Page 84 of His Claim
“Exactly,” Varek said. “If either side wins, every human woman dies, and the wolves follow right after. There won’t be anyone left to rebuild anything, just a wasteland full of men clawing at each other.”
Soren looked around the circle. The firelight picked out the hard line of her jaw and caught the streaks of silver in her hair. “Then we can’t let either of the extreme sides win.”
“We have to work together to do that,” I said.
Rowan gave a slow nod. “If I understand the implications here, you’re proposing we pull the reasonable, un-crazy members of the Watch, the human Resistance, and the wolf Resistance together. One deadly coordinated strike against the insanity on both sides to save us all.”
“That’s the only way this ends,” I said. “Elsie’s gone to contact what’s left of the Watch that still listens to reason. If we can bring them here, we can make them see the truth. They’ll never get another chance to hit the Council from the inside and out.”
Silas’s golden eyes flicked to Soren. “You think that’ll give us the numbers to move on the city?”
Soren nodded. “Enough to cause trouble. Not enough to hold it. If we march down to the city from the north and the Watch comes through the tunnels, we can box the Council in. Cut off their supply lines, take the compounds, and free the breeding camps before they can dose anyone else.”
Lia leaned forward, her voice tight with anger. “We destroy the fertility drug, stop the serum, and get every woman out of those cages. Every single one.”
Rowan met Varek’s eyes across the fire. “If this works, we’ll save everyone. If it fails…”
Varek finished for him. “There won’t be anyone left.” He looked around the circle, at humans and wolves sitting shoulder to shoulder. “But this is what we’ve got. Three forces. One goal.”
Soren rose to her feet, the authority in her posture unmistakable. “Then it’s settled. At first light, we start laying the groundwork. I’ll send my scouts to find Elsie’s Watch contacts and bring them here. Then I’ll get my fighters ready to move through the western passes. Silas, gather your packs. When the Watch arrives, we’ll bring everyone up to speed and strike together.”
She looked down at me, her eyes fierce but kind. “You said you were the first to take that serum and survive. You’ll be our proof that humans and wolvescanfight side by side without losing themselves. The Council’s bred monsters out of all of us long enough.”
The fire flared as a gust of wind rolled through the camp, scattering sparks into the night. For the first time since the tunnels, I felt something larger than fear fill my chest: hope, thin but burning bright.
Varek reached down and set his hand on my shoulder. “We finish this,” he said. “Together.”
“Together,” I echoed, and around the circle heads began to nod—wolves and humans, soldiers and survivors, all bound together by the same fate.
Soren looked into the fire, her voice calm. “We’ve got one chance. Let’s make it count.”
CHAPTER 20
Mariah
After much conversation, the camp had quieted down. Varek and I updated the group of most aspects of our journey, leaving out the parts that made me blush the most, but there was no hiding the fact that I was his mate.
Both Kendra’s and Lia’s gazes met mine.
They already knew.
Now that the night had grown dark, wolves were bedding down or taking watch shifts along the perimeter, and the hum of human conversation had faded to a few quiet murmurs. The smoke climbed straight up into a sky dotted with stars so bright it felt like I could reach up and touch them.
Kendra and Lia kept close to me once Soren and the others had gone to coordinate plans and check maps. We found a smaller fire at the edge of camp, its coals still glowing a dull red. The three of us sat there for a long moment, saying nothing, lettingthe quiet settle around us. It had been forever since we’d been alone together, and we were savoring each moment.
Lia was the first to speak. “You two remember that night in our old apartment? When we swore that we’d run away and open a bakery somewhere?”
Kendra barked a laugh. “We couldn’t bake a thing that didn’t taste like burnt crackers. We’d have gone out of business in a week.”
I smiled, the memory sliding through me like a ghost. “You were the only ones who made me believe we could still dream about things like that.”
Lia’s grin faltered. “I still dream about it sometimes. But now I think maybe it wasn’t the bakery. Maybe it was just the idea that there could be a place where no one owned us.”
Kendra poked at the embers with a stick until sparks rose. “We’re close to that place now. We take the city, we stop the Council, and no one ever locks us up again.” Her voice was fierce, but there was a tremor under it.
I reached across and took her hand. “You’ve changed,” I said. “Both of you have. You’re… harder, but it seems like you’re both stronger too. And maybe happier?”
Lia smirked. “Look who’s talking. You were the one who could barely climb a fence without tripping. Now you’re out there killing cougars and kicking ass.”
