WinterMoor

~Chapter Twenty-One~

"Layton."

He stirred, shuffling I'm his seat. He tightened his arms.

"Layton." Lexi was sat in his lap, he had fallen asleep. She kissed his cheek and he gradually opened his eyes. 

He squinted at the lights and hid his face in Lexi's neck.

"7 o'clock... buddy." Corey said, sounding sleepy.

"We have to do something." She told him. "I brought you coffee again."

"How long have I been asleep?" He asked, he sat up. Most of the people in the room were crashed out on the floor.

"About 6 hours." Lexi told him.

"Did you sleep?" He asked her.

"Me and Corey took it in turns. I've had a few hours." Lexi told him, not trying to move from his lap.

"Sorry, Layton. She insisted on letting me sleep for a little while." Corey apologized.

"No. It's okay. You should have woken me up. I could have stayed awake for a shift" He told them. Lexi offered him her cup of coffee and he took a few sips.

"I think we should tell them to surrender." Corey explained. "If they don't, then all hell breaks loose. But we have thousands of people who could fight, theres only about 100 of them."

"564 fully trained warriors?" He asked Corey.

"Yes, but there's a few hundred that are close to finishing that could fight." He argued.

"That's not safe." Layton told him, taking some more of Lexi's coffee.

"Neither is sitting here with the whole pack on lockdown." Corey told him firmly. "We need to do something."

"I want all of the warriors that are fighting on the field, extra guards and warriors in the village and surrounding the village. Extra border patrol." He told Corey. "Get it sorted, tell me when it is."

Corey nodded and looked pleased with himself, he bolted out if the door.

Layton stayed put, Lexi still on his lap. He kissed her softly, placing his hand on her neck and the other round her back.

She kissed him back, but pulled away quite soon. They were both aware they weren't alone, even if most of the people in the room were alseep.

"Let's go upstairs, it's time to get going." He picked her up and placed her onto the floor. They work up the leaders and all of them left the main command room, going up onto the field where groups were already forming.

Layton and Lexi stayed in front of the crowds of trained pack members, sitting on the steps.

Someone tapped Lexi's shoulder. "Luna. Alpha. I know you've both been awake all night. Would you care for something to eat? Drink?" An omega asked them.

They both smiled. "Lexi?" Layton asked.

"Oh. Um. Thank you, but I'm okay..." She told them.

"Are you sure, you haven't eaten?" He told her.

"I'm fine. I'm not hungry." She told him.

"Could we just have some water? And... Could we get everyone some snacks and drinks on the field please?" He asked and they nodded, backing away.

They did just as they were told and started handing out snacks and drinks to the warriors, guards and Border patrol members.

Corey ran back to them after about an hour. "Right. Lock down is staying put for the village. There's 780 warriors. 402 guards and 349 border patrol guards." He told him. "They've all been briefed, but you'll need to tell them exactly what's going on." He caught his breath.

"Good. Are they all here?" Layton asked standing up.

"Yes, alpha." Corey back away.

Layton whistled. They went silent. "WinterMoor. I know this is of short notice. I have gathered you all here this morning because we have a situation. We don't know exact numbers but there are roughly 100 rogues situated in 7 caves inside of pack borders. After clearing out the 7th cave, we discovered that the rogues have dug underneath the border fences into the caves. They had  hostiles from different packs in the cave we cleared out." He explained this to the group's of people, everyone listening intently.

"We're going to ask them to surrender. We're going to send you off in groups to each cave at the same time. The village is still on lockdown and is being guarded, so no one needs to worry." Layton talked slowly.

"If they do not surrender, then we fight. Movements like these could be anything, they could be trying to overthrow us, attack us, just weaken or scare us... But, if... Just if. Someone asks to see me, bring them here. If someone gets through to here, me and Lexi will be fighting. Use your initiative. If someone is about to kill you, you have permission to kill them. Help each other, if you're danger, trust the others to help you."

"I'd like the medical team to be informed what's going on please." He turned to Corey who nodded and ran off.

"You've all been trained to do your job, well.. most of you. I know quite a few of you haven't finished training. But I trust you. Have faith in yourself." He told them. Everyone nodded.

"I need 7 groups of warriors. Roughly 110 in each group. I need 4 groups of guards, roughly 100 in each group. And I need border patrol spread out across the whole border. Let's get you in groups." He told them, everyone started moving around and soon, groups formed and everything became slightly more organised.

Corey came back, standing beside them.

"You've been briefed. Let's get ready to go. Anyone who surrenders or claims they are innocent are chained and brought back to the field. I don't think there will be many." Layton told them.

"Alpha." Corey addressed him, soemone had just spoken to him. "They've searched the cave fully, they found a note." Corey handed him a sealed plastic bag.

He read it carefully, staying silent for a few minutes, cursing under his breath.

"What does it say?" Lexi asked instantly.

He passed her the note reluctantly.

Layton.

You may have taken my wife, my children, and Alexa but you will never stay alpha.

Edward has taken over the pack, and now it's my turn to take over yours and claim everything that was mine.

Including Alexa.

If you've found this note, you know that we've already set foot under your feet and ready to attack.

You can attack us and risk the lives of your pack.

Or fight me, and risk the fate of your mate, your lands and everything in it.

I'll be there. 10am. The choice is yours.

-Raymond.

"My father?" Lexi breathed out in shock.

"I know what I have to do." Layton sighed, looking out into the distance.

He was going to fight.