Chapter 31

Chapter Thirty-One

Lilliana

Once everyone gathers I lay out my plan, then wait for their reactions. The breakfast room falls into deathly silence, and everyone turns their faces toward me with open shock..

"I'm sorry." Milo shakes his head as if trying to clear it, then refocuses his stern blue gaze on me. "You want to what now?"

I had a feeling this would be a tough sell. Even though I know it's right, it's hard to explain the surety I feel in my bones.

"I want to drive right up to Montrose and challenge Nielsen." Eyes around the table glance sideways at each other.

"That's… what I thought I heard, but I'm still not following. Why? And how?"

I shrug. "I'm done working in the shadows and acting as if we're doing something wrong. That's not us, that's them . We're the stronger pack, and the only way to take back what's mine is to prove that I'm the stronger alpha. So, that's my plan."

Dom swallows with difficulty, looking as if he doesn't know how to say what's on his mind. "What if you're not able to get on their territory?"

"I don't think that's going to be a problem," I reply with confidence.

"Care to explain?"

"Well, first let me ask a question: Have any of you had difficulty passing their border, or heard of anyone that has?I glance around the room expectantly, but all I receive in return is confused silence. "Exactly. Because their magic isn't strong enough to keep anyone out."

"But if that's the case," Landon interrupts, "Why did Azalea have to let us through it?"

"I don't think she did. When she was here, she told us all about how their magic is fading and it's so bad more people are being born unable to manifest than those that can. I don't think she meant to reveal that much, but when I think about it—if there isn't even enough magic to keep full-blooded shifters shifting, how strong can their protections be? I think she had us meet her so she could keep up the fa?ade of her own power. Not that she doesn't have power, but she's their pack witch, beholden by contract to protect them. If they found out that we just crossed the border with no problem at all, it would have been even worse for her. We still don't even know what they've done, or are doing to her, since she helped us."

It's quiet again while everyone mulls over that last bit.

"So…" Jared asks, "You're just going to march in and demand to throw down with their alpha, and you think no one will stop you?"

"No, in fact, I expect him to throw everything he has at me before we get to his place. I'm hoping that if I put out word requesting volunteers, we'll have a decent crowd to deflect any resistance we encounter. We just need help to clear a path to Nielsen, and then the rest is on me."

Dom clears his throat. "And let's say you defeat him; what happens then? If Derrek doesn't shift, he can't claim the position as alpha and you can't break the curse."

" When I defeat him, that will make me alpha of the Montrose pack. You see now? Derrek doesn't have to manifest and become the alpha for me to mate; if I claim the spot of alpha, that automatically unites the two packs, and that should end the curse. And whether or not he shifts, when I claim him under the lunar eclipse, he will become one of my mates. So either way, we reach the same result."

The deafening silence returns as Dom, Roxanne, and my three mates mull over what I said. My appetite has returned with a vengeance, so I take advantage of their stunned silence to focus on stuffing my face.

"Dom, she's right," Roxanne says slowly. "Assuming she's correct about their barrier, if she can get in and defeat Nielsen, that meets all the same requirements as if she went the other way around, plus it doesn't matter if Derrek is a wolf. So in fact, this is a more foolproof plan."

My uncle stares grimly at my beta for a long, protracted moment, then turns to me with a sigh. "So, when do you want to launch this attack?"

"Tomorrow night," I reply confidently. "Billy said Nielsen's almost had it with Derrek being unable to shift, and he won't let him live if he doesn't. We can't afford to wait any longer. My plan is for all of us to roll into Montrose about ten minutes to midnight. It's only a couple of minutes in a car to get through the town and turn on the drive to Nielsen's house; I suspect that's where we'll encounter our first resistance, and at that point, it'll be midnight and we can shift."

"That doesn't exactly give us much time to recruit volunteers. How were you planning on spreading the word?"

"Well, we're the midnight wolves of smoky falls, right? So I'm going to tell the pack at the run tonight, and let them know to spread the word."

LANDON

After how she reacted to the call from Billy, and then how she hid the rest of the day, I was honestly relieved to see my mate march down the stairs energetically and start barking orders.

But despite my confidence in her abilities as an alpha, this plan of hers scares the shit out of me.

It goes against every instinct in my body to know she's going to run straight into danger and challenge an absolute psychopath to a fight. Jared said she barely kept that low-ranking female at bay, and it's a safe assumption that Nielsen will be a good deal tougher.

If he weren't, he wouldn't still be the alpha.

And as we trudged into the trees last night and stood beside Lily while she made her announcement, I could see discomfort and concern in the way the pack moved and their eyes darted around. Lily refused to order them to do this; she wanted them to choose on their own, and she said as much. I hope with every fiber of my being that she's instilled the confidence they were missing back in this pack. It'll be a real blow if only a handful of people show up.

This morning, following the announcement, we all kick it into high gear. Dom reached out to his contacts in Montrose and let them know the plan. He says he's not sure how they took it but he hopes they'll join us when the time comes, or at the very least not stand in our way. They agreed to think about it and that's all the promise we receive.

So now it's seven pm and we're waiting outside the community center to see how many people turn up for this little road trip. It's absolutely freezing out, so we're sitting in our cars with the engines running. Maxwell volunteered to drive the four of us, since he plans to take part in the attack, anyway. Most of the household staff volunteered, including Mrs. Dowling and Mr. Carson. Thankfully, Lily found a way to ask the older staff to stay back while making it sound incredibly important—yet another example of how adept she is as an alpha.

So we have a handful of vehicles rumbling in the darkness and exhaling steady streams of ghostly exhaust in the parking lot lights. I glance aside at Lily and she's staring out her window, knee twitching while she chews her nails.

I reach a hand across the seat to save her poor fingers. "It'll be alright," I try to sound confident. "They'll come."

She squeezes my hand and smiles back at me gratefully. "I know. And even if it's not a lot, it'll work. I just can't help wondering what it means if no one comes."

"Nothing, because they're going to show up." Jared leans forward from the third row and rests his chin on the back of our seat. "It's barely after seven and you gave them until seven twenty. Don't work yourself up for no reason, gorgeous. If you need a distraction, I have some jokes-"

"NO!" The three of us thunder at him simultaneously, and Milo bursts out laughing. "I told you, man, you're wearing out your welcome with those jokes. Not every occasion is a laughing matter."

"Says the hyena," Jared grumbles.

"I'm just not in the mood for jokes right now, handsome. I'm sorry." Lily pats Jared's cheek with one hand, and his disgruntled expression melts immediately.

We go back to waiting in silence, and Lily checks the time on her phone every thirty seconds.

After another long stretch of nothing, she sighs. "Surely someone would be here by now, wouldn't they? I mean, it's only five minutes before we're supposed to roll out."

I'm actually getting nervous myself, but my mate doesn't need my doubts right now. "They'll show, Lily. They're your pack, and they love you."

She nods in agreement, but her lips thin as her eyes scan the side streets around the parking lot.

"There's someone!" Jared practically shouts in my ear, and we track the single vehicle as it turns into the lot and heads straight for us.

No one says anything, but we're all thinking it: Just one car?

The SUV pulls alongside Maxwell, who lowers his window while the passenger in the other vehicle does the same.

"Hey guys!" Amber's voice sings out through the car. "Everyone's already lined up and ready to go on main, just waiting for you to lead us!"

My heart jumps… how many people is ‘everyone'?

"Everyone?" Lily asks, echoing my thoughts as she leans forward to talk.

"Yeah, pretty much the whole town showed, like, mega early. It was too many cars to fit the lot and more just kept coming, so we told everyone to line up or we'd never get out of here on time. I suppose we should have said something, sorry. We just wanted to be ready."

"That's… wow, Amber, that's great, thank you."

The passenger window next to me rolls down, so I lower mine as well.

Savannah beams at us from the crammed backseat. "Hey guys! She's not kidding; aside from, like, my grandma, the entire pack is waiting. We actually had to tell Mimi to stay home. She wanted to go too. Dad had to remind her about her hip, and then it became this whole thing-ouch! What was that for?" She turns angrily on the person sitting next to her.

"They don't need to hear about your Mimi's hip, Savannah. We gotta go." Brad, one of Jared's teammates from the football team, pokes his head around Savannah's bushy hair from the middle seat. "You guys ready? We'll lead you over."

"Yeah, sounds great thanks!" Lily leans across me. "Maxwell, just follow their car."

Justin's SUV pulls ahead and we fall in line with the rest of the household vehicles behind us, windows rising to stop the flood of cold air pouring in.

"Do you think it's really the whole town?" Lily asks, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Of course we do," Jared answers for all of us. "I told you, nothing to worry about."

"We all knew people would show," Milo asserts.

There's a nervous electricity in the air as we drive through the dark, sleepy town. Not a car on the street except ours, every house and business dark as we pass.

Then, we turn onto Main.

My breath is in my throat, and I'm just praying the girls hadn't exaggerated. The major thoroughfare of Smoky Falls is well lit by golden streetlights, so of course it's the brightest spot in town. Lily and I lean in to see around the front seats and I give her hand another encouraging squeeze.

Ahead, for what seems like miles, are glowing red tail lights lining the road on either side.

Lily squeezes my hand back, nearly crushing my fingers in her excitement. My heart starts pumping with renewed energy; there must be hundreds of cars; I can't even see to the end.

As soon as we pass the first pair of cars they honk excitedly, and as we roll past, more and more vehicles join the din, until it's a deafening roar that reminds me of the cell phones at our nightly runs.

Jared crows in the back seat, and Lily's eyes dart between the three of us, an expression of utter amazement on her face.

I have no doubts now; we're going to take Montrose by storm and no one will stop us until we reach Nielsen's front door.

And then it'll be entirely up to one eighteen-year-old girl, my mate, to change the world as we know it.