Page 64 of Alpha Wolf's Arranged Bride
“They are moving in on Eccles tonight,” he says, his voice heavy with emotion.
“What do you mean, moving in?”
“Wolf’s Shadow has decided to go forward with an advance. The site isn’t well-guarded, so they expect to be able to take it easily.”
I put my arms around him, hugging him as tightly as I can. “At least we’ll know what’s going on, won’t we?”
Rex shrugs and gently takes my hands off his shoulders to go pour a whiskey. I nod my assent, and he pours one for me, too.
“I was already pretty riled up,” he says as he takes a sip. “That meeting with the elders I had to go to? They made me pull back out of the forest so we didn’t risk the treaty.”
“But Eccles have no intention of keeping it!”
“I know that, but I can’t just tell the elders. That would mean revealing Wolf’s Shadow, and we can’t do that.”
I can feel my panic rising, slowly but surely. The confidence and safety I thought I’d found are slowly unraveling around me, making me feel exposed and vulnerable. I take a swallow of the hard liquor, letting its sharpness ground me into my body.
“So, we have no one out there watching our borders?”
“They let me keep a few. The problem is, my guys told me that there were warriors moving in through stealth, but my scouts haven’t even noticed them. So, you can be damn sure the skeleton crew I’ve got scattered through the woods won’t be much good.”
“We have to tell the elders something,” I urge, going to take his hand.
Rex shakes his head. “Anything I could say would lead to revealing my source, which I can’t do. If I try to tell them we’re being ambushed and Eccles are still our enemies, it might look like I’m stirring up a fight to prove myself as alpha. Or that I’m power-hungry and looking to take territory.”
“Rex, are we safe? I mean, Jarrod and I, are we safe from Azarian? He might come for us!”
“There are enough on guard right at the town line that I’ll be alerted to any movement close by,” he answers. “And hopefully, Azarian will be fully occupied tonight, and by morning, he’ll be locked in a cell.”
“I like the sound of that,” I say, taking another sip of whiskey. “What’s the plan?”
“I don’t know the details,” Rex says. “But my squad, as well as a contingent of Shadows, are moving on the excavation site tonight. They want to cut Azarian off from his power source, which we assume to be the stone.”
“What about Vanessa?”
“She’ll be captured, too. Apparently, the two of them don’t leave the site often. They’ve been camping there even after the diggers go home.”
I raise my eyebrows. “Really?”
“Yeah. The stone is almost fully uncovered now, and the two of them spend a lot of time looking over it as if they’re reading the symbols.”
“It sounds big.”
“Yeah, it is. About a quarter of a football field. It wasn’t down very deep, though.”
“Rex,” I say, almost whispering. “Are you sure it’s a good idea to capture them?”
“At this point, we have to,” Rex answers. “We need to bring them in for intel. We can’t just have them running around out there, even if we manage to take the stone and subdue Eccles’ warriors.”
“No, I mean…” I let my voice trail off, unable to finish the sentence.
“You mean, just assassinate them? At this stage, they haven’t been deemed dangerous enough for that, and someone in the head office has questions about the stone. Only Azarian can answer those questions.”
I let out a shaky sigh. “I just don’t know if this is smart. I think those two are capable of anything.”
Rex shrugs. “You might be right. There’s nothing I can do about it, though. Why do you think I’m here, downing whiskey and quietly freaking the fuck out? I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”
He lowers his head, and I gently take the whiskey glass from his hand and put our drinks on the table. I wrap my arms around him and hug him as tightly as I can, trying to comfort him and myself.
