Chapter Twenty-Seven
It had taken another few hours or so, but the New York Lycans were able to mobilize their forces and Daric began transporting them to the same hill overlooking the fjord. Every able-bodied member of the New York clan came, which amounted to about forty in total, including the security team, trainees, and a few clan members in the area who volunteered to come. Five people from New Jersey arrived, plus Dante Muccino and Frankie Anderson. Connecticut had sent ten of their own, including their current Alpha, Logan Cooper, while Philadelphia sent six of their best Lycan fighters. That was a force of about 60, plus Vivianne, Lara, and Liam.
They were going to battle a hundred human slaves, twenty Lone Wolves, and another 20 mages who were probably armed to the teeth with various spells and potions. However, if all went as planned, then there would be no need to battle them head on. The odds weren’t in their favor, but they had the element of surprise on their hands.
The Lycans set up a small camp in a clearing away from the edge of the hill. Grant stood in the middle, talking to the team.
“Have we got visual?” Grant asked Quinn.
The younger man nodded, holding his tablet PC up. “The drones have just finished their survey and will remain in the air to monitor the area. Awesome tech, by the way,” Quinn grinned as he turned the screen to them. “Just as Daric said, there’s about a hundred or so humans and twenty Lycans scattered around them.”
Grant let out a breath. “Our main goal is to find Meredith, Sebastian, and Zac and get them out. Based on the layout, they could be in any of those huts. There are twenty homes total. Alynna, Lara and Liam’s team will be split up into three for the retrieval purposes. Once the hostages have been found and retrieved, contact us through the comms. Hopefully, we’ll get to them before anyone notices.”
“Highly unlikely,” Nick interjected. “Which is why Alex and I will be leading our team to take out the puppet masters. There’s no way we can defeat all of the human slaves. There are too many of them. Our only chance is to take the puppet masters down.” He pointed to the black-robed figures on the edges of the village, facing the army of slaves and their backs to the shore. “Our best fighters, led by Connor, will distract the Lone Wolves on the front lines. If we catch them by surprise, we can stop them before they can mobilize the human forces.”
“And once the hostages are safe and the puppet masters have been disabled,” Daric began. “I will find Stefan and end him.”
“We both will,” Grant said. They had planned it so Grant and Daric would be watching over the ridge, waiting for the signal that the hostages were safe. Once they were sure, Daric would transport them to wherever Stefan was, and they would end this tonight. “But we want to make sure the hostages are out of harm’s way. We’ll do our best not to hurt any of the innocent Lycans and people, but if push comes to shove, our people and the hostages come first.”
“All right team,” Grant said, checking his watch. “We have an hour until sunrise. Let’s finish this.”
Daric watched as the Lycans made their preparations. Killian, Connor, and Quinn walked together, talking silently. As the best fighter, Connor was joining the main team that would attack the army head on. Killian was on the retrieval team, while Quinn was going to remain behind to continuously monitor the situation and fly the drones to find Stefan. The three brothers clapped each other on the back, touching their foreheads together before they separated.
Jade was also joining the retrieval team, and she was talking to an older man with graying hair. Eric, someone had called him and based on the similar features, he guessed this was Jade’s father. Frankie was talking to Grant, her arms wrapped around his waist. The Alpha’s stance was tense, his back stiff, but he stroked his mate’s back in a tender manner. The Lupa was staying back to coordinate the teams, as although she was invulnerable, her advancing pregnancy made it difficult to move. Nick stood by himself in the corner, his face stony and hard. Vivianne Chatraine had given Cady a potion to help her sleep, and so the Beta’s mate remained at Fenrir, unaware of what was going on. Liam and Lara, on the other hand, were standing silently under a tree, hands intertwined.
This was it. He would do everything in his power to make sure Meredith and the others were safe, but the moment he saw an opportunity, he would kill Stefan.
“Alpha! Alpha!” Quinn’s voice rang through the silent clearing, his footsteps hitting the snow-covered ground in a rhythmic pattern as he ran back to Grant.
“What is it?” the Alpha asked as he pulled away from his mate.
“I was running a last scan, just in case the mages were using any sort of tech to help them out.” Quinn fished his phone out of his pocket and held it up to Grant’s face. “Look!”
“What is it?” Grant asked, his brows drawing together.
“It’s a GPS signal. From down in the village.”
“What does it mean?” Frankie asked. “There’s no cell signal out here.”
“That’s the thing.” Quinn tapped on the phone. “No one’s phone is working out here, I could barely get a signal from the sat phones. But, something or someone is transmitting something from down there.”
Daric strode to Quinn and looked at the screen. “Meredith,” he said. “She stole one of your phones,” he said to Grant. “I saw her, the day after the car broke down. She didn’t return the phone, but slipped it into her bra.”
“That must be her,” Quinn exclaimed. “Good girl.”
“I know where that is,” he said, pointing to the red dot on the screen. “That house is in the middle of the village. It belonged to one of our best hunters, Oskar. He was my father’s best friend, and we spent a lot of time there.”
“If we can locate her, then that’s one less person we have to worry about.”
“I can get in there,” Daric said. “I know the space.”
“But you won’t be able to get her out,” Grant pointed out. “You’d both be trapped. The northern lights--”
“I didn’t say I couldn’t leave,” Daric retorted. “But, transporting back and forth would drain me. I could probably only do it twice or thrice in a row.”
“That would mean Stefan could get away,” Grant said.
If someone had asked him weeks ago to agree to such a plan, he would have laughed in their face. Stefan’s demise had been his singular goal in life, but now things had changed. Protecting Meredith at all costs was his priority now. “If Meredith, Sebastian, and Zac are there and I could take them to safety, then it would be worth it.”
“I agree,” Grant said. “Stefan’s death is not worth the lives of anyone. We will proceed with the plan, but once you have them out of there and we can reduce casualties, then we’re out of here. Let’s explain the modified plan to the team and get this show on the road.”