Page 94 of Never Submit

For every soul we’ve lost tonight, for all the men and women Andras’s has taken from my pack, for Flora—I’ll make sure that when we meet the Blood Moon pack again, we won’t just win.

We’ll destroy them.

Chapter 21

Torin

My nightmares are real.

I’m staring them in the face, in the form of a line of black cars containing the members of my pack, all of them hating the move.

I hate it too, but I’m not about to let them know. Not when I’m the face, the will, the beating heart of this pack. I’m the one making the decision and it’s my responsibility to get them out of our downtown building, to take them somewhere safe.

Those who weren’t inside the Steel Claw building are the luckiest. They remain unscathed from the brutalizing attack. A few messages typed out on an encrypted server along withCode Crimsonrallies them. I follow the message with typed out coordinates.

My wolves will check the message and know exactly where to go.

As for Mathis…his numbers were low enough. Everybody he has left is with us.

The poor guy.

I’ve felt sorry for him for as long as I’ve known him, butthis is a different sort of sympathy. I have no clue what I’d do if my pack suffered the devastating losses his did.

I lead the procession to the old YMCA camp, purchased on one of my weaker days when I thought being generous was the right course of action. I’d let the property slip into obscurity in my head, one of those things you know is there but rarely have the occasion to consider again.

A gift. I thought the old YMCA lodge might be a great gift for Noble, to do whatever he wanted. To teach, to spread his wings, whatever.

The property was purchased under several different umbrella corporations so it’s untraceable. No one knows about it except me. Not even an accountant.

The thing was destined for a bulldozer and a luxury resort if I hadn’t snapped it up for a song.

Now? It’s the best chance we’ve got to recover.

A fucking campsite.

The site is held up by broken dreams and dust. It’s not suitable for my people, but we’re out of options. We’re out of time.

A logistical mess if I’ve ever seen one.

We’re an hour outside of the city in a neutral location. Neutral should equal safety for all of us. I pray it does. My bones ache, my split knuckles are slow to heal, and my grip on the steering wheel tight enough to break it.

I should have realized what bringing Andras’s delta into my building would inevitably lead to. Betrayal, loss.

We ride in silence. We did everything we could to get out back there, but there’s no telling what Mathis is thinking.

Probably blaming me for it.

He can get in line. I stare at the road and flip on the blinker, remembering throughthe grace of God the path I’ve only taken once before, when I went out to see the property for myself.

I've been so stupid thinking I was one step ahead of the Blood Moon. Andras is greedy and hungry and he knows what he’s doing. My wedding to Catarina means I will be able to count on the Briar pack, but only after our marriage license is signed. And with no way to extract the Moonstone from Ren?—

We’re on our own.

The silence pricks at my skin, and I press my foot down on the accelerator. The line of vehicles behind me carries what’s left of both our packs. Jesus Christ, this really is happening.

I make a wrong turn and end up having to go back about five miles before I find the right exit. The lodge isn’t exactly hidden; it’s on several maps but appears forgotten, so we’ll be hiding in plain sight. It has to be enough for now.

“Where the hell are we?” Mathis grunts out when I navigate off the two-lane road toward a tree-lined path.

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