Page 80 of Heart Broken Mate

“You speak well,” he said. “But dreams aren’t what we were made to chase. Hope doesn’t feed us much. The trees and berries here do. But dreams do keep us awake. Hope does shine a light at the end of the tunnel. I’ll speak to the other members of the community, and we shall decide whether or not to fight in your war.”

“Give us a place to stay then while you make these decisions,” I said.

“No,” the Alpha insisted rather strongly. “You leave tonight. We do not take in sojourners. It is not our way.”

I could tell there was no arguing that. We have to leave, and we’ll do that without an answer. The man doesn’t look convinced, and we’ll do well not to rely on him.

“You’ve said your bit, and now you have to leave,” the man said.

Chapter thirty-seven (Hayley)

Everyone was on edge. There was a war brewing, but we were far from ready for it. It was already on our doorsteps, and in the time we took going to find the segregated clans and return, the Tarloux had moved in on us, and now, we had lost the only advantage of the high ground we held before. We both had the high ground now, and it would be an equal fight in terms of terrain, but they had the larger number. I walked through the woods and past the camps as some of the soldiers looked at me. There was a scurrying going on just about ten feet from me. I was sure it had something to do with food, as we couldn’t get enough of that. I looked up ahead, and my godfather, Kris, was walking towards me. I had tried to convince him to go to Michigan and stay with the friends he wanted to send me to when all of this had just started. It was such a long time ago now and a lost dream.

“They are waiting for you,” he said when he got close to me but didn’t walk away. He stopped in front of me and picked up my hand. “Your parents will be very proud of you, Hayley. They won’t allow us to lose this war. Believe in that.”

He let go of my hands then and led me to where the others were. I knew he meant well, but my parents wouldn’t be fighting on the field. This was on me. I kick started this row of dominoes, and now, I was about to lead all these people to their deaths. I got to the makeshift table they had created, and they were all waiting for me. I walked over and stood beside Luke, who took my hand in his and squeezed gently. That simple touch sent joltsof reassurance through me, and I leaned toward him. With him by my side, I will always feel invincible. I looked at the others. Bonne was at the other end of the table, still studying the map of the area that he had made himself. Nothing is ever done with Bonne until it is totally done. He looked up at me, sensing my eyes on him, and smiled. He was here for his son and for his wife. To my left were Luke’s lone wolf friends. They were here to shake away the disgust the Tarloux family has put on lone wolves. They were here to regain their dignity and show the world know that being a lone wolf isn’t something to be ashamed of. They have enough pain in their heart already; shame shouldn’t be bundled up with it. To my right was Kris, the leaders of the three armies we’ve convinced to fight with us and the leaders of the smaller armies they brought with them. They make up the bulk of our army, and without them, we wouldn’t even have a war to go to. Beside them was Ilad, he looked even smaller today, out of place, and there was a grimace of disappointment on his face. He’d thought his people would come to our aid. He knew that if we lost this war and he was found, he would be tortured and made an example. Snakes don’t do well amongst werewolves.

That was everybody.

“Bonne,” I said, looking towards him and nodding. He nodded back and spread the map he’d been studying on the table.

“We are here,” he said, using a rook chess piece to represent us. “The Tarloux is over there.” They were a knight.

“If there is anything we know about a werewolf war, and from what I’ve read, it is that there is no order to it. Whatever strategy we make, it is bound to come apart once we get into the grime of war itself. Survival kicks in, and our propensity toward anger and violence takes over. The one who can outlast the other isthe one that wins a werewolf war, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t strategize. We have men who have been trained to subdue their instincts and to stick to form and order.”

“What are our strategies then?” Patel asked. He still had that calm look about him, and it was reassuring for me. It was like these people didn’t share the same fear as me. They believed so much in themselves and their ability to win this war. We weren’t sharing the same burden. Everyone that will die in this war, whether we win or not, will be on my conscience.

“The Tarloux are making their way around us, going over the higher grounds,” Bonne said and drew a semi-circle around us, showing the ground the Tarloux were covering. “They have a large force, which is why they can thin themselves out. But it still makes them vulnerable. Ilad tells me they’ve taken seventy percent of their forces towards the mountain, which means they intend to attack on two fronts. From the top and from the bottom.

He drew that and looked at everyone to make sure they were listening to him.

“They are caging us in here,” Bonne said. “And we’ll be caught between two armies.”

We should have attacked when everyone was telling me we had to. I wanted more armies, and now, I’ve got us stuck in a position of disadvantage.

“How do we deal with them then?” Gork asked.

“We use the stone,” Bonne said and looked at Luke and me. “That is what they want from us the most, so while the war is on,they will have people coming for it. For you and Luke. We need you at the front of the battle.”

“But we’ll be with the stone,” Luke said. “If they get to us, they’ll get to the stone.”

“You’ll not be with the stone,” Bonne said. “But you’ll lead them towards it.

“What are you talking about?” I asked him.

“We shall discuss that later,” Bonne said. “It will be a tactic to pull away a large force from the ones that attack from the top. They want you. They want the stone. You will lead them away to give the others a better chance. When you get to the stone, you will activate its power and use it to fight the force with you. The stone is the only chance we have against them. Its power is monumental.”

“We’ll have to face an attack on two fronts. Do you think it is a good idea to break up the squad?” Timothy asked.

“Yes,” Bonne replied. “It is the best idea to break the squad. I grew up in the woods and know things the Tarloux won’t, and Viper, who spent his time on the streets, won’t either. For example, there is a tunnel from here to here.”

Bonne drew a straight line leading from our position to a leeway behind the Tarloux army that would be attacking us from behind.

“It was all part of the plan to revitalize the reservation, but it never happened. Instead, trees grew on it. We’ll break the army into two. The first half will take the tunnel and attack the smaller portion of the Tarloux army. We should handle them withrelative ease. The bigger portion of the Tarloux army will be led by The Twin. They like to be involved in their battles, and they will want the stone. Luke and Hayley will be their target. They will go after you and, in doing that, break up their forces even more.”

We spent the next thirty minutes talking about more strategic positions we could take and how to salvage our terrible position. In the end, things didn’t look as bleak as they did before, and I was beginning to see that Bonne’s plan might work. Just as we were about to call it a day, I looked at the map before us and the lines Bonne had drawn.

“Wait,” I said and pulled the map towards myself.”

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