Chapter 177: Grace
There was a collective gasp, and everyone stared at us. I was still trying to wrap my head around what had happened. It could have ended up so much worse than it did. We were lucky. I hadn’t started to panic till there had been a head staring back at me. But now that I saw it, I couldn’t unsee it. I was struggling to get my heartbeat under control.
“He was asking for us to send soldiers. He said his pack was under attack by rogues, when we asked him what he was doing, he said he came here. I don’t know if he was actually the Alpha of the Golden pack or if he was an imposter trying to draw us out. We need to look into it. The name was right, but I don’t often go into the Golden pack. They are supposed to report any changes in the chain of command, but until we actually start meeting with the packs.”
“Did he shift into a Lycan or a Werewolf?” Maizie asked, pondering what was said.
“He pulled a knife.” Rhys answered simply,
"He pulled a knife?” Heather repeated with a frown.
Rhys pulled the knife from his suit. It was still coated in blood, and it dripped slightly onto the floor. I hadn’t even seen Rhys grab the knife in the first place. But Heather was right, there was something obvious that we were missing
He didn’t shift. He used a knife. He didn’t shift. He used a knife. The words repeated in my head like a new mantra. Why would he use a knife if he could shift? Shifting would make him more dangerous. So why use a knife?
“He couldn’t shift.” I said slowly as the answer dawned on me.
“What?”
Everyone’s eyes were on me, and I had to fight my instincts not to run and hide, but I was right, and I knew it.
“He couldn’t shift. I’m not sure why, but he couldn’t shift.”
“I didn’t sense anything off with his scent.” Rhys frowned.
“And there may be a reason for it.” I replied. “I can think of couple reasons.”
"He was either an experiment that failed or he was bound,” Maizie answered, clearly following my train of fault.
“Exactly.” I nodded.
“And what was he doing here?” Sawyer asked, looking back and forth between me and Maizie.
“Scouting.” Maizie and I said at the same time.
She gestured for me to continue, so I did.
“The questions he asked could be in an effort to protect his pack, and they would be useful for that if he actually wanted the information for that. He could have just been tactless and had an anger issue. He might just prefer to use knives. But his attack was uncoordinated which makes me think his knife was only for desperation. He was probably told to get the information or kill us. The questions he asked were more about what we would do. He was trying to see how we protect ourselves. He wanted to weaken us by sending our warriors to his supposed pack. Probably to just kill them the second they are out of our pack.”
Rhys ran his hand tiredly through his hair as he leaned back in his chair. I wanted to go sit on his lap again, but he didn’t need that right now. He had had me sit on him to stake his claim. Right now, we were in focus mode. There was no need to claim me. Everyone in this room knew I was his. I leaned up against his desk. If I couldn’t sit on his lap, I didn’t want to sit at all.
“So, what does this mean exactly?” Heather asked, looking around and making eye contact with each of us.
“That depends. But most likely? It means that we are war not just with Red Blood pack, but other packs are joining him, whether they want to or not.”
“Then we need to protect our alliances.” Heather stated firmly.
“It’s not that easy. We don’t know which packs are problem packs and will attempt to fake an alliance.”
“Well, that seems like a good place to start.” Heather stated, grabbing a notebook and a pen from beside her.
For the next hour we went through every pack that was under Rhys’ rule and labelled them as true alliances, questionable, and likely enemies. The lists of questionable and likely enemies were longer than our true alliance list which didn’t put us at ease at all, but we wouldn’t truly know until we started to visit the packs.
“Should we move up the ceremonies so that we can travel sooner?” I asked.
Neither my wedding or my Luna ceremony had been fully planned yet. I typically spent about an hour a day with Alana going over details, but we weren’t nearly done. I didn’t even have a dress yet. Oh my god, I didn’t have a dress yet.
“No.” Rhys answered firmly, picking my hand up off the desk and kissing it gently. “No. We will not let them rush us. We will continue to play defense for now.”
“Maybe we should have a private wedding ceremony sooner? Just in case they try something?” Maizie asked.
My stomach sank slightly as I remembered that Michael had given them a date for the Luna Ceremony, even if it was the wrong date. How long would it take for them to realize they had been tricked?
“Speaking of ceremonies, I know Alana is working right now and she’s been sort of in charge of this, but I need an invitation for a fake date for the Luna Ceremony.”
“What?” Rhys frowned.
I looked at Michael who gave me a slight nod. I wouldn’t go on without his permission. It was his story, and I knew he would be telling Rhys everything soon, but we were on the topic, so I had to bring this piece up.
“When Michael met with his father, he gave him a fake date for my Luna Ceremony, February 5th, so not only do we need a fake invite, but we also need a plan.”
The look of horror on Maizie’s face was palpable, telling me she hadn’t heard anything else I said except the first part when she turned to Michael and shouted, “You saw your father?!”
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