Two weeks later, we met at Stonehenge. Dad had called in quite a few favours, and as I stood there at his side, with Dorothy flanking him on the right, as befitted the Luna, I felt an immense pride in seeing so many packs come to our aid.
Brayden, on the other hand, looked shamed as he stood guard next to Doreah. Dad hadn't wanted her to fight, but she'd managed to secure his permission, on the condition that she only defended herself should a rival wolf try and attack her. Brayden was there to provide the heavy lifting in terms of defending her - a suitable punishment for his faux pas two weeks ago.
Of course, we knew Simon was going to come for us one way or another, so Brayden's slip of the tongue had really only accelerated the inevitable.
Then all thoughts were driven out of our heads when Simon and his allies appeared on the horizon.
"Oh crap," I heard someone mutter behind me. And I didn't blame them.
Simon, it seemed, had called in a few favours of his own. And he outnumbered us at least two to one. Black Rock, Red River, Green Frost; they were just three of the packs coming against us. And they were the three largest packs. Already the odds were not looking good.
I shook myself. There was no sense freaking out. We were smaller in numbers but we had a child to protect. It was amazing the feats one could accomplish when one had something truly important to fight for. And we didn't want to lose Doreah. Of course, we still couldn't properly claim her as a part of our pack, but that didn't mean we weren't going to make sure she survived a free child to be able to make her own choice later on down the track. That was the most important goal in our minds.
That and giving Simon and his pack a good ass kicking for the torment they'd put Dorothy through.
"Well, here we are," Simon announced, a sly smile on his face as he looked at our gathered allies. "Pitiful. Is that the best you've got? This really is going to be a lot simpler than I thought."
Dad gave him a cold look and he shut up. "You're on notice," he warned. "Not just for what you did to Dorothy, but also for what you said about Doreah."
"Listen here," Simon said, his smile vanishing as he pointed a finger at Dad. "Your loudmouthed cousin started this bullshit. Don't blame us for his slip of the tongue."
"No, I'm talking about your comments about how she looks too much like her mother," Dad snapped. "Look, let's just get this over and done with. We're going to end you and your tyrannical, racist, classist bullshit once and for all."
Simon's glare matched his. "Then let's get on with it," he snarled. 159Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyOFkTZIuk9
