Page 46 of Oracle
We’ve been down here four days already, but we still have time. We stick to the plan and hope we have a moment to kill him. Either way, we are not giving up. So, what will it be, Kira?
We fight and we wait for an opening.
CHAPTERNINETEEN
SETH
The table we had been gathered around was flying through the air, courtesy of Jameson and Luca’s hot-headed tempers flaring when the alphas we’d gathered did not agree to send troops with us to go after Kira in the mountains.
“It’s pointless without knowing where the portal is,” one had reasoned. “It would leave the remainder of our forces here slim and open to a slaughter.”
Taking a quick step to the side to evade the table which crashed into the corner of the tent, my eyes slid to the two men who were more alike than they’d ever admit. “They aren’t wrong," I offered, drawing the ire of their gazes with my words.
It isn’t that I didn’t want to run into the mountains after her, because fuck I had barely managed a few hours of sleep over the past few days, laying there at night agonizing over whether she was okay or not. It was just the ability to detach from my raging emotions and look at this from a strategic standpoint that allowed me to see the facts of the situation.
“She is our only hope in this war!” Luca snarled, standing so quickly his chair toppled over behind him.
I refused to be intimidated by him, and making decisions while being ruled by a temper was the quickest way to get us all killed. Crossing my arms across my chest, I rebutted, “What point will Kira have to fulfill her role if all of our people are slaughtered?” The vein in his forehead bulged as his jaw grinded together, fist clenched at his side as he breathed heavily, hopefully processing my words.
Moving my eyes to Jameson, I tried to rationalize with him. “It has been days and yet we still don’t have enough of the packs here to separate into two parties.
“So, what do you suggest?” Milo asked, finally halting his pacing in the corner. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a circular indent in the ground from his path.
“Leave all of the packs here,” I started, but immediately held my hands up as Jameson’s and Luca’s eyes went wide, feral looks in their depths. “Fucking hell, listen to the rest of what I have to say before you turn into rabid animals.”
Tian’s chuckle from just a few feet away had me realizing that this must have been how he always felt about us as the resident level-headed shifter in our pack.
“Leave the packs here,” I began again, glancing at Wes and Caleb who remained quiet and emotionless. Unsurprisingly, Caleb hadn’t spoken more than a few words since ripping his own brother’s throat out, and Wes just seemed to be a broken shell since it set in that Kira was gone. He was a very sensitive and empathetic person, I’d come to realize, so he was carrying all of our emotions as if they were his own. “And the seven of us go after her alone. We gather supplies and prepare for a trek into the mountains. Having a smaller party will draw fewer eyes of the enemy, hopefully allowing us to have an ounce of surprise on our side.”
This caught their attention, their eyes snapping to me, the first sign of life lurking in their depths.
Artio remained sitting in her chair, despite the table being gone now, her hands folded in her lap as if the dynamic duo hadn’t just spazzed out in front of her. “What about the rest of us who remain here?” The Antarctica Alpha of Alphas asked, her voice devoid of emotion as always, purely wanting the facts. I’d admired her headstrong, take no shit attitude since she’d arrived in the thick of our panic over what to do about Kira. I had a feeling she would get along great with our mate.
Tian moved forward for the first time since we’d gathered in here, clearing his throat before answering. “We must make plans for the war to move forward in case we do not come back in time. Or at the very least, make defensive plans if they make a move first.”
“Prepare for the worst and hope for the best,” Milo muttered, echoing my own sentiments of our situation.
“Sirs!” a younger man yelled as he almost tripped over his feet running so quickly into our meeting, “Sirs, something has happened,” he said, breathing heavily as he hunched over with his hands on his knees. “Reports have come in that packs who haven’t yet made their journey to us are under attack by swarms of Daimona.”
A string of curses came from Luca as he stalked from our tent and a resounding crunch came from outside as if he’d punched a tree.
I looked to Tian, knowing he had the most experience and found him deep in thought with his brows scrunched and a hand stroking his chin. “We were thinking because we hadn’t seen their forces here, that they had been recalled back to Hell to prepare for the big battle, but really they were sent to keep more forces from gathering with us.”
“Dammit,” I hissed out, “We have to find Kira and end this before their disease spreads further worldwide. That has to be his plan. To diminish our army while adding to his own forces. If we give them too much time, it won’t matter if we wait for more packs to join us. We will be outnumbered sitting ducks no matter what.”
Tian grunted his agreement with my assessment. “We leave in an hour to search for Kira and we don’t come back until we have her,” he announced with finality before looking to Artio. “If we are not back within three days’ time, you must make a decision. Stay and fight his army coming if we have enough wolves join you here, or scatter to the wind and go into hiding from the Daimona.”
That was a heavy choice to make, and I didn’t wish that upon anyone, but I knew she would handle it with a calm but firm hand, no matter what happened.
“Let’s gather supplies,” Jameson said. “Meet back here when you’re ready.” We all nodded our agreement before we began to file out of the tent.
Tian looked back at me as we exited. “I have to speak with Morgan and I do not know how long that will take with the silent treatment she is giving us all.”
My heart hurt for the young girl who had raged so hard that she’d punched Jameson in the eye when we told her about Kira’s abduction. To be fair, he did nothing wrong except block the exit of her tent, refusing to let her go out there.
We’d all come together to reassure her that we would find Kira and bring her home to us. The question she’d asked that had broken us all still played through my mind.“What if you can’t find her? What will I do then? I’m just a stray dog without a home then.”
I had been quick to react, holding her to me despite feeling her small fists banging against me as I calmly told her that we would always be her pack and that she wouldn’t be alone. She’d broken down into tears, her anger fading at that, her hands gripped my shirt tightly as her tears soaked it.
