Chapter 89

~Grace~

We couldn’t win on our own.

This was far greater than just Alex and I and even the entire Black Lycan clan, this was happening with all werewolf packs in the area.

If we stood a chance at winning this fight, everyone had to team up together. No more Lycans and werewolves–it was all of us against the hunters.

We had faced threats at our borders before, even when I was in the Nightshade Pack, but nothing like this.

This was organized, and it was a greater threat than I had ever seen or even heard of.

I told Alex that I would convince Liam to fight by Alex’s side, and surely with the Alpha King and the Lycan King working together, it would bring the rest of the werewolves to fight with us, as well.

Most of the prejudices and hate between the werewolves and Lycans had mostly disappeared after the Elder Lycan confessed his crimes to the world, but some feelings were hard to shake, especially when they’ve been felt for so long.

I knew most werewolves would fight with the Lycans, but not all. And I couldn’t risk not having unity.

I drive into the Nightshade Pack’s borders and I’m not surprised to see Liam already outside, ordering a bunch of his warriors, who stood in formation.

I got off of my bike and Liam made eye contact with me, looking at me for a moment and nodding before finishing up his commands to his warriors.

The warriors left in a hurry, off to the border. Liam came to my side.

“Grace,” he began, his face softening as he looked at me. “I suspect you’re not here because you miss me.”

I shook my head. “No. The human hunters around the werewolf territory need to be stopped. This is not an individual pack’s problem–we all need to work together to overcome this.”

Liam put his hands in his pockets and made a face. I could tell he was thinking.

But what did he need to think about? It wasn’t hard to see the reasoning behind my request.

“All of the werewolf packs?” Liam asked, his eyes on me.

“And the Lycans,” I continued, returning his solid gaze.

Liam nodded slowly. “So it’s that bad, huh…? Have you talked to the other packs?”

I sighed, pacing around him a little, trying to get out my nervous energy. I could tell he was searching for a snag, something that would make him not want to go along with my suggestion.

I really couldn’t promise him anything, reward anything–other than a better chance at coming out of this fight alive.

“No. I figured if the Alpha King accepted, then the rest of the packs would follow suit.”

Liam nodded. “Smart. You were always resourceful.”

I couldn’t offer a smile of gratitude. I needed him to accept. We didn’t know when the hunters would attack, just that they were ready to.

And when that happened, I needed the werewolves and Lycans to be on good terms with each other.

“Liam, please-” I began, getting frustrated. This was no time for playing games.

I didn’t know if Liam still had any hard feelings against Alex and wanted to try to use this opportunity to exploit him, but it felt like he was, with how long he was thinking about this.

Liam put his hand up, and shook his head. “It’s okay, Grace. I’m on board. I know a tactical advantage when I see one.”

I sighed, rolling my eyes. Oh, really? Then why did it take you so long to agree?

“I’ll fight with Alexander. You can let him know, and I’ll get the word out to the other packs,” Liam continued.

I gave him a short nod, already putting my helmet back on.

“And Grace-?” Liam said, and I stopped, waiting to hear what he had to say.

“Things will be okay.”

I paused for a moment.

It made me feel a little bit better, but why did he say that? Did I look more stressed than I thought?

I nodded back at him, and got back on my bike.

Or maybe he still knew me better than I thought.

“Get some sleep,” Alex told me, putting on a coat.

I crossed my arms. “I’m not letting you go out there and stay up all night while I rest. We’re partners.”

Alex turned to me, and placed his hand on my stomach. “And you’re pregnant. I don’t want you standing out in the cold and losing sleep. I’ll call for you if anything happens.”

I huffed, but I didn’t argue. Alex clearly had his mind made up, and it wouldn’t be easy to convince him otherwise.

As long as he really did wake me up…

“Fine. But I’m coming out first thing in the morning.”

Alex smiled and pulled me closer to him, and wrapped his arms around me.

“If that’s what you want. As long as you rest well.”

We stood here, in each other’s arms for a long moment. There was fear between the two of us.

I could feel it.

He was just as scared as I was.

I squeezed him tighter, burying my face in his neck. Alex placed his hand on the back of my head.

“It’ll be alright, Grace,” Alex whispered, and I only nodded in response.

That’s what everyone seemed to be saying, but it was hard to believe.

Maybe I was never meant to live a life of peace. Maybe challenges like this would uproot me my entire life.

All I wanted was to live a restful life and raise a family with Alex… I don’t want to have to subject our child to war and conflicts.

But I guess nobody does. And nobody chooses for things to be that way.

I just had to make the best of what happened. And luckily, I had Alex, and Liam and the other werewolf packs agreed to fight with us.

Everything would be okay. Or at least, I had to believe that.

I awoke with a start.

Sunlight poured through the window. What time was it?

My heart pounded in my chest as I quickly ran to pull on some clothes.

Did anything happen last night? Alex wasn’t in the room… He must still be out by the border.

I looked out the window, but it seemed like the warriors were still stationed in the same places they were last night.

I let out a shaky breath. Maybe… maybe the humans had decided to make a truce and they all went home.

Ha, that was some wishful thinking. I knew it wasn’t true.

I quickly finished getting ready. Even if nothing happened overnight, Alex was likely exhausted. I needed to take over his shift.

I pulled my hair back into a ponytail, and put on some practical clothes. My heart pounded with nervousness.

I really didn’t know the first thing about combat. I could protect myself, but I’d never been in a real fight before…

Nothing on this scale, at least. I hoped the warriors in the clan knew what they were doing, because I didn’t know if I could give them orders that would be beneficial.

Ugh… Maybe I should have talked to Alex about this last night and he could have given me some pointers.

Just then, an alarm blared from outside. I looked out the window, and warriors were rushing to a defensive formation.

My heart dropped.

The humans were attacking.