Page 148 of Mate
“It’s the same strategy Constantine used,” he says.
“Target the Alpha and the closest seconds,” Amanda recites. “When the pack is trying to regroup, they work their way down.”
“They don’t have the insiders they had back then,” Mai points out. “Or the manpower.”
“The attack might not be as widespread,” Amanda agrees, “but if something happens to Koen?”
“That wouldn’t be ideal. There’s always a slew of cumballs with no leadership experience who decide to try the challenge at the worst possible time.” Koen leans against the counter and stares into the middle distance. “It’s not enough, getting Irene. We need to make sure that no Were related to the cult remains free. Otherwise, two years from now some fuckwaffle who happens to be Constantine’s third cousin will be back with some shitty claim and rile up all the other fuckwaffles.”
“What are the chances that the Human girl is lying about the weapons?” Jorma asks.
“None,” Koen says. “She adores Serena and wants to see her safe.”
“Easiest solution,” Elle says, “would be to lure as many of them as possible somewhere where we can easily neutralize them. Maybe we could feed them false information that we’re gathering for a leadership meeting.”
“We don’t know the extent of their weapons,” Koen points out. “Last time we underestimated them, and you know what happened.”Wemeaning his parents.What happenedmeaning mine.
“And would Irene be that easy to fool?” Colin asks.
Slowly, Koen shakes his head. “She’s deluded but not stupid. She believed that Serena would side with her over the Northwest, and that was shortsighted of her. She won’t make the same mistake twice.”
“Could we use Jess to plant false information?”
Pavel shakes his head. “She’s not being cooperative.”
“We could still use her as bait.”
“Irene doesn’t give a single fuck about her,” Amanda says.
“She cares about me, though.” It’s the first time I speak in the meeting. Everyone turns to me, and it’s like a floodlight right in my face. “I’m her niece. Constantine’s daughter.” It’s not news to anyone, but some seconds lower their eyes, like the reminder is hard to swallow. I don’t blame them one bit. “I’d be bait worth her while. I could set up a meeting with her, tell her that I changed my mind about the Favored.”
“She won’t buy it,” Amanda says. “You clearly made your choice.”
“She might even know that we’re using you to lure her there, and turn it against us,” Mai adds.
And they’re right. However. “What iftheywere to usemeas bait?” The question gets me lots of confused stares. A couple of skepticalI think the halfling is slowglances are exchanged. “Irene wants Koen gone,” I explain. “She knows that Koen will come for me if I’m taken, because he already has. She knows that he’ll bring several of his seconds with him, too. It’s the ideal scenario for her.”
Silence. Amanda squints. “I’m not sure I follow?”
“If Irene had me at her disposal right now, she would use me to lure the Northwest leadership to a place where she could easily dispose of you. So let her do that. Let her think that she’s ambushing us, whileweare ambushingher. Like you said, her manpower is limited. She’s going to have to use all her resources on the ambush— ”
“And have none left to pay attention to us.” Saul nods slowly. “This isn’t a bad idea.”
“It isn’t,” Elle concedes. “Except for the small detail that Serena isnotwith Irene.”
“That might be easy to fix,” Amanda says, sounding on board. “Nele told us where the hideouts are. We could parade Serena near one, someone would snatch her to please Mother Irene, and then— ”
“Enough.”
The entire room falls quiet. Every second’s gaze slips down to their toes, like they’re children being collectively reprimanded for not flushing the toilet.
I guess this is the effect it has— the Alpha’s voice. Except, Amanda’s eyes bounce back up. It doesn’t surprise me— I’ve always felt that there was something sturdier about her relationship with Koen, something that comes from her being his closest friend. Maybe that’s why she’s the one with the guts to push against him. “Koen, this is not some dumbfinal girlrunning upstairsplan. Serena knows that Irene is unlikely to harm her. She’s too important to the cult.”
“Can you guarantee it?”
Amanda looks away, but mutters, “I can’t guarantee anything. I can’t guarantee that Irene’s weapons secretly aren’t embalmed gerbils. But I can make an educated guess.”
“No, you can’t. Not in my pack.” Koen’s voice is harsh, and a hollow, terrible silence follows, in which everyone, including Amanda, performs one of those weird eye genuflections.
