We obeyed her, as everyone seemed wont to do, and she waited until we were seated before beginning.
“Firstly, like Brandon, I wish to apologise, for so many things. If there was another way…” She sighed. “I relinquished my position as alpha when I first found out about the Volken, and I have taken it back because I know what has to be done. Finn, you will be going through the gate to save the men, including your fathers. Aaron, you will have trained men under you and supplies. Thanks to Brandon, we knew some of this was coming, just not the attack. We have been creating caches near the mine site for some time. Julie, congratulations on forming your pack. I felt the bond as soon as you made it formally, and I couldn’t be more pleased. But this is not what you want from me.”
I stared at the three of them, unable to think of a single word to utter.
“Sylvan is the Volken’s seer. The visions that plagued him are what led him here, what resulted in him marking Julie. Brandon is ours. This is customarily a female position. The other matriarchs believe we are waiting for one of our girls to display the requisite talent. There were a few that noted Brandon’s talents when he was very young, but thankfully, his mother contacted me, and we were able to mask his abilities. While they tend not to agree on how, the objective is clear—for both of our peoples to flourish, we need to release the Great Wolves and bring the balance. The line must remain unbroken for us to survive.”
“May the line remain unbroken,” the two men said dutifully.
“What the fuck?” I said, settling back in my chair. “What the actual fuck?”
“Jules…” Brandon said, his eyes coming alive now, but that wasn’t fair. That such familiar eyes would be scou
red with pain, begging me for understanding right when I couldn’t. I switched back to Ophelia, more comfortable with venting my spleen at her.
“You’ve known about all of this? The bite? My infection? My near fucking dying?” My voice was going all shrill and crazy lady like, but I had no other option. There was no rational way to process this.
“I did talk to Kelly and Doctor Hobbes about just this. I tried to warn them,” she replied. She seemed visibly upset by it all, but how could she be? She knew.
“And you?” I said to Sylvan. “What do we need you for if we have our own seer?”
“I see what he cannot, but there will be a seer on both sides, no matter what. Better one that is prepared to ally with you, yes?” Sylvan said.
I fell silent, staring at the pattern on the tablecloth. I didn’t have anything left in me. My brain, my heart, had been on the most epic rollercoaster since I’d bitten Slade, and now it flatlined. The guys asked questions—some getting quite heated, if the sound level was an indicator—but I just traced the jacquard arabesques with my finger, over and over.
Then, I felt a nudge at my hand. Buddy sat by my chair, tail wagging and looking up at me with those ice blue eyes. Again, he shoved his muzzle under my hand when I didn’t respond, so I reached over and rubbed one of those velvety ears. I was a bad dog owner. Finn was the one who took him for walks now, and one of us made sure he was fed. We kinda crowd sourced his care between us, and he would amble off outside the yard if he couldn’t get what he needed. Yet here he was, sitting there and looking like I was the centre of his universe, when he had to know he wasn’t the centre of mine anymore.
You are his pack.
It wasn’t my Tirian speaking, it was just me. I looked around the table, saw all my men speaking animatedly, even Hawk. All except for Brandon. He just watched me.
Did you mean to hurt us? I thought.
He got to his feet, walking down the length of the table and dropping to his knees beside me, his eyes wide with pain. He took my hand gingerly, and when I didn’t pull away, he laid his head on my lap.
I stroked his hair, because he was my friend, because he was in pain, because the scent of him was still all over my skin, because I loved him, and because he was pack. I clung desperately to what I knew of Brandon, that nowhere in the funny, geeky guy I’d come to love was there a naturally deceptive bone in his body. But nonetheless, he had been playing a long game, one way more complex than who was fucking who and how. This was too big to process, this truth, so I just focussed on the silky slip of his hair between my fingers.
“When do we go?” I asked no one in particular.
“You have two days,” Ophelia replied.
28
We stood in front of the blue swirling light that made up the trans-dimensional gate, laden heavy with supplies.
“Everyone ready?” Aaron said. He hadn’t stopped frowning since we woke up this morning. I stroked his wide shoulders, spent extra time washing him in the shower, but the tension did not lessen. Along with us, he had eight of his men at his back, each carrying a small arsenal of weapons. It wasn’t enough for him, I could tell. We hadn’t planned long enough, hadn’t coordinated the group enough, hadn’t analysed everyone’s skillset sufficiently for him to relax. He must have felt like he was leading us into certain doom, and I knew how that felt.
I looked over my pack, because that’s what they were now. I wasn’t sure if I was in love with all of them. I was still getting to know some, enjoying that ride, but one thing I was sure of—I wanted to be with them. Would there be casualties? The men from our vision and Shaun’s face immediately sprung to mind. I didn’t, couldn’t know. But just thinking of any harm coming to them had my fists tightening, a growl in my throat.
“You OK, Jules?” Finn said. He looked so much better now that we were doing something. I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. Crying like a little girl right as we attempted to strike at the Volken was not going to help anyone’s morale. He seemed to see it anyway, reaching over and brushing a thumb over the top of my cheek. “We’ll be alright. I won’t let anything happen to anyone. We’ll get the guys out, and be back home before you know it.”
For a second, I clung to his hand, just needing that strong, warm contact before nodding. I looked at the blue light we were about to step through, staring at the void as it stared back. Fucking Jack, he was right. This was a suicide mission. We were stones being cast against the whirlwind, but if I was going to die trying to achieve the impossible, there was no one else I wanted to do it with.
“Come,” Sylvan said, drawing up beside us. “It’s time.”
I took Finn’s hand and then Brandon’s, feeling the bond come to life as everyone linked up. I looked down the line and nodded, then over my shoulder to where Ophelia had Buddy on a lead as he pulled with all his might against it. When we moved, we did so as one, stepping up and through the gate. Interdimensional travel felt a bit like being turned inside out through your belly button. It was all dizzying blue lights and frantic motion, and then, our feet landed on solid soil. I took a massive breath in, my lungs burning from lack of oxygen, and looked around. Finn nodded, then moved forward.
“We’re here.”