Chapter 133 Coming up with a plan
Jolie pov
"We let them come to us." A dangerous smile crosses Ryder's face. "Set a trap of our own and make them think they've cornered the Moonfire Luna when really, they're walking into a killing field."
"That's suicide." Phoenix shakes his head. "We don't have the weapons, the numbers, or the intel to take on trained Council operatives."
"Then we get them." Luna's already pulling up files on her tablet. "Intel first. Doc, I need you to reach out to your contacts. Find out where Council remnants are operating from, how many facilities still exist, who's funding them."
"On it." His voice crackles through the comm.
"Phoenix, I need you to dig into Celeste's background." She continues. "The Northern Academy she mentioned, how many wolves they've conditioned, whether there are others like her embedded in traditional packs."
"Already searching." He moves to the computer setup in the corner.
"Knox, Cass, inventory our weapons." Ryder takes command. "Blessed silver, regular silver, anything that can hurt wolves enhanced with Council modifications we need to know exactly what we're working with."
"Gio." Luna looks at him. "You know Nightshade Pack's resources, your father's connections. Who would he call for backup if we actually attacked the estate?"
"Council-sympathetic alphas." He doesn't hesitate. "Probably Bloodmoon Pack remnants after Thorne's death, maybe Crimson Ridge if they think there's advantage in it. He'd try to get at least fifty wolves, make it look like justified response to divine aggression."
"Good." She makes notes. "We'll need to account for that in our planning."
"And me?" I ask quietly. "What do I do while everyone else prepares for war?"
They all look at me.
"You rest." Ryder says firmly. "You just escaped a trap, watched your father marry a Council weapon, and learned they want to breed you like livestock. You're allowed to not be tactical right now."
"I can't just rest while everyone else"
"You're the reason we're doing this." Luna cuts me off gently. "The weapon they want to capture and study. If you burn out before we even engage, this whole plan falls apart. So yeah, you rest. Let your mate take care of you and let us handle the planning."
"I'm not helpless." The words come out sharper than intended.
"No one said you were." Knox's voice is steady. "But you're exhausted, emotionally shredded, and your empathy gift is probably screaming from today's overuse, you need recovery time before you can fight."
He's right. My empathy gift feels raw, oversensitive. Like I shoved so much emotion through it today that now it's bruised and tender.
"Fine." I lean back against Ryder. "One hour. Then I want full briefing on whatever intel we've gathered."
"Deal." Luna's already moving toward the door, others following. "Gio, you're with me. I need detailed layouts of Nightshade Estate, guard rotations, everything."
"Cass, Knox, armory." Ryder calls after them. "Phoenix, keep me updated on what you find."
Then it's just us in the cabin. Ryder and me, the weight of what's coming pressing down.
"They wanted to breed me." I say it out loud, testing how the words feel. "Turn me into a broodmare and study my children."
"They wanted to." His voice is cold. "Past tense, because it's never happening."
"You can't promise that." I look up at him. "You heard Celeste. They have my blood, my power profile, blessed silver designed specifically to torture me. If they catch me"
"They won't." He cups my face in his hands. "I will burn down the world before I let them touch you. Every Council facility, every sympathetic pack, every wolf who even thinks about implementing their breeding program. I will end them all."
"That's not sustainable." But I lean into his touch anyway. "We can't spend our lives running from Council remnants."
"No." His smile is dark. "We spend one very violent night hunting them instead. And when we're done, there won't be any Council remnants left to run from."
"You're talking about genocide."
"I'm talking about justice." His eyes glow amber. "They tortured wolves like Celeste, destroyed their empathy, created emotionless weapons. They experimented on divine wolves, tried to breed them like animals, treated consciousness as something to be studied and controlled. They lost the right to exist when they decided other wolves weren't people."
"And if we become like them?" I ask quietly. "If we kill everyone associated with Council operations, even wolves who were just following orders or didn't know the full scope?"
"Then we live with that." He doesn't flinch. "But I'd rather live with killing guilty wolves than watch them capture you, breed you, and destroy everything that makes you who you are."
I want to argue. Want to say there's another way, a solution that doesn't involve mass violence. But Celeste's smile flashes through my mind. Her casual description of breeding programs and torture weapons. The satisfied way she explained how she seduced my father just to hurt me.
Some wolves can't be saved. Can't be reasoned with, they can only be stopped.
"Okay." I say it quietly. "We hunt them and we end this. But we do it smart. We plan, we prepare, and we don't lose ourselves in the process."
"Agreed." He kisses my forehead. "Now rest, let me take care of you while the others gather intel."
He guides me to the bed, pulling me down beside him. I curl against his chest, listening to his heartbeat, feeling his warmth.