CHAPTER 18

DRAKE POV

The war room of the tournament grounds smelled strongly of mahogany and conquest. Maps of the combat arenas were spread across the massive table, dotted with markers and pins representing security checkpoints. I traced the eastern border with my fingertip, the same place where our scouts had spotted Eastern Pack men just yesterday.

Too close.

Kael stirred restlessly beneath my skin. The tournament was supposed to be a celebration—a display of pack strength and unity. Now, it was a potential battleground.

Andre leaned over the map beside me, his golden eyes scanning the layout. “We need enforcers here, here, and here,” he said, jabbing at three key entry points. “If they try anything, we will catch them before they breach.”

I nodded. “Lucas already assigned extra patrols. No one gets in without full screening.”

The other organizers—Alphas from allied packs—murmured their agreements. The tension in the room was thick enough to choke on.

The door burst open before I could continue.

Lucas strode looking all serious than usual. His amber eyes locked onto mine and passed on a silent message.

I sensed trouble.

I stood up immediately and announced, “meeting adjourned. We will meet again at dusk.”

The Alphas exchanged glances but filed out without protest. Only Andre remained, his arms crossed tightly with his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“What happened?” He demanded inquisitively the moment the door clicked shut.

Lucas ruffled his dark curls and said blankly, “Sharon paid a visit to the pack house.”

Andre’s growl rattled the windows. “Did she touch Lily?”

“Almost.” Lucas replied stiffly, “Got there just in time and Sharon did not come alone—her little cronies was waiting outside. Would have been a bloodbath if things escalated.”

Andre whirled on me, his eyes flashing white in anger. “How about you handling your Buisness Drake. She is becoming a nuisance.”

Kael surged forward, my claws popping out menacingly. “Back off, Andre.”

“Or what?” He stepped closer, his chest Inches away from mine. “You will Alpha command me to leave my mate?”

The unspoken challenge hung between us—years of friendship strained to breaking point over a woman neither of us could walk away from.

Lucas slammed his fist on the table and barked, “Enough!” The force of it cracked the wood. “Get your damn shit together. This back and forth can not continue, or someone is going to get hurt—and it might be Lillian.”

And that brought us back to our senses instantly.

Andre exhaled defeatedly and stepped back. “He is right.”

I forced my claws to retract. “I will deal with Sharon.”

Lucas snorted and shook his head. “It’s about time, if you ask me.”

Sharon’s Mansion.

The Blackwood estate loomed before me, with its shadows casting in all directions, it’s eerie spikes cutting into the twilight sky. The guards at the gate stiffened at my approach but didn’t dare stop their Alpha.

Sharon’s scent hit me instantly I stepped inside—fully bloom roses and….bitterness. She was covered from head to toe in a long luxurious flowing gown which sprawled all over the floor as she lay across a cushioned lounge in the parlor, her eyes red - rimmed, her usually flawless makeup all cracked up.

Crocodile tears.

“Drake,” she gasped, pressing a lace handkerchief to her cheek. “I knew you would come.”

I didn’t sit, I just stood and stared at her squarely in the face and said, “you disobeyed a direct order.”

Her lower lip trembled violently. “I was distraught. That rogue has you under some kind of spell—”

“Enough.” My voice cracked like a whip. “We are done, Sharon.”

The fake tears stopped instantly as she spluttered, “What?”

“You heard me.” I said icily, though Kael snarled at the venom that comes with her scent. “You have been a thorn in my flesh from the very beginning, but targeting Lillian? Releasing that letter to the press? Putting her in danger? My fist clenched. “That was your last mistake.”

She jumped to her feet, her composure shattering. “You can’t do this! My father—”

“Your father answers to me,” I snapped. “And if set foot near the pack house again, near Lillian again, I will banish you so fast your head will spin.”

She squeezed her face in rage. “She has bewitched you! That filthy rogue’s daughter—”

I was across the room before she could finish with my hand placed firmly around her throat, not tight enough to hurt, but enough to silence her. Her cronies outside stirred but didn’t dare intervene.

“Listen carefully,” I growled, my voice barely human. “Lillian is under my protection. If anything happens to her—if she so much as blisters her finger—I will know it was you. And when I am done, there won’t be enough left of you to bury.”

Her pupils dilated with fear.

I released her, stepping back as she gasped for breath. “This is your only warning.”

I slammed the door behind me with so much force that it was louder than any goodbye.

The night air did little to cool the fire in my veins and my restless heart. The confrontation with Sharon had left me restless, Kael snarling beneath my skin.

The soft creak of the balcony door had me turning for I had expected to be alone.

Lillian stood there, her skin glowing under the chandelier, her brown eyes wide. She was dressed in nothing but one of my old shirt—the fabric showing her slender frame, the collar slipping off one shoulder.

My throat went dry instantly.

“You went to see Sharon,” she said softly.

I didn’t ask how she knew because the pack gossip fly was faster than anything alive. “It has been handled.”

She stepped closer, the welcoming scent of bergamot and vanilla wrapping around me. “Andre told me what Lucas said. About someone getting hurt and I think he is right.”

My jaw tightened as I said stiffly, “No one will touch you.”

“That’s not what I am worried about.” Her fingers brushed mine—a whisper of contact that sent sparks up my arm. “I don’t want you and Andre at each other’s throats because of me.”

I turned my hand around and interlocked our fingers together. “Then tell me what you want, Lily. Because I am done pretending.”

She inhaled deeply.

And then—

“Drake!”

Lucas’s voice shattered the moment and pulled us forcefully from our trance. He burst onto the balcony, his amber eyes wolf. “Eastern pack just breached the northern border. They seem to be heading for the tournament grounds.”

Lillian gasped. My body moved instinctively before my mind could process—shining her behind me as Kael surged forward with a snarl.

“How many?”

“Twenty, maybe thirty.” Lucas’s claws were out. “They took out two patrols already.”

Lillian’s fingers dug nervously into my back. “My mother—”

“Is safe,” I growled. “Andre is with her.” I turned just enough to see her face….saw the fear in her eyes, the way her lips parted like she wanted to say something more. Something important.

But there was no time.

“Lucas, get her to the safe room.” I ordered and I didn’t wait for his response, as I was halfway, towards the door.

“Drake—” Lillian’s voice stopped me in my tracks.

When I turned, she stood brightly under the moonlight with my shirt slipping further down her shoulders and her eyes blazing with something that made my chest tighten.

“Come back.” She wasn’t making a request, it was an order.

Then as Lucas was pulling her away, I was running toward the chaos, with her words burning in my mind like a sigil…a mark.