Chapter 54 Vivienne's Diplomatic Mission (Vivienne POV)
The male Alphas were still arguing in the main hall when I slipped out the side entrance.
Let them measure their dicks. I had actual work to do.
The morning air bit at my skin as I crossed the courtyard toward the smaller lodge where I'd seen several women gathering earlier. Through the window, I could make out at least five figures moving around inside. Perfect. No posturing Alpha males to navigate, just people who might actually listen.
I pushed open the door without knocking.
Six pairs of eyes snapped to me. The conversation died mid-sentence.
"Ladies," I said, stepping inside and closing the door firmly behind me. "We need to talk about my father before your Alphas get us all killed."
A tall woman with copper-streaked hair and a scar running through her left eyebrow straightened from where she'd been leaning against the fireplace mantel. "Bold words from Edmund Blackthorn's daughter."
"Maeve, isn't it?" I met her stare without flinching. "Siobhan's Beta female?"
"Aye." Her accent was thick, rolling. "And you're the one who supposedly killed Marcus Thornwood."
"Not supposedly. Definitely." I crossed my arms. "But I'm not here to defend myself. I'm here because in about three days, my father is going to spring a trap that will likely kill half the wolves in this room, and your Alphas are too busy comparing territory sizes to actually plan a defense."
A blonde woman with nervous hands laughed, high and sharp. "So you just waltz in here and expect us to what? Mutiny against our Alphas?"
"Fiona, please." An older woman with silver threading through her dark hair gestured for quiet. She had the kind of face that had seen too much, lines around her eyes, mouth set in permanent wariness. "Let her speak."
I nodded gratefully. "Thank you..."
"Meredith. Aldric's mate from the Fennbridge Pack." She settled into a chair, fingers steepled. "You have five minutes before someone notices this gathering and interrupts."
Five minutes. Christ.
"My father didn't just suppress my werewolf heritage for eighteen years," I said, planting myself in the center of the room. "He studied me. Documented every change, every near-shift, every time my body tried to complete what should have been natural. He turned me into a research project."
"So?" The copper-haired Beta… Maeve… didn't sound sympathetic. "That's between you and him."
"Is it?" I pulled my jacket aside, exposing the faint scars along my ribs. "These are from silver injections when I was sixteen. He used suppression drugs that are banned in every werewolf territory on this continent. Do you know what happens when you prevent a wolf from shifting for decades? The instinct doesn't go away… it builds. It warps."
The nervous blonde… Fiona… had gone pale. "That's... that's torture."
"That's science, according to Edmund Ashford." I let my jacket fall closed. "And now he's hunting not just me, but everyone I'm connected to. He sees werewolves as specimens. Problems to be solved. Animals to be controlled."
Meredith leaned forward slightly. "The Alphas know this. Liam gave a full report."
"The Alphas know it intellectually." I moved closer, lowering my voice. "But they don't feel it. They think this is about territory, about honor, about proving they're stronger than some human hunter. They're planning to meet my father head-on like this is some fair fight."
"And you think it's not?" Maeve's hand drifted to the knife at her belt… casual, but deliberate.
"I know it's not. My father doesn't fight fair. He studies his targets for months. He learns their patterns, their weaknesses, their relationships. By the time he makes his move, he's already won." I looked at each woman in turn. "He's been tracking me since I left London. He knows about Declan. About the Silvermane Pack. About this alliance. And he's planned for all of it."
The room had gone very quiet.
A woman I hadn't noticed before… young, maybe early twenties, with dark curls and sharp cheekbones… spoke from her position by the window. "So what do you want from us?"
"Elena, don't…. " Fiona started.
"No, she has a point." Elena pushed off from the wall. "If everything you're saying is true, what exactly do you expect us to do about it? We're not Alphas. We don't command packs."
"No," I agreed. "But you know things your Alphas don't. You see things they miss. And most importantly, you're not too proud to admit when you're outmatched."
Maeve barked a laugh… surprised and genuine. "Christ, she's got nerve."
"I'm Silvermane," I said simply. "According to everyone in this compound, that means something. So I'm using it. Not to command you… I don't have that right. But to ask for your help."
Meredith studied me with those too-knowing eyes. "What kind of help?"
"Information. Resources. A backup plan for when the male egos inevitably collide and everything goes to shit." I pulled out a folded map from my jacket pocket and spread it on the nearest table. "My father will attack where he has the advantage. Somewhere he can control the terrain, limit our mobility, and pick us off systematically."
Elena crossed to the table, curiosity winning out over skepticism. "You've marked potential locations."
"Based on his previous hunts." I pointed to three circled areas. "He prefers bottleneck terrain. Places where numbers become a disadvantage rather than an asset."
"How do you know about his previous hunts?" Fiona's voice had lost its edge, replaced by genuine question.
I met her eyes. "Because I helped him plan two of them before I knew what I was."
The silence that followed wasn't hostile… it was processing.
"Fuck," Maeve said finally. "That's properly dark."
"Yes." I didn't look away from Fiona. "I was fourteen and fifteen. He told me we were tracking rogue dangerous animals. I did the terrain analysis, helped with supply logistics. It wasn't until years later that I found his real records and realized what I'd helped him do."
"Why tell us this?" Meredith's voice was softer now. "You could have kept that to yourself."
"Because you need to understand who Edmund Ashford is." I straightened. "He's not some outside threat you can intimidate or outfight. He's a man who turned his own daughter into a weapon without her knowledge. And if he did that to me, imagine what he's planned for you."
Elena leaned over the map, finger tracing the marked locations. "The Pennine Pack has territory adjacent to two of these areas. We've had... encounters with hunters before."
"Edmund's people?" I asked sharply.
"Maybe." She chewed her lip. "Three years ago, we lost two young wolves. Official story was they wandered into human territory and got caught in poacher traps. But the traps were wrong, too sophisticated, placed too deliberately."
"Did anyone investigate?"
"Our Alpha tried. Got stonewalled by the local authorities." Elena's jaw tightened. "Then Edmund Ashford himself showed up, presented some wildlife conservation credentials, took the bodies for 'examination,' and we never heard anything again."
My stomach turned. "He took the bodies."
"Aye. Said it was protocol." Elena's eyes were hard now. "I was seventeen. One of those wolves was my cousin."
The pieces clicked together in my head… ugly, inevitable pieces. "He studied them. Probably documented every physical characteristic, every anatomical difference from humans."
"You can't know that," Fiona protested, but she sounded uncertain.
"I can." I pulled out my phone, hesitated, then opened the folder I'd been avoiding since Manchester. "These are files I stole from his private server before I ran. I haven't looked at most of them because I'm not ready to see what else he's done."
I set the phone on the table. The folder was labeled "Field Studies 2019-2022."
Elena's hand shook slightly as she reached for it. "May I?"
"Yes. But be warned… it's not pleasant."
She opened the first file. Her face went white, then red, then carefully blank. Without a word, she passed the phone to Maeve.
Maeve's reaction was more visceral. "Jesus fuck."
"What is it?" Fiona tried to look over her shoulder, but Maeve angled the phone away.
"Autopsy photos," Maeve said flatly. "Detailed anatomical diagrams. Test results on tissue samples." She looked at me. "These are the Pennine Pack wolves?"
"Among others. There are files going back fifteen years in there. Different packs, different territories. He's been doing this for a long time."
Meredith took the phone next, scrolling through with the detached efficiency of someone who'd learned to compartmentalize horror. "He's built a comprehensive database. Weaknesses, regeneration rates, silver sensitivity variations..." She looked up. "This is a hunter's manual. He's not just targeting you, Vivienne. He's been preparing to hunt all of us."
The room had lost its skeptical edge. Now there was something sharper—fear mixed with rage.
"So." I placed both palms on the table, leaning forward. "The male Alphas can argue all they want about honor and territory. But we need a real plan. One that accounts for the fact that Edmund Blackthorn has spent fifteen years learning how to kill werewolves efficiently."
"What do you propose?" Meredith asked.
"A shadow network. Information sharing that doesn't depend on Alpha approval or pack politics. If Edmund attacks, we need to be able to coordinate faster than the official channels."
"That's borderline treason," Fiona said, but she didn't sound entirely opposed.
"It's survival." I straightened. "Your Alphas are good men, I'm not disputing that. But they're thinking like warriors. My father thinks like a scientist. We need to match his approach."
Maeve crossed her arms, that sharp gaze assessing. "What's in this for you? Really?"
"Honestly?" I laughed… bitter and tired. "I want to stop my father before he kills everyone I care about. I want to make sure his research dies with him. And selfishly, I want to prove that being Edmund Blackthorn's daughter doesn't define me."
"Fair enough." Maeve extended her hand. "The Wilde Pack is in. I'll coordinate intelligence from our territory."
I shook her hand, surprised by the firmness of her grip.
Elena was next. "The Pennine Pack lost wolves to your father. We're owed answers." Her handshake was harder… almost aggressive. "I want in. I know his hunting grounds in our territory. I can map his previous approach vectors."
"Thank you." I meant it.
Meredith stood more slowly, but her commitment felt no less solid. "The Fennbridge Pack will provide resources. Medical supplies, safe houses, communication equipment. Aldric doesn't need to know every detail of where our supplies go."
One by one, the other women stepped forward. Fiona from the Brennan Pack, offering her family's contacts in the human world… lawyers, officials, people who could run interference if Edmund tried to use legal channels. A quiet woman named Sorcha who worked in communications and could create secure channels outside official pack networks.
By the time the door opened twenty minutes later, we had the skeleton of a real network.
Declan stood in the doorway, looking between all of us with an expression I couldn't quite read. "Liam's looking for you. The Alphas want to present their plan."
"Of course they do." I rolled up the map. "We'll be right there."
He didn't move. "What's going on here?"
"Contingency planning," Maeve said smoothly. "Since you lot are so focused on the big picture, we figured someone should handle the details."
"Maeve… "
"Don't worry, Alpha." She grinned… all teeth. "We're not plotting revolution. Just making sure there's a Plan B when Plan Alpha inevitably falls apart."
Declan's jaw tightened, but he stepped aside. "Ten minutes. Don't make Liam come looking."
After he left, Elena let out a breath. "He's going to be pissed when he figures out what we're actually doing."
"Let him." I pocketed my phone. "He can be pissed and alive, or proud and dead. I know which I prefer."
Meredith touched my arm as I passed. "You did well. Your mother would be proud."
The words hit unexpectedly hard. "You knew her?"
"Of her. Lyanna Silvermane was legendary in her own right… an Alpha's daughter who chose her own path." Her smile was sad. "Sounds familiar."
I didn't trust myself to respond to that, so I just nodded and headed for the door.
Behind me, I heard the women already beginning to coordinate… quiet, efficient, determined. No grandstanding, no ego. Just people who understood that survival sometimes meant working around the system rather than through it.
The main hall was chaos when I entered… seven Alphas arguing over a table covered in maps and documents. Liam stood at the head, looking like he was actively reconsidering his life choices.
Declan caught my eye from across the room, one eyebrow raised in question.
I smiled… small and private… and took my place at the table.
Let the Alphas have their war council. I had an army of my own now.