Chapter 256: Unite

​Leo’s POV

​The words hit the room like a bomb.

​"Never," Liam growled, his voice rising in fury as he stood up from the couch. "They will have to slaughter every single man, woman, and child in this pack before I let them touch a hair on her head. I don’t care about their king, and I don’t care about their spells. She stays here."

​"It means war, then," Leonard said from the window, his voice terrifyingly calm. But his knuckles were white from how hard he was clenching his fists.

​"We will fight!" I shouted, the animal inside me screaming for blood. "We are Alphas! We don’t hand over our family, and we sure as hell don’t hand over our mate just because some leech wants to live forever!"

​Madame Karen looked at the three of us, her eyes full of deep pity and sadness. She stood up from her chair and walked over to Liam, gently placing a wrinkled hand on his forearm.

​"I know your hearts are brave, my Alphas," the Seer said quietly. "But you cannot fight this battle in the dark. You need help."

​"What?" Liam asked, staring down at her.

​"Scarlett has to know," Karen said firmly. "You cannot keep this a secret from her to protect her. She is the Red Wolf. Her destiny is tied to this king now. If an army is coming in three days, she needs to know exactly what her blood means to them. You must tell her the truth."

​I looked down at the floor, thinking about the terrified look on Scarlett’s face when she woke up screaming from her dream.

​"She already knows something is coming," I whispered to my brothers, remembering her shaking hands. "The dream she had tonight... it wasn’t a nightmare. It was a vision. The king showed himself to her."

​The heavy wooden door to my bedroom suddenly pushed open.

​My heart skipped a beat. We all snapped our heads toward the doorway, completely shocked. We didn’t expect her to be out of bed, let alone standing right here.

​Scarlett stood in the doorway.

​She had her arms folded tightly across her chest, her small body leaning slightly against the doorframe. Her face was that same cold, emotionless mask she had worn earlier, but her sea-blue eyes were sharp and fixed right on us. She had clearly heard our raised voices.

​"Tell me what truth," Scarlett said, her voice completely flat but filling the entire room.

​None of us spoke for a long second. The silence was heavy as we just stared at her. Madame Karen was the first to move. The old Seer looked at Scarlett, a deep look of respect and sadness passing over her wrinkled face. She bowed her head low to Scarlett and quietly walked out of the room, closing the door softly behind her.

​Now, it was just the four of us.

​Scarlett took a few slow steps into the center of my bedroom. She looked at Liam, then at Leonard, and finally at me. "Well?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "Who will be the first to talk?"

​Liam let out a rough breath. He looked down at her, his broad shoulders dropping as the anger left him, replaced by pure worry. He knew we couldn’t keep this from her anymore.

​Step by step, Liam told her everything. He told her about the high-alert mind link from the border guards. He told her about the five pale vampires and the message they brought from their ancient king. He explained how they tracked her shift, how the Vampire King was three hundred years old and dying, and how he needed the magic in her Red Wolf blood to live forever. Finally, he told her about the three-day timeline—the choice between handing her over or facing a war.

​As Liam spoke, I watched Scarlett’s face carefully, waiting for the panic to take over. I expected her to look terrified, just like she had when she woke up screaming from her nightmare. I expected her to cry or look to us for protection.

​But she didn’t.

​Instead, her face stayed perfectly still. Not a single tear came to her eyes, and her body didn’t shake. Her blue eyes only grew darker, colder, and more focused.

​When Liam finally finished speaking, Scarlett let out a small, slow breath.

​"Tell the vampires I would like to have a word with their king at the border," she said calmly.

​My jaw practically dropped. "No!" I shouted immediately, taking a step toward her. "Are you crazy, Scarlett? Absolutely not!"

​Scarlett turned her sharp gaze to me, her eyes locking onto mine with a force that made my wolf go still. "I am not asking for your permission, Leo," she said, her voice dropping to a dangerous, steady tone. "This is about me. This is my blood they want. I will work it out myself."

​I let out a loud sigh, rubbing the back of my neck in total frustration. "Scarlett, you are not offering yourself to him! We are Alphas. Our job is to protect you, not hand you over to a monster on a silver platter!"

​"I never said I would offer myself to him," Scarlett shot back. She stood tall, looking incredibly strong despite how small she was compared to us. "I said I want to speak with him. Relay my message to the border guards so they can pass it on. Tell them I will meet him."

​She looked at all three of us, making sure we were listening to every single word.

​"And you guys shouldn’t bring war to this pack," she continued, her voice firm and authoritative. "Let me handle it. I am the one he wants, and I will deal with him. Do not do something behind my back to try and stop me."

​Before any of us could say another word to argue, Scarlett turned around. Her long hair swung over her shoulders as she walked out of my bedroom, leaving the door wide open behind her.

​The three of us stood frozen, staring at the empty doorway. The silence in the room was suffocating. I looked at Liam, and then at Leonard, my mind completely spinning. We had spent the last hour ready to start a war to keep her safe, and with just a few words, she had completely taken the power out of our hands.

​"We can’t let her do this," I whispered, looking at my brothers.

​But as I looked at the hard, conflicted expressions on Liam and Leonard’s faces, I knew none of us wanted to get her angry.

​"We don’t have a choice about sending the message," Liam said, his voice flat and hard. "If we try to stop her from going to that border, she will just find a way to sneak out. And right now, knowing she is out there alone in the woods is a hell of a lot worse than us escorting her to a meeting."

​He walked back toward the center of the room, his jaw clenching. "I will mind-link the border guards. I’ll tell them to pass the message to the vampire scouts. She will meet with the King at the borderline. But we are going with her. Every single one of us."

​"And if it’s a trap?" Leonard asked from his spot by the window. His voice was low, his dark brown eyes narrowed as he thought through the worst-case scenarios. "Vampires don’t exactly play by rules of honor. The moment she steps near that line, they might just try to grab her and run."

​"Then we make sure they regret it," Liam snapped. "We will send the message just like she asked, but we are going to be prepared for anything. I want our top fighters hidden in the tree line. I want our scouts masking their scents. If those leeches make even one wrong move, we turn that clearing into a graveyard."

​"I agree," I said, stepping closer to my brothers.

​The plan was solid, but as I looked at the two of them standing in my room, a heavy weight settled onto my chest. The external threat was massive, but the internal one was just as dangerous. I looked at Liam’s tight posture, remembering how he had looked at me in his bedroom just an hour ago, full of dark suspicion and pain. I looked at Leonard, who had been walking around like a ghost ever since Scarlett told us her feelings were gone.

​We were broken. We were angry at each other, jealous, and completely divided by the lies and the heartbreak of the past few days. And that was exactly how a pack died from the inside out.

​I took a deep breath, swallowing the pride that usually kept my mouth shut.

​"Hey," I spoke up, my voice catching their attention. Both of them looked at me. "I know we have our differences right now. I know we are angry at each other. There is a lot of stuff between us that we haven’t fixed, and a lot of pain we are all carrying."

​I looked Liam straight in the eye, then turned my gaze to Leonard.

​"But right now is the time we have to set aside our differences," I said, my voice growing steady and firm. "The only goal that matters right now is Scarlett. Until she is safe, until this threat is completely gone, we cannot afford to fight each other. We cannot let ourselves be divided."

​Liam shifted his weight, his eyes tracking my face. Leonard stayed perfectly still, listening.

​"Let’s forget about who she loves more," I pressed, the words tasting bitter but necessary. "Let’s forget about the mate bonds, the rejection, and the cold things she said to us tonight. None of that matters if she gets taken by a monster who wants to drain her blood. If we are divided, we are weak. And if we are weak, we lose her forever. So please... let’s stay united."

​For a long, agonizing second, nobody said a word. The silence in the bedroom was thick, and I wondered if I had pushed too hard, or if the cracks in our brotherhood were already too deep to mend.

​Then, Liam slowly nodded his head. "You’re right," he said quietly.

From the corner of the room, Leonard finally walked away from the window. He took a few slow steps toward us, his face softening just a little. He nodded too. "United," he agreed.

​A wave of relief washed over me. Without thinking about it, I stepped forward and held out my hand, offering a firm, traditional handshake to seal the promise between us.

​Liam looked down at my open hand, a small, rough scoff escaping his lips. He didn’t take my hand. Instead, he stepped right past it, reached out with his massive arms, and pulled me forward into a tight, heavy hug.

​My breath caught in my throat for a second, and then I completely melted into it. Fuck, I had missed this. I had missed the simple, unshakeable bond of my brothers. For months, we had been tiptoeing around each other, letting jealousy and secrets build a wall between us. But feeling the solid, familiar weight of my brother’s hold reminded me of exactly who we were before everything went to hell.

​Before I could even say anything, Leonard stepped in too. He wrapped his long arms around both of us, pulling himself into the embrace until the three of us were locked in a tight circle.

​We stood there for a long moment, none of us saying a word, just letting the silent promise of our wolves settle into our bones.

​When Liam finally stepped back, he cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck as if he were suddenly embarrassed by the display. But the hard, suspicious look in his eyes was completely gone.

​"Alright," Liam said, his voice returning to its normal, commanding tone. "I’m going to link the western border guards right now and have them pass the word. We meet the King in three days."

​"I’ll go down to the training grounds first thing in the morning," Leonard added, his eyes sharp and focused again. "I’ll hand-pick the warriors for the perimeter and set up the defense lines near the clearing."

​"And I’ll keep an eye on Scarlett," I said, looking back out toward the hallway. "We need to make sure she stays inside the house until it’s time to move."

​We had a plan, we had our strength back, and most importantly, we had each other. The Vampire King might have an army, but he had no idea what happened when three Alphas stood together to protect the female they loved.

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