Page 106 of Alpha Queen
"Twenty-three," Vanessa said. "Mostly the younger ones. Or the ones with someone they are looking after. The rest..." She gestured vaguely toward the main hall where nearly sixty rogues had gathered. "They want to fight."
"They'll die."
"They know that." Vanessa moved closer, her bright eyes studying his face. "But they believe in what Titan started. Or at least, what he promised."
Kane ran a hand over his face, the dried blood from his earlier confrontation cracked at his touch. "So did I. Once."
A commotion from the hallway drew their attention. Two guards appeared, half-dragging a third between them. Blood soaked through the wounded man's shirt, spreading across his abdomen in a crimson stain.
"What happened?" Kane demanded.
"Alpha from the Western Pack," one of the guards explained, helping lower the injured man to a chair. "He found a weak spot in the fence. Joryn intercepted him, but..."
"But he's an Alpha, and I'm not," Joryn finished through gritted teeth, his face pale with pain. "He would have killed me if Ramirez hadn't pulled me back."
Kane cursed under his breath. It was starting already. The perimeter was failing, and soon the compound would be overrun with vengeful Alphas hunting for Titan and anyone who stood with him, whether the ones in charge told them to or not.
"We need to evacuate now," Vanessa urged. "While we still can."
Kane shook his head. "They've surrounded us. I don't even know how we'd get everyone out now."
Dammit. He shouldn't have waited for Titan. He should have started getting people out as soon as they found out River was gone.
His wolf growled. No run. Fight.
We fight, we die, idiot.
"The tunnels," said Vanessa.
"Won't get us far enough," Kane interrupted. "And they'll hunt down every last one of us as soon as they figure out we're gone."
Vanessa's perfectly composed façade cracked slightly, revealing fear. "Then what do we do?"
Kane stared at the wounded rogue, and the blood pooling under his chair, at the faces of the guards who looked to him for leadership now that Titan was incapacitated. These weren't hardened criminals or bloodthirsty killers. They were outcasts. Wolves rejected by their packs. If they ran, they died. If they stayed, they died. There was only one choice left...
"We negotiate," Kane said, the words sounding strange on his tongue. He'd always been a fighter, not a diplomat.
Vanessa stared at him. "With who? The Alphas out there want our heads."
"Not with them," Kane replied. "With the kings."
"The kings?" Vanessa laughed. "They're the last people who would listen to us. We kidnapped their mate."
Kane shook his head. "Titan kidnapped their mate. And now Titan is unconscious, and I'm in charge." He paced the length of the office, his mind racing. "River is likely with them now. They'll be focused on her safety, not revenge."
"You're delusional," Vanessa said, but there was a hint of consideration in her voice. "They'll never agree to talk."
"They might," Kane insisted. "If we offer them what they want."
"And what's that?"
"Titan." The word hung in the air between them. "In exchange, we ask for amnesty for the others. The ones who weren't directly involved in River's kidnapping."
Vanessa's eyes widened slightly. "You'd betray him?"
"He betrayed us first when he abandoned our cause for his obsession with River. When he chose greed over equality."
"Even if I agreed," Vanessa said, "how would we contact them? It's not like we can walk up to the fence and ask to speak with the kings."
