Alpha Charming | Rheon

TWENTY-SIX

The battle has escalated in the twenty minutes I've been busy crafting the flamethrower. The entire process shouldn't have lasted longer than ten minutes but given the limited resources I had to work with, I just had to endure the extra minutes to ensure the weapon actually worked.

Also, if not for Grandma Selene, it would've taken a lot longer. While I did most of the building, she used her werewolf strength to bend all the tougher components so they could fit around the fire extinguisher. And I could proudly say, after testing it on a rock in the garden, our weapon was functionable.

With the flamethrower in hand, I approached the backdoor to fight in the battle against Lucine...only for a hand to yank me back.

"Now hold your wolves," Grandma Selene said as she made me look her in the eyes. "I hope you're not planning on running headfirst in there and blast every werewolf with fire as you go. Even a pup can write a list of things that will go wrong."

"I..." Ultimately, I had nothing to say to counter her words. I'm going to admit, beyond building a flamethrower and making sure it worked, I didn't have a plan going forward.

"That's what I thought." She huffed knowingly. "You might burn one or two wolves to a crisp before a small pack of them come for you. And once they have you surrounded, you're as good as dead. Besides, how are you planning on telling apart the bad wolves from our own blood? What if you accidentally burn Rheon?"

She had a point there. I had to be smarter about this.

I had my weapon, check. But now I needed a way of using it without the Craven Pride pack – or any of their allies – getting in the way.

The most common way of separating the good from the bad would be to bait them into a trap where I'd be able to blast them with the flamethrower. I raked my thoughts for suitable places that could hold a werewolf while also providing me with an escape route once the fire started spreading.

"Does the garage outside have a backdoor?" I asked the older woman.

"Yes, and you can also control the roller doors with a remote. I believe Rheon has one dangling with his car keys."

"Good, I might have a plan." Before she could ask what it was, I threw my arms around her in a tight embrace. This was where our paths had to split. She made a promise to her mate to look after their legacy, and if something was to happen to her on that battlefield... Swallowing the lump in my throat, I whispered to her, "Thank you for everything, Gran. If all goes according to plan, I'll see you later."

"What are you –" Before she could finish that sentence, I let her go and rushed out of the backdoor, trying my best to tune out her desperate calls against the raging howls in the night.

Without looking back, I sprinted all the way to my photo studio on the cliff, wasting no time to grab everything I needed and stuffing it into my camera bag.

Before leaving, I briefly caught my reflection in the full-sized mirror against the wall – I looked horrendous with my torn and blood-stained dress, my bandaged arm, and my hair clinging to my face and shoulders in wild, tousled strands.

Grinding my teeth, I reached down and tore off the dress just above my knees, allowing me more freedom to move. Using the spare hair tie I kept in my camera bag; I tied up my hair into a high ponytail.

That's better.

Now to make my way to the garage without getting maimed and killed.

The cold air made my eyes well up as I ran along the rose gardens towards the front of the castle, passing the fountain where Lucine so rudely kidnapped Clemmy and me. And just as Grandma Selene said, it was nearly destroyed; a reminder of Rheon's unbridled rage when his sister and mate were taken.