Chapter 85: Chapter Thirty-Two

**Travis’s POV**

*Three days ago*...

“Lycans?” Gisele’s inquiring gaze never lifted as she questioned me, incredulous. “You’re suggesting that we ask the Lycans for help?”

“Yes.” I replied, expecting somewhat of a reaction.

But nothing came. I could hear no gasps, and no scoffs, no shrewd remarks, or even the most subtle breathing coming from the Alpha or her pack. Instead, there followed only a heavy silence during which each of the wolves under Gisele's command observed me solemnly, trying as best they could to detect the slightest sign of deception on my part.

After all, deeply steeped in werewolf folklore were the Lycans' tales of cruelty. And each of us had heard one story or another about their barbarism at least once. From the brutal enslavement of mystical beings to the ruthless killings of just about anybody, nothing was off-limits to them, and their wickedness was truly unmatched. 

So only a madman could ever suggest working with the Lycans, and as my beard barely hid the smirk spreading across my lips, I could no longer deny that a madman was what I had become.

“Have you lost your mind, Delta?” Gisele asked, a little stunned and shaken herself by my proposal. “What the hell are you talking about? Why would we go to the Lycans?”

“And why not?” I tried to answer as a boisterous clamor broke out around me and instantly drowned out my voice.

“We can’t go to those bastards!” Bodyguard Aki screamed, his deep, booming voice eclipsing, for the most part, the shouts of his rogue comrades.“You’re fucking crazy! Nobody goes to them unless they wanna’ die!” 

As the deafening roar throughout the campsite increased tenfold, it was clear to see that Aki had spoken not only to his own but to the collective qualms and reluctance of the rogue pack. They were all afraid, and to me, that was nothing short of pathetic. Could none of them see and understand what I could? My plan may have entailed some level of danger, but what other choice did we have at defeating Benjamin Miller? The Lycans were a means, like any other, of achieving our ends, and everything else in between should have been irrelevant.

“They’re the only ones strong enough to help us.” I sighed, ignoring Aki’s outburst and addressing the rogue Alpha directly. “You said it yourself, Gisele, alone we don't measure up to Benjamin or his pack."

“Maybe so, but with your plan, they become the least of my concerns, Delta.” She responded loudly, trying to raise her voice above the growls of her followers. "The Lycans will have our heads on pikes before they ever decide to head for Blackwoods. And then where would that leave us, huh? Oh, that’s right! Dead!”

“They won't kill us.” I said, and before I could understand why, a burst of laughter erupted all around me. “You can laugh all you want, but I’m telling you, they won’t kill us.”

Hidden behind all the cackling was the famous and easily noticeable rogues' distrust. But still, as they continued to laugh, Gisele sat down on her makeshift wooden throne and became more and more curious about my inflexibility. Then her eyes suddenly narrowed and her lips pursed, and with a quick flick of her wrist, she ordered complete silence.

“They won’t kill us.” I repeated as the heckling slowly began to subside.

“Why wouldn’t they?” She enquired, doubt still essentially hanging over her.

“I have some information they’ll want to hear.”

The rogue Alpha raised an eyebrow and silently urged me to continue. However, for a split second, time stood incredibly still as images of my brother, my parents, Alpha William, and my pack flooded my mind. My hesitation grew, and with it, so did Orin's begging. He wailed and howled inside my head, imploring me to come to my senses one last time, but I just couldn't. Reason had long since abandoned me, and I was, in the end, no more than a brainless lackey to my sinful pride and lousy jealousy. 

“Mina is a half-breed,” I revealed to her in a low voice as my fists slowly loosened. “Her father is Alpha Parrish of Colevan, the Lycan Alpha.”

Gisele’s eyebrows rose before they quickly fell back on her forehead, her surprise coming and going in a flash.“Lycans don’t keep half-breed alive.” She said, her shrill voice filtering through the whispers of the other rogues.

“Well, Mina’s alive.”

“You don’t say.” She scoffed. “Are you sure she’s a half-breed?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

“She told me herself. I’m not lying. Her father is Colevan’s Alpha.”

“Hmm…. This could be interesting. I mean, if this is true, then we might have some leverage against him.” She let out in a barely perceptible voice as if lost in thought. “Still, going there is risky, too risky. The Lycans are unpredictable-”

“So are rogues.”

Crudely interrupted, she looked up in my direction, and a small, defiant smile began to fill her thin lips. “That’s true.” She replied. “We’re no sweethearts either. Besides, it wouldn’t be the first time in our long history that Lycans and rogues have joined forces against a common threat. And Benjamin is the ultimate threat; we’ll just have to show them.”

“Gisele, you cannot be serious!”

“Who’s the Alpha here, Aki?” She asked, silencing the rogue in a low, threatening voice. “Disagreeing with me, I must remind you, comes at a price. It’s been weeks since I last killed someone, and I could use the exercise.”

She waited, and when neither he nor anyone else dared speak after her, she leaned back in her chair and smiled smugly. “So we’re all in agreement, then. We go to Colevan.”

I watched as everyone around us began to begrudgingly throw what little personal belongings they owned into different bags, and within hours the campsite was emptied entirely. If it weren’t for the dense smoke left by the strewn fireplaces and the putrid rogue smell that still hung in the air, no one could have guessed that an entire pack had recently claimed this hollowed-out piece of land as their home.

The rogues had no cars, so the trip to Colevan had to be done on foot. One by one, the werewolves old enough to shift did so while the younger children saddled on their backs, clinging to their thick fur as we dashed through the trees. For three days and three nights, we crossed the country, state-line after state-line, allowing ourselves only a few hours to sleep and eat at night. And I preferred it that way. Running had always been a great stress reliever for Orin and me, and the more time we spent doing it, the happier we became, enjoying the thrilling and addictive rush of endorphins. So for a while, we worried not and argued even less, and somewhere along those three days of racing Orin and I briefly found ourselves as before, two souls in one.

But as all good things had to end, so did my relationship with my wolf. In the wee hours of the fourth day, we arrived at the gates of Colevan town, and before I could even react, Orin forced me to return to my human form and cut off all contact and communication with me. As disturbing as it was, I couldn't say it was unexpected. Time and time again, he had tried to get me off the wrong path until he could no longer stand to support me. Orin had deserted me, and it was my fault, my loss. And though I stood alone, I kept faith that one of these days, when Mina was all mine, and her love had healed us both, my wolf would understand why I did what I did. Yes, he would come back, and I would be whole again with the two by my side.

“What’s the plan now?” A visibly nervous Aki spoke aloud.

“We go in.” Gisele replied, shrugging her shoulders. 

“Shouldn’t we send someone before to let them know we’re here?” A second rogue asked in a trembling voice.

“We don’t need to; they’re Lycans!” Aki answered in Gisele’s place. “They’ve probably already smelled us from miles away.” 

“Even more the reason why we should just go in.” The Alpha sighed in exasperation, eager to meet them at last.

"No." I said, approaching them. “Only you and I go in, Gisele. They may already know that we are here, but I don’t see the need for all of us to enter their town.”

“Fine, but Aki’s coming with us.”

“No, only the two of us go in. You'll have more use of your second-in-command here, protecting the rest of your pack.”

Despite twisting her mouth into an ugly frown, Gisele expressed no further objections, and as she prepared to head inside Colevan's borders, I took advantage of her inattention to approach her right-hand man.

"As soon as we leave, you should round up your people and set up camp as far away from here as possible." I tried to advise him; my eyes fixed on some of the younger children still asleep.

Aki’s sneering brought my attention back to him, and before I could say anything else, his sheer disdain for me started oozing out. “What the hell good would that do, *Delta*?" He mocked me. "From now on, we’re all dead anyway. Thanks to you.”