Chapter 8

Charde’s POV

I stood by the giant window of my room, a glass of wine sitting on the pane as I glanced at the landscape of the pack my father left me.

Numerous thoughts had been rising in my head, but the window was the perfect spot because each one that came up whooshed away from the spot.

The door of my room opened and Lydia walked in, the clacking of her heels disrupting my peace.

I turned around quickly. “I warned you not to come in here without a knock.”

“I’m sorry, Charde, but we need to talk,” she said, not pulling back a step.

“Whatever it is can wait for later,” I said.

“No.”

“Don't you dare object to me.”

“And don't you dare make me sit and act like everything is alright while you send my fiancé on a suicidal mission.”

“I am your Alpha,” I reminded her with a fierce growl.

Tears rolled down her eyes. “He just came back from a long mission, Charde. You didn't even let him spend a night with me.”

“Tristan is the most skilled spy there is in this pack. If there's anyone who can get into any place and come out like nothing ever happened, it's him.”

“Cut the bullshit. You can't just send other people's partners out to die just because you're desperate to fix a mistake you made about yours.”

Those words struck me like heavy blows.

I grabbed Lydia by the neck and pinned her to the wall.

“Challenge me one more time and you'll spend the rest of the week in a cold cell,” I swore.

“My room already feels like a cell,” she whispered out. “I won't forgive you if anything happens to Tristan.”

“If he dies fulfilling his duty, he dies a hero.”

“Fuck you, Charde!” She hit my chest. “Fuck you!”

I held her frame still. “Get your shit together. I won't stay here and watch him die. Remember how we always got into trouble for stealing cranberries from your mother's farm. We never turned out back on each other. I've always had his back. I’m not going to change now.”

She sank her head into my chest, breaking down into tears. I wrapped my arms around her, hoping she'd find comfort in them.

door.

“Protect him, will you?”

“On my life,” I swore to her.

Some minutes later, she left for the kitchen. In the Gray Mist pack, it was tradition for the beta’s mate to oversee the kitchen duties of the pack. She was Tristan's chosen mate. That simp gave up on waiting for his chosen mate when he returned from one of his missions and saw Lydia in her underwear.

A knock landed on my door, shaking me from my thoughts.

“An important message for you, Alpha,” I heard a voice from the door.

“Is it more important than every other one on my office desk that you had to bring it to my chambers?” I asked.

“Sire, it's a message from… the dark lord.”

A chill wave ran through me immediately.

“Come inside!” I ordered.

He hurried in and handed over an envelope.

It was no joke. The seal on it belonged to the dark lord.

I tore off the seal and met a yellow page. My eyes darted over to the text written on it, but something else took me off before I read.

There was no mistaking it. That writing belonged to Sabrina. I knew every indent and curve of her writing.

I felt a knot in my chest, and for a moment I wondered how she was doing over there. Was she okay? Had she been forced to write this letter?

Shaking off the thought of her, I narrowed in on the content of the letter.

“An advice to retrace your steps. Waging a war on me would be disadvantageous only to your side. I have eyes and ears everywhere. And believe me, they are everywhere.”

My chest tightened and I folded up the paper immediately.

“Nonsense!”

“What is it, sir?”

“Nothing that should bother you,” I responded. “You may leave.”

How could my plans be ruined when I hadn't even drafted it out? A rat… Having one amongst my people was one thing I couldn't tolerate.

But only a few people knew of my plans just yet. I'd be able to sniff out the rat and set its tail on fire.

Three hours later, gray clouds were already covering the sky, glints of lightning and murmurs of thunder from behind them.

The wind was strong. I could smell a storm.

I met Marcus on my way to my office. I had sent a servant earlier but I hadn't expected he'd reach him fast. Marcus had been very busy.

“You called, Alpha,” he said as his footsteps came to a halt.

“Yes, Marcus,” I responded casually. “You might need to intensify the training routine of our soldiers.”

“May I ask why, Alpha?”

I paused, taking a shallow breath. “Doesn't it smell like war in the air?”

“I can definitely perceive the rage in your blood, Alpha. And if that rage calls for way, I'm always at your side to cut down any arm that dares to raise a sword against you.” He bowed.

“Good,” I said, taking a satisfactory breath. “You're the bravest man I know, but before we risk our lives on the battlefield, I need to make sure that I'm on the right track. Come with me. We must speak with my uncle.”

“Alright, sir.”

Elder Richard's quarters was a brief walk away from the Alpha's quarters. Though not as big, it was befiting of an Alpha. He had rejected the provision made for him in the Alpha's house, but my father told me it was all because of his love for the pack.

Elder Richard was older than him. Even though he had lost the Alpha contest when they were younger, he still wanted to protect the pack from a separate space.

“Wasn't expecting you on my door by this time, nephew,” he said. “And I know the frog doesn't come out in the daylight for no reason.”

“You're right, uncle,” I said, walking in with Marcus behind me.

“I have something we need to discuss briefly,” I continued.

“Tell me,” he said, relaxing on a big couch in his chamber.

“I discovered from my wolf that Sabrina is my mate and is pregnant for me,” I said.

I noticed a hint of surprise in Marcus' eyes, but my uncle’s older ones must have seen it coming already.

“I intend to wage a war against the dark lord if he refuses to let me have Sabrina back,” I pointed out.

He let out an audible breath. “Is it Sabrina or the child?”

“The child,” I answered.

“The situation is tough,” he said, “but there's no part of our law that imposes the punishment of a mother on her innocent child. And as such, any blood of the Gray Mist pack must be fought for, like our blood is supposed to be fought for.”

“I have someone speaking with the Imperial one already. If it goes according to plan, he will release his soldiers to me and we will bring an end to this bastard’s tyranny,” I said.

He nodded. “If that's so, we must prepare for war.”

I nodded. “Yes.”