Luke jerked his head back as Tasha gazed at him from under her eyelashes. He stared in her eyes for a long time. An awkward silence stretched between them and Tasha thought that he would rat her out. She wanted to smack herself for the slip of tongue. Her breath hitched as she waited for him to speak as fear crawled beneath her skin. He curled his fingers below her chin and lifted her lips to align with his. "If I wanted to be the Alpha, I wouldn't have become a rebel. I want to support Murtagh and I will support his ideas at all levels. But yes, I would love to be his Beta if he rises to power." He pressed a light kiss on her lips. "And if you are happy with me as a Beta, then I will always take care of you."

Tasha loosed her breath as she closed her eyes. That was a close call. "I understand…" When she opened her eyes, she said, "In that case I will spend most of my time with the Beta. Maybe even have a baby or two with him." 

Luke chuckled. "We can start making babies from now on." He lifted her in his arms and carried her all the way inside the room, kissing her deeply. 

Murtagh was sitting at the table, reading documents that his spies had brought. He saw the young couple. Tasha and Luke looked at him after he set her on the ground and that was enough cue for Murtagh to leave his work. He took off his shirt and walked to them. 

--- 

"Are you fucking serious?" Ileus shouted at Kaizan who was preparing to go for a long time to patrol the borders of the kingdom. "Why would you do that? Did your father give you the order?" 

Olivia was helping Kaizan with his baldric where he had sheathed various types of daggers. She was looking pale as she hid her nervousness under her cool façade. She wasn't looking at Kaizan but was fussing in her own way around him. 

"The safety of the people is messing with my mind, Ileus!" Kaizan snapped. "Murtagh's silence is messing with my mind. It's been blood four days and there is no attack on the trade path. There is not a single village the rogues have plundered or raided. There are no killings related to the rebels. What am I supposed to think of this? That Murtagh is content by escaping? That he wouldn't strike back? Hell no!" With fury he grabbed the dagger from Olivia's hand and sheathed it in his baldric. "I have to go and see what is happening around."

"You know there is no fucking need to go and see it," Ileus snarled. "We can send teams consisting of Mozias and werewolves."

Kaizan jerked Olivia's hand away and faced Ileus with rage in his eyes. "Mozias, Mozias, Mozias!" he retorted. "And what the fuck have they done so far? Have they been able to catch a single blood rebel? No. Have they been able to catch any rogue? No!" He pinned his gaze at Ileus. "And the reason? The queen doesn't want them to use their bloody magic as she sits in her high castle from where everything appears green! We are all bloody dying here." He was panting now, as rage expanded in his chest. "Vaarin has just become the Alpha of the pack because the king wanted it. But what kind of protection is the king giving him?" he asked. "None. Zilch!" He glared at Ileus who returned his glare. 

"Don't you talk about my parents like that, Kaizan," he said in a cold voice as shadows peeled off him. "You know why mother hasn't allowed wizards and witches to go there. It is not easy." 

"Then don't stop me, Ileus!" Kaizan growled. "Order me to leave to check out the borders of Silver Vales. I just can't sit watching them like a duck!" 

Ileus narrowed his eyes at him. "You know what?" he pointed his finger at Kaizan as his golden eyes swirled with fury. "You are not going to step out of the capital until I ask you to, now!" The shadows seemed to peel more out of him and they swirled around him almost as intensely as his anger. 

"Ileus!" Kaizan shouted, his neck muscles cording with tension. "You do know that those rogues are all over the place, scheming something dangerous! How can you stop me?"

Ileus glowered at Kaizan. "I can do whatever I like!" he replied. His gaze flitted to Olivia who had gone paler. He could sense her tension and her panic. Shadows burst out of him and he disappeared. 

"Ileus! You fucking asshole!" Kaizan roared. "Come back, else when I come to the palace, shit is going to happen!" He stared at the swirling smoke that was vanishing from the room and going after its owner. Kaizan stood there with his fists balled tightly. When the last wisp of smoke disappeared, he turned to the table where Olivia was standing and pounded it hard. The wood splintered on impact, the splinters flying all around and the items on it, shattering or clanking on the ground. Olivia was stunned. Her hands flew to her mouth as her eyes widened. She backed up a little, shaking her head. "Olivia…" he called her, but she turned and ran back to her bedchamber. "Olivia!" he shouted. But she had gone. 

Kaizan was so pissed that he sat on the chair and grabbed his head in his hands. He was sandwiched between his love for his wife and his hatred for the rebels. 

--- 

On the fourth day, all the rebels were in their place. They had quietly got into the villages and apart from eating and walking during the nights, they didn't do much. They were surreptitious so that the villagers were not scared of them. Keeping a low profile, some of them would take a round of the perimeters in order to see what was the best time to attack them. 

Murtagh knew that the villagers would suspect the new travelers if they stayed for a long time and that is why he was bothered about three rebel leaders who would reach early and had to stay back. In order to make their visit legit, he had sent them with a variety of items that they had stolen from the traders on the trade path. In case people suspected why they stayed for long, they could always come up with the excuse of selling goods. 

On the evening of the fourth day, Luke along with Tasha were standing all dressed up in front of Murtagh. Murtagh instructed them to reach the borders of the Whiteclaw pack and hide until the crack of dawn. This was the time they had to attack, because this was when most of the pack would be asleep. "I don't want any of your people to come out before the time. The attack has to be extremely precise. I am sure that once there would be an attack inside the pack, Vaarin would come out. You have to go for him. Is that clear?"

Luke gave a tight nod. "When will you join us?" he asked. 

--- 

Music recommendation by Sacogun - "Let it be me" by Everly Brothers 

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