Chapter Forty-One

N I C C O L O

“You shouldn’t be left alone in here,” I whisper, looking Alpha Amos straight in the eye. “You know what they can do to you, right?”

“Yes,” he says, then he averts his gaze and shakes his head. “I know they can hurt me. I know that Alpha Isaac can turn on me at any moment, and I accept that. But you and Florence . . . you don’t deserve to pay for what I’ve done.”

I open my mouth to tell him that this is not the way it’s supposed to go, even though he feels like he is the only one at fault. But he just raises his hand and stops me from speaking.

“You have to leave with Florence at dawn.” He meets my gaze intently. “Sneak out of here. I will prepare some supplies in the tool shed at the south of the pack. It will be there waiting for you.”

I take a deep breath, resigned now. Even though I don’t want to leave him at the mercy of Alpha Isaac and the delegates, he’s right. The best thing to do at this moment is to leave with Florence and take her to safety. After that, I can come back with an army and take Alpha Amos.

At last, I say, “Very well. I will find a way to convince Florence.”

“She won’t need a lot of convincing,” Alpha Amos says, and even though we both know that he’s right, I can still hear the hint of pain in his voice.

With that, I turn around and leave, heading to the cabin where Florence and I stay. When I come in, she’s not there, but I can hear the water running in the bathroom. I peek in just to make sure she’s there, and she draws back the glass doors to look back at me, sensing my presence.

“I’ll wait until you’re done, my love,” I tell her gently.

She opens the door, baring her naked body to me. My blood immediately starts migrating toward a familiar path, but I force myself to focus. “You can just join me.”

For a moment I hesitate, but when she tilts her head and gives me a look, I give in and start stripping off. I step under the warm water with her, and she just turns her back on me, rubbing some product on her hair.

I notice that her shoulders are tense and I can tell that she’s still upset with me, so I gently put my hands on her shoulders and start to massage her.

Florence exhales slowly. “Niccolo, I’m not mad at you.”

“I’m glad, but I know you’re upset,” I whisper, planting a kiss on the back of her neck. “I’m sorry about what I said. I know you and your dad will find a way to fix things, and I’m sorry if me offering help seemed condescending--”

“It’s not that.” She turns around and starts to lather some soap, spreading it all over my chest. “It’s just that I can’t believe that Dad fucked things up so massively.” She sighs again, but this time she sounds calmer. “You know . . . Alpha Isaac asked me a lot of information about you and your pack. It was the thing he asked in exchange for your freedom.”

For a while I can’t speak. I stare at her, waiting for her to continue. “And what did you say?”

“I lied and made some things up.”

I let out a soft laugh of relief. “Of course you did. That’s why he seemed so frustrated. That’s why nothing they said is remotely accurate.”

“I’m still sorry about it, though.” Florence rinses the soap off me and rests her chin on my chest. “I shouldn’t have told them anything.”

I open my mouth to tell her that it’s alright and I’m not mad at all, and there is also something that I actually want to confess, but then a knock sounds at the door. We both look at each other, then I motion for her to stay there.

I get a bathrobe and put it on, then I open the door. I expect it to be someone from the pack house or maybe even Alpha Isaac himself, but it’s just the messenger. He hands me a letter and leaves.

I open it immediately, looking at Hardy’s message: “You have to come back with Florence immediately. There is something happening, and you have to be here.”

“Who’s that?” Florence calls out from the bathroom.

“It’s Hardy,” I call back. “He needs us to come home.”

She hurries out of the shower and takes the letter away from me, staring at it intently before facing me. “This sounds urgent. Maybe we need to come first thing tomorrow. How do you feel about leaving at dawn?”

I almost expire in relief, but I just nod at her. I can’t believe the odds just lined up like this.

Maybe it’s meant to be. Maybe we can just leave all of this behind.

* * *

F L O R E N C E

“So the plan is to meet at the west end of the pack area,” I tell him as we both dress up at exactly three in the morning, getting ready for the long journey ahead of us. “There’s a hidden exit behind the pavilion, and it leads right into the forest. If we take that and find the path, we will make it back to Ombra Nera by the time the sun rises.”

Niccolo nods and puts on a jacket, getting a scarf and wrapping it securely around my neck. “I will head out and get supplies for us first.”

“Yes.” I take a deep breath. “This will work, right?”

“We will make it work.” He gives me a lingering kiss. “I love you, and I will see you.”

With that, we both head out and go on our separate ways. My heart is beating in my ears and I have to admit that the plan makes me nervous, but I can tell that something big and bad is about to go down and it would probably be smart to just leave.

Before we went to bed, Niccolo promised me that we will come back for Dad.

To be frank, I don’t know how to feel about that.

I love Dad, and that will never change. But I still can’t get over the fact that he’s been hiding the financial state of the pack for so long and just let it plummet when I was gone. Maybe because I just feel guilty about the whole thing. Maybe I’m resentful that the home we all knew, the home we built with my dead mom, is now in the possession of a megalomaniac.

I shake my head to get rid of these thoughts when I head out into the night and hide behind cabins and objects, wanting to focus on the task and not let Niccolo down. There are no guards, or at least there are so few of them that they hardly matter.

Surprisingly, I manage to come close to the pavilion without encountering any trouble.

And in no time, I’m already right in front of the secret exit from the pack.

I crouch to hide, waiting for Niccolo and hoping he’s alright, heaving our bag of medical supplies from the cabin and some weapons on my back.

When I hear some footsteps, I straighten up with hope, but then my heart drops right down to my shoes when I see that it’s not Niccolo.

It’s Alpha Isaac, and he’s still dressed in his usual garb, smiling at me like I’m a rat he found stealing in his kitchen.

“Late night walk?” He smirks. “I thought I’d find you here.”