Page 17 of Wolf Crowned

I worried my bottom lip as I considered the options. “Get the information. It doesn’t mean we have to do anything with it yet. I want it in case we need it.”

It would be the last card we played and only if we had to. Sherriff Adam was cool with us, but he’d known us forever. We wouldn’t get that luxury from random law enforcement.

I turned the monitor, so it was facing me and pulled up my email, logging in. My fingers flew over the keys as I typed up a quick email, making sure to keep it short and sweet. I mashed my hand down over the enter key. “Tell me how this sounds.”

I pursed my lips as I glanced up for a moment. “Dear Alpha Dane, this war is coming at a high price. Too many wolves have lost their lives, my father and Mikey included.” My voice caught. I blinked back tears and took a moment to pull myself together. “My pack is still reeling from the last attack, and I want this to be over. Lincoln and I would like to meet with you in a public setting. Perhaps this restaurant to discuss a peaceful resolution. Sincerely Sloane.”

I wanted to vomit reading it out loud. I shoved the laptop away and put a hand over my churning stomach. “Do you think it sounds believable? Is it too short?” I held my breath.

Lincoln pulled the laptop back so he and Brandon could see it. His eyes skimmed over the screen. “Like I said, he underestimates your strength. I think he’ll think you are playing right into his hand. At least that’s what I hope.” His fingers hovered over the keys. “It’s short and sweet, but to the point. And you bring up your father and Mikey, which is good.”

I gritted my teeth. It would be his mistake to think I was weak. One that I fully intended to capitalize on.

I waved my hand at the computer. “It’s worth a shot. Do whatever you have to do. I trust you two to pick out a restaurant a few hours between our two homesteads.”

The chair scraped against the floor as I stood up. I pushed it back under the table and then put my hands on the back of it. “I’m meeting with Leo Denning in a few minutes to talk about some other contacts as well. Send the email as soon as it’s ready. This is great work.”

Lincoln beamed up at me and Brandon smiled too, but ducked his head down like he wasn’t used to getting such praise. My parents were never mean to any of us. They’d always been loving, but Brandon was the one that was most misunderstood out of all of us. He didn’t fit into your typical pack mold. But that was okay because neither did Lincoln and I was glad they found a friend in each other

I pushed off the chair. “I’ll leave you two to it then. I’ll see you in a little bit.”

I made my way through the house and to my borrowed office. Leo was already waiting at the door for me. I opened it and motioned him in first. I shut the door behind me and walked to the desk, sitting down in the chair, crossing one leg over the other.

The chair was way too lumpy for my taste and I shifted, trying to get comfortable, but it was a lost cause. It didn’t work and at the rate I was moving, Leo was going to start to think I had problems if I didn’t sit still.

I put my arms on the desk and laced my fingers together. “I spoke with Alpha Isaac earlier. I hear I have you to thank for that contact.”

He gave me a tight lipped smile. “My Uncle Isaac and Aunt Bernadette have always been close with us. My aunt was pretty broken up about what happened to my dad. They were close growing up and talked once a week on the phone. It didn’t take much convincing.”

My chest grew heavy as I looked at him. “I know how hard all of this must be for you.”

And I did. I lost my dad and my brother in the span of a few weeks. He pulled his hands in his lap and looked down. “Alpha Dane has caused too many people to lose people they care about, you included, Alpha.”

I bit my bottom lip to keep it from trembling. Moments like this made me miss my dad more than I already did. He’d always been so strong even at times like this, and he always knew just what to say. Part of me felt like an imposter.

I licked my lips. “I’m not sure if you’ve heard or not yet, but Alpha Dane had the DarkSide website taken down. I was hoping maybe you might be able to put me in contact with a few other people as well until we can get it back up and running.”

Leo ran both hands up and down his face. “All of the phone numbers would’ve been back at the house. I can give you as many names as I can think of though.”

I gave him a sympathetic smile. “That’s fine whatever you can do. I’m sure it’ll help.”

Leo met my gaze, his face a hard stone mask of anger. “I just need this to be over and to get revenge. To make sure that monster can’t hurt any more packs.”

I understood what he was saying, every last word of it. I didn’t think it was possible to truly hate someone until I met Alpha Dane. It was very much possible though, and even though he was Lincoln and Sawyer‘s father, he had no redeeming qualities, at least not anymore.

I met his eyes. “I give you my word we are going to stop him, and I’m not going to stop fighting until he’s either dead or I take my last breath.”

The vein by his eyes throbbed. “Good, because I plan to do the same.” His jaw worked. “I want to be there when you attack his pack.”

“You will be. We’re going to need everyone there to help.”

It would be risky to take the majority of the pack, but we were going to make a stand. I hoped it wouldn’t be our last one.

Leo motioned to the pad of paper in the right corner of my desk. “Can I have that?”

I slid it toward him. He didn’t need further prompting. He scribbled away down the bottom of the paper, filling it in just a matter of a few minutes. Leo pushed it back towards me when he was done. “I’m sure I can think of more and I’ll tell them to you as soon as I do.”

I pulled the pad closer. It had a long list of names on it. “Thank you for giving me all of this. I really appreciate it.”

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