Andre’s POV
“Impossible!”
I glared at Pierre in shock and in anger. I didn’t even care that my shirt was unbuttoned.
Olivia was still close to the wall, and the horror in her eyes was evident. She looked petrified and pale. She stumbled a little, and I reached out to her, fearful that she was going to pass out.
“Pierre, what is going on? How has our location been compromised? Call the men together! Immediately!”
“I already did that, Sir,” he stuttered. “They are waiting for you.”
I didn’t care to wait and hurried past Pierre. My blood pressure was rising slowly. Jonas knew where we were; this spelt disaster for all of us.
I got into the living room and all my men were lined up. I saw beads of sweat on their foreheads and a few of them trembled slightly as they met my gaze.
I heard hard breathing. Olivia dashed into the room and was leaning on the doorpost. She was struggling to catch her breath after she had run after me.
I felt guilty for leaving her, but this was a top priority at the moment. If Jonas knew where we were, he would come after us. Olivia’s life would be in danger, and I would be powerless to stop it.
I strode amongst our ranks, glaring each of them in the eye. They straightened up and dared not fidget.
My senses were on high alert. I could smell their fear. One of them was the traitor.
“Which of you gave us away?”
My voice was icy cold. The men jittered. No one answered.
Sephora and Alvida came rushing into the room, but they stopped as soon as they saw me talking to the men.
“Alpha, what…what happened?”
“Our location has been compromised. Jonas knows where we are,” I replied, Sephora, without looking at the men in front of me.
“How do we know?” Alvida asked.
Pierre piped up.
“There is a package outside. Jonas’ name is written on it.”
I spun around, and my eyes locked with Pierre. I saw him gulp as my eyes bored into his.
“Show me.”
He wasted no time in taking me to the front door. Right at the porch was a small brown box.
I eyed it suspiciously. Jonas’ initials were scrawled on the top.
I was cautious. I didn’t know what it contained.
“Andre…”
“Stand back,” I called out to Olivia as she grazed my arm, attempting to pull me backwards.
Slowly I walked up to the box. I sniffed around. It didn’t seem like there was anything dangerous about the box. I couldn’t smell any explosives or ammunition. Just…paper.
With assurance, I opened the box. My men retreated slightly but calmed down as soon as they saw nothing in it.
Pierre stood behind me.
“It’s empty.”
“Not quite.”
I reached into the box and pulled out an envelope.
I looked at it skeptically. Still nothing suspicious or unusual about it.
“Alpha Andre…”
I had already ignored everyone’s advice and was already tearing the brown envelope.
It didn’t take too long for me to get the letter out, and my eyes skated across the paper.
“Hello, Andre. You made a mistake and should have killed me when you had the chance. You killed my family, and I don’t think that I can ever forgive you for that. I have had enough and won’t even ask anymore. I will have Olivia, even if it means that I have to pry her from your dead hands. This is far from over, Andre. The war is on for real…”
I crumpled the paper and tossed it to floor. I knew I was going to regret allowing Jonas to leave. It had been on my mind ever since we returned. I couldn’t sleep well at night knowing that that bastard hadn’t burned with the rest of his pathetic family.
I was even more worried when I was told that no one could find his little sister either. The both of them had escaped my fury.
I snarled and turned around. All eyes were on me, and my men were still shivering in fear. None of them had still taken a step forward to show that he was the one that sold us out.
“You all are dismissed.”
My men hurried away, and I was alone with Pierre, Sephora, Alvida and Olivia, who clung tightly to me. The fear in her eyes was evident. She looked thoroughly shaken.
“So, who do you think it is?” Pierre asked as we huddled together.
“No one. None of them have the balls to defy me. I couldn’t smell anything wrong with any of them.”
“He probably delivered the package himself or used a delivery service. It would explain why no one saw him and why the box was beautifully placed on the porch.”
Sephora quipped in, and I immediately sided with her. That had to be it.
“What did he want?” Olivia asked fearfully.
I felt my anger simmer down slowly as I stroked her face.
“No one is going to take you away from me. I promise.”
I stroked her face and kissed her forehead. She nodded and calmed down.
I wasn’t going to let him lay a finger on Olivia. I had allowed him to escape once, and if I got my hands on him a second time, he would regret it.
“What do you think he wants?” Pierre asked.
Sephora glared at him. It was obvious he wasn’t paying attention.
“You know what he wants,” she said angrily. But slowly, her face morphed into confusion.
“Maybe he doesn’t want her?”
I raised an eyebrow.
“What are you talking about?”
“Alpha Andre, we utterly destroyed Jonas’s wealth. The number of his men has dwindled, and he has no home. He literally can’t fight you unless…”
I caught up immediately.
“He has allies to help him out,” I said, completing the statement.
The room was deathly silent as we all came to the same realisation. I knew that he had some ties with the other Royal families but I wasn’t sure how strong those bonds were to all him rouse them to his side.
We were in trouble if they sided with him. We had to be on alert.
“What if he has sided with the other families and is coming for Olivia?” Pierre asked.
I sighed. All was silent. My brain was in overdrive.”
“We fight. We can’t lose.”
They all looked at me in horror. All Alvida had a calm face.
“Nurse Alvida, what have you to say?”
The attention was redirected at her. She didn’t even buckle under the pressure.
“Olivia will be a vital asset to you if you go to war. If she trains herself enough, she can control about three hundred men at a time.”
There was a loud gasp, and everyone ogled Olivia.
She moved uncomfortably and finally hid her face in my chest.
I knew that she was strong, but I wasn’t going to put her through any more harm. She had done more than enough. I needed her to be strong enough to fight and protect herself if anything happened to me.
Nevertheless, I was determined to crush Jonas. He was going to pay for everything he had done…