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“We don’t have a choice,” I said. “We march on the city.”

Rowan crossed his arms. “This isn’t just an ambush or a skirmish. This will start a war. A brutal one. You realize that, right?”

I nodded. “I do. We’ll need allies.”

Varek looked between Rowan, Sorin, and me. “I have contacts. There are wolves in the city who don’t support the council, who will fight with us when the time comes.”

“Then we make it happen,” I said. “We gather forces, we make our move—before the drug is released.”

Lia swallowed hard. “And if we fail?”

I turned to her, reaching for her hand, gripping it firmly. “We won’t.”

She held my gaze for a long moment, searching my face, before she nodded.

It was settled.

We had two weeks. Two weeks to prepare. Two weeks to gather an army. Two weeks to march on the city. Two weeks before every human woman in Wolf City was sentenced to death.

Whether we won or lost, we were going to make damn sure the council knew that we weren’t going down without a fight.

EPILOGUE

Lia

Silas led me inside his cabin, holding my hand gently, his golden eyes scanning me the way they always did—like he was checking for new injuries, for anything I wasn’t telling him. I was exhausted, my limbs heavy, my body aching in ways that wouldn’t fade easily, but my mind was spinning.

Two weeks.

That was all the time we had before the wolves in the city forced their poison into every human woman they had taken.

Before Mariah was forced to take it…

I gulped down my rising fear, rubbing my arms as I tried to breathe, but it was no use. My chest squeezed, my thoughts spiraling, panic creeping in like a slow-rising tide. I felt tears stinging my eyes.

Silas must have felt it, because the next thing I knew, his warm, callused fingers were gripping my chin, tilting my head up so I had no choice but to meet his gaze.

“Stop worrying, Wildcat. That’s a problem for tomorrow,” he said, his voice low, steady. “Not tonight.”

I blinked, my pulse still hammering. “But I?—”

“No.” He raised his brows to make his point clear. “You’re not doing this right now, Lia. Not tonight. I won’t let you.”

I clenched my jaw. “You can’t just make me stop thinking about it.”

Silas smirked, and before I had time to react, he reached for his belt, tugging it free from the loops of his pants in one slow, deliberate motion.

My stomach dropped.

“I can absolutely make you stop,” he threatened, doubling the belt over and letting it hang by his side. “Now, you can either listen to me and let me take care of you, or I can turn you over my knee and remind you how to listen.”

I huffed, crossing my arms. “That’s ridiculous?—”

Before I could finish, he turned me effortlessly, his hand pressing against my lower back as he delivered three sharp, stinging swats to my ass. The belt burned like liquid fire, even through the fabric of my pants.

I yelped, arching up on my toes at the sudden heat blooming across my ass.

Silas growled softly, his lips glancing against my ear. “Was that ridiculous, Wildcat?”