Chapter 154

Matt

I settled deeper into the dirt and propped myself up by the elbows. Through my binoculars, I could see the looming gray wall and the cast iron gate that served as the only entrance. No movement occurred on either side, but I knew they were in there. They were being careful about it, but the building wasn’t as abandoned as they were trying to make it seem.

“How do we get in there?” Jack mumbled. He had a matching pair of binoculars to his eyes, the hood of his camo jacket pulled up over his head.

“Not easily.”

He grumbled something under his breath. Unfortunately, my werewolf hearing made it easy for me to pick out his words. “Fucking werewolf prick.”

We spent a long, sleepless night at a local motel, sharing a room with two single beds and a dingy bathroom. The minute dawn appeared, we drove to the next town and stopped at an army surplus store, where we bought binoculars, camo, a few hunting knives, and the shotguns we had resting on the ground beside us.

The only problem was, we didn’t have silver bullets. Jack’s two knives were something, but they weren’t enough. I’d spoken to Nina on the phone, and she was sending a few people to us with more supplies. She was as eager to get Celeste away from the Crescent wolves as we were, but she wouldn’t tell me why she sounded so worried.

“Why do they want her?” I’d asked.

“Talk to Jack,” was all she’d said in response. “He knows everything.”

The only problem was, Jack had barely said a few words since we’d gotten to the motel, and the ones he had were all about how we planned to get Celeste back. Otherwise, he just ignored me when I tried to speak to him.

His anger was a palpable energy between us, cackling with vitriol and betrayal. Even though we had a common purpose, it was clear he hated me. Not just for what I was, but also for what I’d done. To him, and to his sister.

“I know you know what they took her,” I hissed.

He shot me a look, then resumed looking through his binoculars. “Why haven’t we seen any movement? Do you think they left after they chased you yesterday?”

“No, I doubt it. We’re likely outnumbered by a lot.”

“Wonderful.”

“What do they want with her, Jack? How could she turn?”

He huffed out a breath. “You have no right to ask me any of this. You should have stayed away from my sister like you promised. This is your fault.”

“What do they want with her, Jack? I need to know what we’re up against.”

He sighed. “When I was old enough, my dad sat me down and told me about a prophecy. He said I had to hide Celeste, from the werewolves, but also from the Schreibers. And then they left me to raise her all on my own. To keep her safe.” I saw his throat work as he swallowed. “I failed.”

“What prophecy?” I asked. The truth was there, just out of reach. My muscles tensed as it started to dawn on me. Celeste’s mother was–

“She’s their Holy Maiden.”

I clutched the binoculars tighter, my eyes locked on the edge of Jack’s face. He lowered his as well and met my gaze. “The prophecy was that if she became a woman before the age of twenty, she’d turn into the new maiden. She’d become a wolf and carry on where her mother left off. I couldn’t let that happen, so I tried to shield her from the world.”

“Became a woman?”

He lifted an eyebrow.

“Oh.” I thought about it for a moment, my mind reeling. “You tried to make her undesirable. You locked her away.”

“Yeah, well. It didn’t work, did it? You still came along.”

I winced and looked away. “So, they stole her away.”

“I’m guessing it was Alyx’s job to get her to turn. When he couldn’t do it himself, he lay in wait for you to. Then he kidnapped her.”

“He must be one of the brothers.”

Jack nodded.

“Fuck,” I spat. “I should have known.”

“How could you have?”

“I don’t know.” I’d had the misfortune to meet Alyx’s father, and his elder brothers, but never him. The younger ones were well hidden. They escaped our grasp after the war. They were so well protected, we didn’t even know their names, or how many there really were.

“This makes things way more complicated,” I said. “They think they need her. They’re never going to give her up.”

Jack frowned and brought the binoculars back up to his face. “Doesn’t matter. We’re going to get her back.” His muscles suddenly tensed, and he nudged my leg with his foot.

I brought the binoculars back up to my eyes. Two wolves were entering through the gate. The same two that followed me yesterday. This time, however, they shifted just after they entered the compound. A young boy walked forward and handed them both pants, which they pulled on over their narrow hips.

I could just see the backs of their heads, but I could tell they were young. The three of them conversed for a moment before disappearing further into the compound. A moment later, the gate opened, and two bigger wolves ran outside. A big man with a gun thrown over his shoulder appeared as the gate closed.

The two wolves nipped at each other’s heels, then took off into the forest.

Jack and I dropped down, and I gazed at the sky, trying to control my breathing. The wolves ran in the other direction, heading away from us.

“There’s enough of them to run patrols,” I murmured.

“So, it’s not just a small group?”

I sighed. “I wouldn’t count on it. If the brothers are here, then their Alpha is, too. This must be their primary place of operation. Fuck, who knows how many people they’ve got in there? Enough Crescent wolves escaped after the war.”

“And Celeste is stuck in there with them?” Jack hissed, a panicked edge to his voice.

“Yeah.” I used my binoculars to look at the compound. It was quiet again, abandoned looking. I knew better.

“They won’t hurt her,” I assured him. “If what you said is true, then they need her. She’s important to them.”

“We need help,” he said reluctantly. “More people.”

“Nina sent some reinforcements our way.”

“You think that’ll be enough?”

I doubted it, but I didn’t tell him that. “We’ll find a way.”

He nodded, but I didn’t think he believed me. We were out of our depth. This place was supposed to be abandoned. The Crescent wolves were supposed to be adrift and leaderless. Instead, they’d been amassing since the war. In fact, I doubted the war ever ended for them. We were still fighting, and they were the only ones who knew it.

They had the clear upper hand. Getting Celeste back wasn’t going to be easy. People were going to get hurt.

I didn’t think I could live with myself if Celeste or Jack were caught in the crossfire.

“Come on, we need to go. The wolves might circle back this way.”

Jack seemed reluctant, but he followed my lead, anyway. At least that problem was some-what fixed. It was just everything else that was falling apart.