Page 45 of Ascendant King

Nia frowned and pointed to herself and then made a “stop” gesture.

“No, I can’t have you stay with the main group. You’re the only one familiar enough with mages to pull us all out if things aren’t what they look like.” I watched her face, but Nia still looked doubtful. “You’re the only one I trust to keep Cade safe if we need to get out of there fast.”

The look Nia gave me verged on pity. I winced. I knew.

“Are we ready?” I looked out the front door to where a fleet of vehicles waited.

Nia nodded, still consulting her list. Something tingled on my back, a warm feeling, like a heater in the middle of winter. Turning, I saw Cade coming down the stairs, his eyes skimming over the crowd in the foyer until he found me.

The corners of his eyes relaxed, his posture still perfect, but the slightest tilt of his head as he waited on the bottom step. His only luggage was a name-brand duffel bag that he was holding in one hand.

I raised an eyebrow.You ready?

He nodded, crossing the busy room to where I stood. When he reached me, he looked up, his lips slightly parted, as though he was about to say something important. Then, he shook his head.

“Theo and Jack will stay here. They were planning to join us, but with Elizabeth Morrison in residence, I want at least onemage and consort pair to stay in case she’s a Trojan horse.” He tilted his head. “Or do you think more should stay?”

I wantedhimto stay, where he could be safe and not have to walk right back into his nightmares, right back into the place that had rejected him. But he’d walked with me into the horror show that was left of my childhood. I could do the same with him.

“No, Theo and Jack are good.” I reached for him without thinking, putting my hand on his back to guide him toward the door and out to the car waiting for us.

It was the same one that we’d just taken to the Alpha’s Council, and despite myself, I was beginning to think of it as our car. Gabe was on the driver’s side, chatting with a wolf I knew for certain wasn’t his girlfriend, but I wasn’t touching that with any length of pole.

Instead, I looked out at the milling crowd, aware of a pool of silence. I could do this.

“Los Santos Pack. We’re about to do something that will help every wolf on this coast. It’s going to help every wolf who’s ever heard of Thorn. We’re going to strike at the man behind Thorn, behind robbing wolves of their abilities.” I waited, letting the silence build. “We’re going after the king of House Bartlett. You’re joining me today to save every wolf you know. To save every pup who should be raised free and safe from the drug that would steal who they are.”

I could feel the excitement build. “We are going to fight a mage house, and we are going towin. Los Santos Pack! Let’s hunt.”

With a nudge to his back, I ushered Cade into the car, getting in beside him. The front door closed, and Gabe looked in the mirror. “Good speech, boss.”

From beside him, Declan sneered, “Yeah,boss, way to pump up the troops.”

Chapter

Fifteen

The trip took nearly half a day because we needed to find a route that led around the House Bartlett estate to the other side of the territory, almost into the Sierra Nevada mountains. We had agreed to meet the other packs at a point along that route, so by the time we reached the spot that Heather and Cade decided was the best entry point, we had sixteen cars with us.

Everyone stretched as we got out, and I looked over the crowd—eighty wolves, four mages, none of the humans. We were going to take on House Bartlett. We would win, I reassured myself. Wehadto win.

The members of the other packs came close, looking between me and Nia for directions.

“House Bartlett is due west.” I pointed, being able to feel the location as though it was burned into my skin. “We’re going to take a small number into the forest so that we can meet with the dryads ahead of time. Since we’re going to be traveling through their territory, we need to make sure they’re okay with us taking this many wolves into the woods.”

“Are we really planning on walking all the way to House Bartlett?” One of the members of Three Lakes West raised aneyebrow, frowning. “There isn’t a fire road or some hidden passage we can take?”

Cade raised his chin, his expression neutral. “That’s why we need to meet with the dryads. They have ways through the forest, ones that aren’t open to us now.”

“All right.” The member of Three Lakes nodded. “What is everyone else going to do?”

“I’m leaving two of my betas here. We have enough food for everyone, even if we’re gone for a day.” Before the other wolf could say anything, I raised my chin. “We don’t expect it to be more than a few hours. Cade knows the dryads. They owe us a favor.”

I couldn’t say why. I couldn’t say that I needed us to get to the village and see the pups that I had given over to slavery. I needed to see them with my eyes and know that they were alive and well and I hadn’t ruined their lives because of my own inability to protect them.

“I’ll take four people from the allied packs so that all the alphas who aren’t present can have a witness.” I looked at the wolves from visiting packs. “Go ahead and choose who you want to send. We leave in ten.”

They retreated back to their own vehicles, discussing what was going to happen in low voices. I turned to Cade. “Are you sure you’re okay with a hike in the woods?”