Chapter 68


    68. Preparations


    ***Zane***


    “Please marry me,” Talia repeats, her eyes full of tears as she sets Kota down on the floor. *W-what?” I


    ask, unsure if I just imagined her proposal.


    She steps on the tips of her toes, cupping my cheeks in her warm, soft hands and repeating the most


    wonderful words to ever leave her lips.


    “I love you,” she murmurs, my heart pounding against my chest as I struggle to hold back my own tears.


    “And I just realized that I’m going to wake up tomorrow… And you won’t be there,” she shrugs with a sad


    smile on her face.” And that scares me,” she whimpers softly. “Because l-I don’t ever want to wake up


    without you. I want your face to be thest face I see at night and the first one I see every morning… for


    the rest of my life.”


    I can’t seem to gather my thoughts and for once, Grayson is as useless as I am.


    “I used to be so afraid of your love,” she whimpers. “But now I fear living without it. Please marry me,


    Zane,” Talia whispers, gently brushing her lips against mine as sparks tingle across my face. “I want to


    be your wife.”


    No words seem sufficient enough to express the blissful joy I feel in my heart right now as my mate


    kisses me with all her heart, begging to be mine for the rest of our lives. I grew up thinking the only


    people capable of loving me and my ws were my moms and now it seems surreal to have a mate love


    me enough to give me her broken heart.


    Despite all her fears, Talia loves me and I love her with all of the light of my soul. “Y-yes,” I reply,


    wrapping my arms around her waist. “Y-yes. I-I’ll marry y-you.”


    She smiles against my lips as I ept her over and over again, forgetting the horrible truth of our reality


    to share a single moment of true happiness with my mate.


    She’s going to be my wife!


    Thank Goddess! Grayson howls ecstatically. I thought we were going to die alone at this rate! Tignore my


    wolf’smentary, lifting my beautiful mate in my arms as I deepen our kiss, “Come back to me, Zane,”


    Talia murmurs between kisses. “You have toe back so I can be your wife.”


    Inod emphatically as I set her down, taking her hand and kissing it. “I-I promise. I-I promise I’lle back


    to y-you and Kota.” | cup her cheeks and shower her head with kisses, Kota hopping up and down with


    excitement.


    “E!” Kota squeals, a huge grin on his face as I kiss his mother. “No more kisses,” he shouts, running


    up to us with his hands in the air.


    I bend over and pick him up, Kota cing his hand over my mouth to stop me from kissing his Mommy.


    Aren’t you forgetting something? Grayson says, his tail flicking side to side, What? I ask,pletely


    confused. Must I do everything, he sighs tiredly. A ring, you gump! You need a ring for our mate! Oh!


    Right! I gasp, realizing I don’t own anything that remotely resembles a ring. I’ll have to improvise.


    Pushing his little hand aside, I whisper instructions in Kota’s ear, the little boy nodding obediently and


    running off toplete his task.


    “Zane, we have to go,” Tylen insists. “We don’t have a lot of time.” ” I-I know,” I interrupt him, lifting my


    hand to silence him. “J-just give m-me one more minute, p-please.”


    Tylen eyes Talia and I, sighing tiredly to himself as he gives in. Just then, Kota returns with the four bead


    bracelet he made for me a while back.


    “Here you go, Daddy,” Kota says, cing the bracelet in my hand. Tuntie the string, removing the pink


    and blue beads from the bracelet and handing the blue one to Talia.


    “K-Kota made this for m-me. It’s our family.” I exin, pointing to each bead. “Y-you’re now ho-holding a


    piece of m-me and l-I’m holding a piece of y-you. I-I don’t have a ring for y-you yet but 1-1 promise to c-


    come back so w-we can put our fam-family back together. I-I promise,” I repeat, kissing the little pink


    Talia bead in my hand. “I promise.”


    N?velDrama.Org content.


    “Zane! Now!” Tylen snaps when I kiss Talia one more time. “Y-yes sir,” I nod, pecking Talia on the lips. “I


    love you Talia,” | murmur. “I love you.”


    I turn on my heel, grabbing my bag and following Tylen towards the door when he suddenly halts, his jaw


    clenching as he ces his hand on the knob. A small growl leaves his lips and he turns around, storming


    towards Agnes who stares at him with bewilderment. Neither one of them signs a word and for what


    seems like an eternity. they simply stand before each other.


    Interesting… Grayson hums to himself, leaving me to be oblivious on my own.


    What is? I ask but Grayson never gets the chance to answer me as Tylen suddenly removes his dog tag


    and ces it in Agnes’s hand.


    Without another word, Tylen leans in and kisses her gently on the cheek before turning away and leaving


    her.


    “Let’s go,” he snaps, pushing past me and opening the door.


    I remain frozen in ce, all of us staring at Agnes in confusion. She seems stunned herself but before I


    can ask questions, Tylen once again yells at me to move, the sound of his booming voice startling me. I


    jump in a fright and hurriedly kiss my pup and mate goodbye once more before running out of the house


    with my bag over my shoulder.


    “Ty-Tylen!” I call out after him, Tylen marching quickly towards the pack house. “Ty-Tylen wait!”


    “No time,” he shouts back without looking at me as I catch up. “We have to move. Sebastian’s troops will


    mobilize soon and we have to prepare the inds before they arrive.”


    “B-but Agnes-” “What about Agnes?” He says, stopping in his tracks and looking at me. “Y-you kissed


    her,” I say quietly. “And?” He huffs, walking past me. “You kiss your mate. Why can’t I kiss mine?” My


    eyes widen in shock. “W-what?” I ask,pletely blindsided by his revtion. “You heard me,” he


    grumbles.


    His answer does not satisfy me and I clear my throat to demand a proper exnation, when Tylen slows


    down and sighs tiredly.


    “Agnes is not an afterthought to me,” he whispers. “She’s all I think about.” He turns to face me, his


    features strong and certain. “I won’t hurt her. I just thought you should know that.”


    He turns and walks away again, greeting his father who is busy speaking with the young Queen with a


    re. Toran pretends to not notice his son’s obvious hatred and gestures for me to step forward.


    “We have a change of ns,” Toran exins. “Her Majesty will teleport us to the airport, It’s faster.”


    “Why not just teleport us to Ravenstone?” Tylen mutters, Aurora flicking her wrist and opening a portal to


    what appears to be a private terminal.


    “Every gift has its limitations,” Aurora exins. “I can only teleport to ces I have been and I do not


    know Ravenstone. The airport is as far as I can take you”


    “And I greatly appreciate your help, your Majesty,” Toran bows, gesturing for us to step through the


    portal. “It’s been an honor to be in your presence.”


    Aurora epts thepliment with a nod, Toran stepping into the portal with his things. Tylen and I


    follow after him and I take a deep breath to calm my nerves as we board our ne.


    The jet resembles a small office, with luxurious leather seats gathered around a table and arge


    monitor mounted on a wall near the end of the ne. Coffee tables and recliners are also sparsely


    spread around the cabin to create a sophisticated atmosphere and there is a fleet of flight attendants


    ready to make our trip asfortable as possible.


    We all settle down for a meeting, Toran pulling up a map of Ravenstone on the monitor.


    Ravenstone and Scarlett Haven are located along the Samish Bay in Washington. Scarlett Haven sits on


    arge penins surrounded by woods and ocean but Ravenstone is very remote, positioned across five


    small inds almost three miles off the coast. There is a main ind where most of the pack lives and


    three smaller inds forming a ring where Toran keeps extra equipment, food, and the training grounds.


    In the middle of the ind ring, there is


    an abandoned missile silo located on a fifth ind and a series of underwater tunnels connect the


    inds to each other.


    The old silo has been converted into a fortified bunker and is perfectly camouged on the ind, buried


    nine stories underground withyers of concrete and steel protecting it. To an outsider, the ind


    appears insignificant and uninhabited but it contains an imprable fortress my father can’t seem to


    locate.


    “My source tells me Sebastian has mobilized his soldiers on the eastern side of the ind near the


    bluffs.” Toran exins, using aser pointer to indicate Sebastian’s movements. “However, knowing the


    bastard all these years, I know this is likely a distraction and he will have a smaller crew jump along


    these inds here,” he adds, pointing to a trail of other inds in the area. “Until he reaches our main


    dock on the western front for an ambush.”


    He and Tylen fall silent as they study the map intently in search for a solution to this problem.


    “We are greatly outnumbered,” Tylen sighs. “I assume we will have to utilize gueri warfare if we want to


    survive.”


    “Precisely,” Torans smiles. “Sebastian has not yet located the entrances to our tunnels so we’ll use them


    to our advantage to strike and slip out unseen between the inds. We’ll have teams stationed here,


    here and here, and the rest will remain scattered across the main ind-”


    Toran stops mid sentence and studies me for a moment, his lips pressed firmly into a tight line.


    “The Queen tells me you’ve been training over thest few weeks but are still figuring out your gift?” he


    asks, though it is not really a question. I nod silently and he thinks for a moment.


    “You and Tylen will lead a team on the bunker ind and make sure Sebastain’s men don’t find the


    bunker entrance. Zane, due to yourck of war experience, you will follow all of Tylen’s instructions


    without question,” Toran says sternly.


    “Zane, how much of your gift does your father understand?” Tylen asks, keeping his eyes on the map.


    “M-my father doesn’t kn-know what m-my gift is,” I reply with a shrug.


    “Then we’ll keep it that way,” Toran hums to himself. “In fact, if you can avoid it, don’t make your


    presence known for as long as possible. It’s to our advantage that he and his men not know whose side


    you’re on just yet. When the timees for you to activate your gift, they won’t be expecting it and that


    will give us an edge in theing-fights.”


    “What weapons do you know how to use?” Tylen says. “Any archery, riffles, explosives, gasses, spears?”


    “l-I’ve practiced with s-spears,” | mutter, feeling slightly embarrassed to not know much about war to


    begin with. “But l-I’m not very good.”


    Toran and Tylen exchange nces, and I fear they may be regretting bringing me along.


    “I see,” Toran sighs. “Your father wasted a good resource in this war,” he adds with a shake of his head.


    “It’s a shame, really. I imagine with you in his fleet, we would’ve stood no chance.”


    He says it with such conviction, I almost believe I may be worth something after all. “But no matter,”


    Toran says with a small smile. “We will work with what we have.” “D-do we have allies?” | ask, hoping the


    fate of this pack is not resting solely on my shoulders.


    “We do,” Toran responds. “They will supply us with equipment and the ingredients we need to slow down


    Sebastian and his soldiers.”


    “Ingredients?”


    “Precisely,” Tylen nods. “As you know, werewolves are all susceptible to wolfsbane and silver, but Silver


    and Gold wolves are more resistant to it. It takes a greater dose of wolfsbane to bring down a silver wolf,


    but there is, however, a much faster way to hurt us.”


    I lean in closer, my ears twitching to listen. “Have you heard of the me Lily?” | shake my head at him,


    Tylen patiently exining it to me.


    “The root of a me Lily when crushed with the petals of a Moon Flower, creates a very potent elixir that


    can temporarily block the connection between a human and their wolf. Essentially, when injected with it,


    a human would be unable to shift or use their powers while under the effects of the elixir.”


    “It’s taken years of trial and error to perfect the mixture,” Toran adds. “You have to get the right


    proportions of each ingredient for it to work or the elixir is useless. The herbs are hard to gather but


    luckily, we have a supplier who


    can give us exactly what we need.”


    “We’ll only use the elixir if needed,” Tylen adds. “No need to let your father know all of our cards just yet.”


    For the rest of the flight, Tylen and Toran strategize over the best ces to nt their small teams for


    counter strikes and ambushes and while I offer little help, I hang on to every word they say.


    “We have drones circling the entire area,” Toran says, noticing my silence. “So we’ll have eyes on all of


    Sebastian’s movements once wend. My sister will meet us at the airport with a full report on her


    findings. With any luck, this will all be over in the morning.”


    Thighly doubt this will end anytime soon, but I don’t tell him that.


    The flight is rtively short and we arrive in Seattle with no issues. Uponnding, Toran and Tylen take


    me to a secluded runway where a helicopter is waiting for us.


    “Boo!” A voice whispers beside my ear, startling me.


    A hearty cackle follows soon after and a woman who shares simr features with Toran suddenly


    appears out of thin air beside me.


    “Did I scare you?” The womanughs, Tylen greeting her with a hug.


    “Taryn,” Toran shouts over the loud sounds of the helicopter ded spinning, pinching the bridge of his


    nose.“ Must you always be so childish?”


    “Well Hellos are boring,” Taryn shouts back. “But that’s the least of our worries. Come, I’ll fill you in on the


    way to the ind.”


    The woman leads us to a helicopter where we are given headsets to speak properly to each other. Dread


    settles into the pit of my stomach as we take off, Seattle bing a small dot in the distance.


    This is it, Human, Grayson sighs. We’re going to war.