Chapter 62: Chapter 62: Talk Or Die An Agonizing Slow Death
Darius studied the map. "Hmm, the valley is tight. We send two teams around the ridges to block their escape. The main force drives through the center."
Kane nodded. "I take the left flank. Rylan takes the right. You stay in the center with the main group."
Rylan’s fingers tapped the table. "We burn the supplies they have stored. Starve them of resources while we take their leader. They will scatter after that."
I looked at the three of them. The bond between us felt steady, the argument from the night before settled into something stronger. They stood with me now, not over me. They had learned.
The rest of the afternoon passed in planning. We marked every route, every contingency, every position for the riders. The children stayed in the nursery with the women, their laughter drifting down the corridor every so often. I let the sound anchor me while we worked.
Thorne and Elara were crawling faster every day. Lila was marching around the nursery declaring herself queen of the furs. They were the reason we planned this strike. They were the reason we would not wait.
By evening the plan was set. I walked the corridors with the kings, checking the guard rotations one last time. The keep felt alive with purpose. Wolves nodded as we passed, their eyes sharp, their steps purposeful. The pack had chosen to stand with me after the last council. They would ride with me now.
We returned to the chambers as the sun dropped behind the western ridge. The children were already asleep in the big bed, tangled together in a pile of limbs and blankets. Lila had one arm flung over Thorne. Elara curled against her brother’s back. I stood in the doorway for a long moment, watching their small chests rise and fall.
The kings stayed close behind me. Darius rested a hand on my shoulder. Kane brushed his fingers along my arm. Rylan leaned in and pressed a kiss to the side of my neck.
We would ride at dusk tomorrow.
We would end this threat before it carved another warning into our walls.
I turned to the three of them and felt the bond settle deeper, stronger than it had been since the night I returned from Shadowpine. The children slept safe between us. The keep held. The wall I held inside myself was still standing.
Tomorrow we would take the fight to the Nightthorn Triad.
And we would bring it to them on our terms.
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Dawn broke sharp and cold, painting the ridges in pale gold. I stood on the eastern wall with all three children bundled against me. Lila pressed her cheek to my shoulder, her small arms tight around my neck. Thorne and Elara nestled in the wide sling across my chest, their warm weight a steady anchor against the wind. The kings stood beside me, silent, their presence solid as the stone beneath our boots.
Lila shifted, pointing at the hawk circling high above. "Bird," she said, her voice clear and proud. Thorne reached up with a chubby hand, trying to grab the same invisible thing. Elara kicked her legs, laughing when the wind tugged her blanket. I held them closer, feeling the small movements that reminded me every day why we fought.
The kings stayed close but gave me space. Darius scanned the horizon with that cold focus he wore like armor. Kane kept one hand near his knife, his scarred fingers relaxed but ready. Rylan leaned on the parapet, his gaze sweeping the tree line like he could will any threat to show itself. They had learned to stand with me instead of over me.
I looked out over the land we had bled to hold. The outer farms lay quiet under the melting snow. The training yard below showed fresh marks from yesterday’s drills. The keep rose behind us, walls high and unyielding, the smoke from every chimney a sign that life continued inside.
We had come far from the night I arrived in chains. The pack no longer whispered about the human queen. They stood with me now, even the ones who once doubted.
Lila pointed again, this time at the distant ridges. "Go there?" she asked, her small voice full of curiosity.
I kissed the top of her head. "Soon," I said. "But on our terms."
The words settled between the four of us. Darius turned to me, his ice-blue eyes steady. Kane’s hand rested on Elara’s back. Rylan straightened from the parapet, his amber gaze locking on mine.
I looked at each of them and spoke the decision that had been building since the carved man arrived.
"We will not wait for Vespera to strike again," I said. "We take the fight to the Nightthorn Triad. We ride when the scouts return. We end this before they carve another warning into our walls."
The bond between us surged, steady and fierce. Darius nodded once. Kane’s fingers tightened on the hilt of his knife. Rylan’s grin was small and sharp.
The children stirred in my arms. Lila rested her head against my shoulder, her breathing slow and content. Thorne and Elara nestled closer, their small hands clutching my tunic. I held them tight, feeling the warmth of their bodies against the cold morning air.
The kings stayed beside me as the sun climbed higher. We watched the ridges together, the bond moving between us in quiet currents. The keep felt alive beneath our feet, the pack moving through the bailey with purpose. The women trained in the yard. The gammas checked the walls. The children slept safe in my arms.
A shout rose from the gate below. Two scouts galloped in, horses lathered, cloaks flapping. They reined in hard in the bailey and looked up at the wall. Their faces were grim.
Garrick met them first. He listened for a moment, then turned and looked straight up at me.
"The Nightthorn forces are moving," he called. "They left their valley camp at dawn. They’re heading this way. Vespera rides at the front with her two mates. They’re bringing everything they have."
The words carried clear across the bailey. The pack stopped what they were doing and looked up at the wall. The bond between the four of us tightened, the kings shifting closer without a word.
I looked at the three children in my arms and then at the kings beside me. The wall I held inside myself was still standing.
I turned to the pack below and raised my voice so every wolf could hear.
"Then we meet them on the field," I said. "We ride at dusk. We end this before they reach our walls."
The pack cheered, the sound raw and fierce. I stood there with the children warm against me and the kings at my back and felt the keep shift beneath my feet. The Nightthorn Triad was coming.
And this time we would not wait for them to arrive.
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Dusk settled over the ridges as we moved out in silence. The horses’ hooves were wrapped in cloth to muffle sound. Twenty riders, the best the keep had, followed me down the narrow trail. Darius rode on my right, Kane on my left, Rylan taking the rear. The air smelled of pine and damp earth, the last light fading behind the peaks.
The Nightthorn outpost lay in a shallow valley two ridges over. We had watched it for days. Twenty tents, a central fire, guards posted at the edges. Vespera’s people thought they were hidden. They were wrong.
We left the horses in a thicket and moved on foot the last half mile. My blade felt light in my hand. The twins were safe back at the keep with the women. Lila had asked me before I left, her small voice serious, "Bad wolves tonight?" I had kissed her forehead and told her yes, but we would come back.
The outpost appeared through the trees. Torches flickered. Voices carried on the wind. I raised my fist. The group spread out, silent as shadows.
We hit them at the same moment.
The first guard went down with my blade across his throat before he could shout. Darius took the next with a single thrust. Kane moved between two tents, knife flashing twice. Rylan’s axe swung low and took a man off his feet. The fight turned fast and ugly. Steel rang against steel. A wolf shifted mid-leap and Rylan’s axe met it before it landed. I drove my blade into a man’s side as he turned toward me, twisting as I pulled free.
The outpost erupted. Men scrambled for weapons. Shouts tore through the air. I pushed forward toward the central tent, blade clearing a path. A Nightthorn warrior lunged at me from the side. I parried and drove my sword through his shoulder, yanking it free as he fell.
The kings stayed close, their presence a wall around me. The bond between us burned hot and steady, feeding me their focus, their rage, their determination to end this fast. I felt every strike they made as if it was my own.
We reached the central tent. I kicked the flap open and stepped inside. The man inside was older, face scarred, eyes wide when he saw me. He reached for a blade on the table. I drove my sword through his shoulder and pinned him to the ground. "Talk," I said. "Or die an agonizing slow death."
He grit his teeth but eventually talked. Names spilled out between gasps. He mentioned three more camps further east. A cache of silver collars they had been preparing for the next full moon. A promise from a southern pack that they would join if the children were taken alive. I listened until his voice faded, then pulled the blade free and ended it clean.
