"Who is Charles?"

Asher was looking at their faces and understood that something terrible was going to happen. The name sounded familiar, but he wasn't sure in which part of Laurel's past it belonged.

"An old enemy. I thought we were done with him for good."

He hadn't seen Laurel so intense before. Her eyes were sparkling, looking at her friends.

The six of them were sitting around a table, the bodies of the girls left in the basement. They didn't have time for chit chat. Laurel introduced Asher to her friends and vice versa, and that was enough for the time being.

"So did we, but I guess this time we need to make sure he dies," Thomas said.

"You killed that guy?"

"No, Ash. I did damage him and destroyed him. I thought it was enough to ruin his plans, his army, and himself. I thought he wouldn't recover."

Suddenly, Asher realized who Charles was: one of her two greatest enemies. That person was responsible for many deaths, attacks, and destruction.

"How do you know about the attack?" she asked, turning to her friends.

"There have been some attacks that caught my attention in China," Chloe said. "After a while, I realized that they were linked with some other attacks across the globe, and all of them had his signature. You know his pattern. Werewolves mysteriously went missing, small vampire clans dead, some witches here and there tortured. It's him. I'm a hundred percent sure."

"Then I stepped into the game, and I found out that he's raising an army. You know that a lot of people aren't happy about what we do: stopping their illegal businesses, taking them down. They are pissed, but until now, they didn't have the nerves to stand against us. With Charles' return, things changed: they have someone to be at the front so they can work in the shadows. I don't know who funds him yet, but we trapped two men who proved to be useful. In ten days, there is the gathering of all high-class werewolves of each pack of the continent. He wants to attack them. He has enhanced vampires and rogues with him."

"Why would he attack them there? It's too risky. He could attack them separately in their pack houses, within their pack borders, during a journey." She stood up and started pacing up and down the room. Charles always had a plan and didn't depend on luck. "No, that's too risky. He will lose too many men; all these wolves will fight back no matter the cost."

"We don't know why he's doing it."

''Are you sure the info is legit?'' She turned to Zach.

"Positive."

Zach and Laurel exchanged familiar, knowing glances. She didn't need a second word to trust him.

"Could it be a distraction? Maybe he wants someone specific from these people, and amidst the fight, no one will find out until it is too late," Lena offered.

"Maybe," Thomas muttered but his slower breathing and the small sigh that escaped his lips showed otherwise.

"What if it is a trap?" Asher asked, making everyone turn their attention to him. "I mean," he continued, "I don't know him, but maybe he knows you could figure it out. I haven't seen you all working together, but you don't seem stupid or naive. Maybe he wants you there, out in the open."

"He has a point," Lena agreed. ''Hey, Laurel, why so silent? What do you think?''

Laurel had stopped talking, her mind racing, connecting dots she hadn't noticed before. Everyone was waiting for her answer when she got up from her chair and said, "Fuck! It all makes sense now."

"What?" someone asked, and she turned around to see five pairs of eyes waiting for her answer.

"You are right, Ash. It is a trap for me." A rueful smile formed on her face and her eyes were glistering under the dim light of the room. Finally, she swallowed and continued. "He's been watching me, who knows for how long. He knows about James, and Graham was his pawn and my distraction."

"Wait, hold on. Who is James, and who is Graham?" Thomas and Lena asked at the same time.

"Graham is the vampire that turned Asher. I found him today and killed him, but before that happened, he said something to me about me handling everything and his tone. . . I knew it reminded me of something. He knew I was a hunter. He told me that when he greeted me, but I didn't pay attention. It was all part of Charles' game. Making me run after a vampire so that I wouldn't see him working in the shadows. And at the same time, he was watching me, and with that, he found out how to beat me with my weakness."

"What do you mean?"

"James is my mate. He's a werewolf and an Alpha. He will be at the gathering. Charles wants to lure me because he knows I won't let my mate get hurt. How can this man always notice my weaknesses?" She sighed. "He's gonna hurt James unless I show up to him."

"Your mate?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Why didn't you tell us about him?"

Those were some of the questions that came after Laurel's revelation, but Laurel didn't answer them. Instead, she raised her voice, and the previous weak attitude was gone.

"Guys! Focus! What's important is to make a plan, a good one. We need to be prepared. We don't know how they will attack, we don't know how many they are, and we don't know the specific time. We know nothing!" she said, shouting the last part.

"Hey, calm down." Thomas tried to approach her. His eyebrows were drawn together. ''We will be ready. No one will hurt your mate," he said before closing his arms around her.

Later that night, while everyone was asleep, Laurel was in the living room, all lights turned off, staring from the window at the starlight sky.

"Can I sit with you?" Thomas asked carefully.

"You know you don't have to ask."

He sat next to her on the couch and looked straight into her eyes.

"What will you do with him?"

"You know my situation. I tried to ignore him, but he saw me killing that vampire. He knows I'm a werewolf, and he wants to talk to me and make me explain. This is what I wanted to avoid."

"You made those promises long ago, wolfie. Now, that you've seen him, now that you've felt it, you can't stay away. It might be a while, but I remember what it's like to find your mate and how it feels being near them. You can't resist, and I see in your eyes that you are already in pain."

"I can. I will resist," she said determined, yet the words barely escaped from her lips.

"Don't do this to yourself, Laurel. You deserve happiness after everything you've been through."

"Exactly for the things I have done, I don't deserve it. Look at me!" she said, her voice cracking down. ''I deserve to be in hell! Who in his right mind could love me?"

"I love you. Lena loves you, and Chloe and Zach love you, too. We know everything about you, and yet we stayed. After all, you've paid the price of your actions. It's time to show mercy to yourself."

"It's not the same, and I think I'm still paying for my choices and actions."

"Just tell him your story. He's your mate. He'll understand."

"There is only one thing I can say to him. I have to protect him from myself and the curse."

"Laurel, don't you dare," he said, seeing now what his friend wanted to do.

"I have to, Thomas. I have to break his heart."

Laurel was now sobbing, tears running down her cheeks. She was desperate, she knew she would hurt him, but it was the only secure way to guarantee his life without killing him.

"You'll regret it. Your heart and Lyra can't take it."

"I'm used to pain. Let it be me who gets hurt rather than him. I will reject him, and then I will end Charles for even daring to hurt him!"