Chapter 59 Revelations and Warnings
POV: Valentina Corvino
Location: Safe House, Meeting Callum
Time: Next Day
I find Callum in Silas's safe house. Converted warehouse. Hidden location. Secure.
He's still paralyzed. Lying on a medical table. Isla's monitoring his healing.
"We need to talk. Urgently."
Callum looks at me. "About the assassins? They came last night. Found empty shelters. Gave up after six hours."
"Not about the assassins. About something worse. Parliament." I pull out the documents Cristian gave me. "Crimson Parliament voted. Seven to five. They authorized hunters to exterminate Rookeries packless wolves. Two months until they arrive."
Isla stops what she's doing. "Exterminate? What does that mean?"
"Kill. Not arrest. Not relocate. Just murder everyone organizing in the Rookeries until the population's too scared to gather." I show them the documents. "Official resolution. Legal authorization. Parliament hunters are coming to massacre ninety-two wolves."
"Why? What did we do?" Isla's voice is breaking.
"You organized. Built community. Demonstrated that packless wolves don't need packs or Parliament to survive. That threatens established order." I explain the politics. "Conservative faction sees you as threat. They're eliminating you before you grow stronger."
Callum's processing this. "Two months. How many hunters?"
"Unknown. But Parliament commands significant forces. Could be twenty. Could be two hundred. Depends how seriously they take the threat."
"Can we fight them?"
"Callum, we're fifteen fighters. Most untrained. Against Parliament's professional hunters with silver weapons and vampire support. That's not a fight. That's a massacre." I look at both of them. "We need to evacuate. Scatter. Disappear before they arrive."
"And go where? Parliament controls London. Dragons control the economy. Packs control the territories. Where do ninety-two packless wolves hide that we won't be found?" Isla's voice is desperate. "There's nowhere safe."
"Then we fight. Make them pay so heavily for killing us that they reconsider." Callum's voice is determined. "If we're dying anyway, we die fighting."
"That's suicide. Noble suicide. But still suicide."
"Maybe. Or maybe we find allies. Build army. Create something strong enough that Parliament thinks twice about attacking." Callum looks at me. "How did you get this information? Parliament meetings are secret."
I pause. Haven't told anyone this. Haven't revealed the connection.
"My brother. Dante. He's on Parliament. Adopted different surname. He's progressive. Votes against conservative faction. He sent warning through intermediary."
"Your brother's on Crimson Parliament?" Isla's shocked. "Why didn't you mention this before?"
"Because it's dangerous. For him. For me. Parliament doesn't tolerate members who leak information. If they discover he warned us, they'll execute him." I look at both of them. "He's risking everything to give us this warning. Least we can do is use it effectively."
Callum's quiet. Thinking. "If your brother's on Parliament, does he know their plans? Their strategies?"
"Some. Not all. Parliament's secretive even among members. But he knows the hunter authorization. Knows the timeline. Knows they're serious about extermination."
"Can he slow them? Delay the attack?"
"He's trying. But he's one vote out of thirteen. The conservative faction controls Parliament. They want this crackdown. They'll get it." I pull out more documents. "He sent what intelligence he could. Hunter commanders. Likely tactics. Potential targets. It's not much. But it's something."
Callum reads through the documents. "They're targeting leadership specifically. Me, Isla, Tom, Marcus. Kill us and they think organization collapses."
"That's their strategy. Decapitation. Remove leaders, population scatters."
"So we protect leadership. Make them harder to kill. Force Parliament to commit more resources." Callum's planning already. "And we recruit. Aggressively. Every packless wolf in London. Every supernatural refugee. Everyone who's been marginalized by the system. We unite them. Build actual army."
"From what?" Isla's voice is skeptical. "We're outcasts. Rejects. People with nothing. How do we build army from that?"
"Exactly because we have nothing. Because we've got nothing to lose. Because dying fighting Parliament is same as dying from poverty or violence or despair. At least fighting gives us purpose." Callum looks at both of us. "Two months. We use that time to build something. Unite packless wolves. Create organization worth defending."
"And if we fail? If Parliament hunters still arrive with overwhelming force?"
"Then we die. But we die fighting. Building. Proving packless wolves aren't helpless. Aren't disposable." Callum's voice is firm. "Valentina, you said we fight together or die together. I'm choosing fight. Are you in?"
I look at him. Paralyzed wolf with nothing. Facing Parliament extermination. Planning to build army from refugees and outcasts.
It's insane. It's impossible. It's exactly what I've been looking for.
"I'm in. Full cooperation. Intelligence, networks, contacts. Everything I have."
Isla nods. "I'm in too. Shelters, medical support, organization. We build this together."
Callum manages a small smile despite the pain. "Then we have two months to build an army. From packless outcasts. Against Parliament hunters."
"Where do we start?" I ask.
"We start by uniting them. Every packless wolf in London. Every refugee. Every outcast. We show them they're not alone. That organization is possible. That fighting back is option." Callum's voice is certain. "There are hundreds like us. Scattered. Desperate. Alone. Time to bring them together."
"That's ambitious. Possibly suicidal." I look at the documents. "But it's better than waiting to be exterminated."
"Exactly. We fight or we die. Those are the options. I choose fight." Callum looks at Isla. "Get the crew together. We're planning recruitment campaign. Aggressive. Immediate. Two months to build army from nothing."
Isla leaves to gather the crew. I'm left with Callum.
"Your brother. Dante. Is he safe?"
"For now. But if Parliament discovers he warned us, he's dead. Executed for treason." I don't mention the visions Sibyl showed me. Don't mention that I die in five months defending Callum. "We're all risking everything. That's what this requires."
"Then let's make it worth the risk. Let's build something that matters. Even if it kills us."
I leave to begin recruitment. To spread word through Rookeries and beyond. To unite packless wolves who've never united before.
Two months until Parliament hunters. Two months to build army. Two months to transform outcasts into force worth respecting.
It's impossible. But we're doing it anyway.
Because dying fighting is better than dying helpless.
Because building something matters even if it fails.
Because sometimes the only choice is how you face the end.
We choose to face it fighting. Together. United.
Packless wolves. Outcasts. Refugees.
Building army from nothing. Against everything.
Two months starts now.