"We’ve passed the news to Alpha Darach in Thunderstrike," Nicole said the moment we stepped into Blaise’s office.

I had barely even shut the door when she spoke, and Damon quickly took a seat on the armchair, crossing one leg over the other as though he owned the place― and to be fair, he did.

"He is absolutely ecstatic about it, of course," Nicole said. "And he brought us an... interesting piece of information."

"Which is?" Damon prompted, an eyebrow raised. "I find it hard to believe that that bookworm has anything interesting to share other than his strangely green thumbs." Damon huffed. "He isn’t even from Hornstead."

"Oh, you will find this one interesting for sure," Blaise said with a wicked grin. His eyes seemed to gleam with intrigue as he smiled down upon us like the Cheshire Cat, refusing to say any more. He gestured for Nicole to continue instead, and she cleared her throat with a roll of her eyes.

"It seems like Thorton Elrod has met karmic retribution," Nicole said.

My eyes widened as I shared a look with Blaise. My mate simply nodded, maintaining his wide grin.

"No way," Damon said, sitting up a little straighter. I hadn’t seen this look of disbelief in his eyes for a long time. "He lost his wolf?"

"Hilarious, isn’t it?" Blaise said, stifling a laugh. "At this current rate of werewolves losing their wolves, Fangborne might actually be able to patent this new serum and sell it as our next money-maker," he joked.

"But... how?" I spluttered. "He was fine the last time we were in Thunderstrike. A little bit of a recluse, but otherwise just as annoying, or so we heard."

"He heard about what happened to Dahlia Elrod," Blaise said and Nicole winced.

"In fact, all of Thunderstrike received the news. Alpha Darach was the one who shared it," Nicole said. "Thorton Elrod was so stumped by the news of Dahlia’s death that he went into shock and tried to leave Thunderstrike."

"Why didn’t Darach just let him leave?" I asked with a frown. "He would be declared as a rogue and there wouldn’t be further doubts regarding Darach’s rule as the alpha of Thunderstrike."

"Except, Thorton Elrod didn’t try to leave quietly," Blaise said. "He got the rebels and tried to stage a coup. However, with Dahlia Elrod dead, those in favor of Dahlia and Thorton have dwindled in numbers."

"Their attack was unsuccessful," Nicole explained. "And Alpha Darach’s team has been experimenting and helping in the research. His part of the serum development was in finding out what was in the mixture that Kyle was jabbed with... and well..."

"It was used on Thorton as well when he refused to yield," I concluded, coming to the realization myself.

Nicole confirmed my statement with a nod.

"It was entirely in self-defense," Nicole clarified. "But Thorton Elrod and those in support of him are locked in Thunderstrike’s holding facility, awaiting judgment."

"They could be the perfect lab rats for your experiments, Nicole," Damon said with an amused smile. "You won’t have to poke holes into Kyle’s arm with them around."

"With all due respect, Damon, they are not prisoners of war," Nicole said with a disapproving sigh. "And even if they are, they are Thunderstrike’s to deal with, not Fangborne."

"Oh, I am sure Darach Elrod would be highly amenable to that," Damon said, not losing his smirk. He exchanged a look with his brother, who surprisingly wore the same smile. They had never looked so similar, with matching evil grins and a sinister light glinting in their eyes.

"You two..." Nicole trailed off with a huff, blowing at a stray strand of her hair. "Well, whatever it is, you―" she gestured at Damon, "―will have to be on your way to Thunderstrike with me. Harper, you can come along as well."

"We’ll leave at dawn tomorrow," Blaise said, clapping his hands together in excitement.

"Yes, we will," Nicole said. "But ’we’ does not include you."

Blaise’s smile immediately dropped as he gaped at Nicole in disbelief.

"There’s no need for you to be there," Nicole said, her expression cold, like a mother reprimanding her child. "You have a pack to take care of, Alpha Blaise. You can’t be running down to other packs constantly when you have no business being there."

"I have business being there if my luna, brother, and top healer are all going! Even Kyle!" Blaise argued. "Besides, who else will protect you guys?"

Damon rolled his eyes, but he very quickly cheekily grinned at his brother. He stood up and walked to my side, victoriously pulling me into his arms, holding me by the waist.

"I can protect us just fine," he said, wiggling his fingers. Frost gathered at his fingertips and it felt as though the temperature of the room dropped by a couple of degrees. Damon didn’t do much, but his actions said more than words ever could.

A wolf wasn’t needed to protect us.

"Besides," I said, rolling my eyes playfully at Damon’s childish actions, "I can shift now. Nicole isn’t a helpless little pup either."

"Even you, Harper?" Blaise cried out, his puppy eyes nearly shimmering with tears.

"We’ll only be gone for a couple of days, two weeks at most!" Nicole said. "I can’t be away from Thunderstrike for long, and with Thunderstrike’s help, we might make a breakthrough quicker than if we had stayed in Fangborne."

"The vampires are still at large," I reminded. "It’s unlikely they’ll strike so soon, but we can’t leave Fangborne unguarded."

Blaise could only sigh loudly in defeat as he slumped into his seat.

"Fair point," he said. He glared at his older brother, practically shooting daggers through his expression. "Get your wolf back as soon as possible," he said. "I am sick of being alpha."

Damon merely chuckled, his eyes twinkling. This time, there seemed to be actual hope in his eyes, something both Blaise and I caught. Damon’s hand tightened on my waist, squeezing gently as I looked at him. When our eyes met, a ghost of a smile danced upon his lips.

"If the Goddess permits," he said, "I’ll gladly oblige."