Page 80 of Knot All Is Ruined: Part 2

“No one but me,” Victor interjected. “Little Spark, you know the rules regarding food and people.”

Rolling my eyes, I let out a groan. “We were doing so well this past week. I got my own lunch four times and nothing bad happened. Couldn’t we negotiate this?”

“Nope,” Victor stated, then jabbed his finger, pointing at the ground under my feet. “Stay right the fuck there, woman. I mean it.”

Having given his warning, he headed towards where dinner was being served, ignoring the daggers I was staring into his back.

“You’ll have to be patient with those of us who are gifted with a little extra Alpha in our makeup. I promise we mean well when we do things like this that drive you crazy. My keksik normally isn't allowed to go anywhere without me as her shadow. I hired a bodyguard in my stead because I can’t stand the thought of something happening to her,” Savo shared. “She was kidnapped out of our own house once before we were bonded. Thank fuck whatever higher power you believe in that I was placed to be her bodyguard by her kidnapper of all things. Knowing that it’s happened once, I can’t get past the fear it could happen again. It drives my protective instinct into overdrive and I have a feeling that’s what’s happening to him.”

I glanced up at him, intrigued by the tidbit of the story he’d dropped, but it was clear he wasn’t going to continue. “Tell me, does Cambrie mind how overprotective you are?”

“It drives her mad,” he admitted. “Nonetheless, she also loves me enough to let me do it so I have peace of mind. When we’re home and the others are there too, I give her the space she needs if she wants it. That woman has seven of us to deal with, and now our son, so she’s got her hands pretty full. You pick your battles and fight for those truly important to you. Then even assholes like myself and your man Victor, will realize how important it is to you.”

I was surprised by that advice, yet I had to agree it made perfect sense. There wasn’t a chance in hell that I would win this battle with Victor, but there were others I might, if I saved my energy to do it. “Thank you, Savo. I’ll keep that in mind.”

“You’re welcome, little sis. We’re family, after all… right?” he said but almost made it sound slightly like a question.

“Yeah, we’re family,” I agreed with a smile. “You know it means a lot to him you’re here, even if he never says it.”

“A wise and loving woman told me that when an opportunity presents itself to fix a mistake in the past, I would be a fool not to take it. Like always, she was right,” Savo explained. “I refuse to let our father take more from us than he has already. He’s not worth it. The power he once had over either of us is gone, and now it’s time to remove his hold on our country.”

On that stance, I don’t think we could have agreed more and it showed me that the brothers were far more similar than they realized.

“Dani-girl, come eat,” Sorin called from where they were all sitting around a fire.

Savo let out a huff of laughter. “Woman, you’ve found yourself a pack full of top-tier Alphas, didn’t you?”

Smiling at that, I nodded. “They were the only ones who would have been able to handle me. Anyone else and I would have walked all over them or gotten myself in serious trouble. As Petru says, the fates put us together knowing we were destined for one another.” With a tiny wave, unsure how else to end our conversation, I headed over to my guys.

Victor pulled me onto his lap, offering me a bowl of steaming stew he’d procured for me, and kissed my temple. “Eat what you want…”

“... and you’ll finish off what's left,” I finished knowing the routine by heart. “There might not be anything left, I’m damn hungry and this smells amazing.”

It was strange to think we were on the eve of the most important fight of our lives, but there was a sense of peace around us. I had total faith we could accomplish anything as long as we did it together. Each hurdle we’ve made it over has proved that time and time again. One more to go, and we could start to make the dream we’ve been fighting for a reality.

True to my premonition of being unable to stay awake with a full stomach, I walked back to the tent with Cris. Neither of us was up for hanging out with the soldiers. In fact, all I wanted to do was curl up in a pile of pillows and blankets with my guys curled around me and nap all day tomorrow, but that wasn’t going to happen—yet. It didn’t take more than ten minutes before Cris was snoring softly against the back of my neck. On the other hand, I couldn’t fall asleep until all the guys were back and settled into our puppy pile formation. The only thing I could connect my weird mood to was that I desperately wanted a central home with a nest and the knowledge we wouldn’t be moving from location to location. Seems my Omega side was wearing a little thin and needed some recharging.

Soon, I reminded myself. Soon we would be able to have all of that once we removed the General from power and damn if that couldn’t come fast enough.

The following day was spent huddled around a table with various maps and images of the city. Since I’d been there last, a concrete wall had been built around the place. I could only imagine how many people it took to pull that off with how large the city was. The tall, crumbling buildings still stood—kind of. Many of them had crumbled further making them shorter, but what was left of them still stood.

“They made the wall extend so it would include the power plant and weapons factory as well,” Savo explained, sliding over a photo for proof.

While we had spies in the city giving us information on the movement and activities of the General and his militia, no images were sent along. Oscad used a crewless aircraft to fly over the city and take pictures. It could fly high enough that no one would notice it, keeping our plans to attack secret. This had been the most useful thing out of all this, because we knew there was a wall. Except seeing how tall and thick it was, gave a whole new meaning to the problem.

“That bastard has seriously lost his mind if he thinks he needs a wall like that to keep people out,” Lucian muttered.

Shuffling through the photos, I paid close attention to the people I could see in them. When I first arrived, I thought they looked haggard and thin, but now the expressions on their faces were devoid of any life. There was no hope. They looked like walking skeletons, clothes hanging off their bodies and sunken cheeks.

“What if it’s not to keep people out,” I said, pausing at an image of the militia beating a man in the street. Flipping it around, I showed it to them. “What if it’s to keep them from leaving? This is where the children are raised, right? How would it work if all the people in the city left and abandoned everything there? There might even be a possibility they are taking children with them too.”

Sorin reached out and took the image from my hand, his eyes flashing with anger. “How could this man call himself a leader if this is how he’s treating his people?”

“He doesn’t,” Lucian pointed out. “Never has he called himself a leader of the people. That’s why he goes by general. He leads an army, not a country. Everything he’s founded his life on is about war, strategy, and winning at all costs.”

That took a moment for my Southern men to wrestle with. It’s hard when you’re faced with a reality you’d never expect and realize this is the life people have lived for generations. The South isn’t perfect, but it’s always had the ability to feed its people. Starvation brings out a different side to humanity and forces you to do whatever is necessary to survive. Which gave me an idea.

“So if the militia is gone, what kind of enforcement does our dear General have to deal with his people?” I inquired.

“He would keep a small group back to protect at least him. However, from what the spies told us, he pretty much sent them all to crush us,” Lucian answered.

I nodded as I flipped through the photos once more. “This is a crazy ass idea and I have no idea if it will even work, but it might be worth a try…”

The guys all looked at me curiously, but Savo motioned for me to continue. Setting down the photos, I pulled the map of the city and started to share my idea. Instantly Petru was excited about it, while the others had questions that we worked through. While my idea didn't pan out in its origin, it did spark the others to come up with similar options that we broke down and hashed out. By the time the dinner whistle was blown, we’d devised three different plans, each leveling up in intensity. All of us agreed this wasn’t a fight with the people of the city, and we would do all that we could to protect them. Our battle was with General Rasvan and his military, who were trapping these people in a life that will only kill them in the end.

This would be a battle unlike any we’ve tried to pull off, but if it worked, it would be a massive step for the people of the North.