CHAPTER 250: ANOTHER WAR?

But at the same time, it felt selfish to ask Soren to step in if he stayed behind. He didn’t want it to feel like he was using Soren. He wanted his help yes, but using him was not his intention, so it was only right to accompany him!

Before he could say more, the door opened—and in walked Troy, looking tense and apologetic. He had dark circles under his glasses, sleeves rolled up, and buttons not properly buttoned. The former right-hand man had been taking some heat since the incident, but now he stood in the doorway. Ronan had reinstated him on his way to meet Raphael.

Troy’s morning had started normally, except for the creeping dread in his gut that today was a big day at work. He straightened his glasses, adjusted his tie that he didn’t have to wear, and decided to remain positive for his first day at work.

But the moment he opened the front door, he stumbled upon an intimate scene. Soren holding Riven’s hand, lips brushing the back of it with slow devotion. Troy had the terrible timing to walk in right then. It was like walking into a trap. He hated this!

"AHEM! Hello, there." Troy coughed loudly.

"We should leave...," Soren said softly, brushing a stray strand of Riven’s hair behind his ear."Lest things escalate at the border." He sounded oh-so-calm, but his sneaky smile said otherwise.

Troy’s brain shorted out. Who was leaving? Why? They couldn’t leave, not without his master!

"Leaving?" he blurted. "No! We can’t leave! The Alpha should be back soon! He left a while ago. The business should be finished here!"

He sounded more like a circus seal squealing than a noble secretary to the Alpha.

Riven, always graceful, sighed theatrically. He appreciated Troy’s loyalty, truly—but this was a delicate situation. He was only looking out for Ronan, he could understand that.

"Soren and I need to ride out to the border," Riven began. "The Lions have been occupying the border, and we need to fight back. King Leon is planning to claim the town outright. If he invades, that would break every alliance the clans worked for."

Troy’s eyes widened.

"Invade? Are you sure?!"

Riven held up a hand. "Not yet. But we want to avert doom."

Troy paced a tight circle. "But the King—King Leon—is about to declare war? What is King Leon thinking?!" Like Riven said, the clans had strived for peace, before they were at war with each other, but this was the era of peace! A war was just...

Soren squeezed Riven’s hand, lips tilting. Then he smiled at Troy. "Stay calm. I will be the saviour of your wolf clan."

Troy stood tall—well, tall enough—with his arms outstretched, blocking the hallway like a valiant guard in a low-budget drama.

"You are not taking Riven anywhere," he declared, chest puffed out. "Master Ronan isn’t home, and I absolutely cannot let him take his mate away to some place dangerous!"

Soren’s eyes darkened immediately, with a dangerously low voice, he asked, "Do you think I would put him in danger?"

Troy felt a pang of fear, but he refused to step back.

"I don’t have time for your dramatics," Soren said, voice cold as the northern peaks. "Move."

Troy didn’t flinch. Not entirely.

"Respectfully, no." He gulped.

Riven stood a few steps behind Soren. He opened his mouth to step in, but Soren raised a hand.

"Do you want war?" Soren said flatly. "Because that’s what’s going to happen if we don’t get to the border now."

His words were getting to Troy. As the Alpha’s aide, his job is to help protect the territory, hearing this made him freeze. He did not want his home, his clan, to be in danger.

"I’m the only deterrent standing between that mad lion and a political meltdown. You block me now, you may as well light the torches, bring up the white flags and surrender." Soren’s gaze sharpened. "Do you want that on your conscience, pup?"

Damn...

Riven did not expect that, but hearing Soren say that made him feel the urgency of the situation. Riven did not believe that Leon would not wage a war. He had to leave earlier, and there was some change in Leon... But was it enough? Clearly not, why else was he at the border with his men ready to attack?

Troy’s jaw opened and closed like a fish dropped on a rug. No, he didn’t want war. He didn’t want any of this. Life as Ronan’s aide only became harder after he found his love.

"Soren’s right," Riven cut in, rubbing his temples. "We don’t have time to wait. Leon is claiming neutral land on our border, and if he keeps pushing, it won’t just be our problem anymore. The clans could fall into a war. Ronan would never want that."

Riven looked at Soren for a moment before turning to Troy again, "Our troops are scattered, we cannot call them and have them appear at the border fast enough, we have managed the internal war, now we need to eliminate the external threat."

Riven could already guess, Leon wanted to take advantage of the internal unrest to claim that town. He was thoroughly disappointed.

He sighed, defeated.

"Fine." Troy dropped his arms with all the ceremony needed, he learnt from Riven how to be dramatic.

Soren swept past him, not even gracing that comment with a reply. He reached out and gently took Riven’s hand, guiding him toward the exit.

Troy watched them go, then immediately spun on his heel and sprinted down the hallway like his tail was set on fire. He had a new mission now.

Ronan. He had to reach Ronan. As far as Troy knew, Ronan had gone to meet Raphael about something very important and secret, normally he would know but he since he was on leave he missed out on the details.

He had to send word or run by himself to get him!