Chapter 500: Laying out the plan

While Viola and Tess were talking in a whisper, which Sebastian heard completely, he turned to the Alpha heir, who had brought his men against his father’s will. Sebastian didn’t know what to do with the man who idolized him and wanted to rule like him, when Sebastian didn’t really see anything worth idolizing about himself lately, but he kept that to himself.

"How many did you manage to bring?" he asked.

Kenny replied, "A few. It wasn’t easy because my father still isn’t fond of you, historically speaking, so getting him to agree to lend forces was almost impossible. But I managed to pull together twenty warriors with real abilities, plus a few hundred more with solid wolf strength behind them."

"I won’t forget this, Ken," Sebastian said, gripping his shoulder.

"You can repay me later," Kenny said, a small grin tugging at his mouth, seeing this as a rare chance to earn favor with the Supreme Alpha. "When my time comes to take over from my father, I expect you to actually give me some real guidance, instead of vague Alpha wisdom."

Before Sebastian could respond, the doorbell rang, and Viola went to answer it, opening the door.

Laila swept in a moment later, looking faintly exasperated, with Gilbert trailing behind her, as though they had been in the middle of an argument right up until the door opened.

Viola, not expecting either of them, parted her lips to speak, but—

"Don’t even start," Laila said, cutting her off before she could get a word out. "I refuse to be left out of this. I’m coming along to the new pack, who dares think they could build themselves up to us and bring us down."

Laila had been confined to bed this whole time while everything unfolded in Silver, her parents insisting it was safer for her to stay away from the Luna’s business entirely. But once Laila claimed someone as a friend, she stuck by them through anything, and the moment she’d heard Zoe’s whereabouts were known and a rescue was underway, she was out of bed before anyone could stop her.

Gilbert had tried to stop her, and it had nearly turned into a full argument between them.

"Laila, you should be resting," Viola started, glancing at Gilbert for backup, but he only lifted his hands in surrender.

"I’ve tried. She’s about as easy to keep in a healing bed as a horse that’s had too much sugar. I gave up two days ago, Luna. She’s fully healed now, inside and out." He let her know.

"If a pregnant woman gets to come, so do I," Laila said firmly, before her eyes landed on Tess, and her whole face lit up. "Oh my goddess, Tess!" The two women embraced, already falling into easy chatter, and Gilbert took the opportunity to greet Viola properly, his smile warm.

"How are you doing? The Alpha told me you’ve been throwing up, and he’s worried it’ll happen again, he asked if there’s anything that could prevent it." The doctor said, a small chuckle escaping him, which made Viola flush at just how much Sebastian tended to worry over her, even when she’d told him he didn’t need to contact the doctor about the vomiting.

"And what did you tell him?" She asked curiously, studying the doctor’s eyes and noticing, for the first time, just how much he resembled her father, who had, in turn, resembled his own father, their grandfather, the man who had once torn her parents apart and forced her father to marry a shewolf instead of the mermaid he loved.

Learning more about her relatives, piece by piece, gave her a stronger sense of self, of belonging somewhere, of not being just a nobody with no history behind her. She was tied to this man too, blood and all.

"I told him the truth, there’s nothing I can do about it. It’s completely natural to be nauseous. Every new father develops some anxiety about the pregnancy, right alongside the mother. He’ll adjust to it in time. I’ve seen it plenty."

"Are you coming with us?" She asked him, and Gilbert nodded without hesitation, since there was no version of this where he wasn’t going.

"Alright," Sebastian called, his voice cutting through the room. Gilbert and Viola turned toward him before making their way into the living room.

"Men, with me. Let’s talk strategy. Ladies, go change into something comfortable. We leave soon," he announced, looking down at his wristwatch, which read 5:46 p.m.

As the women made their way up toward Viola’s bedroom, already deep in conversation with each other, Gilbert let out a low sigh, watching them climb the stairs. "I wish we weren’t bringing them along. We don’t know what we’re walking into there."

"Agreed," Kenny muttered, since his own mate, whom he’d brought along specifically to keep the Luna company, had promptly decided she was coming too, the moment she’d learned Viola wasn’t staying behind.

Sebastian’s jaw tightened, worry flickering behind his eyes even as he said, "I believe they’ll be fine." He paused, his eyes thoughtful. "But we keep our strongest men close to them, no matter what. Here’s the map of the grounds, I had it made the last time I was in that pack. He knows we’re coming, but we need to enter from a direction he least expects and take him by surprise."

Sebastian spread the map across the dining table for the rest to see. "We’ll split into four groups. Matt’s group is already on the path ahead. His mission is to draw Nick’s attention and make him believe we’re coming in from the front, walking straight into his damn trap. My group will move in through the back, and I’ll have Ken with me."

"What about me?" Gilbert questioned. Though he was a doctor by profession, he’d trained during his teenage years just like every werewolf and could hold his own as well as any male werewolf.

"You’ll be with the women’s group. I don’t want my Luna in the fighting group, since that’s where the real engagement will happen, your group will stay back, acting as our eyes and ears from a distance. His pack sits uphill, and once we attack from behind, plenty of his men are bound to scatter and come around trying to flank us. Your group handles the stray fighters. You’ll have weapons and snipers, so you can pick them off from a distance. Can you manage that?"

Gilbert felt a flicker of insult at being handed the "easier" job while the others got the real fight, and briefly wondered if it was because he was a doctor. But then, remembering that his mate would be in that same group, the one he was still trying to properly win over, he didn’t hesitate to answer.

"You can trust me with your women. What’s next?" He asked, looking down at the map Sebastian was marking.

"I want Nick myself. Between our combined forces, we can bring down every one of his lackeys, and I’ll deal with him personally." Sebastian promised, jotting notes onto the map he’d hand off to his wife once she came down to walk her through it all.

Meanwhile, up in the bedroom, Viola changed into the comfortable outfit Zoe had made for her, back during the competition to become Luna. It had been ruined that day, but her friend had found a way to repair it and return it to her, and now Viola wore it again, tying her hair back into a ponytail.

"Shit, I should’ve brought my own suit too." Came Laila’s voice as she tied her own hair back, dressed in the skintight black pants and shirt Tess had lent her. She hadn’t had time to prepare anything herself, not with that doctor hovering over her like an annoying fly, always appearing out of nowhere to stop her from doing anything the least bit reckless.

"Don’t worry, you already look plenty sexy in that." Tess said with a small laugh, and Laila smiled.

"And that’s exactly why, once all of this is behind us, I’m leaving Silver and going back to exploring the world, the way I used to. Life was so much more fun back then. Maybe this time I’ll let Zoe come along too, what do you think, Viola?"