8
Virgil
When I wokea bit after dawn, Hector was still fast asleep. I lowered my hand and gently stroked his hair, then got up, changed, and left the tent. He needed his rest, and I didn’t want to disturb him when he lookedsocute.
Outside, a few alphas were also awake, ready for the day. I found Woodrow by George’s tent, packing up supplies in adeerskinbag.
“Good morning,” Igreetedhim.
“Hello,” he grunted. “Big daytoday.”
“Yes. Are younervous?”
Woodrow smiled. His face was confident, but not cocky. “Yes and no. We must win. I’m only worried about our potentiallosses.”
I agreed with him. Out of the whole group, Woodrow was probably the most realistic alpha. He and I both knew well that this mission wasn’t going to be easy. Even in the best case scenario, I couldn’t help but think that somebody would get injured - as much as I didn’t want that to happen. But we had medical supplies and George’s expertise to fall back on, if anything didhappen.
“How many spies do you think we have inside the pack?” Woodrowasked.
“Enough to make a difference,” I replied. “And our influence is still spreading. Michael said the majority of people he knows are angry and upset with Gunner’s leadership. That is a huge boon to us. If bystanders are around during our attack, they might feel invited to join in the revolt. Any help we can get isuseful.”
Woodrow nodded, then frowned as he asked, “AndColin?”
I sighed. Colin was a constant thorn in my side, always worrying me. There had been no sign of him around the camp, in the woods, or inside the pack for weeks. My worst fear was that he sold us out to Gunner. But I had to consider other possibilities too; he could have been living alone in the forest, or could had left the territoryaltogether.
“I just don’t know,” I admitted. “But we can’t let worrying about him interfere with our plan. We’ll just have to deal with him if he shows up, and hope and pray that he’s still onourside.”
Woodrow grunted inagreement.
Despite the amount of preparations we’d made, I still felt restless and uneasy. I needed to dosomethingto get my mind off the endless anxieties troubling me. I turned toWoodrow.
“I want to do a final check to make sure everything in town is ready for this attack,” I told him. “Can we station a few of our alphas from camp inside town and have them report back in the earlyevening?”
“Of course,” Woodrow said. “I’ll go. I’ll ask Shane if he wants toaccompanyme.”
“Good.” I nodded at him. He was one of my most trustworthy alphas, and knowing he would be close to the point of attack, alert and watching, was a relief. If anything was to go wrong, I knew Woodrow would notify merightaway.
I clapped him on the back before he went to retrieve Shane and explain the situation. They gave me a final wave before disappearing into the woodstowardstown.
When they were gone, I stood alone in the camp underneath the early morning light. The air was crisp and clean. I inhaled deeply, then letitgo.
This was it. Everything needed to gorighttoday. There was no otheroption.
I had to walk. My mind was a chaotic mess of anxiety and nerves, and I had to clearmyhead.
As I circled the camp, my skin felt itchy and tight. No, I realized a walk wouldn’t do. I shut my eyes, allowing the darkness to engulf me. A deep, raucous cry sounded from inside my soul. Iridescence shimmered in the blackness as my raven flew out and overtookmybody.
Suddenly I was smaller and lighter. I took the sky with ease, spreading my ink-black wings and catching a thermal. The camp and the forest grew smaller as I ascended, a like miniature terrarium. From above, everything lookedsotiny.
Even from this height, I could see people starting to wake up and mill around the camp. They were pinpricks of color and movement, appearing almost insignificant from thishighup.
A sudden pang of fear hit me. I realized with growing dread that there really weren’t that many of us. The core of our resistance was there below in that camp, just a small handful ofshifters.
Was it reallyenough?
I looked towards the sun in pale pink sky. It was still early. If I was fast enough, I might have enough time to pull off another plan beforeevening.
But I would barely make it backintime.
