Page 353 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha
I expected her to ask why I wanted to try this, but she only nodded and stepped back immediately. There were no questions, just an acceptance of my plans.
“I’ll try speaking with some of the Garou to see if they know an alternate route to Troy’s hideout,” Bryn said.
“Got it. If I can’t convince him, you can do it your way,” I said.
“I know,” she replied. “But I don’t think I’ll need to after you’re done with him.”
Her words warmed my heart and made me smile. “Guess I better make you proud, then.”
I left Bryn and the others behind and went in the direction of Cat and Leo. I found them standing near a small cabin and talking in hushed whispers. But when they noticed me headed their way, they fell silent. Cat stepped away from the cabin first.
She held her hand out to stop me. “He’s not in the mood to hear you try and change his mind, Alpha Night. It would be better if you turned around and?—”
“I can’t afford to turn around, Cat,” I said. “I need to talk to him.”
She crossed her arms. “Well, you’ll have to get past me to do it.”
I shook my head. “A fight is the last thing either of us want. Especially when it’s obvious to me that you want to help us.”
She pursed her lips. “I hate that it’s so obvious. Of course I want to help you get that bastard, but my loyalty is to Leo.”
“I know. Any beta should have her alpha’s back no matter what, but a beta isn’t a bodyguard, Cat. I’m not going to hurt him. I won’t threaten him. I just want to talk. That’s all.”
She chewed the inside of her lip, debating. After a few moments, she sighed. “Ugh, fine. But I’m going to stay close by. And if you break your word, you’ll have to answer to me.”
“I know that’s not an empty threat.”
As I approached Leo, he turned his head. “Whatever you said to Cat, don’t think you can repeat the same shit with me.”
“You won’t listen to what I have to say?”
“No. It won’t matter. My word is final.”
“If it doesn’t matter, then why not listen? Or are you worried that what I have to say will get to you?”
He frowned at me and then averted his gaze. “You can say whatever you want. It won’t change my mind.”
“I understand your fears, Leo. You’re still a new alpha and want to do what’s best for your people, especially after the massive losses you’ve suffered. You need help getting back on your feet, not getting involved with someone else’s fight. But isolating yourself from other packs makes things harder for you, not easier. For years, I had a single-minded focus to take care of my pack alone. To not reach out for help, to not open my mind tomaking connections with others. It wasn’t until recently that I realized how wrong I was.”
Leo raised his chin. “It’s worked for us thus far. Until your problems spilled into our laps.”
“I get that. I won’t make excuses, and I won’t give you my life story just to earn your empathy. That’s not what I’m appealing to right now. What I’m telling you is that helping us is the best, most logical course of action for everyone. Banding together, sharing resources—that’s what we need to do to ensure our survival. Staying apart is what allowed Troy and Gregor to become so strong. If we don’t all help each other now, Troy will just kill and ruin yet another generation of wolves.”
He glared at me, but I knew my words had struck something inside him. He wasn’t turned away from me anymore. It looked like he was actually considering what I’d had to say.
“I need to talk to Cat about this,” he said.
“Of course. Take the time you need.” I nodded to Cat, and she took my place.
While they spoke, I returned to Bryn. She and Tavi were speaking to three Garou wolves.
“Hey,” Bryn said. “Mariah, Ryan, and Nick just told us that they might know an alternate route. The cavern I was talking about could be part of a cave system up north.”
Nick nodded. “It’s not that far from where we grew up. A bunch of us used to play in those caves years ago.”
I blinked, surprised that she’d gotten the information so quickly. "Are you sure that we’re talking about the same caves?”
The three Garou wolves shrugged. “I guess it’s impossible to say for sure without seeing them,” Mariah said. “But we stopped playing in those caves when we found strange carvings on the wall and remnants of fire.”
