~ ROWAN

"Not a fucking chance," I snarled once I understood what he meant. "I will not be using my mate as bait for you to get the girl you’re obsessed with. You must be fucking delusional—"

Allister sighed. "At least hear me out—"

"No," I snapped. "We can help, but definitely not in that way. My mate is staying as far away from your fucked up father as possible. I will not risk her life or the life of my pack."

He ran his fingers through his hair, his jaw ticking as he spoke. "Innocents will be lost either way. What is one or two—"

"This is my pack we are talking about, not some abstract entity. I don’t give a fuck what plan you have, but you better fucking rework it. They are not going to be fucking collateral damage."

"Collateral damage is inevitable. You have lived for over a hundred years. You can’t tell me that you don’t know that to be true."

I opened my mouth to speak but promptly shut it, running my hand down my jaw with a sigh.

Nyssa sat next to me, silently watching the exchange. There was no judgment in her eyes, only curiosity. On the other side of the room stood Eric, he also watched in silence, his eyes flickering between Allister and I.

"What’s the plan?" I asked finally. "I haven’t agreed to it. Let me hear it first."

The vampire’s lips curved upwards in an amused smirk. He stared at me as if he knew that I had no other choice but to agree. No matter how outlandish his plans were, it was inevitably easier than going to war with the King on my own.

"My father has a party anytime he perceives a victory," he began slowly. "He only invites his top officers. I can kill him then."

"Why do you need our help for that?" Nyssa asked, leaning forward.

"Because the only victory worth celebrating would be a defeat... of your pack, or rather a perceived defeat. If you can just agree to his terms—"

"That will never work," I cut him off. "He saw how vehemently I was against it. He will never believe I changed my mind."

"No, but he will believe that she did," he jerked his chin towards Nyssa. "My father has always believed women to be weak and fragile. If she convinces him that she can change your mind then... he will celebrate. It is the only time his guard goes down."

I frowned, my insides twisting with unease at his plan. I didn’t like the idea of it being hinged on Nyssa. If it were possible, I wanted to keep her as far away from this shit as possible. The last thing she needed was to be on the bastard’s radar.

Just as I was about to refuse, she sat up straight. "I’ll do it."

"No," I said firmly into her mind. "I don’t like this."

"I don’t either, but what are our options?" she asked softly. "The only other alternative is a war, Rowan, and we can’t risk that right now. If all I have to do is agree too the bastard’s claims then so fucking be it."

"This doesn’t feel right. It feels like there’s more to it than he’s not telling us."

"Of course there’s more. Did you really think he would let all his cards out at once? He has no reason to trust us... as we have no reason to trust him. We just have to."

I sighed, shutting the mind link between us and turning back to Allister. "How do we know this isn’t one of your father’s plans? How do we know you aren’t compelled?"

"Because compulsion works like a suggestion. You need to already be in tune with that thought for it to work. I can’t compel you to kill your mate because you don’t hate her. It won’t work that way."

I crossed my arms over my chest, leaning back into my chair. "That doesn’t make you trustworthy."

"How about this then; there is someone in your pack feeding information back to him."

My blood ran cold at those words. "Who?"

"I don’t know," he shrugged. "But he brags every fucking day about having someone close to you; someone he compelled. I’d say be fucking careful who you tell shit to, and know who you can trust. You cannot utter a word of this to anyone or so help us, the plan is fucking screwed."

Nyssa shivered at his words and inched closer to me, her hand finding mine subconsciously. I squeezed firmly, letting her know that I was right here and nothing was going to harm her, not as long as I was alive.

Allister stood to his feet. "I’ll be in touch with all the information. I’ll let you know what you have to do and when you have to do it."

"We’re putting an awful lot of trust in you."

"I know, and you do not know how grateful I am. If this works, you will never have to worry about the vampires again."

"What about the slaves?" Nyssa asked. "And the children. What will happen to them after your father is dead."

"The day my father holds the party, I will give you the address to our palace. Come with your guards and I will personally return all the slaves my father took. You will be surprised how many of them are wolves."

Nyssa nodded tightly. "I guess we’re doing this then."

He nodded firmly, with a small smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. "Remember, keep the bastard out of your head as much as possible. There is too much he can glean from that dream state."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small purple rock. It was barely bigger than my pinky finger and it seemed to sparkle under light.

"If you find that you cannot keep him out of your dreams, then sleep with this next to you."

"What does it do?" she asked, eyeing it skeptically.

He just smiled knowingly. "Until next time. Hopefully, we meet again with good news."

It was only after he’d dashed through the front door I realized he left the crystal on the coffee table.