Winter Wolf

Chapter 32

Tristan stared at Byron's messenger. He expected it, but now that it was happening he felt so many emotions. Anger and frustration were the most prominent.

He finally had his mate...

And they were going back to war.

Bryon was already sending their vulnerable in small groups to Rafe's pack. He already promised Byron to house whoever Rafe couldn't, so he expected they'd be getting some soon.

Pack wars were always hardest on the pack members. With their hunters fighting instead of providing, food became a problem, and it was a cascade of bad from there.

"My Alpha asks when can we expect you?" The wolf said. Tristan felt the tension in his body at the thought of leaving again. Right when he could start to fix things... Tristan glanced at his mother, Edith and Noah. They had solemn expressions.

"He is our Alpha now, it is unfair of Byron to even ask that, and it would leave us vulnerable, Ulmer has directly threatened us." Noah said. Tristan felt the anger course through him again at the reminder of it.

That day Lo escaped from Moro, Cecil sent a message to them that had enraged him. Demanding his 'mate,' or he'd attack them and take her by force.

"Their focus is on us currently, and your allies are close." The messenger said firmly.  Tristan glanced at Noah again.

"We need to discuss what aid we can send, it was never agreed in our last meeting with your Alpha, all he asked was to house your vulnerable." Tristan said.

"... if Eyolf takes us down, you know they will come for you next, don't you? It would be in your best interest to aid us." The messenger said.

"Tell him we need to discuss it. I will get back to him as soon as we can." Tristan said. The messenger bowed his head.

"Please don't take long." He said as he turned to leave. Tristan looked at Noah. He looked bothered, and deep in thought.

"I don't like it." He said. Tristan agreed. He had no obligation to help Byron, they had no treaty any longer, especially not with all the shit he pulled, and he had other allies now he could draw from with his connection to the southern pack.

And something about this made him uneasy. They were already vulnerable with their fighting force down, they couldn't split themselves even more.

"What are you thinking?" Tristan asked, he wanted to make sure they were on the same page.

"I think Hutch is right. We should hit Ulmer, and do it as soon as possible, especially if he split his fighting force to aid Eyolf. If we can go for minimal causalities, get to Cecil and take him out... we need his numbers." Noah said.

After taking out an Alpha in a pack war, they would either have to absorb them or kill them all. It was their way. Most packs chose a mixture of the two, opting to only keep the females and very young to not have trustworthiness issues from the males of fighting age.

Tristan didn't know how he felt about absorbing Cecil's pack. He'd never been there, never seen much of his pack members. But gauging from Cecil and those he had met, he didn't know if he wanted wolves like that around his own. Especially not around Lo.

But they also needed numbers, and that bastard needed to die...

He wanted that damn bond off his mate so she could heal.

"This feels like a ruse to draw you away." His mother spoke up. Tristan looked at Noah. He had the same thoughtful expression.

It was clear that thought was in all their heads.