The Silver Guardian Bk. 02 Ch. 01

Hello all and welcome to Book 2 of the Silver Guardian series! This book will be focusing on Lily's pregnancy and birth along with the upcoming war between the factions of the North America lycans. It is a whirlwind of a book and will be moving fast with lots of action and plot development. I've taken the feedback I received regarding Book 1 and have tried to apply much of it to this book. This is my own personal work and I do not give permission for part or all of it to be reproduced or posted anywhere else without my explicit permission. As always I want to give a huge thank you and shout out to my incredible editor Tex Beethoven for the collaboration we have done and continue to do on this story series and all of the help and support he has given me. I also want to thank my amazing wife for her love and support, pushing me to write this and put a story to paper for the first time. I hope you all enjoy and remember to vote and leave feedback and comments on every chapter, thank you!

The Silver Guardian

Book 2

Chapter 1

Lily couldn't think, there was too much going on and she couldn't slow her racing thoughts. This wasn't ever supposed to happen! Chaos was all around as Viktor Petrov's forces were swarming the meeting room and blood was everywhere, on the walls, the floor and covering many of the combatants on both sides of the battle across their chests and arms. Lily was shaking helplessly as she looked down and saw Dante gasping ineffectually, blood frothing from his mouth. The cause was tragically apparent since the dagger was still sticking out of the left side of his chest where it had punctured his lung. It was draining his lifeblood, stealing the oxygen that was keeping him alive for just a little while longer.

Lily was holding his head in her lap as blood covered her hands and arms, as Dante became more and more pale, nearing his final moments. A wolf was approaching Lily from her right, bearing down on her with a dagger to finish the job, to take out both the Silver Guardian and his Great Love. Lily reached around and pulled her Kimber from her back, placing two rounds into the assailant's head as she snarled in rage.

Lily re-holstered her gun and looked back down at Dante as his trembling hand reached up to brush across her face before it went slack, a final loving caress before the last shuddering breath left Dante's lips.

A primal and raw blood-curdling scream tore itself from her lips, shaking the entire conference room. Lily's vision tunneled and her mind splintered, not believing this could conceivably be real, and her arms and hands began to shake as she gripped her hands in tight fists, her fingernails cutting into her palms, making blood drip from her hands. A flash of blue-white light illuminated the room, blinding Lily and everyone else, overwhelming her vision...

Lily bolted upright in bed gasping and shaking. The scream had been real, everything else but a nightmare, but nevertheless she wept uncontrollably at what she had just experienced. She felt strong arms, familiar arms, loving arms, but best of all, arms that were alive! They encircled her and slowly calmed her as she breathed in her mate's scent and felt the warmth of his body and his love seep into her, grounding her in the present.

Dante spoke softly, tenderly, "The dream again, love?"

Lily shook her head, unable to speak just yet, taking deep breaths and slowing down her racing mind and emotions. Dante rubbed his hands up and down her arms and chest, bringing her back to the real world.

"I know this has to be a warning from Luna my love, but I swear to you I will not be taken, and our life together will not end like this. You must believe me Lily, we can change what you have seen, or maybe we don't understand it fully, but this doesn't mean that's how it's going to turn out, my love. Luna would not be sending you this prophecy if there were nothing we could do to prevent it, you have to believe me, please!"

Lily reached up and wiped the tears from her eyes and turned, nuzzling her face into the crook of Dante's neck, breathing in his scent deeply.

"I believe you Dante, and you must be right about Luna's intent, but it is so horrible whenever I see that vision! Everything I hold dear is ripped away from me, and seeing you gasping your final blood-soaked breath and dying in my arms is far too much, I can't take it!" she shuddered and pulled herself tighter into him.

"We have to change this fate Dante, this can't be all that there is to it, I just know it can't end this way, it mustn't!"

Ever since Lily's first sonogram two weeks ago she had begun having nightmarish visions in her sleep, experiencing terrible things that haunted her dreams and troubled her waking moments as she tried endlessly to decipher what they meant. War, death, fear and darkness were the common themes, and lately it had predominantly been the one with her holding a dying Dante in a conference room during an attack, tormented by her helplessness to save him.

Lily didn't know why Luna had been sending her these visions, but strange things had begun to happen ever since she had learned during her first sonogram that she was having twins. It was well known that the cycles of womanhood were influenced by the moon, and in some ways she did feel more attuned to her Goddess during her time of gravidity, and she was trying to shoulder whatever responsibility Luna was placing on her. She felt confident that Luna was offering them tools to overcome this upcoming crisis with the forces of Viktor Petrov, which was so obvious that it didn't require divine messages to predict, but the mystery of what Luna was trying to tell her was grinding her down. She felt like her soul was constantly becoming blistered, and she just had to survive until the callouses had built up and she was tough enough to shoulder these prophetic visions.

Lily crawled out of bed and walked unsteadily to the bathroom in their suite at the compound. It was early morning, only about 4am, but she was wide awake and couldn't return to sleep after what she had experienced during what was supposed to be a time of rest and rejuvenation. Dante walked behind her, prepared to offer whatever support may be required, then turned on the shower heads in the walk-in shower to a steamy hot setting for them to wake up and prepare themselves for the day. Since they habitually slept naked, they walked right into the hot water, soaking their bodies and warming them up, letting the heat soak into their bones. Dante stepped close behind Lily, taking some shampoo and started working it into her scalp and hair as the sound of the music that Dante had put on filtered through the noise of the water. Shinedown's "45" streamed in as the somber attitude was left in place, letting Lily try to work through it.

... And I'm staring down the barrel of a 45,

Swimming through the ashes of another life

No real reason to accept the way things have changed

Staring down the barrel of a 45...

... Send a message to the unborn child

Keep your eyes open for a while...

The lyrics drifted through Lily's thoughts as she let her emotions of disaster bleed out of her and let her fears wash away with the water, firming up her hold on her emotions.

Lily and Dante finished their shower and turned off the water, walking out before grabbing towels and drying themselves and heading to their luxurious his and her sinks to start getting ready. Dante grabbed his shaving equipment, an old fashioned straight razor with a silvertip badger brush and pewter hand dish. He scooped out some shaving cream and after soaking the shaving brush in hot water, he worked the cream into a rich lather before applying it to his face. He opened up his Dovo straight razor and ran it up and down on the leather strop attached to his sink, preparing to shave. A few minutes later he was once again clean shaven as he cleaned up his gear and stowed it back in its place beneath the marble countertop.

Dante looked over and saw that Lily had brushed out her hair and dried it and was applying her makeup for the day. He stepped behind her and nestled his member between the luscious globes of her ass as he leaned down and gently kissed his way up her neck, looking into the mirror at Lily's eyes, that had closed while she inhaled deeply.

"It's going to be okay Lily, we shall face whatever comes together, and together we shall get through anything that Luna deems necessary for us to face. Believe my love, we must believe and trust in our Mistress." Dante whispered into her ear.

Lily opened her eyes, staring back into her mate's in the mirror before her face hardened and she shook her head.

"I do my love, and I will. I'm strong enough to endure this, I will not let you or myself down, let alone our Mistress. Despite my hysteria when I awake, I am weathering this, and will use it to keep us ahead of our enemies." Lily paused and turned to look at Dante, "When and where is our next meeting with our allies?"

Dante grinned, seeing her shake herself out of the funk she'd been in since waking up. "It's tomorrow, and we're heading to the Crater Moon Pack's territory in Idaho." Dante paused to let that sink in, since it was still early, and he wanted to make sure Lily was following him. "We'll be leaving tomorrow morning for a short flight from Glacier Park Airport out to Idaho, landing on a small and nearly unknown private airfield near Pocatello, since the Crater Moon Pack is outside that town near the Craters of the Moon National Preserve."

Lily nodded, "We'll be discussing what we have collected and found about Viktor and his allies, right?"

Dante nodded his head as his eyes narrowed, "Yes, and so far from our end we have learned quite a bit, and it is definitely something we all need to talk about. We are getting the sense that this is going to be harder than we first expected: he is connected to everyone and has his hands in everything. The deeper we dig, the larger the reach that we discover he has."

Lily turned to Dante, her large bare breasts jiggling as she did, drawing Dante's eyes like moths to flames. Lily smirked but had something serious to say to him, so she snapped her fingers near her cleavage and pointed a forefinger up towards her face. Dante grinned as he looked into her eyes, but composed himself when he saw she was serious.

"Given how frequently this vision has been coming to me lately, I want us to go heavily armed tomorrow. Bring Twin Moons along and pack my Kimber and my daggers, we want to take no chances here."

Dante nodded his agreement, "Understood baby, and I think that's a smart move anyway. Since we'll be going on a private jet, we can enter the airfield through a private terminal and avoid the normal TSA checks at Glacier Park. So carry-on weapons shouldn't be a problem for us, and since we'll be landing on a private airfield controlled by the Crater Moon Pack, we won't have to worry about anything on that end either."

Lily and Dante headed into the bedroom and got dressed for some combat training. It was early enough that they could head into the woods and get some training in before heading to the dining hall for breakfast. Dante was in his military boots, dark tan cargo pants, tight black t-shirt and his Twin Moons strapped to his back, with his Spartans in their cross-draw holster at the small of his back. Lily was in a tight red sports bra and form-fitting black cargo pants and boots as well. She carried her Kimber Custom Carry in her cross-draw holster at the small of her back, and her daggers on her hips.

A short time later found them in a glade outside the compound, the clang of steel ringing through the trees as the loving couple traded blows in a furious exchange of speed and grace as Lily danced around her mate, striking with blinding speed as Dante bobbed and weaved, slicing his blades through the air, blocking and countering the assault of Lily's daggers that threatened to bite deep into his flesh if he was even a split second late or momentarily distracted. For the next hour, the clash of steel accompanied by their grunts could be heard deep in the woods outside of the compound.

When they were finished with their morning workout, they returned to the compound and changed before heading to breakfast in the dining hall. The day flew by as they dealt with training, Pack matters and their other duties. Evening found them packing for the next morning, getting ready to head to the Crater Moon Pack in Idaho.

***

Dante stepped down the stairs of the Learjet, the sun shining bright in his face as he reached up and donned his sunglasses as he reached the tarmac. Lily was trailing immediately behind him as the rest of the envoys from the O'Connor Pack deplaned and proceeded towards the two dark SUV's waiting to take them to the Crater Moon Pack compound outside of Crater of the Moon Preserve, where deep in the woods lived the majority of this Idaho Pack. Lily and Dante climbed into one SUV with Ben and Sarah, while Odin and Victoria and two O'Connor Enforcers loaded into the other. Damian Grant, Alpha Thomas' brother and his current Level 5 Beta was in the lead SUV with Lily and Dante leading them to the compound, which was about 45 minutes away. Low key chit chat just catching up, went on on between everyone in the vehicle but nothing major was discussed, everyone waiting for a secure room at the compound and the presence of the other participating Packs to go into any details.

A short time later, the convoy was driving down a dirt road in the forest alongside the Snake River, heading towards the main Pack House. About 10 minutes later the large wooden cabin-style Pack House loomed into view. It was a grand structure in the form of a very large two-story lodge that housed the majority of the Pack. Like the Pack House of the O'Connor Pack, it contained conference rooms (where they would soon wind up), dining hall, kitchen, offices, and many living quarters where about 75% of the Pack living in the compound stayed. Some families had individual cabins, but the Crater Moon Pack was smaller than the O'Connor Pack and didn't need quite as large of a compound, so a good portion lived in the Pack House.

The O'Connor delegation disembarked to see Alpha Thomas Grant and his mate Madame Alpha Rebecca Grant waiting for them in front of the Pack House with around 10 other wolves, clearly Betas and Enforcers. Victoria and Odin joined Lily and Dante at the head of the delegation as they approached.

Dante greeted Thomas and Rebecca as they arrived, "Thomas and Rebecca, it is good to see you again, and I hope our council goes smoothly this visit. There is much to discuss."

Thomas smiled as he shook Dante's hand before moving on to Lily, Victoria and Odin, with Rebecca following and bestowing friendly hugs.

"It is good to see you as well Dante, as it is to see everyone else here safely too. We can't be too careful right now, it's been a tad over 2 months since the Conclave and I can't imagine Viktor waiting much longer before we see some initial move from him and his allies. I can't conceive of what that initial move will be, but it's something we all need to be thinking of." Thomas responded.

Rebecca picked up where Thomas left off, "Let's all go into the Dining Hall for lunch, it's nearly noon, and the food will be served soon. Lisette and her delegation, and Jerome and his, are here already and waiting for us. Our Head Chef has prepared a delicious meal of Elk steaks with twice baked potatoes and fresh asparagus for us all to enjoy; I promise it will be delicious!"

Lily smiled at Rebecca, "That sounds amazing, I know we're all hungry after our travels this morning. We'll get to the meeting after we eat, and then we can pick up where we left off last month."

Lunch was spectacular, everyone was pleased with the delicious offering, and they soon moved to a very large conference room that held a large table with about 30 chairs placed around it. Since Dante and Lily were the leaders of this gathering, and were the Prophesized Pair that the entire Lycan world had been awaiting, they sat together at the head of the assembly with the other Alpha Pairs and Betas and Enforcers gathered around them at the table.

Dante led off the discussion, "We have all been looking into Viktor and his allies and I am sure we've all learned some things, which are what we are here to discuss. The more we dig into his past, his current dealings, and his business and financials, the more we learn just how well-connected this man is. Because of his ambitions, that makes him dangerous; he has resources and connections greater than any other Alpha in North America. He has ties with Russia of course, as well as with other Packs in Eurasia and the UK, and is a formidable opponent." Dante paused as he looked around the table, making eye contact with everyone.

"We know from the financial investigation Lily conducted that he has a net worth of around $5 billion from his heavy involvement in Wall Street, heavy arms, industry, and shipping. Since he's on the East Coast, much of this makes sense. It also means that he has the infrastructure to move personnel and gear anywhere and everywhere. We believe that most if not all of the Rogue activity we have seen in our own lands and those we have heard of in other territories, is all directly coordinated by Viktor."

Dante paused again, waiting to see if anyone had something to add; when it was clear they did not, he continued.

"It took us far too long, but we finally located the den where the 20 rogues who attacked me last autumn had stashed all of their belongings before changing. It was in a small overgrown cave about 20 miles north of where the attack happened. Many did not leave any identification, although some did. The ones we have been able to identify were from New York, which of course points directly to Viktor. What his goal was we can only guess, but myself, my mate and Alpha Odin and Madame Alpha Victoria believe that they wanted to kidnap one or more of our wolves to interrogate about the details and structure of our Pack and our compound. Perhaps this was to try to replicate the attack against us in the Eradication War, but for now that's only speculation. Late last week Lily did find some worrying information though, that needs to be discussed immediately. Lily baby, would you please tell our allies what you found?"

Lily cleared her throat before she started in, "Thanks to some software Dante developed as well as my own resources, we found that a $500,000 wire transfer was sent to the Cayman Islands to a known offshore account that is typically not in use under Viktor's normal dealings. We think this may be a payoff to a person or persons with hostile intent against us. We don't know for certain whether this is what it's for, but the warning signs are there, and we all need to increase our vigilance even more for the next several weeks to see what, if anything, develops. It's now the middle of February and we think that something could possibly happen as early as the next week or two, so February could end up bloody and dangerous if we don't take steps here and now."

The next hour was spent going over more intelligence that had been gathered by the allied Packs and the various impressions and speculations everyone had. They decided on a concrete plan for Dante and Lily to start visiting more Packs that they knew would likely side with them in this conflict or could potentially be swayed to do so. These included old ties to the current allies in this room, as well as neutral Packs, and adjoining Packs sharing common borders and territories. Dante and Lily would start visiting them soon, trying to build a shadow council of their own, and a sisterhood of Packs that would fight to change the status quo and see the first steps of the Prophesy begin to be fulfilled.