Goodbye Cheater Hello CEO’s Wife by Payne Walter

71 Lucas: Preparation

LUCAS

“You’re positive?”

My still–smoldering cigarette is crushed into oblivion within the crystal ash tray, along with twenty of its kin. Smoke is an intrusive guest within the cramped room, swirling around the heads of both deltas standing before me.

Cheap motel rooms aren’t meant to house three large wolf shifter males, but it is what it is.

“Positive,” Ryder reports, cool as a fucking cucumber despite how much is riding on tonight.

The decision to invade Blackwood wasn’t made lightly. Most of the pack fought against the decision, until two more scouts were found dead at the border.

And, most importantly, a witness.

That one was alive, though.

“Council won’t move until we bring the official

petition,” Ryder continues, flipping through the notes

in front of him. “Even so, Silvermoon forces near the

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71 Lucas Preparation

border are confirmed and ready if we call for aid.”

The chair creaks beneath my weight as I lean back, but surprisingly manages to stay together. “With this act of war, Council will have lost its authority, anyway.”

My deltas say nothing. There isn’t much to say–the fact that an alpha is willing to say as much is far beyond their pay grade. Silvermoon has allied with Westwood, and Aspen as well, though Clayton seems to be busy hunting down his own missing mate. It’s an epidemic, and I’m positive it’s all been orchestrated by the Blackwoods to weaken the packs. @

Swaying the chair from side to side, I glance at the ceiling, thinking in between rhythmic creaks. “Ryder, head to Silvermoon. I’ll contact you if we need the reinforcements. Vester, stay with us. You’ll head off any runners from the south. Our goal is to cut off Blackwood’s head today. I don’t want this war going on for years.”

“Understood.”

Lighting another cigarette, I inhale deeply, letting the harsh smoke fill my lungs before exhaling a plume into the stale air. My deltas are on edge, too, but they wait

for my dismissal.

her family home, under guard at all times.

into his

have never believed one of our own could be that level of stupid. We know better

we’ve set forth in order to live in peace with

humans.

truly that much of a dumbass. He has little

is nothing to someone who doesn’t care about

their lands.

that taboo and the witness saved after the

we finally have evidence.

a reason for war.

rebuilt in the

convention to declare it

that shit. I

71 Lucas: Preparation

her from me.

ridiculously easy to slide under his radar, avoiding his scouts and settling all my wolves into a city near the heart of his pack lands. They have no presence in the human cities, and no humans here are loyal to the power of the

with them.

with ease. No alpha worth their rank would have allowed so many to settle in these human towns, and yet Blackwood has

Sheer arrogance.

be his downfall tonight.

lands, but I’m grateful

tremor of anticipation courses through me, fueled by the thought of her being so tantalizingly close after all this time. Tonight, she will be free from her

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71 Lucas: Preparation

I can’t force it. If

when it’s safe and woo her

back in the creaky chair, letting it groan beneath my weight again, pondering our next move. The invasion plans are sound, our scouts are in position, and allies await the call to arms. But a part of me bristles at the thought of storming Blackwood lands like some mindless

wouldn’t keep Ava close without good reason. Is there a secret behind her? Something I have yet to learn? Why else

of others knowing more about her than

builds up in my chest, and my wolf snaps at the air in my mind. He’s

wants his mate safe.

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71 Lucas: Preparation

need to

“Prepare a small team–no more than five. We’re going in quiet, just you and me at the front. The

but they know I have a short fuse when it comes to my mate. “You want to go in alone? With all

not asking.” My tone leaves no room for argument. “If Ava is being held against her will, a full–scale invasion will only endanger her further. This has to be clean, precise. In and out before Blackwood even knows we’re there. We don’t know what that fucking bloodsucker did when she was brought in, either.”

proceed to wipe

this world.”

a glance with Vester, but both nod in reluctant agreement. They know the lengths I’ll go to for her–have seen firsthand the

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71 Lucas: Preparation

whenever her name