“We need more,” my mother added, her analytical mind already working through the angles. “This is evidence of conspiracy, but we need witnesses. We need to know who else was involved. Who’s Mary’s baby’s father? How deep does this cancer go?”
Noah nodded grimly. “I’ll track down Blade. Let him know what happens when he fucks with the Ravens. Get his testimony while we’re at it.”
“Offer him territory,” I said coldly, my mind shifting into the strategic mode that had kept me alive as Alpha. “As bait. The deep woods, away from pack lands. Let him think he’ll walk away from this with everything he wanted.”
My smile felt wrong on my face. “He won’t. Not after causing so much pain. People died because of him. Innocents who just wanted to celebrate a wedding. Children who’ll grow up without parents. And Blake...”
“We’re all in agreement then?” My mother looked around the room, taking in each nod. “Justice first. Then vengeance.”
“Justice first,” we echoed. “Then vengeance.”
Plans solidified quickly. My family might be dysfunctional on a good day, but threatened, we became a well-oiled machine of destruction. Noah and my father would leave immediately to find Blade. According to Noah’s research, the rogue leader had been making noise about wanting territory for years. He controlled the ferals through some combination of pheromones and old magic, keeping them just coherent enough to follow orders.
“We’ll dangle it,” my father said with a cold smile that reminded me why other packs feared the Raven name. “Let him think he’s negotiating with equals. Let him believe he’s won.”
I watched my father plan, seeing shadows of the man who’d taught me to be Alpha. Not through kindness or patience, but through showing me that sometimes the world required monsters to fight monsters. Today, I was grateful for those lessons.
The twins had been silent through all this, absorbing everything with careful attention. Finally, Rowan spoke up, his small voice cutting through our planning.
“The bad man hurt Uncle Blake?”
The room went still. I’d told them stories about Blake, about their uncle who would have loved them, but they’d never connected him to a real person before. Never understood that he was gone because someone took him.
“Yes, baby,” Lina said gently, pulling him closer. “But we’re going to stop him. We’re going to make sure he never hurts anyone again.”
“Good,” Thea said firmly, with a viciousness that would have been adorable if it wasn’t so unsettling in a four-year-old. “Bad people should be stopped. They should go to timeout forever.”
My father actually smiled at his grandchildren. “Spoken like true Ravens. Perhaps there’s hope for the bloodline after all.”
To everyone’s surprise, my mother announced she would stay to help coordinate. When I stared at her in shock, she simply said, “Family protects family.” As if she hadn’t spent the last thirty years treating family like chess pieces to be moved around a board.
As Noah and my father prepared to leave, I pulled my brother aside. We hadn’t talked properly in years, too much unspoken grief creating distance between us.
“Be careful,” I said, gripping his shoulder. “Blade’s dangerous and-”
“Blake would want justice,” Noah cut me off. “And he’s going to get it. All of it. Every person who contributed to his death is going to pay.”
“I’m sorry,” I said suddenly, the words bursting out. “I’m sorry I led that patrol. Sorry I didn’t protect him. Sorry I’ve been a shit brother since-”
“Stop.” Noah grabbed my shoulders, shaking me slightly. “Blake’s death wasn’t your fault. I know that. I’ve always known that.”
“I should have been faster. Should have seen the ambush-”
“You should have had a baby brother who didn’t die,” Noah said firmly. “But Alderic took that from both of us. So let’s take everything from him.”
We stood there for a moment, two brothers finally united in purpose instead of divided by grief. It felt like Blake was there with us, probably making inappropriate jokes about our emotional moment.
“Find him,” I said as they prepared to leave. “Find Blade. Make him believe he’s won. Then bring him home.”
“With pleasure,” my father said, and his smile promised violence. “It’s been too long since I reminded the world why Ravens are apex predators.”
They disappeared into the dawn light, two of the most dangerous wolves in existence hunting the man who’d orchestrated my brother’s murder. Blade had no idea what was coming forhim. He thought he was negotiating with civilized wolves, pack politicians who followed rules and procedures.
He was about to learn that Ravens didn’t follow rules when family was threatened. We rewrote them. In blood, if necessary.
36
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