Chapter 2

Adrian’s POV

Silence fell over the room as we entered. Without word, Isla moved to stand in the corner by the door.

I scanned the room to see wolves adjusting their posture, which clearly had been defensive and combative before I arrived. Gideon was red in the face.

It was so rare to see him lose his composure. I would have to remind him what it means to be a Beta. Our enemies weren’t in this room, they were holding his sister captive. Internal fighting would do us no good.

The next hour consisted of updates regarding Tessa’s whereabouts and the movements of the Lycan’s outside their compound.

There were reports from our spies indicating Tessa was still alive. A female wolf matching her description was causing a riot in her cell. Sounded like Tessa to me.

This information was good, she was alive. It comforted Gideon enough for him to settle into silence, but he was clearly fuming.

We went over countless tactics to remove Tessa and hit nothing but walls of uncertainty. The unfortunate truth was there was no clean way to rescue her.

We had minimal information about the inside of the Lycan camp. No maps to help us navigate us to where she would be inside. We’d be going in blind with no idea of how to get to her or what it would require to get her out.

Storming the Lycan’s home base with brute force meant certain bloodshed. The life of one wolf did not justify the loss of many in attempt to save her.

This was something Tessa understood before she accepted her mission. She wouldn’t want any more of us to risk our lives for her sake, especially her brother.

The mission was high risk, high reward. But that also comes with the understanding of the reverse side. I knew deep down Gideon understood this too.

He was likely struggling so much because he was to terms with knowing he will probably not see his sister again.

This weighed heavily on me as wolf after wolf volunteered to for the rescue attempt.

“I accept the probability of failure Alpha, allow me to go anyway.” One young wolf, Thomas, said. He was of low rank and status but he excelled in combat training.

If my memory served me, Thomas had a soft spot for Tessa. Often requesting more training time with her. Now he wanted to save her life.

“Thomas, I honor your noble offer but to risk the lives of more wolves to rescue one is not justifiable.” I said. Gideon didn’t move. His eyes didn’t raise from the spot on the table where he had them focused.

This was the part of being Alpha no one wanted. Where the difficult decisions made hurt those you cared about. But I couldn’t operate from a place of personal feelings. I had to make choices that served the pack.

I felt Isla’s gaze burning a hole in my side. I didn’t need to look at her know what she was thinking.

“Alpha, there is an option that risks far less bloodshed. Please consider it.” She piped up. I should have ordered her to stay quiet.

No one acknowledged her right away. The eyes in the room fell to me to see what I would do to the slave who spoke unprompted. I glared at Isla. She didn’t break my hold.

“What is this idea?” An elder asked. His question cut through the tension.

Isla didn’t respond. She waited for me. I took a breath. “There is an option to send someone who may be able to get through the boundary. But once inside, the same problems arise. We don’t know what to expect.” I said.

Whispers went through the room. The council put together the idea quickly.

“Sending a traitor to rescue one of our own? Preposterous.” One elder exclaimed.

“She’ll use this to betray us again.” Said another.

Similar statements continued to be thrown out. Finally it was Gideon who spoke.

“If Tessa is already doomed, then why not send the traitor? If she tried to provide them with information, there’s no guarantee they’d believe her. If they killed her, then at least it’s not one of us.” Gideon said, in a flat tone.

I leaned over the table, pressing my hands to the surface in thought.

“Clear the room.” I said. “First ranks remain.” Immediately chairs pushed back and wolves took their leave, unhappily.

I looked up from the table to see Isla, unsure of if she should stay. She looked to me with question in her face, I simply nodded. She stayed put.

The doors closed and the few remaining wolves in the room waited for me to continue.

“There will be precautions taken.” I started. “Getting in may be her advantage but getting out will not. We have to account for the obstacles she could face if she even makes it into the compound.”

There was so much room for error. Too much. Isla could be captured and thrown in a cell alongside Tessa. She could defect and betray us. She could be discovered as a double agent and killed.

I felt my blood race as I went over the possibilities. This was not a good plan, but it was the best of our bad ideas.

“She’ll depart in two days. I’ll train her for the mission and fit her with a tracking device.” I looked to her. “She will be monitored every moment.”

Isla didn’t react. I’m sure she wasn’t surprised by that.

“Report any updates from our spies to me immediately. Training will begin now.” I stated.

Gideon and the other high ranking wolves stood. I took Gideon aside and ordered him to prepare a few more things for me.

He nodded and quickly took off. As the room emptied, I stood facing Isla. Her expression looked as if she was trying to mask her nerves.

I wasn’t sure how this mission would pan out. There was much to gain and some to lose. We could retrieve Tessa without losing any more of our pack. If Isla does this successfully…perhaps she isn’t the traitor I think she is.

Isla’s POV

The council meeting ended and Adrian led us out. I thought we’d be going to the training grounds since he said he’d be starting right way, but he led us to his office.

Once inside he sat me down in the chairs away from his desk. He paced a bit without speaking. I rarely saw Adrian nervous, but I could tell whatever internal conflict he had was pulling him in different directions.

He seemingly made a decision and went to a storage closet attached to his office. From memory I knew it was where they kept filing cabinet, important documents and items. He rusted around inside for a few minutes.

He returned with a cardboard tube. He popped the lid off the tube and pulled a large rolled up sheet. A map. He spread it out over the small coffee table, the edges of it falling over the sides of the table.

This map was clearly old. It was of a mountainous region with names that had since been updated.The paper was yellowed and had a musky smell to it.

“What is this?” I asked

“This is the map we recovered from your parents after…” He said grimly. He didn’t need to finish his sentence.

“I’ve never seen this before. Where did you find it?” I said.

For once, he didn’t argue with me. I expected to him to jab me with a comment about lying or already knowing of this map. But he did not.

“This is how we found the Lycan’s compound after their attack.” He explained.

For about 40 minutes Adrian went over the map with me, penciling in updated names, roads and developments. The Lycan’s lived deep into the mountains. Getting there would be a feat itself.

The forest was dense, there would not be clear trails or paths to follow. As a human, it would be daunting, but as a wolf it was a place we didn’t need to conceal ourselves.

After Adrian and I went over the map, he moved into the telling me more history of the Lycan’s. Growing up, we had all heard the same stories. Lycan’s were savage, had no respect for human life and lived only to serve themselves.

“There is information passed from Alpha to Alpha that isn’t widely shared in today’s times.” Adrian said.

“They historically enslaved humans and forced them to mate in the past in order to produce more children. Those humans would be used until they died or could no longer produce offspring.” He said.

I shuddered at the thought. This could be Tessa’s fate if I didn’t get her out. She had already been a victim of the Lycan’s once. They had dumped her and our other female pack members, dead and half dead, at our border to send us a message. I couldn’t imagine the reality of those they kept.