Chapter 82 - A guest with a plan

**Callums pov**

I look at my bloody knuckles as I walk back towards the pack house. I’ve just spent two hours in the cells holding David and his Beta..they will heal, I’m not one bit worried about that. Right now it was good that they were there..I need an outlet for my anger and my frustration and it’s not that they don’t deserve it.
Joe, Emma, Susanne and an anxious Kevin are standing outside when I return. There is also one more there, one I recognize all too well. Tony, the vampire we met at the cave. The trueborn. They all catch sight of me and before I can say anything, Tony speaks.
“ Alpha Callum!, Just the man I came to see! Not that I’m not happy to see my old friends here as well.” He winks at Susanne and a small blush finds her cheeks.
“Tony, I must say its brave of you to come here alone” I narrow my eyes at him and I can see his Adams apple bob when he swallows hard, his eyes not missing my bloody hand as I holds it out, dare him to shake it. To my surprise, he does.He then lick a little of the blood transferred to his own hand.
“Thats a strong wolf you just beat up” He say with a smirk on his face.
“He had it coming.” I walk up the stairs and motioning for them to follow.
In the living room I take out a bottle of whiskey..I think it’s whiskey..I don’t care as long as the liquid can burn away the pain in my chest, at least for a little while. Greta comes rushing with a wet towel to my hands, I guess she’s trying to avoid sticky blood stains on the furniture that are difficult to clean.
Emma brings four glasses to the table when we sit down, and carefully takes the bottle from me with an apologetic but understanding look in her eyes. Kevin shakes his head slightly at her, but she still pours all four glasses, but instead of giving him one, she takes it herself.

“I guess you are wondering why I came here?” Tony say after taking a small sip from his glass.
“I do. I also wonder why I was not informed when a..vampire crossed my border.” I look at Kevin, he should have let me know.
“No one noticed..and I did it to prove how we can be of help. We really want to help” Tony takes a break, looking at me.
I never would have imagined this..not in a million years..that I would be sharing a drink, with a vampire, in my living room talking about a collaboration..not before Hope..just by coming into our lives had she changed so much. The pain in my chest increases and I empty my glass and hold it out to Emma for a refill.
I wiggle the glass back and forth and watch the liquid roll towards the edges in gentle waves before emptying it and setting it down on the table. Slowly but surely, both the anger and the pain in my chest subside. It scares me..I know it is mostly due to missing Hope, my longing for her..but I also know it is due to her condition. The closer to death she comes, the worse it gets..I can feel every time they drain her of blood and she gets weaker. I can see it in other pack members as well, they look sad and worried..they feel her slipping away.

Tony clears his throat and continue.
“My father..Ambrogio has order a stand off..there will not be any attacks or quarrel with the wolves on our initiative..He sent the word to every cluster..world wide. He was met with a lot of resistance, but his word is law and to break it would be to sign one’s own death certificate. He is not forcing any cluster to participate in helping you and Hope, but many have volunteered. As I explained..there are many of us who want to be able to coexist. He gives Susanne another smile and I can’t help but wonder if there is something between them.
“What do you have in mind? How can you help?” Joe took the initiative to speak. I don’t mind it. Joe has proven to be a good tactician in recent days. He has helped Reece contact several of the packs, made them swear to come when we call them. If there’s anyone besides Hope who can help me convince them to cooperate with the vampires, it’s him.
“We’ve done our own research, we know where they have her and we think we have a way in.”
They all look at me to see my reaction. We also know where she is but have not yet managed to figure out how to get in. The place is a fortress. In addition to the fact that the houses are built of brick, they have reinforced concrete walls inside. The windows that exist are only a few and equipped with bars. Armed guards patrol and pass each other, so it is not many minutes that parts of the building are unattended. Both access card and code are required to even get past the first gate. Jesse and the other scouts were still guarding the place and reporting back continuously. If the vampires found a way in, this was very interesting.
“ Go on..” I look at Tony, showing my interest.
“First we have to get one of ours in to get a message to Hope, she has to do her part from the inside..I guess you remember Fredrick. He has yet to earn father’s forgiveness for his wrongdoings..part of his punishment will be being captured by the hunters.”
“So we will put our trust in him? That sick son of a bitch?” Beacon growled through me.
“ To us..our father is everything..being on his bad side is painful..its eating us up inside..Fredrick will do anything, and I mean anything to feel Ambrogio’s love once again. So yes, you can trust him.” Tony leaned back in his chair.

Trust a vampire..what would Hope do?..I run my hands through my hair, stand up and walk over to one of the high windows, the sun set only one hour ago, when I was beating the shit out of David. The moon is shining, making the trees casting long finger-like shadows across the vast lawn. The full moon is in two days, experiencing it without Hope will be torture. I turn to Tony.
“ Fredrick won’t be enough..what else do you got?”
“We have one of the staff working in the building. She is not a hunter, she is a research assistant” A smug smile plays on his lips.
A glimmer of hope ignites within me..we’d been stuck, couldn’t find a way in, but now..now there was an opportunity. If I just dare to trust the vampires..not just me, I have to get the joining packs to do the same. I need Reece in on this..I can’t make these decisions by my self..not when my longing for Hope is clouding my judgement. As if he could feel my need for him, he and Maya came walking in. They both stopped as soon as they saw Tony, with a questioning expression on their faces.
“Alpha..what’s going on?” Reece asked, not letting his eyes off Tony.
“ Emma, would you mind getting two more glasses?” I asked and she immediately stood up and left the room.
“ Come, sit down, I will fill you in..you remember Tony? Joes vampire acquaint from the cave?” They both nod slowly, Reece holds Maya close, like Tony is going to tear her from his arms. They sit on the couch opposite him, Emma brings the glasses and pours them each a drink, she also takes care to fill mine and Tony’s.
I start telling them everything Tony said, he chimes in too and Reece and Maya become more relaxed. Maya freezes for a moment when Fredrick is mentioned, but when she imagines what he will go through at the hands of the hunters, a satisfied expression spreads across her face. Reece sits quietly for a moment, processing everything he’s been told before finally speaking.
“When can we start?”
“Linda goes on her next shift in three days, she needs a day or two to locate Hope and identify the people moving around her..schedules, routines and so on. During this time, Fredrik makes sure he gets caught, we don’t know if we want to involve Linda in that..it might be better that they don’t have anything to do with each other in case something goes wrong.” Tony starts to tell their plan.
“What do you mean?” Maya asks.
“ Well, lets say they kill Fredrick..then we still got Linda, if they think she has anything to do with him, well, they probably kill her to.” Tony explains.
“Would they do that? Kill a human?”
“I wouldn’t put it past them..these are the worst of them all.”
“And what is Ambrogio’s role in this? Will he just send his children into the meat grinder as usual? While he sits at home, warm and safe with his wolf witch?” Reece asks with a disapproving look on his face. Tony looks at him and his eyes seem to darken a shade, obviously having a hard time hearing someone speak disrespectfully about his father.
“When the time comes for us to storm the place, he will be in the front line, right next to your Alpha. He has his own agenda and his own reasons for burying the Sons of the Sun.”