Page 11 of Wolf Crowned

I pulled back and cupped her cheeks. “We have to do what we have to do, even if it’s something I don’t like. My dad has to be stopped before he’s allowed to grow more powerful.”

Her bottom lip trembled. “I don’t want to do anything that’s going to hurt you, Lincoln.”

I smiled as warmth flooded my chest. My sweet Sloane. She was so considerate. “You know I love you, right?”

She beamed. “And I love you.” She gripped my biceps harder and gave me a little shake. “Which is why I don’t think we should do this.”

I closed my eyes and rested my forehead against hers. “I get it, and I love that you’re trying to protect me. But if we don’t stop my dad soon, I’m afraid that it’s going to get worse for us, and one of us might not make it.”

I shuddered at the thought. Losing my mom and Hannah had been unbearable. I couldn’t fathom losing Sawyer or Sloane.

Sawyer’s risks were increasing every second that he stayed there. I knew what he was doing, and I trusted his judgment, but he was taking a gigantic chance.

Sloane met my gaze. “You are right. The longer Alpha Dane stays in power, the greater chance that one of us won’t make it, and I don’t want to lose either of you.”

My heart thumped, and the hair on the back of my neck prickled. “Then it’s decided. We use the hunting rifles to sound the alarm.”

She gave me a tender kiss. “Are you sure? Are you going to be okay with this?” Her brows creased with concern.

I forced a smile. “I’ve been around Sheriff Adam a few times now when he had his gun. I’ve been fine with that.”

It was the truth. I hadn’t even really thought much of it right then, either.

Sloane frowned and mashed her lips together. “That’s not the same thing, Lincoln. Sheriff Adam is an officer of the law and not some crazy person. And I don’t think it’s the same thing seeing it and hearing it.”

I grumbled under my breath. “Maybe. Maybe not. I don’t know, but I did see Sheriff Adam’s handgun, and it didn’t frighten me.”

I hadn’t even really thought about it until just now, honestly.

Sloane nodded. “Okay then. We go back to the original plan and use gunfire as a signal. It will definitely give us multiple elements of surprise.”

She wasn’t wrong about that. My dad didn’t let anyone near our land, least of all hunters. “That it will.”

She skimmed her fingers up and then laced her hands behind the back of my head. “The longer the war keeps going, the more unnerved I feel. I can’t stop this feeling that something bad‘s going to happen. That another shoe is going to drop and derail us.”

I pulled her against me, holding her close. “It could just be our bond with Sawyer. He likes to put on a good show of being strong, but I know he’s worried. It could just be that bleeding over to us.”

Sawyer’s apprehension seemed to grow by the minute. I hated it, and I knew exactly what Sloane was talking about. There was a gnawing pit in my stomach full of worry and fear.

She squeezed me tighter. “If he’s that concerned, then maybe we need to move up our timeline so we can get him out of there sooner.”

I weighed our options. She wasn’t wrong about all that. “We have to wait for those men to get here from Pennsylvania, and we should try to see if we can pull in more enforcers before we do anything. The stronger we are the better. We only get one shot at this.”

And we had to make it count.

Her breath warmed my neck as she let out a heavy sigh. “I know, which means we can’t afford to lose. I’ll talk to Leo Denning and see if there’s any other alphas that we can reach out to. We should pull resources with the website too. You heard Alpha Isaac earlier. Other alphas are talking on the site. They might be ready to make a stand with us if we reach out. I can also continue to pull my dad‘s resources.”

I kissed the inside of her neck and breathed her in again. “All great ideas.”

She moaned and nuzzled against me. My cock stirred, and I growled. “We are supposed to be training, sweetheart.”

She hummed and kissed up the column of my neck and then nibbled on my earlobe. “It’s not even daylight yet. Nobody’s up, and we just ran a mile in four minutes. I think we deserve a couple of minutes to let loose.”

She dropped her hand down, slipping it between the elastic of my shorts so she could grab my rear.

I grunted. “I suppose this could be considered a work out as well.”

She winked at me as she massaged my ass. “Anything that gets our blood pumping like this should be considered training.”

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