Chapter 33

Chapter Thirty-Three

Lilliana

They knew we were coming long before we arrived in Montrose.

It's easy to tell; we don't encounter a single car on our drive through town, and while it's pretty late, there are still bars with glowing neon open signs in the windows that we pass.

But no people.

I can only assume they've pulled back to protect the alpha, and are waiting for us somewhere ahead in the dark.

Our long line of vehicles trails into town like a gas-powered snake, and at the point we selected this morning, we pull off on the shoulder and park. The cars behind us split, lining the road on both sides to unload their passengers.

It's even colder now than when we left; heat rises from our bodies and my breath makes dense white clouds with each exhale. The guys gather around me and we wait for our pack to close in on foot. In the distance, cars are still parking, tiny figures running up to join the massive crowd that pushes forward.

My heart feels like a hummingbird in my throat. Even though I know this is what I need to do, it's hard to put so many of my pack in danger to achieve it.

But the alpha draws strength from her pack. And Harridans have sacrificed for Smoky Falls for generations, shouldering the brunt of the curse that was laid upon us all.

The gathered people wait, watching me expectantly, and I know I need to tell them what I'm thinking.

"Thank you all for coming with me tonight," I start tremulously, my voice fragile and weak.

Milo slips his hand around mine and squeezes in encouragement. I clear my throat and try again.

"We're here tonight to take back our freedom. Generations ago, the founders of the Montrose Pack decided they no longer wanted to be part of Smoky Falls. Instead of simply leaving, they left a curse on our entire pack. Not only did they prevent us from freely shifting as we used to, but they forced the Harridans, my predecessors, to carry a heavy burden. Upon becoming alpha, I found out that any alpha is required to return to Smoky Falls before 24 hours passes or face immediate death."

There's dead silence as the pack listens, and I draw in a deep breath. Jared wraps an arm around my shoulder and rubs my arm.

"My mother left before that became her curse, and many blamed her for it. I recently discovered she did that with intent; not to run away and save herself, but to return with an heir who would reunite the packs and end the curse for good. An heir who didn't grow up knowing about the curse, who could believe in the reunification with the descendants of those who'd hurt us so long ago."

A rumble of surprise runs through the crowd now, people glancing at each other and whispering in response. I forge on.

"So tonight I'm here to do exactly that. I've come to challenge the Montrose alpha, hoping we can put an end to this pain and start a new chapter for everyone. I've asked you to come because I need your help. My strength as an alpha comes from the pack. And the alpha protects the pack, but sometimes the pack protects the alpha. I need you to help me get past the Montrose pack so I can confront their alpha and issue him a challenge directly. I don't know what this fight will be like; I ask you not to use more force than you have to. Don't forget that these people are still family, removed by a few generations, but family by blood nonetheless. Defend yourselves, but don't hurt anyone if you can help it."

I falter, not sure how to end this part explanation, part motivational speech.

Milo squeezes my hand, then steps forward. "My mate didn't grow up here. She wasn't raised alongside us, calling Smoky Falls home from birth the way we did. She suffered a loss most of us will never understand when her parents died. And she came here a stranger, ignorant to the inheritance she was about to receive."

My blood races through my veins… this hardly sounds good, and I have no idea where he's trying to go with calling me an ignorant outsider.

"But she's shouldered the burden that fell on her as if she'd been raised to be our alpha. Despite all the trials she's faced, my mate has never backed down, never given up, and never stopped hoping that there was light at the end of this tunnel for all of us. We have the opportunity to walk through that tunnel, reach the light together, and restore our pack to the family it was always meant to be. We're here tonight because of my mate," he glances back and Landon and Jared, " our mate, Lilliana Harridan!"

The still-growing crowd is silent for half a heartbeat, and then a roar, like an ocean wave of sound, rises from them. Cheers and whistles and clapping and joyful shouts. Two separate chants begin, one group shouting ‘Har-ri-dan! Har-ri-dan!' and the other calling ‘Smoky Falls! Smoky Falls!'

Blood rushes in my ears, and my body relaxes even as I realize the smile on my face is so wide my cheeks are hurting.

"You see, gorgeous?" Jared leans in and speaks loud enough for me to hear over the din. "They're all here for you."

"They love you, just like I said," Landon adds before kissing my cheek.

I can feel my pulse in every inch of my body. It's as if my heart has synced to the chanting, and I can't seem to separate myself from the crowd. We're one and the same now.

After a few more moments, I raise my arms and lower them slowly, and the pack understands, quieting their voices to hear me. "The alpha house is a straight shot up this road. I don't know how much resistance we'll meet or when, so be on your guard, and let's go!"

With another roar, they surge forward, and I turn and start walking with my mates. Quickly, many familiar faces join our line as we march up the street. Dom and Roxanne; Savannah and Brad, the boy who sat next to her in the car on the way here; Justin and Amber; more members of Jared's football team, staff from Harridan house, and lots of people—whose faces I recognize but names I don't know—crowd around us.

The energy is like a living connection to all of them. It bolsters me, filling me with power like a bright light that radiates out from me to each of them. I can't touch them with my alpha senses off of our pack land, but this is almost the same thing; I feel them, every one of them, deep in my core somehow.

Now out of the main part of town, the street grows darker, the street lamps fewer and farther in between. Our crowd has quieted somewhat, but it's not as if we're stealthy; it's still a complete ruckus.

The guys have assumed the ‘flying V' position we walked in at the outset of classes, what seems like eons ago now. It was just a few weeks, but feels like an absolute lifetime since I first manifested. Back when Amber was my enemy, and I barely understood what I'd fallen into as the Harridan heir. I wish I had something to say, something special for each of them, but it's as if my words have dried up; I can't force a thought from my brain to my tongue to save my life.

We turn a slight corner, and finally I can see the alpha house ahead. It's lit up like a prison complex, floodlights glaring over every square inch of the house and property within the tall green hedges that stretch down the drive. Dozens and dozens of people stand in the drive, filling the road up to the house as far as the hedges reach.

Blocking the road between us and them stands the rest of the Montrose pack.

JARED

The energy rolling off the mob ahead of us is like a brick wall in front of an ocean wave. Smoky Falls is flooding down this road and Montrose is formed up, waiting to break us.

My muscles tighten and flex, adrenaline coursing through my blood as I size them up. No matter what happens, we have to get Lily through that crowd and face to face with the Montrose alpha. Milo, Landon, and I all agreed that is our one job—to protect her at all costs. We have the pack, but ultimately it's our responsibility to be her last line of defense.

So when we're scarcely ten yards from the front of their line, we come to a stop and size up our opponents.

Their faces are mainly in shadow; they've stopped just beyond the pale ring of light from the streetlamp, and we're on the other side.

Without a word, Lily steps forward into the pool of light, and the guys and I move forward with her.

"If you don't know already, I'm Lilliana Harridan," she begins in a clear, powerful voice. "I'm the alpha of the Smoky Falls pack, heir to a legacy I knew nothing about a few months ago. My mother left Smoky Falls and raised me in the human world, hoping when I returned I'd be able to reunite our packs and restore the unity we had before.

"I don't know what your leaders told you, but I'm not here with ill intent. Your alpha came to Smoky Falls and claimed one of my mates as his son and heir. It was through him that my mother hoped I'd join the packs. But your alpha intends to kill him if he's unable to manifest as a wolf. From what I understand, he has some pretty terrible methods for getting the results he wants."

Low murmurs rumble through the opposing pack, but no one speaks out.

Lilliana continues. "I've come to claim my mate, and challenge your alpha, if I must, in order to save us all. If you feel you have to fight for your pack, believe me, I understand. I won't hold it against you. Just know that my only fight is with Avery Nielsen. If you step aside and let us pass, we will not harm you."

The shocked whispers fly around us when Lily reveals that Derrek's her fourth mate. We've digested the idea, but it's obviously quite the surprise to everyone else.

The talking eventually quiets down, and we wait in a silence so tense it prickles on my skin.

Finally, one man steps forward from the Montrose crowd: Jeff, the guy who was a friend of Dom's that insisted Lily fight him to earn her respect.

"Our pack has been slowly dying for decades, and our alpha's methods to save it have grown detrimental to the wellbeing of our families. More people leave now than stay; we're in danger of not even existing in another decade or two." Murmurs of assent rise from the crowd behind him.

"We're not here to fight you. We aren't able to help you, but we won't stand in your way. The alpha has a couple hundred wolves who are loyal, who will fight you, and they're waiting for you already. We wish you strength and success in your challenge."

With an incline of his head, he steps aside, and the crowd parts down the middle as if by some invisible cue.

Fully lit thanks to the floodlights, the faces of our opponents are clearly furious at this unexpected betrayal. It's plain as day they expected the people now standing aside to take the bulk of the attack, and their emotions roll over their faces.

To my complete surprise, the waiting Montrose loyalists drop to their knees and start shifting, apparently unable to help themselves in the face of such powerful emotions.

Suddenly, we're a group of unarmed humans, facing down a pack of slavering, snarling wolves.

And then, as if it's the ringing of an angel's bell from on high, a cell phone alarm goes off.