Thirty Seven
Aria's P.O.V.
The night air was cold against my skin as I stood at the edge of the forest, staring into the dark abyss. The stars above twinkled, offering little comfort against the storm that was brewing inside me. My mind was racing, trying to grasp what our next move could be. Kane was still out there, and no matter how hard we tried, he always seemed to slip through our fingers like water.
I could feel the tension in the pack rising by the hour. The warriors were on edge, constantly looking over their shoulders, waiting for the next attack. We had all worked so hard to protect our home, and now it felt like everything was unraveling. Each failed attempt to catch Kane was another blow to our confidence, and the fear that we might never find him was beginning to settle in.
As I stood there, lost in thought, I heard footsteps approaching. I didn’t need to turn around to know who it was. Carden’s presence was unmistakable, his energy always so intense, so commanding, even when he wasn’t trying. He came to stand beside me, his gaze also fixed on the forest.
For a few moments, neither of us spoke. The silence stretched between us, heavy with the weight of everything that had happened, everything that was still unsaid.
“We’re never going to find him, are we?” I finally said, my voice barely above a whisper.
Carden didn’t answer right away. When he finally spoke, his voice was low and filled with frustration. “We will. We have to.”
I sighed, rubbing my arms to ward off the cold. “Every time we get close, he slips away. It’s like he’s always one step ahead.”
“He is,” Carden muttered darkly. “Because he knows us. He knows how we think, how we operate. That’s how he’s been able to stay ahead.”
I turned to face him, my heart aching at the sight of the exhaustion in his eyes. He had been pushing himself too hard, carrying the weight of the pack’s survival on his shoulders. “You’re right,” I said softly. “But we can’t keep playing his game. We need to change our approach. We need to think like him.”
Carden glanced at me, his brow furrowing. “How do we do that? We don’t know where he’s hiding, who’s helping him, or what his next move is.”
I hesitated, the thought that had been nagging at me for hours finally bubbling to the surface. “What if we stop chasing him and let him come to us?”
He raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “What are you suggesting?”
“We know Kane wants something,” I said slowly, trying to piece the idea together in my head. “He’s not just out there hiding for no reason. He’s planning something, and whatever it is, he’s going to need to make a move soon. What if we create the opportunity for him to make that move?”
Carden’s eyes narrowed as he considered my words. “You’re talking about setting a trap.”
I nodded, the idea becoming clearer the more I thought about it. “Yes. But not just any trap. We need to lure him out, make him think he has the upper hand. If we can anticipate his next move, we can be there waiting for him.”
Carden crossed his arms over his chest, his gaze thoughtful. “It’s risky. If he catches wind of what we’re doing, he could turn it against us.”
“I know,” I admitted. “But we don’t have many other options. We’ve tried tracking him down, and it hasn’t worked. This might be the only way.”
He was quiet for a long moment, his jaw clenched in thought. Finally, he nodded. “It could work. But we need to be smart about it. If we’re going to set a trap, we have to make sure it’s one he can’t escape.”
I felt a surge of hope, a flicker of excitement at the possibility that this could be the turning point. “We’ll need to plan carefully. We can’t afford any mistakes.”
Carden turned to me, his eyes locking onto mine. “You’re right. And we’ll need to keep this between us for now. The fewer people who know, the better.”
I nodded, understanding the gravity of what we were planning. If we were going to outsmart Kane, we needed to stay one step ahead of him—something we hadn’t been able to do so far. But this was our chance, and we couldn’t afford to let it slip away.
“I’ll talk to Warren,” I said, my mind already racing with the details of how we could pull this off. “He needs to be in on this.”
Carden hesitated for a moment before nodding. “Alright. But we have to be careful, Aria. One wrong move, and Kane will know we’re onto him.”
“I know,” I said softly. “But we can’t sit back and wait for him to strike again. We have to do something.”
Carden’s gaze softened slightly as he looked at me, and for a brief moment, the tension between us melted away. We were in this together, just like we always had been. Despite everything—the secrets, the lies, the complications—when it came to protecting the pack, we were still a team.
“We’ll figure it out,” he said, his voice steady. “We always do.”
\---
Later that night, I found Warren in the common room, pouring over the maps of the territory. He looked up when I entered, his face lighting up with a smile that always made my heart ache with guilt. He had no idea about the secrets I was keeping, no idea about the kiss I had shared with Carden just days before. But that was a burden I had to carry for now. There were bigger things at stake, and I couldn’t let my personal feelings get in the way of the safety of the pack.
“Hey,” Warren said, pushing the maps aside as I sat down across from him. “How are you holding up?”
I forced a smile, though the tension in my chest remained. “I’m okay. Just… thinking.”
He raised an eyebrow, leaning forward slightly. “About?”
“Kane,” I said, keeping my voice steady. “I’ve been thinking… what if we’re going about this all wrong?”
Warren frowned, his expression turning serious. “What do you mean?”
I hesitated for a moment, choosing my words carefully. “We’ve been chasing him, reacting to every move he makes. But what if we turned the tables? What if we lured him out instead of trying to hunt him down?”
Warren’s frown deepened, but I could see the gears turning in his head. “A trap,” he said slowly. “It’s risky.”
“I know,” I admitted. “But it might be the only way to stop him. He’s always one step ahead of us. We need to make him think he has the upper hand, and then we take him down.”
Warren leaned back in his chair, considering my words. “It’s not a bad idea,” he said after a moment. “But we’d need to be careful. If Kane realizes what we’re doing, he could turn it against us.”
“That’s why we keep it quiet,” I said. “We don’t tell anyone outside of the core group. You, me, Carden, and a few trusted warriors. No one else can know.”
Warren nodded slowly, his eyes meeting mine. “You really think this could work?”
I took a deep breath, trying to steady my racing heart. “I think it’s our best shot. We’ve tried everything else.”
He was silent for a moment, his gaze locked on mine. Then he nodded. “Alright. Let’s do it. We’ll start planning tomorrow.”
Relief flooded through me, but it was quickly followed by a sense of dread. This was the only way to end things, but it was also incredibly dangerous. If we failed, it could mean the end of everything we had fought so hard to protect.
But there was no turning back now.
\---
The next morning, we gathered in the war room with a select group of trusted warriors—those who had been with us from the beginning, who knew what was at stake. The mood in the room was tense, but there was also a sense of determination. We were ready to do whatever it took to stop Kane.
Warren spread out the maps on the table, marking the key locations where we believed Kane might strike next. “We need to make it look like we’re vulnerable,” he said, his voice steady. “Like we’ve lowered our guard.”
“But we can’t make it too obvious,” Carden added. “Kane’s smart. If he suspects we’re setting a trap, he’ll bolt.”
I nodded, my mind already racing with the details. “We’ll spread out our patrols, make it look like there’s a weak spot in our defenses. But we’ll have backup waiting, ready to strike the moment Kane shows his face.”
The warriors around the table nodded, their expressions serious. They knew the risks, but they also knew what was at stake.
“We can’t let him escape again,” Warren said, his eyes hardening. “This is our chance. We have to take him down, once and for all.”
The plan was set. We would lay the trap, and we would wait for Kane to make his move. It was dangerous, but it was our only hope.
As the meeting ended, I caught Carden’s eye across the room. He gave me a small nod, and I felt a surge of determination. We were in this together, and no matter what happened, we would see it through to the end.