Chapter 122 Preparing For Battle
Jolie POV
Mara's workshop is chaos organized into submission. Leather samples hang from every available surface, sorted by color and texture. Sketches cover the walls—designs for jackets, pants, boots, everything a biker could want. In the center, three mannequins wear partially finished pieces, pins marking where adjustments need to be made.
"Sit." Mara points to a stool. "Let me get measurements."
I sit while she pulls out a measuring tape. Ryder leans against the doorframe, watching with obvious amusement as Mara circles me with professional efficiency.
"Arms up." She measures my wingspan. "You're tiny. This is going to be a challenge."
"Thanks?" I'm not sure if that's a compliment.
"It's a good challenge." She grins. "Small frame means we can go dramatic without overwhelming you. Plus, your silver hair is a gift—it'll pop against dark leather."
"What are you thinking?" Ryder asks.
"Something that says 'I could kill you but I'm choosing to be polite.'" Mara sketches rapidly. "Fitted leather dress, knee-length, with strategic cutouts that look decorative but allow for movement. Silver hardware that doubles as blessed silver protection. Boots with concealed blades, hair up to show the mating mark."
"I love all of that." I lean forward to see her sketch. "Especially the concealed blades."
"Everyone expects divine Luna to mean soft and ethereal." Mara's pencil flies across her paper. "We're going the opposite direction. Sharp, dangerous, untouchable. They'll see you coming and know immediately they made a mistake."
"What about Ryder?" I glance at my mate.
"Full biker formal." Mara doesn't even pause. "Leather jacket with pack symbols, dress pants that actually fit, boots polished to a shine. We want the contrast—you looking like you could attend any high society event, him looking like he'll burn it all down if anyone touches you."
"I like her plan." Ryder's smile is all smug.
"Of course you do." I roll my eyes fondly. "It feeds your protective alpha instincts."
"Damn right it does." He doesn't apologize.
Luna arrives carrying a tablet and coffee. "Fitting going well?"
"She's perfect for this." Mara accepts the coffee gratefully. "Small enough that dramatic won't overwhelm her, confident enough to pull off dangerous chic."
"Good." Luna pulls up files. "Because I have intel that's going to make this wedding even more interesting."
We gather around her tablet as she opens a report marked with multiple security warnings.
"Our investigator found something." Luna's voice is grim. "Celeste Whitmore attended the Council's Northern Academy from age twelve to eighteen. Official records say she studied politics and pack management while unofficial records tell a different story."
"What kind of different story?" Ryder leans closer.
"The Northern Academy had a special program." Luna pulls up classified documents. "Project Equilibrium. They took wolves with high intelligence and strong family connections, then systematically trained them to suppress emotional responses."
"Trained how?" I ask, though part of me doesn't want to know.
"Isolation therapy. Repeated exposure to traumatic scenarios until emotional reactions flatened, punishment for displaying feelings. Reward for maintaining control." Luna's expression is tight. "They were creating wolves who could infiltrate anywhere without giving themselves away through emotional tells."
"That's torture." Mara's voice is sharp. "They tortured children."
"They called it conditioning." Luna scrolls through more files. "Celeste was in the program for six years, top of her class. Her final evaluation notes that she achieved 'complete emotional equilibrium'—meaning she no longer displayed any emotion at all."
"So she's not naturally emotionless." I process this. "She was made that way. On purpose. As a child."
"Exactly." Luna nods. "Which means whatever your father thinks he's marrying, the reality is much more complicated. Celeste Whitmore is a victim turned weapon."
"Does she know?" Phoenix appears in the doorway. "That she was conditioned? That her emotional capacity was stolen?"
"Unknown." Luna admits. "The program included memory alteration for some participants. She might think this is just who she naturally is."
I think about Morgan's face when the empathy hit her—the shock, the agony, the desperate confusion of feeling things she'd never felt before. If I use my empathy gift on Celeste, would it be justice or cruelty? Freeing her or breaking her?
"This changes things." I stand, pacing Mara's workshop. "If Celeste is a victim, if she was tortured into being emotionless, then using my empathy on her becomes more complicated."
"Does it?" Ryder challenges gently. "If she's being used as a weapon against you, does her victimhood erase that threat?"
"No." I admit. "But it means I need to be more careful. Morgan chose to destroy bonds for money, Celeste might not have chosen any of this."
"We don't know what she knows or chooses now." Luna points out. "She could be a willing participant in whatever plot your father and the Whitmores are running. Or she could be a puppet who doesn't realize she's being manipulated."
"Either way, we need information." Knox joins us, Cass right behind him. "And the wedding is our best chance to get it."
"So what's the plan?" Cass asks. "Besides looking fierce and making statements."
"Intelligence gathering first." Luna pulls up a new document. "I want eyes on every major player who attends. If this wedding is a networking event for Council remnants, we need to know who's there and what they're planning."
"I can handle that." Knox nods. "Facial recognition software, background checks on every guest. We'll know who we're dealing with before they even realize we're watching."
"Security perimeter." Ryder takes over. "The Nightshade Estate is defensible, which means it's also a trap. I want exit routes mapped, backup positions established, and extraction protocols ready to go."
"I'll run recon." Cass volunteers. "Visit the estate beforehand, scope out the layout, identify vulnerabilities."
"Gifts." Phoenix holds up his phone. "I contacted a blessed silver smith. She's making wedding bands forged from the silver that Jolie absorbed during the Council fight. They'll be ready in a week."
"That's perfect." I smile at him. "Thank you."