Chapter 140 Ryder Anger
Ryder pov
I stand there holding the dead phone, rage and fear warring in my chest.
"Got the trace." Phoenix looks up. "Call originated from Montana facility. Ironwood is there right now."
"Good." I smile without humor. "Then when we hit that facility tonight, we can deliver Jolie's response in person."
"What did he offer?" Luna asks.
"Jolie joins their 'rehabilitation initiative.'" I move to the weapons table, checking gear with more force than necessary. "Uses her healing abilities to help conditioned wolves recover. They provide protection and resources."
"That's actually not a terrible offer." Gio points out. "On the surface."
"Except they want to control how she uses her abilities." I load another magazine. "Want to restrict her, oversee her, turn her divine power into a Council tool. And if she refuses, they'll capture her and implement 'containment protocols.'"
"Containment meaning the breeding program." Jolie's voice comes from the doorway. She's changed into tactical gear, weapons strapped across her frame. "Meaning forced mating and studying my offspring."
"You heard?" I turn to face her.
"Enough." She moves to the table, picking up blessed silver ammunition. "They want me to be their pet divine wolf. Their controlled resource, their proof that empathic abilities can be managed and directed."
"It's not happening." I say it with alpha authority. "We're not giving them anything."
"No." She meets my eyes steadily. "We're taking everything. We're hitting Montana tonight, extracting those captives, and showing Ironwood exactly what happens when he threatens to cage me."
"He's there." Phoenix pulls up security feeds. "Celeste's intel included access to their camera systems. Ironwood arrived three hours ago with six additional guards. Probably preparing for our attack since he might know we have Celeste's information."
"So he's might be expecting us." Knox studies the feeds. "That changes things."
"Does it?" Jolie's says. "He's expecting us to be scared, to negotiate, to maybe try a stealth extraction. He's not expecting us to come in with full force and burn his facility to the ground."
"You want to destroy it?" Luna asks. "Not just extract captives but eliminate the entire operation?"
"Every brick." Jolie's voice is cold with determination. "Every file, every piece of equipment, every single thing they've used to torture divine wolves. I want that facility erased from existence."
"That's not extraction anymore." Cass warns. "That's a military strike. That's declaring open war on Council remnants."
"Good." She starts loading her own weapons. "Let them know we're coming. Let them understand that divine wolves aren't resources to be managed. We're people and we fight back."
"Jolie" I start.
"No." She cuts me off. "I'm done being reactive. Done waiting for them to make the first move. They wanted my cooperation? They wanted me to voluntarily become their tool? Fine. Here's my answer."
She slams a magazine into her weapon with decisive force."We hit Montana tonight. We extract every captive, eliminate every guard who tries to stop us, and we leave Ironwood a message he can deliver to his Council Oversight Committee."
"What message?" Gio asks.
"That the Moonfire Luna doesn't negotiate with wolves who think people are property." Her eyes glow. "And that anyone who tries to cage divine wolves will learn exactly how dangerous empathy can be when it's turned into a weapon."
The room falls silent. Everyone processing what she's saying. She's not just talking about rescue anymore. She's talking about sending a message through violence, about using her divine power not to heal but to destroy.
Part of me should probably discourage this. Should remind her that revenge isn't justice, that violence creates more violence. But the alpha in me recognizes necessary brutality when I see it. The Council wanted to breed her like livestock. Threatened to capture her, force her into servitude, use her children as test subjects, they deserve everything that's coming.
"All right." I move to stand beside her. "We hit them tonight. Hard and fast. We extract captives, destroy the facility, and leave survivors to spread word that divine wolves are off-limits."
"What about Ironwood?" Knox asks. "He's an Elder. Even broken by empathy, he's still dangerous."
"He's coming with us." Jolie's smile is sharp. "He wanted to deliver his Council's offer in person. Now he gets to deliver my response the same way. In chains, in front of whatever Council remnants still exist, as proof of what happens when you threaten the Moonfire Luna."
"That's kidnapping a high-ranking Council official." Luna points out.
"That's justice." Jolie corrects. "He's complicit in breeding programs, conditioning torture, divine wolf experimentation. He deserves chains."
She's right. They all deserve chains even worse.
"Then we better prepare." I start assigning final roles. "This isn't just extraction anymore. This is a statement and we need to make it loud enough that every Council remnant hears it clearly."
As the team disperses to gear up, I pull Jolie aside one more time. "You sure about this?" I ask quietly. "Once we cross this line, there's no going back. We'll be at war with Council remnants until one side is completely destroyed."
"I'm sure." She doesn't hesitate. "They made their choice when they decided divine wolves were resources instead of people. Now they get to live with the consequences."
"And if those consequences include us becoming as brutal as them?" I have to ask. "If we have to do terrible things to stop them?"
"Then we do terrible things." She meets my eyes without flinching. "And we live with the weight of it. Together. Because the alternative is letting them continue torturing wolves like Celeste, breeding divine wolves like livestock, eliminating empathy from our species entirely. I won't allow that."
"Okay." I pull her close, breathing in her scent. "Then we go to war. And we don't stop until every Council facility is ash and every captive is free."
"Thank you." She holds me tight. "For trusting me, for standing with me even when I'm choosing violence over mercy."
"Sometimes mercy and violence are the same thing." I kiss the top of her head. "Sometimes the most merciful thing you can do is put down wolves who'll never stop hurting others."