Chapter 12 Territory Boundaries
Ryder POV
The call comes at 2 AM.
"We've got company," Cass says through the radio static. "Three vehicles on the north access road. The official pack delegation by the look of it."
I'm already pulling on boots and leather jacket. "How many?"
"Six wolves. Maybe seven. And boss?" He pauses. "One of them's flying a Nightshade colors."
Gio. The bastard actually came himself.
"Meet me at the boundary marker in ten," I tell him. "Bring Knox and Phoenix. Armed but not obvious about it."
"Copy that."
I grab my Glock from the nightstand and holster it at my back. Three weeks. It took them three weeks to work up the nerve for a direct approach. Either they're more desperate than I thought, or this is bigger than just retrieving one rejected daughter.
The ride to the boundary takes fifteen minutes through winding mountain roads. The boundary marker is nothing fancy - just a rusted sign that says "Private Property" riddled with bullet holes. But every wolf in the region knows what it really means.
Cross this line uninvited, and you're declaring war.
Three black SUVs are parked on the other side, engines running. They all look professional. The kind of delegation that says "we mean business" without actually shooting anyone.
At least not Yet.
I kill my engine and walk forward, stopping exactly at the property line. Cass, Knox, and Phoenix fan out behind me, close enough to provide backup but far enough to avoid looking aggressive.
The lead SUV's door opens, and Gio Rys steps out.
He's everything his sister isn't - tall, broad-shouldered, with the kind of commanding presence that makes other wolves step aside. He looks like the perfect alpha heir.
No wonder they threw Jolie away.
"Ryder Kane," he says, walking to his own side of the invisible line. "Thank you for agreeing to meet."
"I didn't agree to anything. You showed up on my territory making demands." I say my fist clenched.
"Fair enough." He smiles, but it doesn't reach his eyes. "I will get straight to the point then. I want my sister back."
"She's not yours to want." I spit back.
"She's a member of my pack. My blood." He spreads his hands in a reasonable gesture. "Surely you can understand family loyalty."
"I understand it fine." I cross my arms, letting my jacket fall open enough to reveal the gun. "What I don't understand is why you'd want her back after spending years treating her like garbage."
Something flickers in his expression. Annoyance, maybe. Or embarrassment at having family business aired in public.
"My sister is troubled," he says carefully. "She's always been... fragile. Prone to running away when things get difficult."
"That why you were planning to trade her to Thorne Blackwater? Because she's fragile?" I say arching my brows.
The mask slips completely now. Gio's eyes go cold and calculating, the polite facade melting away.
"You've been misinformed," he says. "There was never any arrangement with the Bloodmoon Pack regarding my sister."
"Your sister heard the conversation through your father's office window. She heard every word."
"My sister is mentally unstable and has been since her first shift. She hears things that aren't there. Sees conspiracies where none exist." He takes a step closer to the boundary line. "She needs professional help, not the protection of a rogue pack that doesn't understand her condition."
The clinical way he talks about her makes my wolf snarl. Like she's a problem to be solved rather than a person who was systematically destroyed by her own family.
"She's under Iron Fang protection now," I say flatly. "Any attempt to take her will be considered an act of war."
"War?" Gio laughs, but there's no humor in it. "Over a broken little runt who can't even shift properly? I think you're overestimating her value."
"And I think you're underestimating mine." I say.
We stare at each other across that invisible line, alpha to alpha, neither willing to blink first. Behind him, I can see his pack members shifting restlessly. Behind me, I can feel my own wolves coiled and ready for violence.
"Here's what's going to happen," Gio says finally. "You're going to return my sister within 48 hours. In exchange, I will forget this entire incident ever occurred."
"And if I don't?"
His smile is all teeth and no warmth. "Then I'll be forced to involve the Council of Alphas. Kidnapping a pack member is a serious offense, Kane. Even for rogues like you."
The Council. Of course he'd go there eventually. The governing body of the most powerful alpha families, the ones who make laws for wolves they've never met and territories they've never seen.
"Your move," Gio continues. "But remember - the Council doesn't look favorably on rogues who disrupt established pack structures. One word from me, and your little motorcycle club becomes a priority target."
He's not wrong. The Council has been looking for an excuse to eliminate rogue packs for decades. We represent chaos in their ordered world, wolves who refuse to bow to their authority.
But they also know we're not easy targets. Iron Fangs didn't survive this long by backing down from threats.
"Forty-eight hours," Gio repeats, getting back into his SUV. "Don't make me come back with reinforcements."
The convoy pulls away, leaving us standing in the road with exhaust fumes and the promise of war hanging in the air.
"Well," Knox says after they disappear around the bend. "That went about as well as expected."
"He's bluffing about the Council," Phoenix adds, but his voice lacks conviction. "Right?"
I wish I could say yes. But the truth is, Gio has connections we don't. Money we don't. Political power that could crush us if he decides to use it.
"We need to prepare for siege," I say finally. "Double the perimeter guards. Contact our allies. Get ready for a fight."
"What about Jolie?" Cass asks. "She's going to want to know about this."
I think about her curled up in that narrow bed, convinced she's not worth the trouble she brings. About the defeat in her eyes when she asked if she should just leave.
"She doesn't need to know yet," I decide. "Let her sleep. We'll figure out our next move in the morning."