Chapter 69
Kane’s POV
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The clink of cutlery against plates and the low hum of conversation filled the air as breakfast wound down.
My eyes never strayed far from Tessa. She ate sparingly, picking at the food with quiet hesitance that made my own guilt hammer from within my chest. I wanted her to eat more, but I understood the battle she was fighting inside. It would take time and I couldn’t help but blame myself for all of this…
Erin, Seth, and Kion seemed to be caught up in their own quiet exchanges. Seth occasionally shot me a look, but I ignored it. He had questions, I could tell. Everyone had questions. But the only one that mattered to me was the woman sitting beside me, her fingers lightly brushing my leg under the table.
I glanced down at her, and she met my eyes briefly. There was a vulnerability in her gaze, something that made my heart skip a beat. Her hand slowly crept to my thigh, fingers curling into the fabric of my pants, as though grounding herself. She didn’t speak, but I could read the unspoken plea in the way her touch lingered – she didn’t want to be left alone today.
–
A part of me wanted to keep her close, shelter her from the world outside this room. But another part knew that I couldn’t always shield her. We needed answers. We needed a plan. And Kion’s office was where those plans would take shape.
Kion, ever the stoic figure, finished his meal and rose smoothly from his seat, his sharp eyes scanning the room. “Kane, Seth, I think it’s time we discuss our next steps. Join me in my office.”
I nodded, already standing as well, but as I shifted, I felt Tessa’s fingers grip my leg more firmly. She wasng at me now, but I could feel the tightness in her hand, the subtle tremble beneath the surface.
The instinct to protect surged within me, and I hesitated, torn. I wanted to be strong for her, but I also
her alone in this strange place, even if just for a little while. I didn’t want her to feel abandoned might trigger her anything that might set her back.
But
that this discussion was critical. I didn’t want
didn’t want to put her through anything that
My mind raced, and I took in a slow breath. There was only one thing I could do.
I turned to Kion, my voice firm. “The girls will have to come too.”
Kion’s brow furrowed slightly, his expression unreadable. “Are you sure that’s necessary, Kane? This meeting will be… sensitive. I’m not sure it’s the best environment for them. I have my guards lining the halls, no harm will come to either of them while we are away.”
His hesitation was understandable, but there was no question in my mind. “I’m not leaving her alone,” I said, my voice unyielding. “Not after everything she’s been through. If she’s going to be part of this, then I want her with me. You don’t get to decide that.”
Seth’s gaze flickered between us, and I could see the uncertainty in his own eyes obviously wanting Erin kept out of it too, but he didn’t challenge me. Kion, however, was more cautious. He paused, studying me for a moment, his lips pressed into a thin line.
‘I understand your concern, Alpha Kane,” Kion said slowly, “but this is a dangerous situation. Having them both in the room could make it more… complicated… I don’t want to worry them.”
‘I don’t care,” I snapped, the words harsher than I intended. “She’s not staying here while we go off somewhere else for who knows how long. She’s been through enough. She’s coming with me regardless of what we discuss she will feel safer with me.”
The tension in the room hung thick, the weight of Kion’s decision pressing down on us. Finally, after a long pause, Kion sighed. “Very well. But if she becomes a distraction or if it’s too much for her, we’ll have to reconsider having her in the room.
I nodded, knowing that we would cross that bridge when we came to it. But for now, I needed to make sure, Tessa felt secure, felt like she had some control over the situation at hand.
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Chapter 69
Tessa’s band remained on my leg, a steady anchor amider the rising storm inside my mind. I turned to her, my gaze softening. “We’re going up with them to discuss some serious stuff that might scare you, okay? Do you want to still come with me? Is that what you wanted?” I said quietly, my voice gentle.
She looked at me, her eyes wide with sudden involvement, and I could see the fear still lurking beneath the surface. But there was something else there too
trust. She trusted me, and that meant more than I could put into words.
Her fingers tightened on my leg in a brief show of reassurance, and then, slowly, he nodded, “Yes I want to come, is that okay?” she whispered, her voice so small bot so brave.
With a deep breath, I offered her a small, steadying smile, “You can do whatever the fuck you want.” I tell her, my hand reaching down to cover hers. I Turned to Kion. “Let’s go.”
We made our way upstairs in silence. Tessa stayed close to me, her hand still wrapped around mine, her steps hesitant but steady. Seth and Erin followed behind us with Erin stuck to his side all the same, their expressions guarded, waiting for whatever came next.
When we reached the office, Kion stepped ahead, holding the door open for all of us as we piled inside.
The moment I stepped inside, the heavy atmosphere of the room hit me- this was where important decisions were made, where the weight of responsibility fell on shoulders like his and mine. The air felt thick with unspoken tension already and we hadn’t even dove in to anything yet.
I moved to the nearest chair and pulled it out, sitting down and gently urging Tessa to take the seat beside me. She hesitated but didn’t pull away. Erin sat
across from us, and Seth took the other chair, leaving Kion standing at the head of the room, his presence commanding.
I trust you now understand the seriousness of what we’re about to discuss, Kion said, his voice low and steady as he surveyed us all. “We’ve reached a point where action is required, and we cannot afford mistakes either.”
The room fell into a tense quiet as I let him have his place as the Alpha here.
Kion’s gaze flicked from face to face, pausing just a moment longer on me before he continued. “Alpha Dimitri has expanded his territory far and wide, and his influence over the other packs is growing. His cruelty is known, but it’s been allowed to fester. We can’t let that go on any longer. This… this ends now.”
I nodded, gripping the armrests of my chair as my mind raced. It was clear that Dimitri had always been a thorn in the side of the packs here, a malevolent force that had used his power to exploit the weak. But hearing Kion talk about him in such stark terms, as his own brother, made it all feel real.
This wasn’t just some distant enemy anymore. Dimitri was a monster who had fucked over my own human and future mate, and we had to take him down before he tore apart even more lives.
The silence that followed was thick, pressing in on all of us. Tessa’s hand was still tightly clasped around mine, her fingers trembling slightly, but her eyes were alert, hanging on every word Kion spoke. She wasn’t going to miss a single part of this conversation, no matter how hard it was.
I shifted in my seat, glancing at her out of the corner of my eye. She looked… scared, but determined. A part of me wanted to shield her from all of this, but another part knew that she was no longer the frightened girl who had been thrown into this world. She was strong, even if it didn’t always feel like it.
As Kion spoke further, detailing plans to infiltrate Dimitri’s territory, the air in the room grew colder with the weight of what lay ahead. Then, without warning, Tessa spoke up, her voice quiet but clear, breaking the tense silence.
“Is… is Alpha Dimitri the man running the place we came from?” Her question hung in the air like a challenge, and I could feel the room shift. It wasn’t just curiosity that laced her words, but a dawning realization of just how deeply involved Dimitri was in the atrocities she and Erin had witnessed.
I turned to look at her, and my stomach twisted at the look in her eyes- pain, anger, and something darker. She knew. I could see it.
“Yes,” I said, my voice tight, answering her without hesitation. I didn’t need to say more; she understood.
Tessa’s face went pale, her fingers tightening against mine. Her eyes darted to E, who was sitting across from us, her face pale and a bit shaken as she
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Chapter 69
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raised her own hand to speak.
“Erin,” Kion’s voice cut through the rising tension, his eyes hardening. “You’ve seen firsthand the way he treats his women I presume? You said yesterday that it was like a prison. Tell us what you know.”
Erin blinked, her breath catching slightly as she gathered her thoughts. She spoke slowly, her words edged with the raw anger she must have been holding in for so long. “It was worse than that,” she said, voice shaking but strong as Tessa nodded her agreement. “The women were kept in cells cells like animals. They were constantly being watched, like they were nothing but… trophies to be used. It wasn’t just the cages it was the way they were treated like less than nothing. There was no humanity in that place, none at all.”
–
I could feel Tessa’s hand shaking in mine, and I knew she was reliving those moments. I hated that Dimitri had done this to her, to Erin, to all the women in that hellhole. The thought of it churned my insides.
Seth, who had been unusually quiet until now, let out a low growl, his fists clenched in anger. “How can we just sit here and let that happen? What are we going to do about it? He’s not just some pack leader. He’s a fucking monster. How do we even stop someone like that?”
I could see the same fury reflected in Kion’s eyes as he glanced at each of us, weighing our reactions. “We need to hit him where it hurts,” he said, his voice cold and calculating. “His power lies in his control over his pack. He rules with fear, and his cruelty knows no bounds. If we strike hard enough, hit his pack from the inside, we’ll break his control. We have to hit his key positions – his enforcers, his trusted lieutenants. Once we destabilize his hold, we take him
down.”
Erin’s face paled further at the mention of the enforcers. She looked like she might say something, but Tessa squeezed my hand harder, pulling her attention
back to the conversation.
“What about the women?” Tessa spoke up, her voice trembling but strong. “What will happen to them? If we take him down, what happens to the ones trapped there? What if they get caught up and killed?!”
–
Her concern was valid these women were as much victims as anyone. They had been kept under Dimitri’s cruel rule for so long, and I knew the idea of abandoning them now was unbearable.
“We’ll get them out, Tessa,” I promised her, my voice rough with emotion. “Once Dimitri is handled, we’ll make sure the women are safe. We’ll take them with us. But first, we need to focus on the plan.”
Kion nodded, acknowledging the weight of our responsibility. “The women are a priority. We will extract them as soon as we take down Dimitri’s core. But
Dimitri’s paranoia will make him dangerous. We’ll need to be strategic, or we’ll lose everything.” we can’t move too quickly
–
I looked at Tessa, her eyes wide, filled with that quiet, worried intensity. I could see the battle going on inside her–whether to trust the plan or to hold onto the fear of what might happen next. But I wouldn’t let her face this alone. Not now. Not ever.
“Trust me,” I whispered, squeezing her hand tightly, feeling the weight of what we were about to do. “We’re doing this together. We won’t leave anyone
behind.”
Tessa nodded, her hand relaxing slightly in mine as she seemed to settle into the reality of what we were facing. But I could see it in her eyes–she was ready. She was ready to fight.
And I was ready to fucking kill.
