Page 98 of Fated
My mind ran through the three plans we’d put together. With the chance that Kyle’s pack didn’t show up until it was too late, we needed to put enough fighters in front to hold off the majority of the attack until Kyle’s pack arrived.
I gave Kyle my phone.
“Tell your pack to come up through the forest,” I explained as I pointed to the dark forest that surrounded my property. If we held the rogue off for long enough, Kyle’s pack would surround them and we would be able to finish them off once and for all.
Kyle dialed a number and he began to issue orders over the phone.
We began to mobilize our fighters. I didn’t want to put too many fighters on the outside of my property because I didn’t want the rogues to figure out that we’d been tipped off, so I kept the majority of my army inside the compound. My fighters, male and female, stood side by side in front of the gates, waiting for our enemy. I went into the medical center to check that Curtis had a handle on things.
“Are you ready?” I asked him.
“Yes,” he assured me.
I was about to leave when he called out to me.
“Take care of yourself,” he told me as he pulled me into a hug. I hugged him back.
“No heroics today,” he added. “I want you to make it out alive.”
I nodded my head.
It wasn’t about being a hero or one person sacrificing themselves for everyone else. Today was different. We were all going to work together to defeat our enemy and hopefully we would all make it out alive.
For a moment I caught sight of Cade pressing a kiss to Scarlett’s forehead as he held her. There was a lot at stake and this would be the fight of our lives. I felt Blake before I felt the telltale sign of our connection.
“We’re nearly ready,” he said. He held my hand in his and gave it a squeeze.
I looked up at him. The sight of him pulled at my heartstrings. Now that I had him, I had so much to lose. He read my need in my eyes. He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me closer. The moment he kissed me, I felt myself come alive beneath him. I groaned before I opened my mouth and touched his tongue with mine. Tingles vibrated through me as I felt the warmth of him through his shirt beneath my flattened hands.
By the time I pulled away, I was breathless. I looked up at him once more.
“I love you,” I said, needing to say it one last time before all hell broke loose.
His hands lifted to my face and he brushed my bottom lip with his thumb.
“I love you too.”
For a moment we stayed staring into each other’s eyes, forgetting about the fear and chaos surrounding us as everyone got into position.
“We’ll finish it later,” he said as he gave me a brief kiss to seal his promise.
I closed my eyes and savored his touch one last time.
“Later,” I confirmed before he released me.
We would have to make sure that we survived so we could have our ‘later and forever’. When Cade’s pack arrived in SUVs and began to pile out, I could feel our hope rise.
To see different packs stand together, getting ready to fight a common enemy, wasn’t something that I’d ever seen before. Cade and Blake had joined their packs but this was different. Cade’s pack would still be under his command and mine would be under mine.
The darkness began to lighten as the sun began to rise. We didn’t have a lot of time left.
Blake and I stood together and Cade and Scarlett stood together. Cade held Scarlett’s hand as he pressed a kiss to her forehead. Kyle stood beside us, still unable to look me in the eyes.
There were just enough fighters on the outside to hold off the attack for the few precious minutes it would take to open the gates and let the other werewolves join them. Fear settled in my stomach as I watched the sunrise, waiting for the rogues. I didn’t know which was worse—the thought of the attack, or waiting for it to happen.
It felt like everything that had happened in the last couple of months had led us to this point. From the time my father had enlisted the help of the rogues to get Scarlett, he’d taught them how to work together and that was why we were in the predicament we were in now.
I heard them before I could smell them. Blake tensed beside me and we kept silent as the first sounds of the rogues running toward the compound could be heard.
