Greykin Valley

| 35 | War Plans

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| Jackson |

War? Dread gripped Jackson as he followed beside Damon. How were they going to win a war against a pack with over seventy wolves? Would Damon's plan work? He trusted him—of course he did. Damon was the Alpha for a reason, but Jackson couldn't shake the feeling of trepidation which gripped him the moment he saw Kyle.

He glanced behind him at the pack, who all looked at serious-faced as Damon. Wilson, on the other hand, had his eyes focused on the Alpha, and he looked furious. Jackson understood why, though. Every time Wilson tried to speak up during a pack discussion, Damon shut him down. But that was just how things worked, right? Outsiders weren't welcome to take part.

With a worried frown, Jackson shifted his sights to Damon. "Damon?" he asked quietly.

The Alpha glanced at him. "Hmm."

"What happens now? I mean...this is gonna be a pack war, right?"

"It already is," Damon said firmly. "It was war the moment Kane lured us towards that prowler."

Jackson's frown thickened. "But...how will he know that you declared war?"

"He'll know when we kill his next group," the Alpha snarled.

With a slow nod, Jackson stared ahead. It didn't feel like Damon was in much of a talking mood right now. He was concentrating and Jackson didn't want to disrupt his thoughts. So, he gradually fell back to where Wilson and Julian were.

The giant tiger looked at him. "Do we have any sort of solid plan or what?" he asked Jackson.

"We're going back across the river like Damon said," Jackson answered. "And...I think we'll stop somewhere to discuss a plan."

Julian shook their head. "I know that Alpha Damon is a Prime, but...I don't know if that's gonna be enough. Kane's smart and resourceful. He's killed at least fifty packs since I was recruited, and I've never seen anyone get a hit off on him, either." They then frowned and said, "Well, there was this one wolf a long time ago—the one who gave him the scars on his face."

"Scars?" Wilson questioned. "Don't all lycans heal eventually? No scars?"

"Well, yeah...but this wolf left scars. I don't know why, and no one really talks about it. It was like...ten years ago, so I've only heard rumours."

"I'm sure Damon knows what he's doing," Jackson said confidently. But then again...there were things he still didn't know about his mate, and one of them was what Damon was like before he met him. He became a Prime, he was an amazing fighter, and yet...Jackson didn't know the stories behind any of that. All he knew was that Damon's brother, Alaric, died and passed leadership onto him.

But now probably wasn't the best time to ask Damon to tell him stories. The Alpha declared war, and Jackson had no idea how they were supposed to fight it and get to Greykin Valley. But he was sure Damon knew what he was doing.

"You're always defending him," Wilson mumbled.

Jackson frowned at him. "What?"

"Damon. You're always protecting him and acting like everything he says goes. Just like you always used to defend those assholes you dated."

His frown became a scowl. "I don't wanna get into this again, Wilson. You and Damon need to learn to get along—"

"I don't want to. He doesn't deserve you, Jack. I know an asshole when I see one, and I'm telling you, if he hasn't already, he's gonna make you feel like shit."