Chapter 26: A Different Mission
Silence pressed into the room.
"She is good with words," Bernard said. "But talk is cheap."
"Yes, we need something more," another strategist said.
Rhea smiled. "Kaleb spent years taking credit for my work." Her voice dropped. "Now he is preparing to march into a war using strategies I created." She placed both palms on the edge of the table. "You do not need protection from me." Her silver eyes flashed. "You need protection from what I helped him build."
The room went still. For the first time, several of the veterans exchanged uncertain looks.
Adam watched the entire exchange without interrupting, the corner of his mouth slowly curved upward. "Interesting." He leaned forward in his chair. "Then perhaps we should stop debating whether she belongs here and start discussing how we win."
A heavy, charged silence stretched across the room.
Adam rested his forearms on the table. His intense gaze locked onto Rhea. "So tell us," he murmured, his voice laced with a dangerous curiosity. "How do we win this war?"
Rhea walked directly to his side, looking down at the maps. She met his gaze, her breath catching for a fraction of a second before she sighed. "You don’t need to fight a war at all," she said, her voice dropping to a calculated whisper.
"What?" one of the men said.
Rhea kept her gaze on him. "You only need to do two things."
Every enforcer in the room leaned in, their breathing suspended, waiting for her next word.
She stepped closer to the table, the scent of aged parchment and dust filling her nose as she dipped her finger into the low torchlight, pointing directly to a specific ridge on the parchment.
"This is the first weakness I noticed in your eastern perimeter," she said, her silver eyes scanning the ink lines with absolute focus. "And right here is the second. Any alpha with half a brain can—"
"Enough!" one of the war elders snapped, his heavy, graying chest heaving as his aura flared in irritation. "I drew those defensive lines before you even knew how to read a map—"
"And perhaps that is exactly the problem," Rhea countered smoothly, not even looking up. Her calm voice cut right through his dominant posturing. "It is outdated. Strategies are living things; they must evolve. If a pack leans on the same walls for too long, the enemy memorizes the strong points and strikes precisely where the foundation has rotted."
A heavy silence fell over the room. Around the table, several veterans shifted their weight, their eyes darting to each other before they reluctantly nodded in agreement.
"Patch those two gaps," Rhea murmured, her fingers tracing a perimeter line, "and you will have a formidable fortress."
"But we do not have the luxury of time for standard fortifications," Bernard countered, his voice tight. He stepped into the light, the metallic scent of his polished armor sharp in the enclosed space. "For all we know, Kaleb’s men have already crossed the low valley. They could be at our gates by dawn."
Adam’s brow furrowed, a low rumble vibrating deep within his massive chest. He leaned over the table. "Get to the point, Rhea. We don’t have hours to debate structural engineering."
Rhea tilted her head up, her gaze locking with his intense, amber eyes for a fraction of a second before she turned back to the Beta. "Since you cannot rebuild the walls tonight, you turn those weak spots into traps."
She leaned further over the table, her voice dropping to a whisper. "Then, you mobilize your deadliest snipers and light-footed scouts immediately. Kaleb is reckless and humiliated. He has no time to draft a new campaign, which means he will default to the only tactical advantage he knows."
"And how do we know that isn’t a setup?" one of the enforcers growled, his hand resting on his blade.
Rhea slid her hand across the table, shifting to a larger topographical map of the entire region. She tapped her fingernail sharply against a narrow, jagged canyon.
"Because this is the Whisper Pass. It is the one place Ironfang has historically won wars without ever baring its fangs. Kaleb will try to bottle you here. But you have to claim the high ridges before his scouts even smell the valley."
Adam didn’t hesitate. He snapped his head toward his Beta, his Alpha command snapping through the room like a whip. "Go now, Bernard. Move the shadows. I want those ridges locked down before my nephew even reaches the foothills."
"Alpha, we cannot move half our scouts based on her word alone, " Bernard protested.
"Normally, I would agree." His gaze settled on Rhea. "But if she intended to betray us, she would have sent us toward the pass, not away from it."
Bernard gave a fierce, single nod, and the room instantly erupted into a flurry of motion as the enforcers emptied out to prepare for blood.
Within minutes, the chaotic noise faded, leaving only the crackle of the hearth. Rhea exhaled a slow breath, the tension leaving her shoulders as she turned to leave the war room. But before she could take a step, a heavy hand clamped around her forearm.
Adam pulled her back, his grip firm but careful. Rhea looked at his hand, then up into his hard, searching face, her brows pulling into a sharp frown.
"I am placing a massive amount of trust in your hands, Rhea. And that is not something I do," Adam murmured, his voice low and dangerous, his face inches from hers. "If you lead my warriors into an ambush—"
"This is my home now," Rhea interrupted, her silver eyes boring into his. She didn’t try to pull away from his grip; instead, she leaned into it, her pulse drumming against his palm. "And I will not let it burn. You know better than anyone in this house that I need allies right now, not more enemies. I am not a fool."
Adam studied her face for a long, quiet beat, his nostrils flaring as he caught the fierce, unyielding honesty in her scent. Slowly, his fingers uncoiled, releasing her arm, though his gaze remained locked on her lips.
"My enforcers are grateful for this even though they don’t seem like it," he said, smoothly shifting the subject as he straightened to his full height. A dark amusement flickered in his eyes. "They have all grown cold and bored in the peace. Because of you, they can smell a slaughter again. They are eager to stain their steel."
Rhea’s lips curved into a small smile. "Then let’s hope your wolves make good use of it." She turned on her heel to finally seek her quarters, but his voice called out, halting her at the threshold.
"You are not marching out with the vanguard," Adam declared, his tone leaving absolutely no room for negotiation.
Rhea paused, looking over her shoulder. "I am well aware I am not needed on a battlefield, Alpha."
Adam’s dark brows rose.
"I have a completely different war to fight," Rhea said, her voice turning entirely cold, the grief for her lost pup sharpening into something sharp and focused.
Adam’s jaw tightened, his protective instincts instantly surging, making his aura heavy and suffocating. "I will assign a full guard detail to—"
"There will be no need for that," Rhea shot back, her chin lifting defiantly as she met his dominant gaze without flinching. "I can handle myself. Just ensure Kaleb does not break through your lines. Because if he wins, I will be forced to rely on your protection, and I prefer to keep my debts small."
With that, she slipped through the heavy doors and vanished into the dim corridor.
