Finding Forgiveness

I could hear his heart begin to pound as I looked up to his face. His eyes were flickering madly as he stared straight down.

“Fuck,” he said suddenly dropping the brush and grabbing his phone.

“What?” I asked.

“The commanders. Last week my head five commanders were attacked in their homes. We thought Martinez was trying to convert them to his side but we knew he is smarter than that to think that would work. There was another reason for him to do it and I have a really bad feeling about what it is,” he said dialling a number.

There was a split second of ignorant bliss before I realised what he was suggesting and my heart began to pound just as his was.

“You mean-” I began but before I could finish my sentence a crashing, booming bang sounded throughout the entire forest.

The trees outside shuddered with its sheer force as I felt it’s shock waves tremble through the brick walls of the house, shaking the lights and creaking the floorboards as it took hold.

I brought a shaking hand over my mouth as I slowly got to my feet, unable to take my eyes off the hell that had been unleashed outside.

As swirling towers of flame rose up the forest became consumed and the sky ablaze with bright reds and yellows. But as the thick black plumes of smoke billowed up too, it was masked in a thick haze of ash, creating a deep blazing orange like a doomsday inferno.

Leo’s phone still rang.

But there was no answer.

“He came to our house too,” he said in a deep, serious tone, as the phone went to the voicemail ofEduardo Siciliano, one of the commanders who had been attacked by Andrea, “We need to get you and the kids out of here. Now.”

But the fire had me in a trance. I couldn’t take my eyes off it as the reality blatantly refused to sink in.

“Ella,” he said marching over and grabbing his hand. “It’s begun.”

I shook my head in denial, “No.”

“My head commanders are probably all dead, there could be a bomb in this house and we have six children still sleeping in their beds. I need you to shut off your emotions and help me get you all to safety,” he said shaking my shoulders, “Come on. You’re stronger than this.”

With that, I snapped my eyes from the burning forest and nodded as his phone began to ring.

“Answer it,” I said, “You focus on being Alpha. I’ll get the kids out of bed.”

He gave me a small encouraging smile before his face straightened again and het turned to answer his phone whilst I turned to the hallway, marching to the kids’ bedrooms.

It’s begun.

We don’t have time to be scared.

And I am stronger than this.

The bombs were heard all over the territory. The fires were visible for miles and the fallen ash settled on the ground even in the most far fetched corners.

The soldiers flocked to the army centre and now I was stood amongst a crowd of thousands of whispering men awaiting an explanation.Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

I held my hand up, ordering a silence which instantly swept over the entire army.

“I’m sure all of you heard the explosions. And before rumours spread and the truth is distorted, I better inform you of the truth,” I began, speaking loudly so all could hear, “Tonight at quarter past midnight, bombs planted by Andrea Martinez were detonated in the homes of Commanders Eduardo Siciliano, Paulo Salvatore, Mario Rossi, Emiliano Fruili and Rafaello Carlucci. They and their families were all killed.”

I had every single set of eyes on me as a deadly silence took hold. Only the crackling of the distant fires and cries of wild animals trapped in the flames could be heard.

“And whilst this is a huge tragedy for the Stella pack and those men will not be forgotten, we have no time to grieve. We have already lost too many lives at the hands of Andrea Martinez and for now the mourning and funerals will have to wait. We will honour the deaths in another way: by taking him down once. By protecting our civilians, our children, our mates, our elderly and our sick.

There was a cheer of support throughout the army.

“Martinez has shown us tonight that he wants to play dirty,” I continued, “So fine. We will do this his way. That means we will show no mercy, we will take no prisoners, there will be no rules and no tactics will be considered too brutal. This will be like no war we have ever fought before but we will carry the same Stella strength, bravery, resistance and resilience that has taken us to victory time and time and time again. We have never been defeated before and if Martinez thinks his bombs and machine guns can, he is gravely mistaken. That fucker is a dead man. He has been since he first set eyes on my Luna all those months ago and his inevitable fate is long overdue.”

There was another cheer. This time louder and more passionate.

“We may have lost our head commanders,” I added, “Five strong, skilled, intelligent, cunning warriors. But it’s going to take far more than that to bring the Stella pack down and I’m sure their deputies will do them proud in stepping up to fill their roles and lead our squadrons to victory. So arm up, soldiers and prepare for battle. Your seniors will deliver your first orders shortly.”

With that, they all disbanded, with lary shouts and applause.

But I couldn’t bring myself to smile and cheer like they did. My speech had been a success. I needed to keep up the morale if we are to stand a chance but with the sky still aglow with the blaze of the explosions, the victory I talked of wasn’t in sight. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

I marched over to Blair who stood briefing the five deputy head commanders, now just the head commanders. Their faces were all paled, probably the shock of losing their bosses or maybe the immense pressure they suddenly had on their soldiers.

But Blair and I had devised a plan for each of the five divisions they commanded. All they needed to do was carry out my orders.

“So in summary,” Blair began, “Division one: border defence. Bombs on the roads, machine guns hidden in the trees, Patrols covering every single possible entrance. That includes Seattle and the airport.

Division two: base defence. The fortification is nearly complete. There are towers to position snipers and machine guns. Soldiers on patrolling the walls are to be unarmed with additional hand grenades. Scouts with communication devices are to be position a mile around the base ready to feedback information and stop them before they get anywhere near the civilians.

Division three: targetting Martinez. Your job is simple. Track the bastard down and kill him. But simple doesn’t mean easy. He’s sly and cunning. We know he’s not easy to find. But the men in division three are the only soldiers permitted to delay the deaths of Martinez’s men. Get information out of them. They are weak-willed, disloyal and will spill without much effort. That’s Martinez’s greatest weakness and you will exploit the fuck out of it. Some of them won’t know a word of English but you have recording devices and a system to send files back to translators. Use it.

Division four: Second line of defence. You will be between the borders and the base hunting down and killing Martinez’s soldiers by any means you can. Explosives, machine guns, snipers, hand grenades. You have free reign over the armoury.

Division five: For now you will join division four. But as the situation develops and we know more about Martinez’s tactics, your role will become more apparent. You are crucial to the plan to adapt to whatever Martinez hits us with. Remember we are going into this with very little information. We have no idea what to expect.”

They all nodded.

“Anything to add Alpha?” Blair asked turning to me.

“Division three. If you have the chance, make his death as slow and painful as possible,” I said, “Make him suffer.”

“But I assume that means that an opportunity to kill him shouldn’t be missed on the grounds of being too merciful,” Blair said.

“No,” I said through gritted teeth, “His heart stopping is your priority. If that means he doesn’t suffer before it beats for the last time, I will at least take some satisfaction in knowing he will still suffer in hell.”

Half an hour later, I was watching as the divisions disbanded to fulfil their allocated roles.

“Elena, Maria, Allison,” I said calling over my sisters and their best friend.

Since the war against Haden’s pack years ago, they’d stayed members of the army and trained alongside our brothers. They were incredible soldiers, just like the other one hundred women that had been recruited in the last few years since the policy changed to allow any woman who can pass the physical tests to join. They were still a minority and Ella still considered the tests unfair on the female body but they are there to ensure a soldier is up to standard and ultimately to ensure their safety. I wasn’t going to let anyone I didn’t think was strong enough fight. Same goes for the men. And they are welcome to train hard as they like in the civilian training centre until they can pass the tests.

They responded to my call and approached me.

Maria’s bows and arrows had been replaced by a sniper and bullets. Elena gripped a gun as long as her arm whilst Allison carried a box of explosives.

“I know you don’t like being coddled or treated differently to any other soldiers on the grounds of being women or my sisters but…” I began, “You know what happened to Ella. You know these men have no morals. Keep your guards up.”

Elena nodded, “Don’t worry, Leo. If you thought Maria was dangerous with that bow you should see her with a sniper.”

I smiled, “I know. I certainly wouldn’t mess with you three. But just be careful and look out for each other,” I said.

They nodded before Elena and Maria gave me a quick hug before continuing with their preparations.