Freed Wolf

25 Unexpected Allies

Chris POV

The intel on Kismet territory proves to be spot on. By the time we get there, a battle is already in full swing. The pack is holding its ground against the council guards and rogue forces, but they won't be able to hold forever.

We have the element of surprise as they are focusing their attack solely on the pack, not expecting anyone to come to their aid. We split our force into three with Jace leading the left flank, Jude on the right flank with Xavier while I bring the remainder to the center.

Right before attacking the plan is to come in wild, hammer the attackers against the walls, and if Kismet shows any signs of aggression or doesn't stand down, to take them too.

The battle turns out to be very anticlimactic. The defenders pull in and tighten their ranks when they see us coming, thinking we were attacking also. Their relief is palpable as they see us cut into the enemy ranks.

They flood out to join in, ending the battle before it has a chance to turn and get any worse. When the last enemy falls we are left with a standoff. I shift, grabbing a pair of pants offered and make my way to the front, flanked by Jace and Jude.

Mitchell is the Alpha here; he doesn't have the typical bulky Alpha build, instead a leaner, trackers build. He's a powerful, and by all accounts a capable Alpha, but being in charge of training the Council guards leaves very little interest for me to know him.

"Chris," he greets stiffly, his grey eyes give away nothing as he stands there stoic, surveying the field. I can see the wheels turning as he looks for weaknesses and works through his next series of moves.

"Mitchell," I reply. The tension is building on both sides and needs to be dealt with before someone snaps. "I was surprised to hear of this conflict," I start, raising a brow.

"Not as surprised as I was to see the opposition come to our aid," he admits, with a frown as he turns his full attention to me. I brought a sizable force, they are fresh and having witnessed them in action he's clearly decided to focus on diplomacy.

"So tell me something, why is the Council attacking their own training facility?" I ask, cutting to the chase.

"I think we can both agree they are no longer the council," he growls in disgust. "The short answer is I refused to bond more warriors to them."

"And why is that?" Jace asks, not buying it.

"They were attacking the Central Archive, the place is sacred, they have no standards or purpose," he says, not hiding his anger.

"You expect us to believe you're just going to turn your back on the council?" Jace asks, furrowing his brow, skeptically.

"No," Mitch replies, tight lipped. "But maybe when this is over there will be a council worth serving, not those self serving megalomaniacs."

"Whatever you're going to do, you'd better do it soon," Eric chimes in. "There are more massing to the north."

"We serve the Royals," Mitch says with conviction, eyes locked. I can't see a lie. "Which means, we oppose this war. We are at your service and apparently in your debt," he says with a sigh.

"Crescent Falls territory it is, travel light, it'll be tight," I say. Kane's gonna lose his shit when I show up with another pack, let alone Kismet.

"Go ahead and warn Kane," I direct Eric. "We'll bring them along."

After what feels like hours we are finally back in Crescent Falls territory. There is much to go through and Kane has the other Alpha's waiting as I lead Mitch and his Luna to the packed board room.