Riannon stared at her phone, feeling that she was getting sick.

What was she todo? Dean was like a little brother to her and even in spite of him failing hernumerous times, she did not want him dead.Knowing that Dean’s wolf was chocolate brown in colour, she sometimeswondered if it was possible that he was the wolf that Roxy manipulated to kill herin her past life.

She did not like to think about it, but from time to time her mindstill went there.And considering all this, she couldn’t help but wonder if this now was a trap.

Well,it was definitely a trap.

But what if Dean was in it and didn’t need any saving inthe first place?However, she put this idea aside fast.

Everything was different now.

Even if it wasDeanin the past, it was only because he used to be broken by his sister’s death andblaming her for it thanks to Roxy.

This time, none of this happened and he hadno reason to do something like that.

He didn’t hate her enough to kill her.

Andthat meant that right now he was probably a victim.That brought her to that next part.

If she went there alone, she wouldn’t be ableto help him much.

Not without her wolf.

She knew Roxy too well to think that shewould let a witness like Dean go.

Her aim was probably to kill them bothtoday.

After all, they were the only two people who knew that she was full of crap.She tried calling out to Onyx but her wolf remained silent, angering her for thefirst time.

It would all be so much easier if she was at her full strength now.Then again, it was one of the reasons why Roxy got so bold with her.

She knewfor a fact that Riannon was wolfless and wanted to use that while it lasted.That meant that she needed a different plan.

She still didn’t know the extent towhich Roxanne was informed about events in her pack.

Some of the people whopleaded their loyalty to her today could have been spies for all she knew.

There

were a few surprises there.

The people who were supposed to stay with Braydenaccording to her calculations, chose her for some reason.

So, whatever she hadto do now, she had to do it quietly.“Ash, Maya,” she mind-linked her Beta and Gamma, “Act natural right now.

Wehave a situation.

Roxanne just contacted me.

She has Dean.”“What does that mean?” Ash asked her, sounding a bit startled.

“She isthreatening to kill him,” Riannon explained quickly, “And it’s not a false alarm.”“That b*tch!” Maya growled, “I am going to rip her throat out personally for this!”us and everything depends on it now.”“What do you want us to do?” Ash went into a professional mode very quickly.“She wants me to come alone to the forest tree house where we played aschildren,” Ria told them, “I guess Dean showed her that place.

Maybe this iswhere they used to see each other.”“They what?!” Maya coughed.“Not now, M,” she begged her friend, “All this is not important now.

As I havealready said, she wants me to come alone.

And I think that I am her main aim.But I believe that she doesn’t need Dean alive either.

So, we need to workcarefully here.

What I want you to do, is to pretend to keep looking for him.

But atthe appointed time, you should be not far from me and wait for my signal.

Ash, Iwant you to pick a few best warriors that we have.

But not Brayden’s people.

Wecan’t trust those for now.

And Maya, tell Reid everything and make him lead thelycans.

They will be our best bet right now.”“It will be done,” her Beta gritted through her teeth.“I will arrange everything,” Ash said, “But you should be careful.

I know that youare strong but you don’t know if she will have any help.”

“She will for sure,” Riannon admitted, “And it is probably a good moment to tellyou that I am not that strong at the moment.

Her accusation of me being wolflesswas true, Ash.

Onyx does not respond to me.

I can’t shift.”“What?!” now he sounded like he was losing it, “Then you absolutely cannot gothere! This is suicide!”“I can and I will,” Ria stopped him, not wishing to waste any more time, “I am stillan Alpha and this is my decision.

I will play for time and try to rescue Dean.

Andyou will help me.”“But...” Ash wanted to retort.“Not buts,” she put an end to this authoritatively, “Right now I need my Gammaand my Beta doing exactly as I say.

You both know what to do.

Don’t fail me.”She switched off the mind-link and sighed, closing her eyes just for a moment.What she was about to do was risky.

And reckless.

Gideon would probably be soangry with her if he knew.

But he was still far from here and she needed to actfast.Something shifted inside of her and she opened her eyes with determination.She wasn’t going to be a coward.

And she was going to try and save her friend.Not to mention, that itSlowly, she walked out of the packhouse, trying to act natural.

She was wearing atight-fitting pair of jeans and a black chiffon blouse, paired with comfortable blackchelsea boots.

Most people were too busy with the new arrangements right nowto pay her proper attention, so no one asked why their Alpha went into the forestalone.She started running, to be able to reach the tree house on time.

After all,Roxanne only gave her one hour.

But as she got close, she slowed down, tryingto scan the area around her.

Everything looked so quiet.

Too quiet.

So when she stepped on a twig onpurpose, it seemed like the loudest sound ever.“Onyx,” she called out to her wolf, “You said that you would come back to mesoon.

No pressure, but now would be a great time to do this!”Another broken twig and she turned to the sound to see a tall and bulky mansneering at her.

She sensed another one on her right and then one more rightbehind her.

The fourth one walked out of the tree house and smirked, lookingdown at her from its height.“The famous Luna Riannon Thorn!” he grinned at her and she instantly knew thathe was the leader of this little group, “Nice to finally meet you.”“It’s Alpha now,” she tried playing for time and not looking intimidated, “AlphaRiannon Michaels.”“You will probably be the shortest ruling Alpha of all time,” one of the mensnorted, coming closer to her, “Not even lasted a day in your position.”“Well, the day is not over yet, is it?” she tilted her head while looking at him andfolding her hands on her chest, “And also, I already made it longer than theshortest ruling Alpha in history as of now.

Alpha Jeremy Vines ruled for twelveminutes before he was killed by his own brother.

So...”“Such a brave and clever little birdie,” the leader said with some kind of regret inhis voice, “It would be a shame to kill you.”“Oh, is that what this is about?” she shot her brow up at him as her lips curledslightly,” And I thought this Everett/Axel guy who was caught by us recentlypromised not to kill me.

If anything, he said that we would talk very soon.

Is thatall cancelled now?”The four men started looking at each other questioningly, clearly knowing whoshe was talking about but not knowing what to do with this information.

And shemagic

knew that she played her cards well, winning the precious time.

,” she informedher people via the mindlink, “I still do not see Dean.

And there might be more ofthem nearby.”“Got it,” her Gamma and Beta responded almost in unison, but she couldn’t helpbut notice that Maya sounded agitated.“What would he want with you?” the leader asked her impatiently.

WhoeverEverett was, he was important enough to make them all nervous.“How would I know,” she shrugged her shoulders, “He promised to tell me morewhen we meet next.

I am as blissfully unaware as you are.

But one thing for sure,it did seem important because he has been seeking me out twice already.”“What do we do with her now?” one of the men asked the leader, and the latterremained silent.“Killing her might not be the best idea if this is the case,” another one added andshe smirked at them.

Her plan was working.“What are you idiots doing?!” she heard a familiar voice that she hated so muchand saw Roxanne walking out of one of the bushes, “She is just playing with you!Castiel doesn’t care about her! Just kill her already!”