Chapter 113 The Weight of What’s Coming
Kane had never been good at waiting.
He could fight. He could plan. He could hold a room together when everything inside it wanted to fall apart. But sitting with the knowledge that something was coming and not being able to move against it yet, that was its own kind of war.
He stood at the head of the table in the east wing, arms folded, eyes moving across the map spread out in front of him. Marcus stood to his left. Devon to his right. Three men who had seen enough battles between them to know that the ones you prepared for were rarely the ones that killed you.
It was the ones you didn’t see coming that did.
“The eastern border is the weakest point,” Devon said, dragging his finger across the map. “If Alexander moves at night, which he will, that’s where he comes through first.”
“Then we reinforce it,” Kane said. “Pull two units from the northern post. The northern terrain slows movement anyway. It buys us time.”
Marcus leaned over the table. “The young ones are the problem. The ones who haven’t shifted more than a handful of times. Their control isn’t reliable. If we put them anywhere near the front line and Alexander hits at the wrong moment, they become a liability instead of an asset.”
“Then they don’t go near the front line,” Kane said.
“I want the young and the old to be moved to the inner quarters before nightfall tomorrow. Rotation of guards, at least four at any given time. Nobody gets in or out without clearance from me, Devon, or Aria.”
Devon nodded. “I’ll brief the unit leads this afternoon.”
He straightened and looked back at the map. His expression shifted.
“There’s something else,” Devon said.
Kane looked at him.
“I’ve been studying Alexander’s movements and patterns from his previous campaigns. Studying his patterns for the previous wars. The way his men have been positioning.” Devon pointed to a date marked on the corner of the map. “Everything is pointing to the twins’ birthday.”
The room went quiet.
“I’m pretty sure he's planning to move on that specific day,” Devon said.
Kane’s jaw tightened. “Why that day. Why not before.”
“I don’t know yet,” Devon said. “But I have a suspicion.” He paused. “That day is a full moon.”
Kane looked at the date. Then at Marcus.
Neither of them spoke for a moment.
A full moon meant shifted wolves. Younger pack members losing control. Heightened instinct and lowered discipline across the board. Alexander wasn’t just picking a date. He was picking the exact conditions that would work against them.
“He’s not attacking despite the full moon,” Kane said. “He’s attacking because of it.”
Devon gave a single nod. “That’s what I think.”
“Then we have less time than I thought,” Kane said. “Whatever we’re putting in place, it needs to be done before that night. Not the morning of. Before.”
Devon rolled the map. “I’ll have a full briefing ready by tomorrow.”
He glanced between the two of them and pushed back from the table. “I’ll give you both a minute.”
He left without ceremony.
Kane waited until his footsteps faded.
“How are things with Maya?” he asked.
Marcus didn’t answer immediately. He picked up the pen Devon had left behind and turned it once between his fingers.
“Better,” he said. “Complicated. But better.”
“Complicated how?”
“She’s still processing it all. I want her to be completely sure before she agrees to anything. What it means.” Marcus set the pen down. “The problem is she doesn’t always say when something is too much. So I have to watch out for it.”
“And you don’t mind that.”
It wasn’t a question. Kane already knew the answer. He just wanted Marcus to hear himself say it out loud.
Marcus exhaled through his nose. Something close to a smile crossed his face, though he looked like he was fighting it. “No. I don’t mind it.”
Kane nodded. “So what are you going to do about it?”
Marcus was quiet for a moment. When he spoke, his voice was even but deliberate. The voice of a man who had already made up his mind and was only now letting it out into the open.
“When this is over, I’m going through with the ritual. I’m making her my mate.”
Kane looked at him for a long moment.
“I see you’ve made your decision.”
“I’ve been sure.” Marcus met his eyes. “I just needed everything else to stop moving long enough to say it.”
Kane reached over and gripped his shoulder once. Firm. Brief.
Marcus straightened. “Don’t make it a moment.”
“Already forgotten,” Kane said.
Marcus almost smiled.
His phone buzzed against the table.
He picked it up. Read the screen. His expression shifted into something Kane couldn’t immediately read.
“One of my men flagged something on the security footage from last night,” Marcus said slowly.
“Amanda was seen leaving the tower at 2am. She came back before dawn.” He looked up. “And there’s a thirty minute gap in the recording that I didn’t authorize.”
Kane’s eyes sharpened. “Someone cut the feed.”
“Someone who knew exactly where the blind spots were.” Marcus set the phone down. “I’m pulling the full footage now. But Kane, a thirty minute gap doesn’t happen by accident.”
“No,” Kane said. “It doesn’t.”
He held that thought for a moment, then filed it. He would deal with it. But not right now.
His desk phone rang.
He crossed the room and picked it up. “Kane.”
The voice on the other end was one of the front desk guards. Steady but careful in the way people got when they weren’t sure how a piece of information was going to land.
“Sir, there’s a woman here asking for you by name. She doesn’t have an appointment.” A brief pause. “She says her name is Victoria Blackstone.”
Kane did not move.
The room was very quiet.
Kane’s hand tightened around the phone once before he released the tension deliberately.
“Tell her I’m coming down,” he said.
He set the phone down.
For a moment he stood completely still, his back to the room, his eyes on nothing in particular.
Then he straightened, adjusted his jacket, and walked out.