Page 12 of Never Submit (Bad Wolves #2)

Chapter 12

Mathis

T he map on my desk mocks me.

I’ve stared at it for hours, as if the faded lines and terrain markings will magically reveal a solution. The Grey Valley pack is barely holding together, and Andras’s shadow looms closer with every passing hour.

Dax sits across from me, tension rolling off him in waves. His leg bounces like he’s trying to burn off the restless energy.

He got back from the mountain yesterday evening as the sun touched the horizon. His face gave nothing away but the stiffness in his shoulders told me what I needed to know.

He hadn’t found Andras.

Whatever tracks and scent trail Ren left on her escape from the mountain cave had both been obliterated by the weather.

He’s a man of few words but whatever he saw had him snapping his lips shut even with me.

He’s kept close, and glancing at him from the corner of my eye, I just keep hoping he’ll say something. Anything. Give me a bit of information to go on while I’m planning our next moves.

My stomach twists again and the low knots I’ve learned to live with are heavier than before.

Ren is safe. But the Moonstone is gone. Absorbed, if we’re to believe her, into her body.

But with her locked behind the walls of the Steel Claw building, it’s impossible to know the truth.

I draw in a deep breath and hold it in my lungs. I’ve got to talk to her.

The map won’t give me answers. But Ren might.

"We can't keep sitting pretty, Mathis,” Dax grunts as he stalks closer. “We're wolves, not prey."

I rub my temples. "I know. But Andras isn’t just any predator. He’s got numbers, and we don’t."

I’ve done the tread carefully bit. Now I’ve got no clue what the best course of action would be, and without my father and his guidance to lean on, I’m coming up empty.

"He’s got numbers because we’ve been too weak to stop him!" Dax growls, slamming his fist on the desk. "How long are we supposed to keep dodging him? What kind of alpha does that?"

I level him with a glare, my wolf bristling at the challenge in his tone. "The kind of alpha who refuses to lead his pack into slaughter," I snap. "We’ve lost too many already. Females, fighters. We can’t afford a war."

The Moonstone would have been our weapon against Andras. Combined with the legendary sword of the goddess, we’d be unstoppable. Andras wouldn’t dare fuck with us.

Now?

What do we have?

No weapon, and everything to lose .

Dax scowls but doesn’t retort or retreat, though I see the fight burning in his eyes. He hates this as much as I do—being cornered, knowing we’re outmatched, struggling for a solution.

He’s my beta for a reason. His aggression has always been a double-edged sword.

The door swings open without a knock, and Flora waddles in, her rounded belly leading the way. “You two are arguing loudly enough to wake the kids. Are you kidding me?” she admonishes immediately.

Even though she’s one of the only omegas left, she’s always been seen as the stand-in mother of the pack, loved and respected by everyone.

The tension in my chest softens in her presence.

Flora’s only in her mid-thirties, young-faced, and adept at holding everyone together while Dax and I try to figure out how to stop Andras.

She reminds me a bit of my mother with her strawberry-blonde hair and compassionate nature. Maybe that’s why I’m always a bit easier on her than I am with most everyone else.

“Flora,” I say, softening my tone. “You shouldn’t be in here.”

“Shouldn’t I?” she counters, propping a hand on her hip. She rubs her pregnant swollen belly with the other hand. “I’ve been cooking for hours trying to keep the pack fed, and no one’s saying a word about what’s going on. You think I can’t feel it? The fear is thicker than smoke out there. Not to mention what you’ve got brewing in this room.”

Dax huffs, clearly annoyed by her presence. "Mathis will tell them when he’s ready?— ”

"Don't even start with me, Dax," she cuts him off sharply.

Her eyes narrow, and I bite back a smirk. Flora might be pregnant and small, but she’s a force of nature, and even my beta knows better than to push too hard.

He snorts, drawing himself up to his full height, his hair bristling. “Keeping the kids asleep is less important than figuring out our next move.”

He stares her down like he’ll physically remove her from the room himself. Flora gives him the same look right back. Uncowed.

I wave a hand to cut through their brewing argument. “She’s got a right to know. The pack relies on her more than you realize.”

Flora’s expression relaxes a fraction, and she moves to the chair next to Dax, lowering herself into it with a groan.

“I know Dax found the girl,” she states. “Otherwise he wouldn’t be here and you wouldn't have shut yourself away in the office. Am I right?”

“Ren? Yes. She’s safe now,” I say, drumming my fingers along the edge of the map.

“With the Steel Claws?” she clarifies.

A growl vibrates in Dax’s chest. I don’t blame him, either.

The truth stings, but I can’t lie, not to Flora. As it stands, Ren is safer with them than with us. “Yes, with Torin and Noble.”

Flora nods and shifts in the chair, adjusting her weight as she rubs soothing circles over her belly. She’s ready to pop. Any day now, we’ll have another pup to add to our pack, despite the terrible circumstances.

I catch myself staring, my thoughts drifting before I can stop them .

The sight of her, pregnant and glowing with life, tugs at something deep inside me. Not desire—I’ve never seen Flora that way—but a yearning so raw it aches.

Ren’s the one in my head. The way she’s been since I saw her in that shithole diner with her fake-ass wedding ring.

I picture her with that same glow, belly round and full from carrying my pups, and the thought constricts my chest to the point of pain.

I’ve always wanted a big family. The kind that fills a home with noise and laughter, makes the hard days’ worth it. I want what I had growing up—a family, a pack that wasn’t torn apart by betrayal or bloodshed.

Before Andras and his people decided to target us.

My father was a great alpha to his people, and I’ve struggled to be the same against all odds. To have a family, to be the kind of father I had, the one I want to be, means everything to me.

Ren would be an incredible mother and partner. I know it.

She’s strong, fierce, and kind in a way you’d never expect. I can see her now, standing in the kitchen, one hand cradling her belly while the other wrangles a mischievous toddler. My wolf stirs at the image and a low, possessive growl rumbles in my chest.

“Hey, Mathis?”

Flora’s voice pulls me back, and I realize I’ve been silent too long. Her eyes are on me. Curious but not unkind.

Dax is sick of my shit, and he’s crossed to the window and a much better view than my brooding self.

“Sorry,” I say quickly, shaking off the haze. “What were you saying?”

She raises a brow but thankfully she doesn’t push. “Just that you need to figure this out soon. The pack’s counting on you. I’m sure you already know it but the reminder never hurts.”

Dax leans back against the wall with his arms crossed. “I agree, but Mathis is still thinking about it,” he says with heavy sarcasm.

“Dax,” I warn, my voice low. He shrugs.

"Still thinking, huh?" Flora says. “Anything I can help with?”

Normally, if an omega pushed me the way she does, I’d send them out of the room with a snap of my fingers. Back to their homes and their places. Why I allow Flora such liberties…

Sighing, I shift and sink back down in my own chair, the wood creaking underneath me. "Andras is closer than we thought. He’s on our doorstep, somewhere on Grey Mountain. It accounts for how easily he’s been able to infiltrate our territory lines so easily."

“Which is why we need to take him out first,” Dax snaps.

“Which is why we need to protect ourselves,” I correct hotly. “If we go after him, it’s suicide. If we sit here?—”

“We’re all dead.” Flora doesn’t even flinch. "If we can’t go on the attack, and if we can’t stay here, there’s only one solution then.”

Dax rolls his eyes. “Bake cookies?”

She slaps him on the arm, and to my surprise, he actually rubs the spot as if the hit hurt more than he’d expected. Even he softens in her presence.

“Then we need to move."

She says it simply as though she’s meditated on the best course of action and simply waited for the right time to lay it on me. Even her brown eyes are knowledgeable and full of contentment. Flora might worry but she’ll never let me see it.

“Move,” I repeat, thinking it over. “Leave behind everything we’ve built?”

"You think we should run with our tails between our legs?" Dax asks her incredulously. "I’d rather die.”

“No one said you had to come,” Flora says.

“Then perhaps you’d be interested in taking up my position, little fierce one?” Dax sneers at Flora with a lift of his lip, showing overly white teeth.

Anyone else who came face to face with Dax would note the expression and flinch.

Flora only chuckles under her breath, and I pinch the bridge of my nose.

There’s a headache building fast. Just the idea of leaving the home the Grey Valley pack has claimed for our own, grown up in for generations—where my parents raised me—twists an invisible knife in my gut.

A few weeks ago, I’d have said that picking up our roots and hauling out of here wasn’t an option.

Now, I wonder…

Andras is right under our noses. We’ll never be safe if we stay, not without the Moonstone.

Do we have another choice at this point?

“Mathis, every day, men are killed or women are taken. Soon I’ll be the only one left?—”

“I know that!” My voice comes out sharper than I intend, and Flora winces. I exhale slowly, reining in my temper. “I know.”

The room falls silent except for the ticking of the old clock on the wall. The weight of their eyes on me makes my skin prickle. I can’t dodge the question any longer.

"If we do leave,” Dax starts, easing into the idea, “how can we be sure Andras won’t follow? Where do we even go?”

Dax is a monster and a psychotic animal on a good day. Most people aren’t privy to his insights. He’s got a sharp mind and a keen intellect.

I run a hand down my face, hating the answer before I even speak it. “I have an idea.”

Dax leans forward, instantly suspicious. “What idea?”

I glance at Flora, whose brows knit together in worry, before locking eyes with Dax. “Torin.”

The name hangs in the air like a grenade about to go off.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Dax says, his voice a snarl. “Torin? That Torin? You want to ask him for help again ?”

“He has the resources we don’t,” I argue. “Tech, security, walls that could keep Andras out.”

And he’s got Ren. If the Moonstone absorbed into her, it’s suicide to do anything but consider her usefulness.

“Torin doesn’t do anything for free, Mathis. You know this. He’s not going to just take us in out of the goodness of his black heart,” Flora insists, craning forward. “Surrendering to him can mean he can take us out—kill you and claim alpha over Grey Valley.”

“Do I look like I have a choice?” I snap, the weight of desperation cracking through my words. Dax knows I wouldn’t even consider this unless we had run out of options. And we have. “This pack needs safety, and we don’t have the time or strength to find it alone. The Steel Claws are our best shot.”

Dax growls under his breath, shaking his head. “He’ll bleed us dry. The fucker does nothing for anyone unless he gets something bigger in return. ”

“He’ll bleed us dry less than Andras will,” I counter. “And he has Ren.”

Flora speaks up, her voice calm but steady. “If it keeps the pups safe, it’s worth it. You know I’ll do whatever it takes to keep my kids protected.”

Her words sink into the air. Dax glares at me, but the fight in him dulls. He knows as well as I do that we’re out of options.

We leave, or we bargain with the boogeyman.

I rake my fingers through my hair and stand, the weight of my decision settling on my shoulders like a lead cloak. “I’ll call Torin. Get the proceedings started.”

Dax curses under his breath, his frustration palpable, but he doesn’t argue. “This is fucking ridiculous.”

Yeah, I agree.

Flora nods, her expression calm but laced with worry, her hand resting protectively over her abdomen. The room feels too quiet, the silence pressing in as if even the air itself knows what’s coming.

If the enemy of my enemy is my friend, then so be it. I’ve been letting my pride and old rivalry get in the way for too long. It’s time for me to set all that aside to keep my pack alive.

The true question is if Torin can do the same. And if he’ll be willing to give me access to Ren in the process.