A familiar scent hit me before the light shimmered in the center of the room.

“I’ve got the report,” he said, glancing between me and my brothers. “Gabriel has about two hundred foot warriors and a hundred wolf warriors.”

Levi and Louis nodded in agreement.

Dustin, one of our Betas, stepped inside.

There was a knock, and then the door opened.

It felt like half of me had left with Olivia.

The excitement I’d been feeling just minutes ago was gone, snuffed out like a candle in the wind. Even my wolf, who had been wagging his tail in my mind ever since she was here, was now silent and brooding.

Dustin nodded.

I turned to Dustin. “Get the men ready. We leave by tomorrow.”

Louis folded his arms and muttered, “Don’t you think we should let Olivia know?”

I let out a frustrated sigh and lay back on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

“I said you don’t need to,” I cut him off.

“There’s nothing to settle,” Levi cut in sharply, his voice cold. “You had the guts to do what you did to Olivia, and you think you can talk your way out of it?”

I frowned and leaned over to grab it.

“Have you passed our warnings around to other packs?” I asked, narrowing my eyes. The three of us froze, caught like pups with our paws in the meat storage.

He did a quick mental calculation, then nodded. “That’s four hundred foot warriors and two hundred and fifty in wolf form.”

“Lennox. Levi. Louis…” Her voice was low but filled with annoyance that made even my wolf go still. “You three have some explanations to give me.”

I scoffed, glancing at my brothers. “The idiot is calling.”

Levi chuckled under his breath. “Yeah… you’re going to have all the glory to yourself, brother. Don’t forget to save us a piece of the action next time.”

And then–just like that–Olivia appeared.

I was about to reply when the air in the room shifted. The faintest ripple of energy brushed over my skin, raising the hairs on my arms.

I scoffed again, my anger flaring hot. “Gabriel, you should be thanking me. I’m being kind to you. Normally, I’d just attack your pack without warning. But instead, I’m calling to give you time to send your little pups and the old ones away… and to prepare yourself for the war that’s coming.”

I scoffed and leaned back against the headboard, shaking my head. “That means I’ll be going alone with my warriors. You two don’t need to join me.”

I let out a satisfied breath. “Good. They know better. No one wants to get in our way.”

Levi gave me a sharp look. “Lennox-”

“1”

We had Olivia all these years. She was ours, right here, and yet… we let someone else’s manipulations twist the truth. We let them poison what we had, and we believed it.

I threw my phone onto the bed, my jaw still locked, my wolf pacing restlessly within me.

“Yes,” I confirmed. “That’s more than enough for what’s waiting for us.”

I didn’t need to ask how they were feeling–I already knew. They were drowning in the same emptiness.

“Quick and clean. We hit them at dawn. No drawn-out fights. We tear through their defenses, take out their leadership, and leave the rest too scared to even think about retaliation.”

My wolf’s ears perked up in my mind.

I turned my head slightly, my eyes landing on Levi and Louis. They were as quiet as I was, lost in their own thoughts. None of us had said a word since she teleported away. Her arms were folded across her chest, her face etched with a big frown.

Gabriel’s voice came through the line, calm but with a hint of unease. “Lennox… let’s talk about it. It doesn’t have to be this way.”

Louis leaned forward over the phone. “Don’t waste your breath trying to explain yourself. We’ve made our decision. You should just get ready for the war. In fact, you should be grateful we’re giving you the courtesy of a warning.”

Lennox’s POV

Gabriel.

Dustin frowned slightly. “How many of your warriors do you want to take?”

I hit answer and immediately put it on loudspeaker. “I hope you’ve received my message,” I said flatly.

Louis broke the silence first. “You’re sure about going in tomorrow alone?”

He nodded. “Already done. I told them not to dare support Gabriel. Their response was unanimous–they don’t want our trouble.”

Levi raised a brow. Louis just gave a humorless smirk.

I knew Gabriel was scared. He had every right to be. No pack in their right mind would want to go to war with us–not when the three of us fought as one.

Louis smirked faintly, shaking his head. “Too bad… sounds like we’re going to miss all the fun.”

“Yes,” I said without hesitation. “It’s a small war. Besides, it’s too risky for all three of us to go. If something happens, our pack needs at least two of us alive.”

There was a pause, and when he spoke again, there was desperation in his tone. “Let’s please settle this-”

“Just half of mine,” I replied without hesitation.

Suddenly, my phone buzzed on the nightstand.

He didn’t say another word. He simply ended the call.

Together, we were unstoppable. We didn’t just win wars; we ended them. The stories of the last war we had two years ago were still whispered in fear. Gabriel knew that if this came to blows, his pack wouldn’t survive.

I was a fool. We were fools—me and my brothers.

“But I didn’t kill her,” Gabriel said quickly, almost defensively.

My jaw tightened. “You didn’t have to kill her. Throwing her in a dungeon, plotting with my uncle–those things are enough. You’ve wronged us, Gabriel. You’ve wronged her.”

Levi nodded and leaned back, crossing his arms. “What’s the plan?”

“No,” I responded immediately. “If she finds out, she’ll try to stop us… and besides, I don’t want to stress her. The fight will be over before she even knows it began.”

Dustin nodded and left.