Dangerous Desires Novel

120 The Departure Luke.

Tia and | returned to our room after we released our broadcast. | was nervous about the response.

There was outrage after five hours of broadcast. People were asking for Regan’s head. He still had supporters, but they weren‘t as many as they used to be. A lot of Alphas had shifted their support to neutral. He only had three territories supporting him. Cleeve, Dand Cape. He had lost all his supporters and territories. We could have as well just destroyed him now, but we had issued a challenge, and both parties had accepted the terms and conditions. We had no choice but to carry on. People were outraged, and we had new military volunteers, but | was not willing to take anyone, just in case the new inflow of people where from Regan. Stacy‘s confession had done the trick, and people felt sorry for her and saw her as a strong woman. No one hated her; it only made them love her more. It was finally tto plan the trip to Neev. | was about to call for a meeting in the office when my phone rang. | answered immediately. “Hello?” | answered.

“Good morning Alpha Luke; | am Alpha Bashir Ahmed, current alpha of Neeve,” he said, and | was surprised that the Alpha‘s son had succeeded him. The guy was barely twenty.

“How may | help you?” | asked him, trying not to sound surprised.

“We are uncomfortable with this fight happening in our territory. Knowing Regan‘s reputation, we do not think he will stick to the rules. We cannot risk another war in Neev,” he said, knowing that the first one was between my father and him; | understood his words, but it wasn’t in his place to deny us access. I still owned the Island regardless of his pack or territory. “So, what are you trying to say?” | asked him. He sighed and waited a bit before responding. “We want to know if you will be coming with your troop to Neev to protect us,” he asked, and I sighed. ‘No, Bashir. It is a one-on-one battle, so | will not be moving with troops to Neeve for protection.” | responded, and he was silent. “What if Regan does that? How will we protect ourselves? Woodclaw has not funded our military in a while. Our weapons are obsolete, and we do not have the number to withstand an attack.” he complained, and | sighed, knowing what he was asking for.

“Be rest assured it will not cto that. We trust Regan to keep his part of the deal, or else he will not be able to ascend as Alpha if he wins by cheating. The fight will be televised after all.” | explained it to him, and he was silent.

“Alright, Alpha Luke. | will take your word for it. Remember that our safety and care are your responsibilities.” He reminded me, and | told him his citizen's safety is highly important. | also let him know | was partly from Neev, so | cannot hurt my people either, and that is why the fight will occur on the battleground away from the residents.

He thankedand hung up. T‘ia exited the bathroom. | waited for her to get ready, and we headed toward the office to have our final meeting.

Everyone was waiting there, ready to take orders. “We will be living for Neev in three days, but | want our troops to go there by road as normal travellers within two days. | want three hundred armed troops in Neev with ammunition. | do not trust that man.” | said, and everyone agreed with me. “Who are the people officially going there?” Caleb asked, and | looked at everyone present. “Me, Caleb, father, Mike and Kirk,” | said, and Tia frowned. “What about Stacy and Me? Don’t we deserve to follow?” She asked, and | shook my head. “You have to be here to ensure no funny business. You and the women warriors you have gathered will protect Woodclaw from invasion. His treachery might be from here and not Neev. ” | said, and she stood akimbo, annoyed at my decision. “And what makes you think that?” She asked, and | sighed.

“I doubt he will want to attack where people will anticipate it. The current Alpha of Neeve just called to find out if we will be coming there with backup. I told him, no, and he tried to ask for arms to protect his residents. There is no way Regan does not know they don’t trust him in Neeve, and knowing all the atrocities he had done there, he will be guarded. Woodclaw will be the best way to double-cross us.” | said, and Tia began to laugh. | knew she was pissed off.

“You must really think | am stupid, Luke,” she said, and | frowned at her.

“If you believed Regan would attack Woodclaw, you will not askto remain and protect the place. Not after you have askedto promise not to shift. What do you takefor, Luke? Simply tellthat you have everything figured out and do not need our help. | feel that will be less insulting.” She said, and | could feel her anger. | got up and took Tia out of the office. This was a conversation we would have to resolve between ourselves. Before | left, | ordered Kirk and Mike to ensure the troops started moving to Neev. As the Delta, Mike should remain, but we needed all the help we could get in Neev just in case of an issue. | could not take Tia all the way to our wing, so | led her t a room in the right wing.

| locked the door behindand looked at her. She had an angry scowl, and | could not blher for it. She was a trained fighter. It was expected that she would want to fight. | pinned her against the wall and bent to rest my forehead against hers. | took in her scent and moved my body close so there would e no space between us.

“I need you to letwin this time, Tia.” | pleaded with her, and she was silent. “I want you and our child to be safe. | wouldn't forgive myself if anything happened to you in Neev, Please.” | pleaded, and she moved away from me. | hugged her from behind and kissed my mark on her neck.

“Please, Tia, do this for me. | need you to be here, not there. | need to have a reason to chome.” | said, and she turned and looked into my eyes “What about me, Luke. | want my pound of flesh too. That man tried to kill us. At first, we thought your father did something to him, only to discover that he was a twisted fuck. | want to be there. Stacy and | gathered warriors for this. Do not underestimate our strength, Luke. three hundred and nine women that want Regan‘s head will be a great addition.” She argued with me, and | pulled her close.

“Please, Tia, listen to me. | want you here. | was hoping you could hold the ground in Woodclaw. If they attack, | know the women will make sure they regret it. | doubt they will chere, but just in case, please. There are also bunkers here where you can hide if the worst happens. If anything happens to us and we fail, | need you and Paul to escape.” | said, finally giving her my actual reasons for asking her to remain.

| have learned never to underestimate Regan and did not want to be overconfident. | will be happy knowing that my mate and children will be okay. | needed her to do this for me. | needed her to remain in Woodclaw for me.

Tia looked into my eyes with tear-filled eyes.

“Now you are tellingthe true reason you wantto stay,” she said, and her tears started falling freely. “I will sit here if that will give you peace of mind, but don’t you dare die on me, Luke. Don't you dare it? If you do, | will never forgive you.” She told| knew why she wanted to ctoo. She wanted to cto protectand make sure we won, but both of us needed to know that we could not control the outcof events. Present or not, things will happen according to fate.

“Tia,” | breathed her name, and she huggedtightly and began to sob.

“I really wanted to cwith you, Luke. | wanted to be there. | wanted to have your back and carry you if need be.” she said, and | wrapped my arms around her and kissed the top of her head. “You have done that every day since you cinto my life, Tia,” | said, and she heldtightly. “You better cback, Luke.” She said, and | held her for a bit.

TWO DAYS TO THE FIGHT It was finally tto leave for Neev. We planned to settle in two days before the main day to discuss sthings with the Alpha and also settle in.

Tia, Stacy, Kimberly, and Tasha decided they would see us off to the base to board the helicopter that would take us to Neev. The three hundred Troops we sent had arrived there. Swere yet to enter Neeve to avoid suspicion, while others had settled in the towns close to the battlefield. They were to move towards the battlefield on the day of the fight.

| was glad Tia agreed to remain in Woodclaw.

Tia, Caleb, Kimberly, Kirk and | were in one car, while my father, Stacy, Mike and Tasha were in the other. | felt Tia‘s nervousness, and | pulled her close to me.

“I will be hsoon, darling,” I linked her, and she turned to kiss me.

We were amazed by the crowd that greeted us outside when we drove out of Maison’s gate, People stood on each side of the roads with flowers and cards with encouraging words. Sof them were crying. | did not know we had this much support until now. It simply meant they were listening “They are listening, Luke,” Tia managed, and | pulled her close and wound down the glass to wave at the people. They waved back and told us how much they loved us and that we should put an end to the monster. The biggest mistake Regan made was to cout. He had lost sympathy and support. The crowd lined up and led all the way to the headquarters, where there were children with flowers waiting for us. We alighted from the cars and walked towards the entrance. Tia held on totightly, and we waved to the people. | was greeted at the door by a six-year-old girl. She was pretty, and she had red roses in her hand. | squatted to greet her, and she smiled at me. “What's your name, little girl?” | asked, and she beamed at me. “My Nis Chealse.” She said, and | smiled and patted her head. “Cback to us, Alpha,” she said and handedthe flower. | collected them from her, lifted her, and spun her around. She giggled, and Tia smiled. Then | held her and turned to face the crowd.

“Let us wave everyone, Chelsea,” | said, and the three of us waved at the crowd. My father, Caleb, Kirk and Mike got flowers too from the children. Our people were supporting us. While | was still waving at my people, one of the soldiers cwith his phone to showa live broadcast. It was from the people of Eastwood. “Alpha Luke! Show them what the Renshaws are made of and kick his butt. For our Alpha Chloe Moon, Regan must Pay!!” they said, cheeringon. | got a lot of broadcasts from all over, including the people of Neev. Stacy’s confessions had destroyed Regan'’s reputation. Killing a woman because she said no was low and that alone made everything he claimed my father did to him worth it. We left the crowd and moved to the first base's roof to board the helicopter. | squatted and kissed Tia‘s bump. Placing my hand on it, | promised my baby to chto both of them.

We entered the helicopter, and the women stood together and watched us settle in. They moved away so that the helicopter could start. | promised myself as we lifted into the air to ensure we chto them alive and well,