Page 53 of Never Submit

There’s a flicker of something in his eyes—regret, maybe. Or maybe just frustration that his own control is slipping.

Then, he lifts his phone to his ear and clicks the answer button. “Yes, Catarina,” he mutters. “Yes. I’m leaving now. Give me ten.”

Without another look toward us, he walks out, his conversation with Catarina fading away with his footsteps.

Sighing, I kneel beside Ren and wrap an arm around her trembling shoulders. Internally cursing Torin, I pull her against my chest as she starts to sob.

"I’ve got you," I whisper to her. “I’m here, baby.”

Even though I know it’s not enough for her, it’s all I can give right now.

Chapter 12

Mathis

The map on my desk mocks me.

I’ve stared at it for hours, as if the faded lines and terrain markings will magically reveal a solution. The Grey Valley pack is barely holding together, and Andras’s shadow looms closer with every passing hour.

Dax sits across from me, tension rolling off him in waves. His leg bounces like he’s trying to burn off the restless energy.

He got back from the mountain yesterday evening as the sun touched the horizon. His face gave nothing away but the stiffness in his shoulders told me what I needed to know.

He hadn’t found Andras.

Whatever tracks and scent trail Ren left on her escape from the mountain cave had both been obliterated by the weather.

He’s a man of few words but whatever he saw had him snapping his lips shut even with me.

He’s kept close, and glancing at him from the corner of my eye, I just keep hoping he’ll say something. Anything.Give me a bit of information to go on while I’m planning our next moves.

My stomach twists again and the low knots I’ve learned to live with are heavier than before.

Ren is safe. But the Moonstone is gone. Absorbed, if we’re to believe her, into her body.

But with her locked behind the walls of the Steel Claw building, it’s impossible to know the truth.

I draw in a deep breath and hold it in my lungs. I’ve got to talk to her.

The map won’t give me answers. But Ren might.

"We can't keep sitting pretty, Mathis,” Dax grunts as he stalks closer. “We're wolves, not prey."

I rub my temples. "I know. But Andras isn’t just any predator. He’s got numbers, and we don’t."

I’ve done thetread carefullybit. Now I’ve got no clue what the best course of action would be, and without my father and his guidance to lean on, I’m coming up empty.

"He’s got numbers because we’ve been too weak to stop him!" Dax growls, slamming his fist on the desk. "How long are we supposed to keep dodging him? What kind of alpha does that?"

I level him with a glare, my wolf bristling at the challenge in his tone. "The kind of alpha who refuses to lead his pack into slaughter," I snap. "We’ve lost too many already. Females, fighters. We can’t afford a war."

The Moonstone would have been our weapon against Andras. Combined with the legendary sword of the goddess, we’d be unstoppable. Andras wouldn’t dare fuck with us.

Now?

What do we have?

No weapon, and everything to lose.

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