused you to be that reckless in the first place.”
Cillian shrugged. He wasn’t going to tell him everything that Amber had told him in confidence. He wasn’t going to betray her like that. Not after everything.
“I just wanted to find Eric,” he finally said. “Amber has told me enough about him to know that he’s bad news, and the sooner we take him out, the better it’s going to be for everyone.”
“Well, hopefully we’ll be able to end this soon and on our terms,” Camden said.
Cillian bobbed his head curtly in agreement. When Cillian continued to remain mute, Camden headed toward the door.
“Keep me updated when you find anything out,” Camden said before slipping out the door.
Alone, Cillian stared down at the map, still kicking himself for his mistake.
He should have been more careful. He’d let his anger and thirst for revenge get in the way, and now he’d put the entire town in danger.
More importantly, there was every chance that he had inadvertently brought Eric to Amber’s doorstep.
His thoughts drifted to Amber, and more guilt began squirming through him.
How was he going to explain this to her?
She had only recently stopped having nightmares, and the two of them were finally on good terms. They hadn’t spoken much about the other night.
When they had woken up, Cillian had checked to make sure she was all right, and she had said she was. She’d looked it, too.
He was waiting for her to address it first, if she felt there was more that needed to be said about the topic, but he hadn’t missed the bounce in her step, the way her shoulders had uncoiled, and the fact that she didn’t jump out of her skin whenever he came in the room.
She smiled more easily and laughed more.
She had seemed more relaxed and happy than he had seen her since this whole mess began.
Groaning, he rubbed his face. How the hell was he supposed to break this to her? She was going to be terrified, and it was all his fault. He should have been more careful.
For a wild moment, he wondered if maybe keeping it from her would be better, at least until they knew more about their situation.
He dismissed the thought almost immediately.
She would never forgive him if he knew and didn’t give her any warning.
He wasn’t going to leave her in the dark.
She was strong, and he knew she could handle it.
That didn’t make the prospect any more appealing.
After another moment of standing motionless, his head tilted toward the map without him really seeing it, he took a deep breath and walked out the door, already rehearsing what he was going to tell Amber.