An hour later, the guys had organized another training session with Sinthy, ready to create another magical simulation. Nico was there, and most of the pack had come out to watch,which wasn’t typical. Everyone must have seen the news. They wanted to see what kind of chance we would have.
Nico nudged me. “Let’s work on a fighting retreat. We have to plan for all possibilities. Then we can see how it goes with us trying to get you and the others out if things go bad.”
I shook my head. “No. Not this time. I want to do a full-scale assault. A lot of people attacked that shifter compound.”
Nico seemed like he was going to argue, but I cut him off by looking over at Sinthy. “I want at least a hundred enemies this time. All of them were armed with guns. Can you do that?”
Sinthy shrugged and smiled. “It’s your world. I’m just living in it.”
A few moments later, the magically simulated anti-shifters came pouring out of the forest. I reached deep inside and touched my wolf. There was a moment of understanding between us. With a flex of my mind, I told her to take full control, to give me all she had, and I would guide us. She howled in excitement, and a moment later, I shifted.
I’d thought I understood my wolf. But there had been so much more I’d suppressed. Unconsciously, I was afraid of what might happen. The power was immense. I moved faster than ever, my paws barely touching the ground as I sprinted. My instincts were honed sharp as a razor, my body able to see, hear, and smell the bullets as they whizzed toward me. I dodged and ducked the projectiles before they had a chance to strike.
My teeth snapped through throats and arms, dropping the faux enemies to the ground in a puff of smoke. I moved faster and faster, almost like I would never get tired. Soon the sounds of my pack mates vanished, almost like they’d disappeared. I was locked in the dance of battle, more graceful and savage than I’d ever been in my life. The wolf inside me was like a goddess of war, dragging me into battle.
When the final enemy tumbled to the ground, I shifted back and turned to see where everyone had gone. The entire pack—everyone—was staring at me in wide-eyed shock. They had all backed away to watch the show. Even my mother and father were staring at me with slack-jawed surprise.
I pushed my sweat-soaked hair out of my face as I walked toward them. Nico looked me up and down with an approving and somewhat turned-on expression.
“What’s everyone looking at?” I asked.
“Holy shit,” Sebastian shouted. “You were… like… holy shit.”
Nico grinned. “You took out ninety percent of the enemies by yourself. It was madness. I’ve never seen a wolf move like that.”
The entire pack broke out into spontaneous applause. I blushed and glanced over at Gabriella. She was clapping, too, a secret smile playing on her lips. She’d been right. I was strong. I was more powerful than I’d ever realized.
118
NICO
Later that afternoon, when the adrenaline had faded, I was sitting in my office when Donatello called.
“I assume you’ve seen the news,” he said before I could even say a word.
“First thing I saw this morning. I can’t believe they attacked the police. It’s madness.”
“Zealots tend to be quite corruptible. They have no sense of place, no understanding of repercussions. There’s a reason it was so easy for the Nazis to convince people to do terrible things. Once one powerful person verbalizes their deepest darkest beliefs, they take that as acceptance to bring about the endgame they want. It’s not a surprise to me. And the worst part is that rather than acting as a release valve for tension, this situation will escalate things.”
I sighed and rubbed the bridge of my nose to stave off the massive headache forming behind my eyes.
“That’s basically what I told my people. People are gonna be emboldened by what happened in Virginia. It won’t be long before we see more of these attacks,” I said.
“That is my fear as well, my friend.”
“We have to find Viola. That’s the only way this ends.”
“You are correct. The best way to kill a snake is by cutting off the head. Things won’t completely die down, but without their figurehead to look toward, the extremists won’t be as foolhardy.”
“How’s that going, anyway? Finding Viola, I mean.”
Donatello hummed. “The shifter alliance I’ve formed is scouring the globe. So far, nothing.”
Donatello had banded together with over a dozen other shifters of influence from around the world. Together, they had a fortune in the tens of billions. More money than the royals ever had. Plus, they weren’t being hunted by every law-enforcement agency known to man. They could move in the shadows and weren’t bound by diplomatic ties or international laws. With the money they had, they could go into the dark places people, like the FBI and Interpol, couldn’t.
“We have increased our reach, though,” he went on. “Sometime today, an anonymous website will go live and, with some prodding, will be mentioned on most media sources around the world. It will proclaim a fifty-million-dollar award for anyone pointing us in the direction of Viola Monroe. That alone should cut down on the number of dark holes she can hide in. Even if she has safehouses and allies, fifty million dollars is a lot of money. More than enough to get someone to flip on her.”
“Jesus Christ,” I muttered under my breath. “Fifty million? Can you guys afford that?”
