Chapter 84:
With that, he turned and disappeared into the trees, his figure melting into the shadows until he was gone. I stood there for a moment, the weight of his threat settling over me, a cold reminder of the battle we were now bound to face.
After a moment, I felt a presence behind me, and I turned to see Dante stepping out from the shadows, his expression tight with concern.
“You heard?” I asked, my voice quiet.
He nodded, his jaw clenched.
“Every word. He won’t stop, Elara. He’s given you a choice, but he was never planning to honor it. He wants to destroy us.”
“I know,” I replied, feeling the gravity of it settle over me.
“But he also gave us something else—a warning. We know he’s coming, and we know what he’s after. We’ll use that to our advantage.”
Dante’s gaze softened, a flicker of admiration crossing his face.
“Then we prepare. We make sure he finds a pack ready to face him, united and unbreakable.”
I looked back at the forest where Silas had disappeared, my heart pounding with a fierce resolve.
“Yes. We’ll be ready.”
As we walked back to the compound, the weight of Silas’s threat hung over us like a dark cloud, a constant reminder of the battle yet to come. But beneath that weight, I felt a sense of purpose, a fierce determination that burned brighter than any fear.
Silas had underestimated us, thinking he could break us with threats and manipulation. But he didn’t know the strength of Talon Pack, the loyalty that ran through our blood.
And when he came, he would find a pack that stood as one, a force he could not break.
We would be ready. And when the time came, we would show him that Talon Pack was stronger than he’d ever imagined.
The morning sun cast a warm glow over the compound as the pack gathered for another day of training. After Silas’s chilling threat, every wolf had sensed the urgency of our preparations, and a new energy filled the air—one of quiet determination and, perhaps for the first time, unity. The doubts and divisions that had once rippled through the pack seemed to fade as a single purpose solidified among us. We were preparing not just to survive, but to protect each other, to protect Talon.
I stood at the edge of the training grounds, watching as the pack assembled. Wolves of every age and rank lined up, their gazes sharper, more focused than ever before. There was a fierceness in their eyes, a collective understanding that we could no longer afford the luxury of hesitation. I could see my own resolve mirrored back in each of them, and it was both reassuring and humbling to know they were willing to fight alongside me.
Dante joined me, his presence steady, a calm intensity in his expression. He had been instrumental in shaping the last few training sessions, his knowledge of Silas’s tactics helping us prepare in ways we might never have considered. But today, the stakes felt even higher. Today, we were training not as individuals but as a unit—one pack, one force.
“Today, we’ll focus on coordination,” I called out, my voice carrying across the grounds.
“Silas’s wolves are trained to exploit any gap, any moment of hesitation. We can’t afford that. We need to trust each other completely, to know that every wolf here has our back.”
The pack nodded, some murmuring quiet affirmations. Lyle, standing in the front row, lifted his chin, his young face set with determination. I felt a pang of pride watching him. He, like so many others, had grown stronger over these weeks, and I knew that his loyalty was unwavering. Dante stepped forward, addressing the pack with his familiar calm.
“We’ll be running exercises that require teamwork—movements that only work if every wolf does their part. Focus on your role, on your partner. Trust each other. That’s how we win.”
We began with drills that paired wolves together, testing their ability to anticipate each other’s movements and work in perfect synchronization. I watched as wolves paired off, some with natural ease, others with visible hesitation as they learned to rely on someone else.
