Chapter 79

Nathan POV

I left my meeting with the Royal Alpha, determined to track Claire down.

After meeting up with the security detail, I immediately headed west through the Royal pack territory, toward the border.

And what I found really did feel like a war zone.

Even at this distance from the border there were villages and a few small towns that had been completely destroyed. Buildings lay in ruin, people’s belongings were scattered everywhere, clearly abandoned when they were forced to flee.

With every mile we covered there was some fresh sign of fighting, of lives ruined. Lives taken.

I mindlinked with Evan, who had landed in a nearby field. Grateful all over again that my Beta had his pilot’s license, I met up with Evan and the soldiers he brought with him.

“Sir,” he said as the soldiers began unloading their supplies, preparing for the journey ahead of us. “I have unsettling news to report:

“Princess Sabrina is going through with the cooperation ceremony. And…I’m afraid she’s going to try to take over the pack.”

I froze in the act of checking a supply pack. “What??”

“Yes, sir. I informed Duchess Catherine when I couldn’t get through to you, hoping she’d see you before I did.”

He cleared his throat. “Sir, I was wondering…Should we head home, and stop Sabrina before it’s too late?”

It was an understandable question. Who knew what kind of things Sabrina would be up to in my absence. And my first priority as Alpha should have been to protect my pack.

But…

I thought about what we’d seen so far as we traveled through Royal pack territory. And the maps in the Royal Alpha’s meeting room, showing the unusually large rogue forces.

I had come here looking for Claire, and I still ached to see her with my own two eyes.

But I was quickly realizing the stakes in this situation were a lot higher than I’d initially thought.

“I know you’re worried about Silverfang. I am as well. But look around - the Royal pack needs our help.

“And if we don’t help them deal with these rogues, how long would it be before the rogues start attacking other packs? Our pack?”

Evan was quiet for a moment as he thought it over, then he nodded. “I understand, sir. And I agree. I’m with you.”

He glanced around at the other soldiers now all standing at the ready. “We’re all with you.”

I shouldered my supply pack. “Then let’s go.”

So we set off, sweeping through the bordering woodlands, pushing west as fast as we could.

It wasn’t long until we encountered our first pack of rogues.

Though the fight was brief, I was able to get a sense of the people attacking the Royal territory:

They were well armed, and seemed to have had at least some basic military training. They moved together as a unit, and though I was able to overrun them with my own soldiers, sending them running, the fight wasn’t as easy as I’d assumed it would be.

These were not the scattered, unorganized, haphazard rogues I had expected to encounter.

What was going on here?

We moved on again, making good progress as the day slowly began to close. Occasional encounters with other groups of rogues began to reinforce my suspicions.

Someone was in charge of these pack-less wolves, coordinating their movements.

Someone was giving them orders.

But who?

We didn’t stop until well past dark, using the light of the stars and the half moon to guide us. And we only stopped for a brief rest and a meal of cold rations. I didn’t want to risk a cooking fire giving away our location and leaving us open to another attack.

While we ate I discussed my suspicions with Evan and the soldiers. They were all experienced enough warriors that I trusted their opinions, and wanted whatever input they might have about the situation we were in.

“These rogues aren’t operating like I’d expected they would,” I said while we opened our prepackaged rations.

“Agree,” Evan said, his mouth already full. “Rogues are usually sloppy, attacking from every which way at once. But these -

“They’re working together in a way I’ve never seen.”

Around us the soldiers were nodding in agreement.

“They’re obviously not as experienced as we are,” said one, a man almost as tall as me. “But it’s clear they’ve had some training.”

“The way they move together…” said another, scratching his bear thoughtfully. “It reminds me of the Ice River pack’s enforcers. They’ve got a very distinct style of going into combat.”

Ice River? I thought. I remembered that their Alpha had a long-standing grudge against the Royal Alpha.

That was interesting.

“I want to capture one of these rogues, the next time we get a chance. We need to find out what’s going on here.”

Everyone agreed, and we finished our meal in companionable silence. Then we packed up and moved on, quickly falling into step together and moving as a unit.

Just past midnight, deep in the woods, we began to hear voices up ahead. We followed the sound silently, until we were just a few paces from a small group of rogues doing exactly as we had done just a few hours ago:

Sharing a meal.

But where we had set someone on watch, rotating so everyone got a chance to eat while also being guarded, the rogues had done no such thing.

Clearly whoever had trained them hadn’t gotten around to the importance of always having someone on watch.

We attacked silently. They didn’t even know we were there until there was nothing they could do to stop us.

Within moments the fight was over. And I stared down at the man sitting on the ground in front of me, his hands tied behind his back.

We’d captured a rogue.

I knelt in front of him, studying him as he watched me cautiously.

“Who do you work for?” I asked.

But he just stared at me.

“Here, sir. We found this in his pocket.”

I looked up at the paper Evan handed me, then turned on my small headlamp to read what it said.

“Interesting,” I said after a moment. “These appear to be orders from your commanding officer. The Royal Alpha, of all people. How shocking.”

The rogue grinned. “Well, he’s the boss. We just follow his orders.”

In a flash I dove toward the rogue, knocking him onto the ground while I hovered above him, my hand around his throat.

“Lies,” I hissed. “You expect me to believe the Royal Alpha is doing this to his own people?”

I squeezed my hand, cutting off more of his air.

“Try again.”

A tense moment passed, during which I wondered if the rogue would pass out before deciding to tell me the truth.

But finally he nodded. I let go of his throat and eased back.

“Who do you really work for?”

Then I listened in shock as he listed a number of the packs that shared a border with the Royal territory.

“The Alphas give us our orders,” he said. “And I know for a fact they’re working with the princess. Everybody wants to take that old Royal Alpha down.”

I stared at him, stunned. “Claire??”

He laughed, the sound raw in his bruised throat. “No - the other one.”

Sabrina.

Of course.

Evan and I exchanged glances.

Sabrina was working with enemies of her father. She had brought this rogue and all the others like him to her own pack’s doorstep.

“The Royal Alpha will be eliminated,” the rogue said. “One way or another. And then we will take our rightful place in the Royal pack.”

I sneered at him in disgust. A wolf with no loyalty to any pack, a mercenary. He didn’t care who he hurt along the way, just so long as he got what he wanted.

He disgusted me.

One of the soldiers hurried to my side. “Sir - I was just scouting ahead. I found members of the Royal force camped not far from here.

“They say there’s a clinic about a few miles away. And the princess is due to arrive in a few hours.”

Claire.

I closed my eyes for a moment. An almost painful surge of hope ripped through me.

When I opened my eyes, I gave orders to keep the rogue under constant watch.

Then I hurried off through the woods, eager to see my mate.

Eager to see Claire.