King of My Heart

FIFTY-TWO

The pack house is overflowing with people. Ever since the news reached us that Daxton has his plan set in motion and would be here sooner than we expected, more and more warriors have been arriving from various packs around us.

With so many wolves in the same place, including the numerous Alphas that arrived with their packs, tensions are running high around the place.

Unsurprisingly, Daxton himself has the support of a few packs as well. Mostly packs who have had a rivalry with Wolf Moon but were too afraid and outnumbered to do anything about it. Until now.

Blood Moon is a strong pack, as much as it pains us to admit it. But it is true. And with so many more joining it, things are almost neck and neck at this point.

The only two advantages we have is that we know the region better than our enemies. And the second one I am hoping is me. I have been practicing hard with Rayna. We realised that instead of fighting away my emotions to take ahold of the powers, it was better if I used them to my advantage. The strategy has been working well so far and I haven't had anymore failures.

Four other packs have joined us in this fight. And the fifth one arrives today. Once they have all settled in, all the Alphas are scheduled to have a meeting to discuss which strategy to use. How to fight with the least amount of casualties. It pains me to think that all of this might be happening because of me. So many people might get hurt.

"Hey, you ready?" Liam interrupts my thoughts while I stand in front of the conference room door.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Of course. You should be in there. I want you to be fully informed of everything. Keeping you in the dark would just be reckless and dangerous."

"No. No that. I mean, asking all of these people to risk their lives for someone they don't even know." I fidget with my fingers.

"April, there was a time when these people needed help and the Wolf Moon Pack always delivered. No questions asked. Now it's their turn to return the favour. You have no reason to feel bad."

"I've been practicing, Liam. I can take him by myself. All of this is unnecessary."

"Even if that were true, he is not coming alone. So please, no more of this non-sense."

He walks towards the door, not awaiting a response.

I follow him into the room which seats six men, one of whom is Liam's father, and one woman, who I am surprised to see here. Most of the Alphas that arrived didn't bring their Lunas with them. So she must be the new Alpha's mate. One that arrived today and I have yet to meet.

"This is Alpha Chase. And his Luna Maya, who I am pleasantly surprised to see here," Liam introduces me.

"It is very nice to meet you Luna April," the blond-haired Alpha shakes my hand. He looks young, almost in his early thirties and his Luna looks even younger.

He faces Liam.

"I thought it would be helpful to bring Maya since she is an expert in military strategies," he informed, his face full of pride.

Maya smiled at everyone and came to shake my hand.

"Well, it's nice to see another woman in here," I chuckle and she joins.

Soon we're all settled around a table with the full map of the pack and its neighbouring regions. After a few discussions and arguments, Maya has finally taken charge and its slightly hilarious to watch giant Alphas sit down and listen to a petite young woman with glasses covering most of her face.

"The problem we face is that your pack is out in the open with no protection or barriers on any side. No fortification. So we will have to take advantage of nature," she explains.

She uses a pointer to mark one side of the map. "On this side, we are protected by a steep cliff. One that is impossible to climb. So we don't have to waste men there.

"After that, we are left with three other potential areas of strike. These two," she marks two sides around the pack, "are extremely open. So this is where you can expect them to attack. We have the advantage of higher ground on this one," she points to one of the lines she previously drew on the map, "So it will be easier to see them coming and fight them off.

"Which is why I believe, they will attack from the second side. Here from the West," she directs.

"They have the higher ground there," Liam adds, rubbing his chin with his hand.

"Meanwhile the third side here, the East, is covered by the river. It's deep and its current is ruthless, so crossing it would not be easy. If they want to attack from that side, they would have to go around, which is a two day's journey. We would easily see them coming and can deal with them before they even get close enough to attack.

"So our main problem, is the West. I suggest that is where you deploy most of your manpower. The rest is easy to defend."

"But what if they do somehow cross the river?" Liam's father chimes in.

"We could send a few good warriors to wait on that end in case something were to happen," one of the Alphas add.

"We need to figure out a way to cover that flank without giving up the numbers," Maya says.

"I could do it," I offer. All heads turn to me. By now, most of the people here have seen me practice with Rayna. Since I have gotten better, I've been practising in different places, as the front yard of the house didn't seem to have enough space.

"No," Liam disregards me.

"Why not? Maya has said that it's highly unlikely they'll attack from there. And if a few of them do, I'm sure I could take them."

"This isn't up for discussion, April. I'm not sending you out there by yourself."

"Who said I have to be by myself? You can send a few people with me."

"It's not happening, April," Liam concludes.

"We've seen her out there. She's stronger than all of us combined," one of the Alphas add while others murmur in agreement.

"Would any of you send your own mates out there?" Liam yells them into silence. No one meets his eye. "That's what I thought," he grumbles.

"I think now would be a good time to take a break," Liam's father announces as he stands up. Liam doesn't speak and everyone follows Robert out of the room leaving me alone with him.

"Liam, please. Let me do this. I can't just sit inside and wait while you are out there fighting. I would lose my mind," I plead.

"What about me, April? Do you think I'd be able to focus on anything while I'm worried sick about you?"

"You'd be worried about me no matter where I am. Just as I'd be worried about you."

"I've been training my whole life for this."

"And you underestimate me. You've been training your entire life and I could still kick your ass."

"April..." he sighs.

I walk over to him and hold his hand in mine. "Let me help."