by Reese Morgan
Fergus waved a tender piece of meat underneath her nose. Hayden had no choice but to accept it, her empty stomach reminding her of the scarce resources in their immediate area. It was another reason they were going to relocate as soon as possible.
Grabbing the large piece of meat, she gnawed on it, recognizing it as venison.
“They’re talking about you,” Fergus informed. “Quite angrily too.”
Hayden withheld the temptation to glance over her shoulder at Cole and Nicolas. Earlier, she observed them conversing civilly. On occasion, she’d look over and they were in deep conversation. It pleased her they were getting along.
Courteousness had lasted for a few minutes, at least.
“Fergus,” Devan admonished wearily. “They’re too far away. Trust me. I’ve tried to eavesdrop myself.”
As if to prove her point, the other female looked over at Cole and Nicolas but blanched a moment later. She threw a futile glance at Hayden before busying herself with distributing the deer.
Hayden sighed.
She didn’t even want to turn and see what caused Devan’s reaction.
“What if…” Under the displeased eyes of Nathan, Fergus leaned forward and engaged in gossip and wild speculation. “What if you choose Nicolas? Would Cole exile you from the pack? Would we never see you again?”
“Fergus,” Blake reprimanded.
“Actually, it’s a reasonable question,” Nathan rationalized, earning him reproachful looks from the rest of the pack, with the exception of Fergus, who appeared genuinely concerned. “It’s something we should consider and discuss as a pack.”
“Cole would never exile Hayden from the pack,” Blake argued. For emphasis, he leveled her with a firm stare. “He would most likely limit her contact with Nicolas, but I know Cole would want her as close as possible.”
“Or…” Devan trailed off casually. “He could swallow his pride and accept that Hayden and Nicolas are a mated pair. There is enough room in our pack for Nicolas. He wouldn’t want to be pack Alpha anyway.”
Silence met her statement.
“What?” she snapped, flustered as she failed to keep the fire lit. “Cole and Hayden never had a relationship! Why does everyone act as if they were married? It was his choice to leave without saying anything.”
Cole suddenly appeared behind her and Hayden’s lips thinned.
“A very perceptive observation.” Cole looked away from Devan’s horrified expression and toward Hayden. “A very true statement.” He held her gaze before looking at the others. “I owe all of you an apology. I was faced with a last-minute decision I thought would benefit the werewolf community as a whole. In doing so, I abandoned all of you to the harshness of war.”
Blake and Nathan exchanged glances and remained rather solemn. The rest of the pack appeared gloom, hearing true regret in Cole’s tone.
Hayden’s finger moved over the hole in her jeans.
“Hayden stepped up as pack Alpha, so had Blake.” Cole nodded to his beta. “I am immensely proud of all of you for binding together.”
Blake ran a hand across his scruffy beard. “As much as we’d all like to put our tongue in cheek regarding this specific issue, I have to give credit to where it’s due. Nicolas was there for us as well. On many occasions, he stepped up and kept us together.”
He paused, considering, before recoiling. “Could you imagine what state our pack would be in if Tobias became Slayter Alpha?”
At Blake’s deliberate support of Nicolas, Hayden looked up, her chest tight.
Not only Blake but Nathan also nodded alongside their beta, as did Fergus and Devan. Hayden marveled at the sight. They didn’t necessarily get along with Nicolas, but they were mature enough to put aside their differences and acknowledge his support.
“He would make a good addition to the pack,” Nathan said tightly. He looked submissively away from Cole’s piercing stare. “Assuming issues could be resolved.”
“That is something Hayden, Nicolas, and I need to sort out.” Cole’s jaw was tight as he looked at her. “We’re meeting with the Alphas. You are all welcome to attend.”
Without another word, he turned his heel and retreated.
The pack looked at one another guiltily, thinking they had chased him away.
“He’ll get over it eventually,” Blake muttered, standing. “I, for one, would like to hear what he’s been up to these past few months.”
Hayden leaped from her position and shouldered her way next to Blake. She looked up at him as they made their way towards the other Alphas, a small smile stretching her lips.
“Thank you, Blake.”
He grabbed the side of her head and kissed her temple sloppily. “Anytime.”
The influential werewolves grouped together at the foot of the hill. With the lower altitude, their voices wouldn’t carry as far. The other werewolves were not allowed to attend the meeting, though Hayden reluctantly understood why.
Kieran wanted to eliminate unnecessary comments and questions as they decided their next course of action. Only when the decision was final would he address the others.
Among one of the last ones to arrive, Hayden and Blake situated themselves towards the outskirts of the group.
Next to her, Julian came to a stop, his face pulled sternly. She considered her brother, noticing his gravity and lack of haughtiness. She thought his reclusiveness last night was because of his traumatic ordeal and that he’d be back to his normal self after some rest.
Something clearly happened with Nicolas.
She would eventually find out what transpired between the two.
Julian adjusted his fur-lined hood around his shoulders, catching her observation.
He scowled. “Yes?”
Hayden raised an eyebrow at his bite. “What crawled up your ass?”
“You’re not the only one allowed to carry the occasional chip on your shoulder, you know.” He looked away. “We all have things to deal with.”
She didn’t argue.
Turning her attention back towards the group, she spied Nicolas standing opposite of her. He stood inconspicuously apart from the others, but not far enough to cause notice. She realized he kept his attention just above her shoulder, towards the stretch of trees behind her.
Hayden blinked with comprehension.
He was watching her unprotected back.
He focused on her face and she couldn’t help but smile softly. A warm feeling settled in her chest. Though he stood a distance away, his presence and security cloaked her.
Kieran walked into the middle, instantly drawing attention. “We’ve lost many men, women, and children.” Rylee stood at his shoulder, his silent support. “I know several of you believe we should surrender and retreat up north, towards seclusion.”
“Damn right,” a man next to Adolf interrupted. “Leave Celeste to the humans.”
Adolf gazed at the man with disdain for even considering abandonment. Hayden watched her silver-haired mentor. She was proud he’d survived this long. She had yet to see him in battle, though she knew he was wicked with the blade.
“I, too, agree with a retreat,” another male declared. “The enemy is too powerful. We also fail to identify a friendly ally from a friendly enemy.”
Kieran motioned to Cole. “Before we make any sort of decision,” he started, “I would like Cole to inform us of his progress. He’s been on a covert mission these past few months and I believe he may have some enlightening news.”
Hayden thought Kieran was putting far too much emphasis on Cole delivering good news. As Nicolas stated repeatedly, Celeste trusted no one. She kept her secrets close and killed those who discovered any sort of vulnerability.
Hayden would be surprised if Cole had something valuable.
Cole nodded and stepped forward. “Celeste relies on her serum to keep her Carriers dependent and obedient,” he said. “They are reliant on this serum for strength and superiority. As most of you know, these Carriers Sire humans into mindless soldiers.”<
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“Commonly referred to as puppets,” Falco clarified sharply. “I think we’ve all encountered these soldiers. They are rather dim, but they are resilient. Difficult to kill and extremely robust.”
Hayden pursed her lips, remembering Falco’s admission that a puppet had killed Joseph. Just as one had killed Asher and so many others.
“Two out of the three Carriers are dead,” Cole informed. “Nolan is the only Carrier remaining, but I am certain Celeste plans to create more. The only weakness to her plan is that she depends on this serum. The Carriers inject themselves daily to sate their addiction and maintain their strength. They need this venom running through their veins, otherwise, their immune system repels the foreign substance in their bodies.”
“You were injected with the serum, weren’t you?” Adolf inquired. “She wanted you to become a Carrier.”
“It was a form of the serum, yes. As I was not compliant to her demands, she intended to make me a soldier who blindly took orders, but it was not effective. I was able to fight off the control.”
“But the mind control is still present, is it not?” Nicolas asked. “Before his death, Troy indicated that Celeste attempted to influence a mechanism in your brain to mirror a relationship similar to a newborn and his Sire. Do you not feel obedient towards her?”
Hayden did not believe Nicolas was trying to ignite suspicion in others in terms of trusting Cole, but his question instantly spurred sharp, mistrusting looks.
Cole’s eyes riveted towards her. “I can only compare it to what Hayden felt with Tracer. She established a powerful, mind-compelling bond with him, but she was able to overcome it. Celeste imagined she was successful in turning me compliant, but like Hayden, I was able to shake off the influence.”
“When the serum is out of your system, you’ll be completely free of her influence?”
“Or until someone skewers her with a blade,” someone muttered.
Hayden looked sharply at her father. Logan caught her gaze and winked. The talk about killing his lifemate clearly did not upset him. He seemed resigned to the fact.
She could not fathom him having to die just because of Celeste.
“All very explainable.” Nicolas’ voice cut through the chatter and silenced it immediately. “You felt Celeste’s presence the night you betrayed Hayden and I. It was at that point you decided to go covert?”
Hayden’s attention dropped to the scar across Nicolas’ face. Vividly, she remembered that night back at Xavier’s old cabin. It was a night she would never forget. It had been the turning point of so many events.
Cole had taken his path.
So had she.
Unfortunately, their paths pulled them apart indefinitely. Their paths would not intersect again for quite some time after.
“I did not betray you,” Cole stressed to Nicolas as if forgetting they had an audience. He then turned and faced his pack, particularly Hayden. “I felt the pull towards Celeste, the urge to appease anything she’d ask me. I realized I could use it to my advantage, but I could only make it work at that point in time. No later. There was no time to argue the decision.”
Hayden held his gaze, understanding setting in.
He’d faced a decision at that time, realizing he could assist the war from inside enemy’s territory. She’d remembered Cole feeling dejected with his health back then.
Perhaps sacrificing himself for the greater good made him finally feel in control.
Being angry with him about his secrecy only insulted his sacrifice. As he mentioned, there would have been no time to bring Nicolas and Hayden in the loop. They would have argued and fiercely rejected his idea.
Everything had happened so fast. Decisions were made.
It was the past now.
“We understand, Cole,” Hayden whispered upon noticing his imploring gaze. He wanted forgiveness, though he shouldn’t have had to ask for it.
His expression cleared and softened around the edges.
“Please,” Nicolas murmured silkily. “Continue.”
A noticeable tension settled in Cole’s jaw at Nicolas’ goading. “That night, at Xavier’s cabin, I did have the chance to follow Troy Arnold to the basement. I asked for his assistance.”
Hayden stiffened, remembering her escapade with Asher when they snuck outside the reservation. When they entered Xavier’s old cabin, she instantly took notice of the dead puppet in the basement, finding it doubtful Troy Arnold had enough strength to kill one.
That puppet’s arm had been missing as well.
It all made sense now. Cole had killed the puppet and Troy had used the puppet’s arm for conducting tests. The conclusion had never occurred to her before, simply because she believed Cole had truly succumbed to Celeste’s control.
Troy had liked Cole. His reluctance to assist them in the war would have warmed to a ready agreement if Cole pleaded with him at the last minute.
Troy was a coward, but he hadn’t been cold-hearted.
Hayden mourned her lost opportunity to thank the man.
“Who, exactly, is Troy Arnold and how does he fit in this war?” a nameless Alpha enquired. “We found his body not too long ago on Slayter’s territory, a supposed suicide, though no one truly knew who he was.”
“He was an experimenter, a scientist, and a brilliant mind. That’s all you need to know,” Kieran informed with a clipped tone.
Hayden bit the inside of her cheek. She was tempted to look at her father again, but she withheld the temptation. She assumed not many people knew about Xavier Slayter and Logan Crow’s connection to Troy Arnold.
No one needed to know about the cruel experimenting.
“Celeste keeps everything to herself,” Cole continued. “No one knows how to create the serum that keeps her Carriers dependent. No one but Troy.” He smiled softly. “I was located at the same base she kept her serum. I helped Troy gain access to it.”
Logan finally interjected. “Troy manipulated the serum.” He paused for a moment, his features severe. He then laughed. “Sly dog.”
Cole nodded once, agreeing with Logan. “For a while now, the serum has been corrupted. The Carriers have been injecting themselves with a watered-down disease. Instead of biting humans and creating mindless soldiers, they’ve only been killing their victims.”
Upon that admission, Hayden and Nicolas locked eyes.
It was Logan and Xavier’s original formula.
Against Celeste’s heated disapproval, Logan and Xavier had created the disease with the intention to exterminate rogues through a bite. After killing Xavier, and putting Logan into a medical-induced coma, Celeste took that serum and used it to create her three Carriers.
Troy Arnold had essentially turned karma back around by using the very same thing she detested as her downfall.
It was brilliant.
So very clever and ironic.
Hayden looked at her father, noticing the obscurities across his grave face.
Clearly, he did not find the situation nearly as amusing. Was he ashamed to hear of the serum he created those many years ago? The very same serum they’d perfected by testing it on innocents?
“Have they noticed?” Kieran asked suddenly. “Have they noticed the victims they bite instantly dying instead of being turned into puppets?”
“Unlikely.” Cole raised his eyebrows. “Celeste loosened her hold on her Carriers, allowing them free reign. They never counted the humans they’ve bitten, nor stayed behind to watch them transform. With both Tracer and Evan gone, Celeste will not suspect a thing until it’s too late.”
Hayden smiled, feeling something… alien.
Optimism?
A light at the end of the tunnel?
She hadn’t felt this light in ages.
Nicolas was the first one she looked to. He watched her steadily, blankly, before a small smile twitched at the edges of his mouth. He was far more amused to see her uplifted mood than feeling hope himself.
It was silly of her to be so hop
eful, especially with so many setbacks.
She just couldn’t help it.
Around the group, the others seemed to take the news in stride. Their shoulders lifted and the grimness cleared. Reenergized murmuring spread across the group. This could be it. Cole truly did a work of art under the guise of Celeste’s puppet.
However, most of the credit had to go to Troy Arnold.
If only he hadn’t met his demise so prematurely.
“And you did this all yourself?”
All eyes turned to Cole.
“Clearly, Troy Arnold had a large part,” he replied. “There is also another deflector within Celeste’s group, though I will not say their name.”
Next to Hayden, Julian shifted. He knew she realized. Cole was talking about Sophia. He was evidently protective over her if his expression had any say in the matter.
Her brother looked to her.
“She will be fine,” Hayden encouraged softly.
Julian pressed his lips together before turning away. His fingers twisted in his jacket, the only sign of his anxiousness.
“Another deflector?” two voices chorused at the same time.
“And a decrease of soldiers being produced,” Kieran added, his expression impressed. “We can use this to our advantage. We will group together and corner Celeste. Her soldiers are robust, but they are not unbeatable. Any suggestions of which base to target first? Nicolas? Cole?”
He turned to the two brothers, the only ones who had infiltrated Celeste’s ranks.
“The base Nicolas scouted earlier,” Cole responded assuredly. “It’s her primary base and it’s where she was last seen.”
Kieran took that in stride before turning to Nicolas. “Slayter?”
Nicolas blinked languidly. “If that is where she is at the moment, then that is the best base to attack.” He deliberated. “It is the most secure, with the most fighters, but why not eliminate as much as we can with our first hit?”
First hit.
Hayden heard it in the way he accentuated the words.
There would be more to come after the initial attack. Even if they remained optimistic and successfully took over the base, Nicolas believed there would be so much more to accomplish afterward.