Chapter 60

ELLA

I woke up the next morning practically being crushed by Leo. His leg had found its way over my stomach, and his arms were wrapped firmly around me. Silas had somehow wriggled between us, and both of them were sleeping soundly.

I would have left them to sleep peacefully, but Leo’s leg was basically just one huge chunk of muscle and consequently incredibly heavy. He was also holding me in a way that trapped my hand, and the numbness was intense.

“Leo,” I said, prodding his cheek. “Leo.”

He grimaced and then slowly opened his eyes.

“Can you free me?” I asked. “Only I can’t breathe, and you’re lying on my hand.”

He smiled and rolled, placing his hand on Silas’s back so that he moved onto his chest and stayed completely dead to the world.

I was then able to sit up and yawn.

“Fuck,” I said, stretching my arms out, “I forgot how much room there isn’t on this sofa.”

Leo laughed. “At least we only had Silas tonight.”

“It’s six o’clock. Cato will be up and demanding breakfast soon,” I said, getting up and stumbling into the kitchen.

“That kid certainly has an appetite,” Leo replied.

“He’s grown about an inch in the last month. That’s probably why,” I said.

“I should get up too,” Leo said. “I’ve got to be at the base at seven o’clock.”

I looked at him and furrowed my eyebrows. “Why?”

“I realized in Seattle my men need more gun training,” he replied. “We need to be as good as Martinez’s men who have been using guns since before they could walk.”

I sighed. “Oh yes. The impending doom. How could I forget.”

“I’ll need to be there all day, so Max will be here, but I might come home at lunch,” he added.

I nodded as he stood up, Silas still in his arms.

“Now…what do I do with the sleeping child?” he asked.

I laughed. “Put him in his bed. Cato will undoubtedly wake him up within half an hour, but he looks too peaceful to wake now.”

Leo kissed him on the head before carrying him up the stairs, leaving me to start making enough pancake mix to feed an army of hungry children and one hungry alpha.

LEO

At seven o’clock sharp, my men were lined up neatly and silently at the training camp in the base, awaiting my instruction.

They had been given their guns weeks ago, but today was going to involve intensive practice, and they needed more ammunition.

So Blair, Luca, Ollie (the head army commander), a dozen other commanders, and I walked along the lines of soldiers, handing out magazines and cartridges.

“Today is going to be different from your usual training,” I said as I reached into the box and handed a soldier two magazines for his shotgun before moving on to the next. “Usually I look for improvement. Today, I want perfection.”

As I handed him his ammunition, one of the soldiers looked up at me, and I briefly made eye contact.

I vaguely recognized him from enrollment in the junior training program and into the army a few weeks ago, meaning he had only just turned seventeen.

His face was youthful, and his eyes nervous and jumpy. He was just a boy standing among all the other men.

I reached into the box and handed him an extra round.

“With hard work and practice, you will get there,” I said to the army but looked him in the eye with a reassuring smile.

I then continued along the line.

“There are five stations focusing on long-distance targets, moving targets, defending yourself from a shooter, fast reloading, and finally, shot-wound-focused first aid.

“You will spend two hours in each and at the end of the day will only be released if you have perfected all five,” I announced. “Anyone who hasn’t will stay until they have.”

Some of my men were deployed around the territory guarding the borders and outer villages in case of an attack, but that still left a thousand men here today.

That meant two hundred men at each station and the entire camp at maximum capacity. It was a large-scale operation, and within two minutes of ordering the men to the station, the place was filled with the firing of guns.

“Do you really think we’ll get them good enough in one day?” Blair asked me as we watched over.

“They’re all fit, young, intelligent, and disciplined,” I replied. “If we can be the best army in the world with knives and fists, we can do the same with guns.”

“But Martinez’s men have years on us,” he replied.

“Years of using guns, true. But they are just a gang of thugs. They don’t know teamwork and strategy and initiative. When the ammunition runs out, what will they do then? Who will have the upper hand?”

Blair nodded. “I hope you are right, Alpha.”

Rule number one of being the alpha: don’t show your fear.

I smiled and put my hand on his shoulder. “Now get back to training those men.”