Chapter 81 Chapter 81

The bombs were heard all over the territory. The fires were visible for

miles and the fallen ash settled on the ground even in the most far

fetched corners.

The soldiers flocked to the army centre and now I was stood amongst a

crowd of thousands of whispering men awaiting an explanation.

I held my hand up, ordering a silence which instantly swept over the

entire army.

“I'm sure all of you heard the explosions. And before rumours spread

and the truth is distorted, I better inform you of the truth,” I began,

speaking loudly so all could hear, "Tonight at quarter past midnight,

bombs planted by Andrea Martinez were detonated in the homes of

Commanders Eduardo Siciliano, Paulo Salvatore, Mario Rossi, Emiliano

Fruili and Rafaello Carlucci. They and their families were all killed.”

I had every single set of eyes on me as a deadly silence took hold. Only

the crackling of the distant fires and cries of wild animals trapped in the

flames could be heard.

"And whilst this is a huge tragedy for the Stella pack and those men will

not be forgotten, we have no time to grieve. We have already lost too

many lives at the hands of Andrea Martinez and for now the mourning

and funerals will have to wait. We will honour the deaths in another

way: by taking him down once. By protecting our civilians, our children,

our mates, our elderly and our sick.

There was a cheer of support throughout the army.

"Martinez has shown us tonight that he wants to play dirty," I

continued, "So fine. We will do this his way. That means we will show no

mercy, we will take no prisoners, there will be no rules and no tactics

will be considered too brutal. This will be like no war we have ever

fought before but we will carry the same Stella strength, bravery,

resistance and resilience that has taken us to victory time and time and

time again. We have never been defeated before and if Martinez thinks

his bombs and machine guns can, he is gravely mistaken. That fucker is

a dead man. He has been since he first set eyes on my Luna all those

months ago and his inevitable fate is long overdue.”

There was another cheer. This time louder and more passionate.

"We may have lost our head commanders,” I added, "Five strong,

skilled, intelligent, cunning warriors. But it's going to take far more than

that to bring the Stella pack down and I'm sure their deputies will do

them proud in stepping up to fill their roles and lead our squadrons to

victory. So arm up, soldiers and prepare for battle. Your seniors will

deliver your first orders shortly."

With that, they all disbanded, with lary shouts and applause.

But I couldn't bring myself to smile and cheer like they did. My speech

had been a success. I needed to keep up the morale if we are to stand a

chance but with the sky still aglow with the blaze of the explosions, the

victory I talked of wasn't in sight. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

I marched over to Blair who stood briefing the five deputy head

commanders, now just the head commanders. Their faces were all

paled, probably the shock of losing their bosses or maybe the immense

pressure they suddenly had on their soldiers.

But Blair and I had devised a plan for each of the five divisions they

commanded. All they needed to do was carry out my orders.

"So in summary,” Blair began, "Division one: border defence. Bombs on

the roads, machine guns hidden in the trees, Patrols covering every

single possible entrance. That includes Seattle and the airport.

Division two: base defence. The fortification is nearly complete. There

are towers to position snipers and machine guns. Soldiers on patrolling

the walls are to be unarmed with additional hand grenades. Scouts with

communication devices are to be position a mile around the base ready

to feedback information and stop them before they get anywhere near

the civilians.

Division three: targetting Martinez. Your job is simple. Track the bastard

down and kill him. But simple doesn't mean easy. He's sly and cunning.

We know he’s not easy to find. But the men in division three are the

only soldiers permitted to delay the deaths of Martinez's men. Get

information out of them. They are weak-willed, disloyal and will spill

without much effort. That's Martinez's greatest weakness and you will

exploit the fuck out of it. Some of them won't know a word of English

but you have recording devices and a system to send files back to

translators. Use it.

Division four: Second line of defence. You will be between the borders

and the base hunting down and killing Martinez's soldiers by any

means you can. Explosives, machine guns, snipers, hand grenades. You

have free reign over the armoury.

Division five: For now you will join division four. But as the situation

develops and we know more about Martinez's tactics, your role will

become more apparent. You are crucial to the plan to adapt to

whatever Martinez hits us with. Remember we are going into this with

very little information. We have no idea what to expect.”

They all nodded.

"Anything to add Alpha?" Blair asked turning to me.

"Division three. If you have the chance, make his death as slow and

painful as possible,” I said, "Make him suffer.”

"But I assume that means that an opportunity to kill him shouldn't be

missed on the grounds of being too merciful,” Blair said.

"No," I said through gritted teeth, "His heart stopping is your priority. If

that means he doesn't suffer before it beats for the last time, I will at

least take some satisfaction in knowing he will still suffer in hell."

Half an hour later, I was watching as the divisions disbanded to fulfil

their allocated roles.

"Elena, Maria, Allison,” I said calling over my sisters and their best

friend.

Since the war against Haden's pack years ago, they'd stayed members

of the army and trained alongside our brothers. They were incredible

soldiers, just like the other one hundred women that had been

recruited in the last few years since the policy changed to allow any

woman who can pass the physical tests to join. They were still a

minority and Ella still considered the tests unfair on the female body

but they are there to ensure a soldier is up to standard and ultimately

to ensure their safety. I wasn't going to let anyone I didn't think was

strong enough fight. Same goes for the men. And they are welcome to

train hard as they like in the civilian training centre until they can pass

the tests.

They responded to my call and approached me.

Maria's bows and arrows had been replaced by a sniper and bullets.

Elena gripped a gun as long as her arm whilst Allison carried a box of

explosives.

"I know you don't like being coddled or treated differently to any other

soldiers on the grounds of being women or my sisters but..." I began,

"You know what happened to Ella. You know these men have no morals.

Keep your guards up.”

Elena nodded, "Don't worry, Leo. If you thought Maria was dangerous

with that bow you should see her with a sniper.”

I smiled, "I know. I certainly wouldn't mess with you three. But just be

careful and look out for each other," I said.

They nodded before Elena and Maria gave me a quick hug before

continuing with their preparations.

I then spotted Max over by the armoury.

"Ella, Milly and the kids are in the vault I trust?" I asked as I stood next

to him.

"Locked and bolted," he confirmed.

I nodded and sighed a slight sigh of relief, "Were they okay?" I asked.

“There was some tears and worried faces from the kids. But Ella held it

together,” he replied, "She's amazing like that. No matter how hard

things are for her, she'll do whatever she must for those little kids."

I smiled, "She sure is amazing. And she has a huge heart too. She feels

terrible about what happened with Milly. She'd change it in an instant if

she could.”

Max nodded before he looked up to me, "I know... but she can't."

I sighed.

"And do you regret it?" he asked, "Because we all know at the end of

the day it didn't matter whether Ella supported it or not, it was your

decision as Alpha to test Milly's powers. So do you regret it?"

I paused for a second, "No. I am sorry that it turned out this way but I

am not sorry for clasping at what could have been an opportunity to

save this pack from certain doom.”

I quickly bit my tongue and looked around. The soldiers were all still

busy and I had fortunately not managed to turn any heads.

"Certain doom huh?" he asked, "You think we're fucked?"

"I'm not willing to underestimate Martinez for a piece of mind,” I

replied. "Now push your spite for me out of your mind and focus on at

least trying to win this war. If by some miracle we succeed, you can

leave with your sister and never have to look at me again. And keep

your mouth shut. I need morale to stay high.”

I knew Max was entitled to be mad about Milly but he certainly had a

way of pissing me off when I was already on edge. As I walked away

from him, another man was approaching me.

Haden.

Just what I needed.

"Is it important?” I snapped as he began to follow me.

"Last time you had to lead anything of this scale on home turf it was

against Ayas," he said, "It's an honour to fight alongside the great Alpha

Loren rather than against you.”

"Fuck of Haden," I replied, "I don't have time for your pointless

wittering.”

"I just wanted to let you know you have my full support,” he said.

I stopped walking and turned to face him. Having once been a powerful

Alpha, he was nearly as tall as me and still stood with the posture and

nerve of the man he once was.

In the years since the end of our official feud, Lia had forced us into

many failed attempts to get along. Whilst he had no choice but to

comply to my orders, he had hardly ever been the submissive type and

done everything with the most resent and reluctance possible. He

irritated me beyond measure and much to Lia's dismay, any endeavours

for civility and peaceful “family time' only ever ended with arguments.

So to hear him give me his "full support’ was something I never thought

I'd experience.

"I don't like you, Loren," he said bluntly. "But I don't like Martinez more.

He kidnapped my nephew and he poses a threat to my own family too.

So I will fight for you to take him down."

"You are a member of my army and you don't have a choice..but I

appreciate it. Thank you, Haden," I said with a half-smile, "Now get back

to your division before I am forced to discipline you.”

He nodded and finally left me alone.

I spent the next half an hour, watching over my men as they prepared. I

helped them load up their trucks, buckle up their bulletproof vests,

hand out helmets and package emergency first aid kits.

There were apprehension, nerves and tensions but these men certainly

didn't lack courage. They were hardened, experienced soldiers. And

they were ready to lay down their lives to protect this fight and they

certainly weren't scared of Andrea Martinez.

"Alpha," Blair said approaching me as I stood in the middle of the

facility, "Everything's ready. Shall we give go ahead?”

I nodded and waved my hand to the drivers of the trucks and the

patrols ready to file out, "Let's do this."