Chapter 135 Help Me
Jolie pov
"I'll work on security profiles." Phoenix pulls up new files. "Guard rotations, defensive systems, anything that'll give our teams an advantage."
"And I'll reach out to the medical network." Doc heads for his office. "We're going to need field hospitals, somewhere safe to bring rescued wolves while they recover."
Everyone moves with purpose, spreading out to handle their assignments. Except Gio. He stays at the table, staring at Celeste's frozen image on the screen.
"Are you okay?" I ask quietly.
"She's my stepmother now." His voice is hollow. "Almost the same age as you, married to our father, probably in his bed right now. How is that okay?"
"It's not." I sit beside him. "It's sick and calculated and designed to hurt us both."
"She succeeded." He looks at me. "I keep thinking about what she said. That she seduced him, wrapped him around her finger, that he's completely under her control. Part of me wants to warn him, tell he's being manipulated."
"Would he listen?"
"No. He'd probably congratulate her on being strategic. He values power over everything else. And Celeste represents power—Council backing, political connections, the perfect emotionless bride who'll never question his decisions."
"I'm sorry." I touch his hand. "I know he's your father and I know that makes this complicated."
"He stopped being my father the day he decided to sell you to Council remnants." Gio's voice hardens. "Now he's just an enemy who happens to share my DNA."
"You don't have to think of him that way." I squeeze his hand gently. "You're allowed to grieve what he could have been while still recognizing what he actually is."
"How are you so understanding?" He looks at me with something like wonder. "After everything he did to you, everything I did to you, you still offer empathy. How?"
"Because hating you won't heal me." I say simply. "And because you chose differently. You risked everything to warn us, rode away from the only pack you've ever known, joined wolves who had every reason to reject you. That matters."
"Does it?" His voice drops. "Matter enough that you actually trust me? Or am I just on probation until I prove myself?"
"You're part of the pack." Ryder speaks from across the room. "You rode with us, warned us, chose us over blood family. That's earned trust, not probation."
"Even though I spent years tormenting Jolie?" Gio challenges. "Even though I was Father's perfect weapon, did everything he asked without question?"
"Even though." Ryder moves closer. "Because you stopped. Because when you finally understood what you'd become, you chose to be someone different. That's what pack means—we take broken wolves and help them become whole."
Gio's eyes shine with unshed tears. "I don't know how to be whole."
"None of us did." Luna joins us. "Knox killed someone in the ring and fled. Phoenix lost his entire family except one. Cass had a PTSD episode that got his human family killed. We're all broken. We just learned to be broken together."
"And now we're going to war." Gio laughs shakily. "Against facilities full of trained operatives, with blessed silver weapons, and seventy-two hours to prepare."
"Now we're going to win." I correct. "Because we have something Council remnants don't."
"What's that?" He asks.
"We actually care about the wolves we're fighting for." I stand. "They see divine wolves as experiments and threats. We see them as people who deserve freedom. That difference matters."
My phone buzzes with an unknown number again as everyone tenses.
"It's probably her." Gio warns. "Celeste. Rubbing it in some more."
"Or it's intelligence we can use." I opened the message.
It's a photo. Celeste in a silk robe, hair mussed, looking like she just woke up. But her expression isn't smug or satisfied.
It's terrifying. And there's text below: Help me.
"What the hell?" I show the others.
"It's a trap." Ryder says immediately. "Obviously a trap."
"Maybe." I study the photo closer. "Or maybe Phoenix was right about conditioning not being perfect. Maybe she's one of the fifteen percent who retained emotional capacity."
"She literally sent you a video mocking you hours ago." Luna points out. "Explained in detail how she manipulated everyone. This is just another performance."
"Is it?" I zoom in on her eyes. "Look at her expression. That's not calculated, That's genuine fear."
"Or calculated fear designed to look genuine." Cass counters. "She's trained in manipulation. Of course she can fake terror."
"There's one way to find out." I pull up the message thread and type: Why should I believe you?
The response comes immediately: Because tonight he told me what happens after the honeymoon. What my real purpose is and I can't—I need—please.
My empathy gift stirs, sensing something through the digital connection. Not enough to read clearly, but enough to feel, and it feels like panic.
"She's scared." I look up at the others. "Really scared. Something happened tonight that broke through her conditioning."
"Or she's performing fear to lure you into a trap." Ryder takes my phone. "We're not doing this. Not responding, not engaging, not giving her another opportunity to manipulate you."
"What if she's actually reaching out?" I argue. "What if tonight she learned something about Council plans that made her realize she's trapped? We could get intelligence, maybe even turn her against them."
"Or we could walk into an ambush." He deletes the message thread. "I'm not risking you on the slim chance that Celeste suddenly grew a conscience."
"She doesn't need a conscience." I grab my phone back. "She just needs self-preservation. If she learned something tonight that makes her realize she's in danger, she might actually help us."
"Jolie"
"I'm not going to her." I start typing. "I'm offering her a way out. That's different."
I send: If you want help, you come to us. Neutral territory. You bring information, we'll discuss protection.
"Absolutely not." Ryder reaches for the phone but I move away.
"If she's faking, she won't come." I argue. "She'll make excuses or try to lure us somewhere else. But if she's actually scared, if she actually learned something that broke through her conditioning, she'll take the offer."
The three dots appear. Disappear. Appear again.
Finally: The Crossroads at dawn. Come alone or I bolt.