Chapter 183
Blake’s POV
I didn’t expect us to be going to war today. Graham is a devious son of a bitch and I am going to have to be quick about this. I will be cutting it close as it is. As soon as I exit the elevator I am running as fast as I can to my room. We will be leaving soon, and I need to make sure that I get down to the front of the packhouse before Forest does. I should, as Forest doesn’t get in a hurry for anything. I think that his thinking he will become an Alpha today he may actually surprise me and be in a hurry. He will be ready to go soon, and I just needed to grab the gear that I have. We all have a bulletproof vest, our guns, and our holsters. They check my gun each time I leave with it, to make sure that I don’t have any bullets in it. I am still a problem child for them as they are all still very nervous around me.
They should be because the payback is coming tonight. I knew my gear was in the chair by the door, so I locked the entrance to my apartment and shoved a chair under the door handle just in case. I don’t want them breaking in to catch me on my phone giving a heads-up to Black Adder. I text Brandon as soon as my phone lights up.
“Graham is coming tonight. Be ready. He plans to attack at nightfall. He has rogues, werewolves, and vampires” I sent him. I wasn’t even going to wait for a reply as I went to hide the phone back in its spot again. I don’t know how tonight is going to go, and I may need the phone again when I get back to the pack, but the reply was almost immediate.
“We assumed that he was about to attack us, we are prepared. Be safe. We know you are on our side in this. Thanks for the heads up for confirmation of it. Raven” I saw the reply and I wondered how they could possibly have known. I will have to ask after the fact. I need to move.
I shut off my phone and hid it again and grabbed my gear as I exited the room. I ran down the hallway to the elevator and hit the first-floor button. I heard Forest’s door open just as the elevator headed down. I smiled, I may just beat him to the SUV by a minute or two, but I will beat him. I nodded to everyone as I moved toward the back of the SUV to load my gear. I made sure that Graham saw me, as I knew he was trying to figure out why I acted surprised at him telling me about the vampires. I wasn’t surprised by the vampires being a part of the attack. I had heard them speaking to one another before. What I was surprised about was the fact that he had told me before we got there. I honestly didn’t think that he would tell me that, and I watched as his eyes narrowed at me. So his suspicion of me is up again, and this is not a good time for that to happen.
I will deal with it in the SUV on the way there. I hopped into the back seat, as I already saw Garrett and Marc sitting in the front seats when I came out. I should have known that Graham was going to stay glued to my side through this. At least I was able to give them a heads-up about the attack. It sounded like they were prepared for anything, and I really hope they were. I want Cheryl to be protected from this madman, as I know that he does what he wants. I can only pray that she is secure, to take her out of the equation. I do not put anything past Graham at this point. He managed to get the bulk of my most trusted men in the pack, as well as my son, against me. Thankfully, most of the pack still considered me to be their Alpha, no matter what lies Graham told them about me. I could breathe a little calmer now that I know that Cheryl and my sons should be safe from Graham.
We got loaded quickly and thankfully Forest had stopped again on his way out to grab himself something to eat and drink on the way. Most are smart enough to not do that, with the nerves before an attack, it could cause you to get physically sick. I watched him load his gear up in the back of the SUV and finally climb in to head to the last row. Travis was already there, and he was shaking his head at the collection that Forest was carrying. He had his phone charger with him, a large sandwich, and a large drink. He was steadily typing away on his phone once he put his stuff down. I pray that he is not stupid enough to tell Trevor what we are heading out to do. Graham might be pissed off enough to kill him for it. Any slip-up now will probably get either him or me killed. I don’t know how Forest doesn’t realize that yet. He has it in his head that since he threw in with them on Graham’s plan, he is on the inside, and I am not. I may not be on the inside, but they actually need me in this fight. They don’t need him, he is almost worthless here.
We were about 20 minutes into the drive when Graham finally started to speak to me. I have been waiting this whole time, I guess he was just biding his time. “Are you OK Blake? You are pretty quiet, I know that Cheryl and your sons will be fine. I already told the warriors, and my rogues about them, and showed the rogues their pictures. They will be fine. I guarantee it” Graham told me. I heard Forest give a low laugh behind me about them, as he doesn’t want them to come back to Black Adder. He doesn’t get a vote in it, he won’t even be there himself if he manages to survive today. He will be at Black Adder, so he shouldn't have any opinion on them coming back to Black Moon.
“I am fine, Graham. I am just a little nervous about the battle. Brandon and Justin are excellent fighters. They have trained their pack well. I know, I went there to train, and so did Travis. I don't think that it will be as easy to defeat Black Adder as you think it will be, they are not pushovers. Attacking at dinner is smart, but it will be dark and hard to see. Even with our enhanced eyesight, we will have difficulty on their home turf, and we will be at a disadvantage. Anything can happen during an attack. I will wait until afterward to celebrate or feel secure about the attack” I told Graham. I was honest and I could tell that he knew I was. I need him to be in the frame of mind that I am being honest and forthright with him. It can only aid me in making him trust me in this whole situation.
“That is smart, Blake. Best to wait until it is over with to celebrate. I agree. I just wanted you to rest easier knowing that I did do what you wanted me to do, per our contract. Cheryl will not be hurt, or killed. I just wanted you to know that I am taking our deal seriously, Blake. I plan on our alliance only getting better as time goes on. No matter who the Alphas will be in our four packs, I plan on us only getting stronger and stronger from this” Graham told me.
I nod in agreement, as I am sure he does. I didn’t miss that little dig about “no matter who” which was aimed at both Forest and I. Forest has no clue about his position of Alpha being in jeopardy. He believes everything that he had been told when the offer was made. Things have changed a lot from that time, as it was well over a year ago. Forest doesn’t train, and he doesn’t care about training. He cares about how he looks, and what he can get. He cares about his car, girls, and money. I don’t see any of that changing anytime soon. He is living his best life, as far as he is concerned, but not for someone who is about to be Alpha. He needs to take things seriously, he needs to train. He doesn’t need to be clowning like he is.
“I don’t see how we wouldn’t be,” I told him in agreement. I won’t be disagreeing with anything that he says to me on this trip. The attack is at hand, and everyone sitting in this SUV had betrayed me. I will not make myself a target when we are about to go into battle.
“I think I worried you by mentioning the vampires earlier today. But I thought that you knew about them already. I just needed them on my team to be able to deal with Cheryl’s husband. Plus their coven is near Black Adder, and I don’t want the problems that vampires can provide to us. I knew if you couldn’t beat him, as one of our strongest fighters, I needed to find something that could. They are a strong group, and they should be able to take care of him quickly” Graham told me and I see that he had to figure out a way into laying his trap out. Time for some more honesty, and I will be sure to plant the seeds of doubt right now along with it.
“No, I wasn’t worried about your mentioning the vampires, I agree with them coming with us. I couldn’t beat him, and I doubt anyone here could. He is a very strong fighter. I was just surprised that you had told me about the vampires helping us. It was the first time you had let me in on any part of your plan, and I was honored that you did it. It wasn’t the fact of what you mentioned to me, it was the fact that you gave me some information on the attack. I was with you when we came up on Garrett and Marc discussing it in the hallway. I had heard what they said, so I kind of knew already. I just didn’t know if that was a part of your plan for me to hear it while they were talking about it, or not. Again, I have never attacked another pack, so I don’t know the protocol for it. I just assumed that the plans always stayed private, until you want everyone to know about them” I told Graham.
I could see his eyes narrow as he thinks about what I had said. I remember how pissed off he was that they were standing in the hallway talking where anyone at all could hear them. It reminded him of their screw-up, all while letting him know how much I valued him letting me in on the plan. I glance forward as I could feel eyes on me, and Garrett glared at me from the rearview mirror. Marc had looked back at me, and he knew exactly where I was going with it too. They screwed up, not me, and Graham knew it. He had forgotten about it until I spoke. I bet he had forgotten to get onto them about it too. I bet he won’t be forgetting about it now.
I already knew I had a target on my back anyway. I was not dropping my guard until four of the men in the SUV with me were dead. I would not rest until that happened. I wasn’t out there training for hours and hours on end for my health or to look good. I knew that this attack was going to be vicious, and difficult. That the probability of something happening to either me, Forest, or both of us, was extremely high. I could hear Forest still on his phone typing and I cannot believe that he was not paying attention to what the conversation was in the vehicle. I pray that he is not bragging about becoming an Alpha before he could take over a pack. He needs to be smart here. Goddess help him if he decided that he should try to impress one of his girlfriends. I won’t even know what he has done until it is too late.
I know for a fact that Travis was watching everything that Forest was typing back there. Forest is sitting behind Graham, and Travis is right behind me. I know that Travis could mindlink Graham with whatever inappropriate text Forest is making. His neck could be snapped as soon as we got out of the SUV and there would be nothing in the world that I could do about stopping it. I have to keep myself from shaking my head at Forest being so ignorant of the danger that he is in. He actually believes in the men he made his little deal with. Never once thinking that they would double-cross him when they already showed that they are not loyal to anyone. There is nothing that I can do for Forest at this time. I have to protect myself, Cheryl, and my other two sons. Forest chose his path, and however this plays out, he was the one to have signed up for it. Cheryl and Kevin never signed up for it, but Graham almost ended up killing them both. Hopefully, Forest survives and learns a valuable lesson from this, I know that I have.
“Yes, I had forgotten about that, Blake. You are right, that should never have happened. Important plans do not need to be discussed where anyone could just stumble into hearing them. I will make sure that doesn’t happen again. Plans only need to be known when it is time to put them in motion. Like I just told you and Forest before we left but you both managed to get ready quickly. I am sure that Garrett and Marc learned a lesson about what they did” Graham told me. I bet he spent the last few minutes mindlinking them both to ream them out. Both of their faces were now red in anger, and that is not a good start on this trip. Graham droned on and on about what he wanted to see happen with the four packs as we traveled to Black Adder. He had really put some thought into what he felt we should do moving forward. I never realized how in-depth some of his plans really were. He had a vision of what he wanted to do, and I cannot get behind his plans, and I knew that Aaron wouldn't be able to either.
He was even considering us getting rid of the werewolf council. His plans were detailed, and clearly well planned out as he had an argument for everything I countered with, and his plans were vicious. He was actually planning on getting rid of anyone that wasn’t a human, or a werewolf. That was why he wanted to attack the council after he attacked and took over Blood Walker. I had heard him say he wanted to attack them, that he wanted his old pack back before. But he had to be crazy to think that he could be successful against them, or even against Black Adder. They were both stronger packs, well-trained, and financially successful. Those three things made them almost impossible targets. If he was thinking clearly he would go after smaller packs, taking them over, until he had an army to try to be able to get this done. Rather, than him just thinking that attacking at nightfall, at dinner was the answer to overturn them. He was wrong, they will not be caught by surprise, I was glad that even if I hadn’t been able to give them a heads up, they still would have known that we were coming.
We pulled up near dusk and the number of men already there surprised me. I knew Aaron didn’t send anyone, as he wanted nothing at all to do with it. I could see that he had more vampires than I originally thought he would have, and my stomach sank. Having fought against a vampire now, I know that they are much stronger than I ever thought possible. I know that Graham said that he had told everyone to leave Cheryl and my boys alone. But I have my doubts, as once they get that blood lust going, would they be able to stop themselves? There were about 30 SUVs lined up right against the wall to Black Adder packlands. I already know that they are planning on slipping right over the fence once it gets dark. I am almost sick with fear for my family inside those walls. I walked over to Graham and asked him to remind the rogues to leave Cheryl, Kevin, and Robert free from harm.
Graham surprised me by walking over and showing both groups their pictures again. They did look at the pictures, but I know that they knew that they could kill everyone there. What would Graham do besides go, "Oops" at their deaths. That very well could be his plan, to kill them, and then me and Forest as well. I will still stay worried for my family until I know that they are safe. I do not trust Graham, and I don’t want to show my hand too early in this attack. I watch as Graham speaks with Garrett, Marc, Travis, and Forest before heading over to speak to me.
“I want you to stay with us until we get to the packhouse. I am sending all the rogues in first, their leaders have an earpiece and will be able to communicate with me and Garrett during the battle. I don’t mind losing the rogues, but I want to protect my ranked wolves as long as I can. I am sending in our warriors later, They are on the other side of the gate, and they will go over the wall on that side. I want the rogues to take out as many as they can come in contact with before we enter their packland. I know that Reagan and Cheryl both built houses here, we will find those homes last. Just stay with us as the first wave goes in and takes up locations for us to know what is going on in their pack. Then we will attack” Graham told me.
I am more nervous now than I was on the way here. If they trusted me, I would have been involved in the conversation that they just had together. I also know that I pissed off Garrett and Marc by pointing out their mistake to Graham. I doubt it was a good thing that I missed their conversation. I calmed myself down, I just need to focus now, stay behind their group, and keep my eyes and ears open. The first wave goes quietly over the fence, and they were good. They were all very quick, and I didn’t hear any alarms being set off to announce their arrival. Most of them were tall enough with standing on top of the SUV to see where they needed to land on the top of the wall with their jump. I started praying to the Goddess that this works out the way it should or a lot of innocent people are going to be slaughtered tonight.