Page 71 of Dawn of the Pack

He nods in agreement. “Once we found all of it out, the pieces clicked together. I still can’t work out how she knew, but I remember that she and Julian used to disappear—a lot. Always said they were going hiking and planning to camp overnight, but I can’t help but wonder if all that time they were going to Montrose. It’s the only explanation that makes sense.”

“That had to have been it,” I agree in a disconnected voice; my brain rapidly spun elsewhere. It seems like the only people who know anything about the curse are the witches. Obviously, one of them helped her, but who?

“So…” Dom slaps his hands on his thighs and shifts awkwardly. “Anyway, that’s what I wanted to tell you. I don’t know why I didn’t tell you before. I don’t have a significant reason. Maybe it’s because that secret’s the last thing she gave me. And I couldn’t bring myself to break the last promise I made to her.” His voice trails off at the end, a catch alerting me to the genuine emotion behind his story.

“Here.” I fold the letter gently and slip it back into the envelope to return this last gift from his sister.

“No, you keep it,” he replies, shaking his head. “I know you don’t have anything from her. I think, if she knew this was going to happen… she would want you to have it.”

“I…” I try to protest again, but he jumps out of his seat like the couch had bitten him. “No, I want you to have it, Lily. I mean it. Anyway, I’d better get downstairs before Roxanne sends Mr. Carson after me. Would you like me to have him bring your dinner up? No one will mind if you sit this one out.”

A powerful feeling grows in my toes, expanding through my legs and arms, filling me to the top of my skull. The scorching, blazing need to take action. “Wait.”

I take a moment to stretch out my cramped limbs and stand. “We need to have a family meeting.”

Chapter Thirty-One

Lilliana

Once everyone gathers I lay out my plan, then wait for their reactions. The breakfast room falls into deathly silence, and everyone turns their faces toward me with open shock..

“I’m sorry.” Milo shakes his head as if trying to clear it, then refocuses his stern blue gaze on me. “You want to what now?”

I had a feeling this would be a tough sell. Even though I know it’s right, it’s hard to explain the surety I feel in my bones.

“I want to drive right up to Montrose and challenge Nielsen.” Eyes around the table glance sideways at each other.

“That’s… what I thought I heard, but I’m still not following. Why? And how?”

I shrug. “I’m done working in the shadows and acting as if we’re doing something wrong. That’s not us, that’s them. We’re the stronger pack, and the only way to take back what’s mine is to prove that I’m the stronger alpha. So, that’s my plan.”

Dom swallows with difficulty, looking as if he doesn’t know how to say what’s on his mind. “What if you’re not able to get on their territory?”

“I don’t think that’s going to be a problem,” I reply with confidence.

“Care to explain?”

“Well, first let me ask a question: Have any of you had difficulty passing their border, or heard of anyone that has?I glance around the room expectantly, but all I receive in return is confused silence. “Exactly. Because their magic isn’t strong enough to keep anyone out.”

“But if that’s the case,” Landon interrupts, “Why did Azalea have to let us through it?”

“I don’t think she did. When she was here, she told us all about how their magic is fading and it’s so bad more people are being born unable to manifest than those that can. I don’t think she meant to reveal that much, but when I think about it—if there isn’t even enough magic to keep full-blooded shifters shifting, how strong can their protections be? I think she had us meet her so she could keep up the façade of her own power. Not that she doesn’t have power, but she’s their pack witch, beholden by contract to protect them. If they found out that we just crossed the border with no problem at all, it would have been even worse for her. We still don’t even know what they’ve done, or are doing to her, since she helped us.”

It’s quiet again while everyone mulls over that last bit.

“So…” Jared asks, “You’re just going to march in and demand to throw down with their alpha, and you think no one will stop you?”

“No, in fact, I expect him to throw everything he has at me before we get to his place. I’m hoping that if I put out word requesting volunteers, we’ll have a decent crowd to deflect any resistance we encounter. We just need help to clear a path to Nielsen, and then the rest is on me.”

Dom clears his throat. “And let’s say you defeat him; what happens then? If Derrek doesn’t shift, he can’t claim the position as alpha and you can’t break the curse.”

“When I defeat him, that will make me alpha of the Montrose pack. You see now? Derrek doesn’t have to manifest and become the alpha for me to mate; if I claim the spot of alpha, that automatically unites the two packs, and that should end the curse. And whether or not he shifts, when I claim him under the lunar eclipse, he will become one of my mates. So either way, we reach the same result.”

The deafening silence returns as Dom, Roxanne, and my three mates mull over what I said. My appetite has returned with a vengeance, so I take advantage of their stunned silence to focus on stuffing my face.

“Dom, she’s right,” Roxanne says slowly. “Assuming she’s correct about their barrier, if she can get in and defeat Nielsen, that meets all the same requirements as if she went the other way around, plus it doesn’t matter if Derrek is a wolf. So in fact, this is a more foolproof plan.”

My uncle stares grimly at my beta for a long, protracted moment, then turns to me with a sigh. “So, when do you want to launch this attack?”

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