My breath caught in my throat. Shay understood. His wolf instincts were teaching him faster than I ever could have anticipated. He was the interloper, and he was ready to challenge Ren for rule of the pack.
“Give it your best shot.” Ren smiled, just as ready to accept that challenge.
Shay stepped forward, only hesitating when Anika drew her sword, barring his path.
“Someone throw a bucket of ice water on these two,” Connor said.
“Calla,” Adne said. “Make them stop.”
The truth of her words was like a slap in the face. I could stop them.
Pushing past Anika, who sheathed her sword, I stood between Shay and Ren.
“Listen to me, both of you.” I placed a hand in the middle of each boy’s chest; their heartbeats thrummed against my fingertips. “This ends now.”
“Of course it does,” Shay said. “You have to choose.”
“He’s right,” Ren said, looking past me to glare at Shay. “Choose, Calla.”
“I won’t choose,” I said. “Not yet.”
Their hearts both skipped a beat in sync, revealing their shared uncertainty. A wave of giddiness washed over me. I was the alpha, and I didn’t have to submit to anyone. I finally was able to follow my own path, a destiny I could discover for myself.
“I don’t need a mate,” I said, measuring my words. “I need soldiers. You two are the best I know. I need you. Both of you. Will you fight for me?”
Neither boy answered. They glared at each other, both waiting for the other to make the first move.
I let my words drop into their silence like stones into a deep well. “Will you fight for me?”
Shay frowned. “Always, but-”
“No buts,” I said, turning to Ren. “Will you?”
“You know I will.” His eyes were wary.
“Ren leads the pack. He’s the key to cementing this alliance with the wolves still in Vail,” I said. “Shay gets his hands on the Elemental Cross and leads the Searchers into battle.”
I glanced at Anika, who nodded.
“What about you?” Shay asked.
I smiled. “I’m the one who makes sure we all get along.”
“Good luck with that,” Ren growled.
With a quiet laugh, I moved my hands from each of their chests to grasp their wrists.
“I don’t need luck,” I said. “You’re going to swear to me that you’ll help and not hurt each other. You’re about to make a blood oath.”
“Uh… what?” Shay stared at me.
“Until this war is over, winning it is all that matters.” I pulled on them until they were standing face-to-face, inches apart. I could feel the tension pouring off each alpha. The scent of sunlight and thunderstorms swirled with the smoke of autumn bonfires and sandalwood.
“Heal each other,” I said.
“No,” Ren said.
“I need my warriors whole. You made each other bleed.” I ignored Ren’s bewildered expression. “Now undo the damage.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Shay grimaced.
“I can’t begin to tell you how much I’m not kidding.” I stepped back, folding my arms over my chest. “Until I choose a mate, I’m the only alpha here; I’ve made it clear that I’m not making a choice right now. You two answer to me. Prove your loyalty. Heal each other.”
“I don’t believe this.” Ren groaned, but he bit his arm and held it out to Shay.
“No way.” Shay started to back off, but I snarled.
“Do it.”
“Damn it, Cal. You’re heartless,” he said, biting his own wrist.
“I know.”
Shay and Ren glared at each other, eyes locked as they drank each other’s blood, bonding them as packmates even though they still despised each other.
“Nicely played, alpha,” Logan murmured.
As much as I wanted to level a stony gaze on the Keeper, I couldn’t stop my own smile. Something inside me was running free, wild and howling its joy.
THREE
“SINCE THAT’S SETTLED, can we talk about winning this war?” Connor sheathed his swords.
From the way Ren and Shay continued to glare at each other, I knew their rivalry was far from settled. But this uneasy partnership was the best I could hope for at the moment. At least they weren’t shredding each other’s flesh anymore.
I turned to face Anika. “No more secret meetings where I’m not invited. If you want wolf warriors, you include us at every turn. Strategy and execution.”
The hawk-faced man snorted but kept silent when Anika shook her head at him.
“That’s fine, Calla,” she said. “Shay had already insisted on that point before you arrived.”
I smiled at Shay, but he was still glowering at Ren. I wished he would look at me. If he could just meet my eyes, maybe he’d see how hard this was for me. How much I wanted to pull him aside, to be alone with him and explain all of this.
Anika turned back to the table. Large maps covered its surface.
“Logan’s informed us that the Keepers are going on the offensive,” she said. “Purgatory was just the beginning. We’re running out of time.”
“In what way?” I asked.
“Time to collect the pieces,” Logan said. “We’ll be expecting you, of course.”
He’d lit another cigarette and recomposed his nonchalant attitude.
“If they’re waiting for us at the sites, we don’t stand a chance,” Anika said. “Any element of surprise we can still hold is vital. We need to move on each of the sites quickly, one strike following immediately after the other. No waiting. No delays.”
“You need someone to run interference.” I turned in surprise at the sound of Ren’s voice.
Anika raised her eyebrows.
Ren shrugged. “Like Calla said. Shay’s leading the Searchers. I lead the wolves. Let us do what we do best: fight.”
Connor whistled. “You want to open another front?”
“Not another front,” Ren said. “Two teams. A decoy and the real team sent in after.”
“It would pull attention off the sites.” Adne grinned at her brother. “The stealth team would go in for retrieval while the strike team did the fighting.”
Ethan nodded. “That could work.”
“Any team drawing that kind of attack would suffer heavy casualties,” the hawk-faced man objected.
“Who are you?” I barked, frustrated by his constant sniping.
“Pascal is the Tordis Guide,” Anika said. “His team would be joining the attack that Ren’s proposed.”
She gestured around the room. “The group gathered here are the strike teams from each of the outposts. You already know the Haldis team, but Tordis, Eydis, and Pyralis have gathered at my request to plot our course. For this effort to succeed, we must work in concert.”
I gazed at the Searchers. Assembled in Haldis Tactical, the core team members looked weary but alert. It made sense: they were staring death in the face. We all were. I met Pascal’s scornful gaze and my heart ached for Monroe. The Tordis Guide clearly didn’t share the same empathy for Guardians that Monroe had encouraged.
“Pascal’s right,” Ethan said. “The decoy team would suffer heavy losses. But the way I see it, we’re not getting out of this war without heavy losses no matter what.”
“We need those pieces,” Anika said. “We can’t finish this without them.”
Pascal’s lips thinned, but he inclined his head.
Shay cleared his throat. “Ren’s right. I think two teams is the way to go here.”
“Agreed,” Anika said.
“But I have a request,” Shay continued, throwing a cold glare at Ren.
“And what is that, Scion?” The Arrow watched him, her eyes narrowing.
“The stealth team will be backing me, right?” he asked.
“Of course,” Silas piped in. “We know now that you’re the only one who can remove the pieces from their resting places.”
The Scribe winced when Connor fixed a stony gaze on him.
Shay nodded. “Then I want to pick my team.”
“Excuse me?” Anika frowned.