Page 10 of Renegade Kingdom
She finally turned to look at me. In the dim light, her eyes were dark pools of exhaustion and grief and something fiercer underneath. Something that refused to give up, no matter how much the world threw at her.
“Then you need to figure it out,” she said. “Or at least try. He’s still in there, Dean. I have to believe that. This can’t have all been for nothing. And if he is in there, then he needs to know his brothers haven’t given up on him.”
I let out a breath. She was right. She usually was.
“The bite,” I started, changing the subject because I wasn’t ready to promise something I didn’t know if I could deliver. “Ryder’s idea. What do you think about it?”
“What doyouthink?”
I was quiet for a long moment, turning it over in my mind. The risks. The possibilities. The fact that doing nothing was just as much a choice as doing something, and probably the wrong one.
“I think it might be the only way,” I finally said. “Damon’s not going to sit around waiting for that thing to take over completely. He’ll end it himself before he lets that happen.” I swallowed hard. “And if the bite doesn’t work... if it makes the nightmare stronger instead of weaker...”
“Then what?”
I looked at her. Made myself say the words out loud so they became real, so I couldn’t take them back.
“Then I’ll kill whatever’s inside my brother. Even if it means killing Damon too. As long as the bite doesn’t make that thing stronger, it seems like our only option.” My jaw tightened. “Consequences be damned.”
The vow settled into my bones, heavy and final. My wolf didn’t protest. He understood, in his simple way. Sometimes protecting the pack meant making impossible choices. Sometimes love meant being willing to do the hardest thing. And if it was going to be any of us, it had to be me.
Alyssa reached out and touched my arm. The contact sent warmth spreading through my chest, the bond between us flaring bright and steady.
“You’re a good brother, Dean. Even if it doesn’t feel like it right now.” Her voice was soft but certain. “You care with everything you have. That’s all anyone can ask for.”
I didn’t know if I believed her. But I wanted to. Gods, I wanted to.
Without thinking, I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and pulled her against my side. She came willingly, leaning into me, her body warm and solid against mine. For a moment we just stood there together, two broken people holding each other up, watching the pyres burn themselves out in the distance.
A warm feeling of contentment filled me. It came from the wolf, but it came from me too. Despite everything. Despite the blood and the danger and the impossible odds stacked against us. Despite the fact that I didn’t know if I could save my brother or protect the woman I loved or be the leader everyone needed me to be.
We were building something here. Something real. Something with Alyssa at the centre of it, holding us all together. And whatever came next, be it Arik, the nightmare, the war that was coming, we’d face it together.
Arik didn’t stand a chance.
Because there was nothing I would let stand in the way of giving her everything she could ever want. Nothing I wouldn’t cut down, nothing I wouldn’t destroy. I’d burn the whole realm to ash and salt the earth behind me if that’s what it took to keep her safe, to give her the life she deserved.
I’d do anything for her.Anything.
I pulled Alyssa closer and pressed a soft kiss to the side of her head, breathing in the scent of her hair.
She didn’t say anything. She didn’t need to.
We stood there together as the last of the pyres flickered and died, and for the first time since the battle, I felt something other than guilt and rage and suffocating fear.
I felt hope.
Chapter Four
Tank
Iwas awake before the sun crested the horizon.
It wasn’t unusual. Even before we came to this place, I’d always been an early riser. There was something about the quiet hours before dawn that always appealed to me. But now, with the Nymeria making my bear feel like it was so much closer to the surface, sleep came in shorter bursts. The bear was too alert, too aware of potential threats, to let me rest for long. Especially now. Especially with so many unknown variables scattered around us in the form of traumatised, unpredictable people.
I sat at the edge of our makeshift camp, watching the sky slowly lighten from black to deep blue to the pale grey of early morning. The others were still asleep, or at least, still lying down with their eyes closed. I doubted any of us had truly rested. Not after yesterday. Not with what we’d seen, what we’d done, what we’d lost.
We needed to break down camp today and make the hike back to the ship. That was where the supplies were. We didn’t have enough food to feed the hungry, enough medical equipment to treat the wounded, enough space to house everyone whilethey recovered. The ship was safety. The ship was shelter. The ship was the only place where we could stop reacting and start planning.
