Chapter 155: The Waiting Game
Adrian's POV
I threw myself over Sierra and pulled her to the floor. My body covered hers. The gunfire got louder. Voices shouted outside. Running footsteps pounded down the hallway.
Ben burst back through the door. "It's a distraction! They're not actually attacking. Just making noise to scare us."
I helped Sierra up. Her hands shook. "Are you sure?"
"Our guards checked the south border. Nobody's there. Just speakers playing recorded gunfire. Marcus wants us panicked."
My blood boiled. This was a game to him. Psychological warfare. Make us jump at shadows until we can't think straight. I walked to the broken window and looked out into the darkness. Somewhere out there Marcus was watching. Laughing. Waiting for us to break.
"Get maintenance up here," I said quietly. "Board up this window and sweep the entire pack house for more devices. Cameras. Microphones. Anything that doesn't belong."
Ben nodded and left. Sierra sat on the bed. Her face was pale. "I felt him kick. During all that chaos. He kicked so hard like he was trying to tell me he's okay."
I sat beside her and put my hand on her belly. "He's strong. Like his mother."
"I don't feel strong," she whispered. "I feel like a bomb waiting to explode. Like every minute that passes brings us closer to something terrible."
The next morning came too bright. Birds sang outside like the world hadn't almost shattered last night. I called an emergency meeting with Ben and the allied Alphas over video conference. Their faces filled the screen. Tired. Worried. Alpha Raymond spoke first.
"We can't launch the operation yet. Not with Sierra this close to delivery. If something goes wrong during the attack and you're not there..."
"I know," I said. The words hurt to admit. "We wait. Let Sierra have the baby safely. Then we move."
"That gives Marcus time to prepare," Alpha Rachel pointed out. "He'll know we're coming eventually."
"He already knows," Ben said. "Daemon's silence proves that but Marcus is playing the long game too. He wants the baby. He'll wait because taking a newborn gives him more leverage than anything else."
Sierra's voice came from beside me. Steady. Determined. "So we use that. We let Marcus think we're vulnerable and distracted. And when he makes his move we'll be ready."
Alpha David's replacement, a younger woman named Alpha Claire, leaned forward on her screen. "What if he doesn't wait? What if he attacks before the baby comes?"
"Then we fight anyway," I said simply. "But I don't think he will. Marcus is patient. Calculated. He's been planning this for years. A few more weeks won't matter to him."
The Alphas agreed. We would hold positions. Double our guards. Watch and wait. After the call ended I found Sierra in the nursery. She stood in the middle of the room surrounded by tiny clothes and blankets. Her hands rested on the crib we'd built together.
"Do you think he'll be safe here?" she asked. "In this room? In this pack? With war coming?"
I walked to her and turned her to face me. "He'll be safe because we'll make him safe. Every decision we make from now on is about protecting him, giving him a future where he doesn't have to be afraid."
She pressed her face against my chest. I felt wetness seep through my shirt. Her tears. "I'm so tired of being brave."
"Then don't be brave today," I said softly. "Today you can be scared. Tired and even angry. Whatever you need to be. I'll be brave enough for both of us."
We stood there holding each other while outside our window guards patrolled. And somewhere in the forest Marcus waited while our son grew bigger and stronger inside Sierra's belly waiting to be born into a world at war.
The days crawled by like wounded animals. Slow. Painful. Every morning I woke up expecting an attack. Every night I went to bed grateful we'd survived another day. Sierra grew bigger. More uncomfortable. She couldn't sleep or eat much. The baby pressed on everything inside her.
Dr. Mara came to check on her every other day now. She measured Sierra's belly. Listened to the heartbeat. Frowned at her charts. "He's growing fast. Faster than normal. You need to take it easy."
"I am taking it easy," Sierra said. But we both knew that was a lie. How could anyone take it easy when every shadow might hide an enemy? When every stranger could be a spy?
Ben kept the guards on rotation. Twenty-four hours. No breaks. No days off. Everyone was exhausted. I could see it in their faces. The way they moved slower, reacted slower. Fear was a disease that spread through the pack like poison.
On the tenth day of waiting I found Sierra standing at the window in our bedroom. Her reflection showed in the glass. Pale. Drawn. Beautiful and terrified. "What are you thinking about?" I asked.
"Everything," she said. "What if I'm not a good mother? What if I can't protect him? What if Marcus gets to him and it's all my fault?"
I put my arms around her from behind, rested my hands on her belly. "You're already protecting him. Every breath you take. Every decision you make. You're the strongest person I know."
She turned in my arms. "I don't want him to grow up in a world like this. Where people hurt each other and take things that don't belong to them. Where being strong means being violent."
"Then we change the world," I said. "We make it better and safer. We teach him that strength isn't about violence. It's about protecting people who can't protect themselves. About standing up when it's easier to run away."
A small smile touched her lips. "You really believe we can do that?"
"I have to," I said. "Because the alternative is giving up. And I don't know how to do that."
That night I couldn't sleep. I walked the halls of the pack house checking doors. Windows. Guards. Everything felt wrong. It was too quiet. I found Ben in the security room staring at monitors showing every angle of our territory.
"Anything?" I asked.
"Nothing. That's what worries me. Marcus should have made another move by now. Even a small one. But there's been radio silence since the fake attack."
"Maybe he's waiting like we are."
Ben shook his head. "Marcus isn't that patient. He pretends to be but underneath he's all rage and impulse. This quiet feels planned."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying we're missing something important. And we won't see it until it's too late."
I stared at the screens showing our peaceful territory. Guards walking their routes. Empty forest. Quiet buildings. Somewhere in all that normalcy danger was hiding. I could feel it in my bones.