Page 7 of Wolf Crowned

That was my goal. Attack him before he could come back here. I hoped it would give us the element of surprise.

I closed my eyes. “That is very generous of you. I am very thankful for what you are offering. It means the world to me and my pack and everyone that has taken refuge here.”

“I will see what I can do to round up assistance from other alphas in our area. I know some wish to pretend that this isn’t a problem, but when an alpha goes rogue, the entire wolf population has a problem.” Isaac sighed into the phone. “It is unfortunate the alpha must be stopped. We can’t have our business out in the open or have someone trying to dictate the rest of us into submission.”

Luna, it was like he was taking the words right out of my mouth. Finally another alpha who got it.

I gripped the phone tighter. “I am very thankful for all you are offering, and I do promise you that your men will be treated like family here and protected to the best of my abilities in the war.”

I just wished I could promise they would all go home.

“That is all I ask Alpha Sloane, and I am happy to help. I will be in contact with you soon if I can lend more enforcers to the cause.”

A slow smile slipped over my features. “Thank you. We will talk soon, then.”

We said our goodbyes, and as soon as I hung up, I flung myself at Lincoln.

He lifted me up and spun me around. “That is amazing, Sloane. I told you things are starting to look up.”

Maybe he was right. But it still didn’t stop the feeling of foreboding looming over me like everything was about to come crashing down and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

Three

Sloane

A cold chill zipped down my spine as the delivery truck wound down the driveway. I put a hand on my stomach as it churned with nausea. This was wrong on so many levels.

It couldn’t be helped. We had to level the battlefield. Once this war was over, I’d never set sight on this poison again.

Brandon put a hand on my shoulder. “Are you sure about this?” his voice was strained and concern flooded his features.

No, I wasn’t sure. We were literally bringing poison onto our pack lands. It was crazy and reckless. There were kids here. If one of them got into it...that wasn’t going to happen. It was going to be kept locked up tight.

I forced a smile and patted Brandon’s hand on my shoulder. “Yes. The problem with war is it gets messy.”

And boy was it.

He grunted and arched a brow. “Yeah, you’re right about that.” His gaze lingered, drifting to the wooded path that led to the cemetery.

Would Dad think this was a necessary evil?

I blew out a breath and swallowed hard. “I don’t like it either. But I don’t think we have a choice. We both know Alpha Dane won’t fight fair and this will help protect us.”

Brandon rubbed both hands over his face, scrubbing hard enough to leave red marks. “It makes my stomach turn knowing that it’s going to be here.”

I used the toe of my shoe to dig at the ground. “If you had so many apprehensions, why didn’t you say something before?”

His hands clapped against his thighs as he dropped them to his sides. “I don’t know.”

I put a hand on his bicep. “I value your feedback, Brandon. I might not always agree with you, but if you don’t like some things, tell me. I know you have everyone’s best interests at heart, just like I do. I want to know what you’re thinking.”

He pressed his lips together in a thin line as he frowned. “I didn’t say it was a horrible idea. I don’t like it though.”

The delivery van screeched to a halt and rocked back-and-forth. My pulse shot through the roof just thinking about all the wolfsbane that was inside. “It’s going to keep us protected if Alpha Dane comes back. His men are going to be sorry.”

Brandon‘s jaw worked. “It’s a good idea planting it around the edges of the property. We have plenty to harvest if we ever want to weaponize it.”

After being blasted with that stuff once, I never wanted to experience that again. I swore my eyes and nose still burned every once in a while.

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