108: The map.

108: The map.
Ryker pov

I wrote the corrected report at Mira’s back table because the square was too exposed and the official version we’d been sent was already a problem. Harren read over my shoulder while Tolen stood by the window and watched the street like the glass might be broken any given moment, which also was a possibility.

“Write it as plainly as possible,” Harren murmured over my shoulder. “If you try to make it look pretty, someone at the castle is going to file it somewhere without letting it reach the King’s table. We still have to keep in mind that someone on the inside is working against us.”

I kept the pen moving, gripping it a little tighter than necessary. “The damage doesn’t match a random raid. Useful stock was left standing, only visible fronts were smashed on purpose. Two days before the attack, a man asked if the Alpha’s son still came east when there was trouble. After the smash-up, another man with a scar came through asking if the first one had already left. This town was used to pull a team with me leading it toward this area. The attack was a set-up, no deaths reported by the locals.”

Tolen glanced back. “Are you putting Bastian’s name in it?”

“I’m not writing it down, only implying, the King isn’t a fool, he’ll understand what I mean. If I add the name, someone will snatch the report and hide it away until it’s too late,” I said, signed the paper, folded it and handed it to the runner waiting by the door. “Bring this to the castle, don’t stop until you deliver the message and don’t promise follow-ups, just make sure the King gets this.”

The runner nodded and left, and as soon as the door closed behind him, the room suddenly felt much smaller and suffocating.

As soon as I sat down again, Harren dropped into the chair across from me. “So, we hold this place, or we move east toward the road Orin pointed at? It’s your call, we follow whatever command you give us.”

Tolen stepped away from the window and sat with us too, leaning in closer to whisper, “if we hold, we look useful and stay visible. If we move, we might actually find the people who set this up. Both options have a chance of getting somebody killed.”

“So we’ll have a little meeting now,” I said and leaned back in the chair. “Start talking.”

Harren tapped the map we’d borrowed from Pavel. “Holding the town means we’re doing what they wanted. We arrived, we’re standing in the square, the perfect picture that proves the bait worked. I don’t love giving them that for free.”

“Leaving the town means Mira and the rest go back to waiting for the next checklist,” Tolen added, eyes scanning the map. “Pavel already asked if we’re protecting them or moving a target.”

I looked at the east mark Orin had given us. There was a river road, much thicker trees and the direction was described as something both men were highly interested in.

“If Bastian wanted me on the road, he already got that part,” I said, trying to understand what could possibly be his next move and why he’d insist on getting me there. “The question is whether he’s still watching the town or whether he’s waiting farther out.”

Harren leaned back and nodded, that familiar scowl pulling at his face. “The setup’s too weird for a clean ambush here. He comes in first, smiling, asking about you like he’s making conversation only for the scarred one to come right after, asking if the first one left and looking all happy about it. What the locals are describing can’t be one army with only one brain leading it.”

Tolen nodded and leaned closer. “That’s a split in the center. Think about it, the first man wants the prize and the second man wants to know the first man is gone. If they were solid, the scarred one wouldn’t be sniffing the trail like he’s checking a mess he didn’t approve of.”

I kept my eyes on the map. “You’re saying Bastian gathered people and now those people are coming apart. Could that really be happening? Bought rogues aren’t known for their loyalty to a cause, but they’re loyal to money they expect to be given.”

“I can’t help but agree with Tolen on this one,” Harren added, his eyes darting between us. “You don’t send a scout face through a cafe two days early if you’re confident. You do that when you need the town talking. But, most importantly, someone who’s completely sure about their goal wouldn’t send a second man after him unless somebody at the back of the operation is trying to manage the first one.”

Tolen scratched his jaw and hummed, taking a moment to think about Harren’s words before he bothered to share more of his opinion. “It might be possible that their operation is collapsing, but also, there’s a chance they’re trying to put a leash on Bastian. Either way, it’s not the story of a united rogue pack hungry for meat and metal. They skipped the generator, ignored the clinic and left the cash behind - everything they did was following a script. The attacks weren’t real.”

“And scripts fall apart when the man writing them stops paying,” Harren said and the corner of his mouth twitched. “We all heard how money disappeared from Alpha Bane’s private office. Might it be that someone with nails longer than his bravery went there and took it? Where would he possibly get enough money to keep those rogues hungry for another war? It’s either he has something on the group or he’s stringing them along, and if it’s the latter, well, fuck me, he’s in for a wild ride.”

While Harren spoke, my mind immediately wandered back to Willow. I wasn’t supposed to focus on her, we were lured in a trap we didn’t fully understand and my main priority was to keep the men safe, but I still couldn’t help but think about her. 

I wondered if she missed me and if she was losing her mind, standing at the castle gate, watching the road and waiting for my return. All things aside, I had one goal that was more important than anything - I had to return home to her. 

“If their army is collapsing,” I said after a long moment of silence, “it means that while we’re sitting here, we give Bastian time to force the next move before his own people walk. I fear that if we go east, we might walk straight into the group that might still be loyal to him.”

Tolen shrugged. “True, but there’s another chance. We might, as well, run into the group that’s probably trying to sell him out to save their own asses. We never know.”

Harren looked at me, but since I didn’t have a comment to offer, he added, “the truth of the matter is that we know only what we’ve been told, even that might be paid information. The scarred guy who was coming here and asking if Bastian already left - he might be hunting him or, there’s a chance he’s cleaning up after him. We don’t know which version is true.”

“We know enough to stop treating this like the mission we were sent on originally,” I muttered, eyes still focused on the map as if it could give me the very answers I was looking for. “The King sent us because the first report said massive losses while Mira said three cuts, one concussion, broken glass, and a town that hasn’t slept. Somebody twisted the story until it turned ugly enough for the King to send me to the frontlines of this mess.”

Tolen let out a sigh, his eyes darting around, looking for clues. “So the chances of getting out alive are better if we stop following the story they wrote.”

“Better doesn’t mean good,” Harren told him. “If we hold the town, we control the ground we can see and keep civilians from getting used twice, but we also stay where Bastian already knows to look. If we move east, we might catch him before he sets the next piece or, we give him the private road he wanted all along. It doesn’t matter which option we choose, we’re literally trapped before an impossible decision.”

I sat back, mirroring their tense and somehow relaxed positions. “Give me your votes. We’ll decide together, I won’t send anyone into sure death without everyone’s agreement. First, we vote among ourselves and then we go to the men.”

Tolen didn’t hesitate even for a second, already having an answer in mind, “I think we have to go east. The town already did its job, every extra hour we stand here is an extra hour for those bastards to go along with whatever sick plans they have.”

Harren took a moment to think before he spoke again. “I’m split on this. What if we leave a small presence here so the town isn’t stripped naked and left unguarded? Some of the men can stay behind while the rest of us take the road and treat it like hostile ground, not a follow-up visit.”

I looked at both of them, trying to figure out which direction would be best. If we leave men behind and somewhere along the road we get attacked, that could mean anything, but especially a bigger chance of losses for our own group. 

“Okay,” I finally breathed out the word and waited until they turned to look at me. “Here’s what I propose - Tolen, you take two men and stay visible in the square until the next check-in. Harren, you and I take the rest east. We won’t do hero talks or promises, we’ll just cover every ground we can. If the road looks like an invitation with flowers on it, we stop and rethink.”

Tolen raised an eyebrow. “You’re leaving me to guard a bakery and the local opinions?”

“I’m leaving you with the people who already spotted the pattern,” I corrected him. “If another smiling man asks about the Alpha’s son, I want it written down before he finishes the coffee. For as long as you’re here and you have a backup, you can lock him up until I return personally.”

Harren’s lips pulled with a smile, “would you look at that, Alpha. Looks like we have an actual plan now. Turns out negotiations aren’t that awful as you’ve been complaining for years, huh? You’ve grown.”

“Don’t get used to it.” I chuckled and pulled the map closer to point at it. “Orin said the scarred one went east after he heard Bastian had left. If that man’s managing a collapse, he won’t be far from here. If he’s hunting him, he still won’t be far. Either way, east is where I believe we could find answers or the rogues that started this bullshit.”

Tolen leaned in and tapped a finger against the map. “They asked if this still floods, that’s the path I’d take if I didn’t want to use the main road I knew would be blocked.”

“That’s the path we treat as a threat first,” I hummed, “we can’t copy their steps, but we can follow close to them. If we get anywhere near the area, we’ll treat it like someone could still be hiding there. No matter what, we have to be more careful about this than we’ve been about anything else.”

Harren nodded. “And if we find Bastian?”

“We can’t rush to capture him just because he lured us to him herself,” I grumbled, more to myself than the men sitting with me. “If we find him, we work smart - I don’t believe he’ll be alone, so first, we ensure the men are safe and only after we try to get him. I’m not losing more men to rogues.”

Tolen let out a long whistle, eyes wide, “shit, this is the first time you sound like you want him in one piece.”

“What I want is to stop that lunatic and go home to my mate,” I insisted. “If Bastian is returned in one piece, he’s the King’s problem. Or, better yet, he might be handed over to Bane to deal with. My only focus for now is to walk into those woods and make sure I’m not leading my men into another ambush.”

Harren and Tolen exchanged glances, looking proud before we all settled around the table, hovering over the map and trying to find more paths the men could use to cover if we were under an attack. After a long time, the back door opened and all of us lifted our heads to look in the direction. 

Mira stood in the doorframe, having lost the apron and the color on her face. Hurriedly, she shut the door behind her and pressed her back against it, as if she braced herself not to allow anyone in. “I went to the fabric store,” she whispered. “I used the back door because the owner told me the front was still a mess from last week and she didn’t want anyone to walk on glass.”

Harren slowly stood up, his posture tense, “Mira, what happened?”

“There was a man behind it,” she said, her voice trembling as she spoke. “He wore the same jacket and cap as the ones from the night they hit us. He was snooping along the crates, looking through the gap toward the square. He didn’t see me at first, but he noticed me when I tried to step away. He didn’t run, just slipped back into the alley and never returned.” 

Tolen jumped to his feet and hurried to the window, “is he still there?”

“I didn’t wait to find out and came straight here.” Mira blurted out and looked at me, clearly just as scared as she was angry at this mess. “You said they used this town, but it looks like he’s still using it.”

I nodded, grabbed the map and headed toward the door. “The meeting is over, scratch the plan for now. We can’t leave the town until we’re sure they won’t start attacking the civilians. Harren, with me. Tolen, keep the front.” Stopping at the door, I turned to her, “Mira, you stay in this room until I say otherwise.”

She nodded too fast. “I knew I should’ve kept my mouth shut last week.”

“No,” I said and met her eyes. “You said the exact thing we needed. All that’s left is for us to see if he’s still stupid enough to wait for us.”