Chapter 123

**Thomas**

There is chaos all around me right now. Here I am supposed to be the one with a mind for solving almost every situation we should face. The Fae are born with exceptional minds and a great deal of wisdom. Maybe I have been among the wolves too long. It's time to get my head on straight and come up with a solution to all the problems we are facing and still have to face shortly.

Tommy, Noah, and Eli are all talking over each other as we sit in the living room trying to come up with a plan. It's clear that without Maya none of us have a clear direction. We sent Isaiah over to a friend's house for the night, and even though we would feel safer with him here we need to focus on this for now. If the Fae world had not been destroyed I would have sent him there. He would have been safe in my home there.

"We need to wait until the other packs get here." I hear Eli say when I tune back into their argument.

"We don't know if they will even come, Eli!" Tommy counters.

"They swore to Maya that they would help us." Eli reminds him.

"A promise by mouth is not enough to convince me that they will keep their word." Tommy scoffs.

"We need to move forward with the idea that no help will come. They could come or change their mind and refuse to help, but we can't know that yet. Once we hear from them we can shift our security. All we can do now is make a few small changes that the men already know. This first attack could be the Blood Demons testing our defenses to see what they will be up against when they hit us full force." Noah adds.

"I agree. There is no reason for them to send their weakest members unless it was a learning opportunity." I say.

"Exactly," Noah says agreeing with me.

Someone's phone goes off suddenly and we all fall silent.

"That's me," Tommy says pulling out his phone and answering the call. "Hello?"

He steps around the couch and his face contorts into an expression of pain.

"Are you sure?" He asks whoever is on the other end of the call.

His voice sounds weak and broken.

"Thank you. Yes, I appreciate it. Bye." His arm falls to his side and his eyes look far away.

Eli stands and moves over to stand in front of his friend.

"What happened? Who was that?" Eli asks grabbing Tommy by the shoulders.

It takes Tommy a moment to come back from his shock and when he does his face grows red with anger. He yells out and throws his phone across the room so that it shatters against the closest wall.

"Tommy, what the hell happened man?" Eli asks more firmly now.

Tommy shoves him away.

"What happened is that our pack is gone. Every single person in our pack is dead. That's what happened!" Tommy yells at the now stunned Eli.

"Who was on the phone Tommy?" Noah asks, now standing beside his friend too.

"It was one of the Alphas. They agreed to come here but wanted to ask permission from my dad to pass through his land. When they got near the border they saw what was left. God, everyone was dead. Even....even the kids." Tommy's voice sounds even more broken now.

The room falls silent as the news sinks in. My world was lost and now they feel the same pain I feel every day. I would not wish a feeling like this on my worst enemy, and now my mate brothers have to feel the pain of such a loss.

"When will the other get here?" Noah asks a few minutes later, shaking his head as if to clear it.

"A couple of hours," Tommy says quietly.

He turns and heads for the kitchen without another word.

This is not the time for us to be falling apart, but I can give him a few hours until the other packs get here. With Maya indisposed, he will be the highest-ranking wolf of the pack. It will be up to him to handle the situation until Maya is well enough to take over. Although knowing her, she would gladly let Tommy lead all of these wolves. She has never thought herself capable, but she very much is. She has shown everyone exactly how strong she is. No one has been through what she has and still pushed on like the whole world is still there for the taking.

Eli and Noah both sit quietly on the couch lost in thought when I notice Tommy walk back in with a bottle of strong alcohol in his hand and several glasses. He walks around the couch and sets the glasses down on the small table in front of us. He uncorks the bottle and pours a good amount of the strong-smelling stuff into each of the glasses. He grabs one and drops down into one of the chairs and drinks in silence. Eli and Noah both reach for their glasses and throw the drink back in seconds.

This is not the time to be lost in grief but I am not sure how to say as much without minimizing their feelings. They are allowed to feel broken but that needs to happen later.

"I know right now is a hard time for you all, believe me, I understand the pain you are feeling. The thing is, we don't have time to grieve just yet. The Blood Demons took out an entire pack and they no doubt will learn soon that our numbers will have grown. Us combining forces with the other packs will make it seem like we are ready for war. We need to focus on becoming a harmonious group that is ready to face battle." I say trying to wake them up.

They stare at me for a while before Tommy leans forward and sets his glass down.

"You're right. I offered my father the chance to save the pack and he refused. I tried to save them and they chose to not listen. My heart hurts for their deaths but we need to focus on those of us still alive. Eli, come up with a security plan that should be easy to pass on to the new security teams coming. We need things simple but tight. Noah, I need you to get word to as many as you can to gather in the largest stretch of land east of the main pack living area. We need to have a pack meeting and explain everything to them. Then we need to separate everyone into teams for things like providing food and housing for the other packs. Thomas, we need ar strategies. We have no idea the number of Blood Demons coming, but we will know our numbers soon, and that is enough to plan strategy when the fighting starts." Tommy says and we all mumble out our agreements.

Eli and Noah stand and start making calls while they head for the door, and I head up to the room I share with Maya. The room I haven't slept in since she has been in the hospital. I don't like being in there much without her here. I miss her so badly, and I know that would make me weak to my own kind but I don't care.

I try to push those thoughts away so that I can focus on my task. All Fae have some knowledge of war strategy even though our kind hadn't had a conflict resulting in war in far too long. We were once a warrior race, so I have enough knowledge to deduce that we will most likely be far outnumbered in this fight. For a whole pack to be taken out we are looking at ten thousand or more. the advantage we have is the familiarity with the terrain here. We are surrounded by a large forest and that could prove helpful to hide our numbers until the right moment.

It is always best to make your enemy believe you are weaker than you really are. The element of surprise is always a good route to take. I ask the others to send me an estimated number of wolves we will have and with that information, I am able to come up with a good idea of the way we should handle our side of things. When the idea is clear in my mind I grab Maya's laptop and start to put my plans into words. I can present this at the pack meeting so we can get started on practicing the formations.

Once I am finished I send a copy of my ideas to each of the guys and shut the computer down. A sound from downstairs catches my attention just then and I slowly make my way to the bedroom door. No one should be here so this could be something dangerous. I decided against making my presence known and take the more silent approach. I creep quietly down the hall and down the stairs keeping my eyes sharp.

There are sounds of someone pulling open drawers in the kitchen as if searching for something. I move quiets so that I'm standing just behind the intruder. They suddenly turn and hold a knife high ready to use it until they realize who I am. It's then that I also realize who the intruder is.

"Freddie?" I ask.

Where did he come from and why didn't I hear him come inside?

The only time someone has ever surprised me like this without a sound even slightly small enough to announce them is when....someone uses a portal. But how would he have access to a portal if the Fae world was destroyed?