“Willow and I will accompany the women and children into the bunker,” Arrow said, Willow standing beside him with Daisy slung in a cloth pouch around her neck.
Sawyer and I nodded at them both.
Rab stepped forward. “Eugene and I will lead our army behind the trolls and decimate the vampires with fist, teeth, and bow.” He grinned, looking feral, and I felt so much pride. My pack was wild and fearsome and un-fucking-stoppable.
“Sage, Sawyer, Creek, and I will be in the Dark Woods, awaiting the queen’s arrival,” I said.
It felt slightly cowardly to just go and hide in the woods while a war was being fought, but we’d explained to the pack what our plan was and everyone agreed that if we could just take out the queen, the mastermind, we could end this war. Her son Vicon was dead, her husband the king was dead thanks to Walsh, and if I could bring her down it would throw the entirety of Vampire City into an uproar. Cause them to mourn and shut down for thirty days just like Luka said. In that thirty days, we would strengthen our borders and secure our land.
“And I,” Luka addressed the crowd that stood in front of the Paladin gates, “will lure Psycho Auntie through Paladin Village and into the Dark Woods, where she will meet her untimely death.”
The crowd cheered and I grinned at his term,Psycho Auntie. I had to admit, Luka had grown on me … for a vampire.
“Alright, say your goodbyes!” I yelled to the crowd. “We will celebrate when this is all over.”
Sawyer nodded. “I owe my wife a proper wedding and you’reallinvited!”
That got some chuckles and cheers. It was amazing how at ease the city wolves were with the Paladins now. Coming here to this land had bonded them and taken the stress off of the two tribes who’d been pitted against each other for centuries.
A male city wolf worked his way through the crowd, as warrior women hugged their children goodbye and husbands their pregnant wives.
He looked so familiar but I couldn’t place him. It took me a moment. He was the werewolf representative for the freeloaders, or whatever the hell they called themselves.
He tipped his head to me. “We would like to help, if you can use us.” He held a samurai sword in one hand and a sharpened spear in another.
Well, well, look who finally had taken a side. Instead of gloating, which Ireallywanted to, I returned the nod. “You and your people can go with Rab and help fight in Wolf City.”
He nodded his head in understanding and then disappeared into the crowd, a small contingent of people following him.
Sawyer looked confused so I said,‘I’ll tell you later.’
When I turned, my mother and father were standing there with Sawyer’s mom. Creek was asleep in my mother’s arms; her eyes were filled with tears. “Are you sure I can’t take him with me into the bunker?”
Sawyer shook his head. “We need to stick together. The queen will exploit any weakness, and we can’t leave that to chance.”
My mom tearily handed Creek over to Sawyer, who slipped him into a sling that Willow had given him. Seeing a shirtless, heavily tattooed male wearing your child was basically the hottest thing ever. Pulling my attention away from my sexy husband and child, I stepped over to my mom and dad and let them pull me into an embrace.
My mom burst into tears, shaking against me as I tried to calm her by patting her back.
“I’ll see you in the morning,” I told her.
We wanted this to be quick. And whether we won or lost, I thought it would be.
After a lot of tearful goodbyes, Arrow and Willow set out under the cloak of darkness to hide our people who couldn’t fight in the bunker. That was nearly half of our force, but still left us with a little over ten thousand warriors.
As we waited, I started to get nervous about how all the pieces of the puzzle would work.
I pulled Sawyer aside and took in his stressed appearance. He looked tired. His hair was messed up in a cascade of dark strands that fell across his forehead. I could sense the anxiety between our imprint. He wasn’t sure this was going to work, and neither was I.
I couldn’t be sure of anything anymore, but we had to try.
I reached up and smoothed his hair. “I just wanted to tell you that I love you and you owe me a new wedding ring.” I kept it light and he smiled, seemingly grateful that I didn’t go too deep or try to say goodbye.
“I love you too, Demi, and I owe you a lot of things.” Leaning in, with Creek pressed between us, he placed a kiss to my lips, causing an ache to form in my heart. We’d been through so much together, I just wanted a happily-ever-after. Was that too much to ask?
I was about to say something else when a searing pain sliced up my back and I cried out, falling to my knees.
“Demi!” Sawyer yelled.
