Chapter 187: Launch the Offensive
Chapter 187: Launch the Offensive
"Listen up, all of you." His voice cut through the room like a blade. "If anything happens to me, or if The Main Storms goes after any one of our people — you launch a full assault. No hesitation."
Every face in the room went stone-cold serious. Heads nodded one by one.
"Understood."
Laurent's expression was ice, his eyes burning with barely contained hatred.
He hadn't seen this coming. He never thought Wesley would pull a move like this.
The humiliation sat in his chest like a hot coal — but he wasn't stupid enough to let it ignite right now. Without another word, he turned and walked out.
As Laurent's silhouette disappeared into the distance, one of Wesley's men stepped forward, brow furrowed.
"General King — you're just letting him walk? That guy doesn't let anything go. If we leave him breathing, won't he—"
"Relax." Wesley's voice was calm, almost bored. "He's not an idiot. He knows exactly what it would cost him to come at us right now. The damage would be his, not ours."
"But General King — Laurent holds grudges like a religion. After being put in his place like that, there's no way he just lets it go. He'll come back for us. It's only a matter of time."
Wesley let out a quiet laugh. Something dismissive curled at the corner of his mouth.
"You really think he's going to have a later?"
The man blinked, confusion written all over his face.
"General King — what do you mean by that?"
"Given the history between Jaxon and Laurent, Jaxon's not going to let him off the hook. He hasn't shown his full hand yet, but everything points to him being a hell of a lot stronger than he looks. With the way Jaxon operates, taking down The Main Storms is just a matter of when — not if."
If it were anyone else, Wesley might have had his doubts. But when it came to Jaxon, he had no doubts at all.
His move now was simple: wait. Wait for the right moment, then step in himself — and help Jaxon pull The Main Storms out by the roots.
---
Laurent stormed back home, the fury radiating off him in waves. One look at his face told Chase everything he needed to know.
"Mr. Storm — if that guy's going to push us around like this, why hold back? Give the word and we'll take him out first."
Laurent wanted nothing more than to make Wesley bleed. But one thing kept him from pulling the trigger.
The timing was wrong. Going straight at Wesley now would only blow back on him. Better to wait, let the moment come to him.
"Save it." Laurent's voice was sharp, clipped. "I've got my own plan. What's the status on Prime? How much longer?"
"The blood injections are complete. Two days, tops."
"Tell them to move faster."
His jaw was tight, his eyes carrying the flat, cold weight of a man already running the numbers on someone's destruction.
Chase didn't linger. He gave a quick nod and was already moving toward the door.
"Yes, sir. Right away."
---
At the same time, Jaxon had finished combing through the intelligence report. The picture it painted was worse than he'd expected.
Nightshade came in at a near-jog, urgency etched across his face.
"General Storm — it checks out. Laurent coming at you wasn't random. According to what we pulled, The Main Storms' Prime is down to the final step. They need to integrate your blood."
Jaxon's eyes narrowed.
"Integrate my blood?"
"That's right. When The Main Storms developed Prime, they based the entire prototype around your biometric profile. They're in the home stretch — two days, and it's done."
A quiet tension settled behind Jaxon's eyes.
"Then I think it's time I paid them a visit myself."
"General Storm, The Main Storms has serious reach. Moving on them means burning the bridge for good — might be cleaner to send our people in."
Jaxon shook his head without hesitation.
"Their numbers aren't the problem. Their actual fighters are thin. And our people — I need them where they are. I've got bigger plans for them."
He paused.
"Get word to Wesley and the others. Tell them to come see me. Now."
---
An hour later, Wesley, Nathan, Audrey, and Daniel filed in one after another.
Frostkeep still had plenty of factions circling, but right now, the four of them represented the heaviest firepower in the room.
Wesley had swallowed up Cassian's territory. Audrey had absorbed Gabriel's and Michael's. Daniel hadn't grabbed anything outright — but he'd been building quietly in the shadows for years, and what he'd put together wasn't something you'd want to ignore.
"Mr. Storm." Audrey spoke first, the others watching with the same unspoken question behind their eyes. "What's this about?"
Jaxon didn't drag it out. He laid everything he'd found out — all of it — flat on the table.
The room got very quiet, very fast.
"I didn't realize Laurent had been running this deep under the radar."
"That's not what we're here to talk about." Jaxon's tone was even, direct. "I called you here for one reason."
"If you don't want Laurent to put you in the ground, we work together. I handle Laurent and the core of The Main Storms. The rest of the territory — that's yours to deal with."
"Say yes, and we move tonight. Their Prime is almost finished. Every hour we wait, the window closes a little more."
"I'm in." Audrey didn't miss a beat.
Wesley and Nathan followed without hesitation.
"No question. Whatever you say, Mr. Storm."
Daniel went quiet. He was turning it over, working the angles.
Jaxon watched him and smiled — easy, unhurried.
"Laurent buried you. You're telling me you don't want that back?"
Daniel wanted payback, sure. But not like this. The play he'd been running in his head was cleaner — let them tear each other apart, then walk in and take what was left.
Not a bad strategy. But Jaxon had read it the moment Daniel walked through the door.
"Don't play the waiting game on this one. You and Laurent may not have bad blood, but that's not how Laurent thinks. The second Prime comes online, he'll come for everyone — and that includes you."
He let that land.
"And anything you take tonight? It's yours. I won't touch it."
Something shifted in Daniel's expression.
"You mean that?"
"How much you walk away with is on you."
A beat of silence. Then Daniel sat back, something settling in his posture.
"If you're putting it that way — I don't have a reason to say no. Tonight it is. Laurent's had this coming for a while anyway."
With everyone locked in, Jaxon moved straight into planning.
---
Night fell fast.
Audrey and the others were already in motion.
Laurent was still waiting on word when Chase came barreling through the door, the color half-gone from his face.
"Mr. Storm — we've got a problem."
Laurent's head turned sharply.
"What is it? Why are you running in here like—"
"Wesley. He's leading an assault on us. Right now."
The words hit Laurent like a lit match to gasoline.
"That son of a—" His voice rose fast, then dropped into something colder, harder. "I didn't go looking for him — and he has the nerve to come to me? Fine. He wants this? He's got it."
Laurent was already reaching for his phone when another man burst through the door behind Chase, breathing hard, face pale.
"Mr. Storm — something else. It's bad."
Laurent went still. He looked at the man slowly.
"Now what?"