Chapter 111

Alyson

I have had this weird knot in my stomach since I laid down to take a nap. I finally let go of Ryan, too conflicted to fall asleep in his arms and force him to stay there holding me. He is still the Alpha of this pack; he has a lot of responsibilities to tend to that don't only include the pampering of his mate.

He watches me as I drift asleep, pacing the bedroom anxiously. I know he is in my mind, tethered to the mind link and focused on my thoughts and my dreams. He doesn't want me to fall asleep upset. I know he loves me enough to want me to sleep well, without nightmare.

I'm jolted awake by the doors being thrown open to the bedroom, splinters flying through the room until everything stills for just a moment. Dust fills the air while I spring up, seeing Ryan already shifted into his wolf, stalking toward me protectively. I cough slightly, trying to fan the air free of the dust, only to see a large, familiar wolf creeping into the room.

Ryan howls a noise, alerting everyone in the palace of the intruder into our suite. That's when Olivera attacks, pouncing forward and clashing with Ryan right in the middle of the room. I want to step in and break them apart, but I am far too afraid to do so, worried I'll be bit in the squabble of Alphas.

"Stop it!" I snap, throwing a lamp toward the rogue, hoping it somehow defers his attention long enough to be stopped by my mate. Instead it shatters at his feet and Olivera turns toward me for a second, snapping in the air at me, like a warning. "Stop, please, let's just talk about—"

The rogue Alpha lunges toward me, pinning me backwards under his hefty paws. My wolf is exhausted from the last few days still so I have to refrain from shifting and wearing her out completely. Instead I hold my hands up in mock surrender, looking to Ryan who is ready to bite into the rogue's neck and end this ordeal.

I want this to end for good, not just for now, I hum into my mate's mind-link.

Watching Olivera snap in my face, his wolf grows impatient to kill. What are you talking about, darling? I will end him for good, I swear.

I want to help the rogues, that is how we end this.

Rolling his eyes, Ryan shifts back, facing Olivera with his fists clenched at his sides. "Dammit, Olivera, cut this shit out, now! I am going to help you take down the elders but I will not do so if you don't get the hell off my mate!"

Olivera's wolf gives us a narrow, suspect look. He finally shifts, laying over me naked and sporting an obnoxious, snarky grin. "We can return to this later, sweetheart."

I shove him backwards and he obliges, standing off of me and instead facing my mate, both of them sizing each other up like bullies on a playground. I force myself off the floor, sore and feeling my heart dare to race straight out of my chest.

"Ryan is the one who rescued the Wilshire rogues," I say, brushing the dust off my shorts. "He said we can work to do it again, to help more escape, but we won't do it with you fighting us constantly."

"You don't understand what this war entails," Olivera snarls, facing Ryan. "You're a posh little Alpha, in his posh little palace," he adds, glancing once over his shoulder toward me, "with a pretty little Luna to sport on your hip. You don't know the first thing about taking revenge on the elders over their atrocities."

"Then tell me what your plan is," Ryan says, crossing his arms over his broad chest. The warriors have begun stacking into a deep crowed outside the suite doors and if he wanted, Ryan could easily have Olivera dragged back to his cell. "As it stands, your outnumbered, rogue. And you're not exactly on a playing field you're familiar with. If I were you, I would sit still and take notes on how this entire war is going to go down."

Olivera smiles crookedly. "Alrighty then, enlighten me, lover boy."

I notice the flicker of anger that crosses Ryan's features. I am proud to see him suppress it so well when I know he would love nothing more than to tear into the rouge Alpha and have him slaughtered. He waves off the warriors and notions to sit on the couch nearby, although it's covered in the dust from the doors being taken down in Olivera's hasty entrance.

"Darling, why don't you go downstairs for some supper," Ryan says, smiling toward me.

I dare to stay behind, but my wolf is anxious and uncomfortable in this room right now. I agree to distracting myself for now and decide to go downstairs with the warriors. I make my way into the dining room, empty and quiet. The chef gives me a brief wave on his way into the kitchen; Ryan must have warned him I was coming for a meal.

My mind and thoughts are running a million miles an hour, forced with the idea I may have to see a lot of Olivera as this war becomes more complicated. I don't want the elders to get hurt, but to think of them going after innocent rogues, it makes me feel less bad if there happens to be any injuries or casualties.

The chef offers me a soup that smells of butternut squash or pumpkin. Either way, I give him my thanks and pick at my dinner intermittently until it gets cold. I fear the outcome of things if the elders take on a fight with our pack. I don't want anyone in this pack to be injured, or even threatened, but I have to accept the possibilities of it.

When I finally push away my bowl, a new scent prods my mind and when I look up, I notice a slender rogue with cyan eyes and a cocky, overdone smirk across his features.