Falling in Love with the King of Beasts

LERRIN

The wolves were ecstatic. Lerrin wanted to vomit—but then he remembered what the Cat had done, killing his people in cold blood and the fury that rose in him stole his breath. Perhaps it was a good thing that Suhle wasn't here. She would likely be frightened by the sense of impending violence among these males.

"What do you see, Sire? What approach do you take?" Hern asked him—less excitable than the others, he was of course the one that would turn them back to the practical.

He looked around the circle. That was the question, wasn't it. What approach would he take? As he caught the flashing smiles and thirsty eyes around him, considered who would be best for what roles, filing through the dozen different ways he could take this, his mind turned back to one of the conversations he'd had with his father.

It was before his father had gone to the human world, before he'd been forever changed by the events that began to roll out that night Elia arrived in Anima.

His father had insisted on leading the team that would go to the human world and look for the Sacrifice. Lerrin had known enough not to question him in front of the others, but when they'd left and were walking home in the dark night, he'd brought it up, asked his father why he would take such a role himself.

His father had turned to him in the moonlight. Lerrin expected a smile, a story about adventure, or perhaps some shadow of strategy that Lerrin hadn't seen coming.

Instead, his father looked somber, his gray eyes sad.

"Never go too long between victories, son," he'd said.

Lerrin had frowned. "What do you mean?"

His father looked back over his shoulder in the direction of the meeting they'd just left. "The best leaders know how to use the assets around them. Know how to delegate, and bring others alongside. Make them loyal. But never let your people begin to wonder if you have lost your edge. There are times when, in order to be a leader that your people will love, your most crucial wins must come at your own hand." Then he'd looked down at Lerrin and clasped his shoulder as they walked. "Always give them a reason to see you as their hero. If it's been a long time since they've seen you achieve victory, they'll start to question you the next time you face a challenge. When you face potential failure you will need their confidence in you to bolster you."

"I don't understand," Lerrin had said, "What does this have to do with the human sacrifice?"

"The Creator has a plan, son," Lucan had said softly. "This is fight I must wage for myself, and win—to show anyone who's watching that there's a reason I'm the Alpha. Then when something occurs that is unexpected, or weakens us, they will not look to undermine me, they will look to me for leadership."

Lerrin blinked back to the present, heart beginning to race.

He now understood what his father met.

And it had been far too long since he'd taken a victory. None would be sweeter—or more crucial—than to take out the Cat that killed his family and banished his people.

"This needs a two-pronged approach," he said quietly. The males all leaned in, waiting to hear. "A team to take out the Cat—a team I will lead personally—and the rest to take out the City once they're weakened and confused by his loss."

There were growls of approval and whines of excitement to meet this announcement. But Lerrin didn't smile, and neither did Hern.

"Sire, I'm not sure—" Hern began, but Lerrin shook his head.

"I am. The only thing I'm not certain of is how to gain access to him—especially now that his guard is up. It may be that we need to split our attentions—weaken him by attack on two fronts so he is forced to choose which one to fight first."

"Do you wish to assassinate, or face him down?" Craye asked—the only other wolf who had stayed quiet during the celebrations so far.

Lerrin turned to the male and met his steely gaze. "I want to close my fangs on his neck just like he did to my father," he snarled through his teeth.

Craye nodded. "I can get you close enough. But it will not allow a great deal of room for fighting. You would need to be utterly confident in taking him out. We couldn't send more than two in with you."

Lerrin sat up straighter. "I'm listening."

Craye smiled. "We could use the entrance to the cave above the adjoining cavern that they use for bathing and… entertainment."

"I thought that was heavily guarded now, since we sent Jak?"

"It is, but because they don't wish to draw attention to it, most of the guards are posted inside. With the right team, I could remove the guards on the mountainside, then in the cavern itself. Plant you inside to wait for him and take him when he doesn't expect it."

Lerrin tipped his head. "You mean at night? Won't they have patrols?"

"I mean in broad daylight. I mean we position you when the cave is empty so that you are waiting for him when he returns."

Lerrin's stomach began to fizz. "That sounds… intriguing. Why have you not proposed this before now?"

"It is only a theory. We will have challenges around shift changes and so forth. But you are skilled, Sire. I know you will not give yourself away. There are few I would trust to have the brains to navigate all the potential ways the situation could change or progress. But you are one of them."

"You flatter me."

"No, I speak the truth. Most wolves are too… excitable for this kind of work. You are not. And this is a bow we can only string once—and still we might not be successful."

"That is the risk of war," Lerrin growled. "Very well, let's discuss the logistics. Who and when, how we will enter the space and what we expect to find. And how to time the release of the soldiers against the City alongside this…"

They got lost in strategy and planning then and Lerrin forgot about the weight in his stomach, and he almost forgot the absence created by Suhle's disappearance. Almost. Not quite. But an hour later, he was confident they had found an appropriate way to achieve their goals. He could use this, and he could win.

The question was, to what end?