Chapter 28

As soon as I approached the group, Adrian and Sean shifted all their attention to me, ignoring the other deltas.

Maya’s expression darkened even further. I could almost feel it radiating toward me from across the room.

“Adrian,” I said, “I’m assuming you’d like to join the meeting as well?” He nodded. “Great,” I continued. “Sean, are you okay with taking this outside? We can walk the paths on the grounds while we talk?”

Both Adrian and Sean looked relieved at the idea of escaping the swarm of others around us.

We walked outside into crisp afternoon sunlight. I breathed deeply. Again, my nausea and headaches suddenly felt better than they had. Was it Adrian?

We formed an easy group. Adrian held back half a step so Sean and I could walk side by side on the path. It was comfortable, though, having him fall into step behind us.

“I’d like to hear more about your ideas for the school. I was excited about the idea after talking to you, but Adrian was raving about you and your plans even more on the drive over. I’ll warn you, I’ve been told I’m hard to work with, but I can’t help it. I just like things to be right.”

“The pack school has been a dream of mine for years. The planning has been in place as long. To be honest with you, party of me is anxious at the idea of bringing in a partner at this relatively late stage in the process. We’re aiming to open next spring, so we’re going to start an enrollment lottery next week.”

I breathed in deeply, then exhaled before I continued. I needed to hold my voice steady. Retain my cool composure rather than getting emotional about what this meant to me.

“But the possibility of doing something no one has done before to advance inter-pack relations,” I continued, “is enticing. As is the idea of the legacy we could leave. It’s huge, and I think we can do it.”

“Have you already broken ground,” Sean asked quickly? “What are the enrollment numbers and how much extra room do you have? How far have you gotten with staffing? Can we double the volume without delays?”

He was asking all questions I’d been thinking about since our conversation last night. I had a plan for everything.

We were due to start construction next week, but we had plenty of land, so if we got the architect to rush an extension and paid for expedited permits, it was possible. And we’d already budgeted 30% potential growth in the enrollment numbers we’d considered, so we already had some potential growth built in.

I’d had many more applicants for staff than we’d been able to accommodate and I’d kept their applications on file, so I thought we could adjust staffing quite quickly.

I told him so.

He nodded slowly as we talked, seeming impressed with the thoroughness of my answers.

“And how about the budget?”

I explained my process and gave him the estimates for his share and how we could work the cost breakdown.

He asked more and more follow up questions, but I never lost the flow of conversation. I had an answer to everything.

Yes, he was exacting, but nothing was wasted. Every question had a specific and important purpose. Yeah, maybe he wouldn’t be the easiest to work with, but he would be a great long-term partner.

We continued planning, finding each other’s rhythm as we did.

Adrian remained almost silent.

I felt warmth at my back where it felt like he was watching me.

It seemed that he approved of how I was doing; how the conversation was going. But why was he still here in the first place?

We completed our loop of the path and lingered outside the front door. Sean clasped my hand tightly.

“Okay,” he said. “This is going to work well. I’ll see you for the budget meeting on Monday. You pull that report on staffing budget levels and introduce me to the architect and I’ll oversee the revised plan.”

“Sounds good,” I replied. “And I’ll notify the planning commission that the permits are going to change and we’ll need to expedite the new set of planning documents as well.”

Sean nodded slowly. It looked like he was going to say something else, then he smiled and nodded again.

Pride warmed my chest.

It didn’t seem like he was used to working with people he didn’t need to micromanage.

He walked toward his car, but Adrian didn’t follow. Sean said nothing, and I wondered if this had been part of the plan.

Adrian gently grasped my forearm and nodded back into the woods. I followed him there.

“I didn’t tell you everything last night,” he said in hushed tones. “I wanted to spend a little more time with you first. The rogues have been functioning almost as an organized pack—”

“A pack?” I interrupted. “But that’s never been the case before. They’ve always acted in isolation.”

“I know. That’s part of why it’s so concerning. The other problem is that they’re clearly organizing around an effective leader. I’ve heard rumors about what the leader is like, but all the reports contradict each other. The only thing I know for sure is that it’s effective. The other thing is that there have been several attacks on female members of mine and other packs throughout the region. I’ve heard things—whisperings when I’ve been visiting the other packs—that they’re searching for a certain gift. Something that only appears among female werewolves.”

“What could that be? And what could they possibly do with that kind of power?”

“I think that says more about the leader than anything else. The rogues have never been seen to be seeking anything more serious from the packs than supplies. It’s been such petty crime up to now. What they’re doing now is something different, suggesting that they’re organizing around someone more powerful than any of us have ever encountered.”

“And they’re getting information from inside our packs.”

“Exactly. I don’t know how, but there’s a traitor. Or more likely traitors. The attacks on small groups while driving on trips that weren’t planned in advance couldn’t have happened without someone on the inside.”

“So it’s a network of spies; not a single entity.”

“Exactly.”

I nodded, worrying about what all this meant. What wasn’t clear was why he was telling me about it. I’d started to investigate, yes, but I wasn’t nearly important enough to make sense as Adrian’s partner in the investigation.

“I’m going to sneak into the rogues’ camp and see what I can find out about them, and especially about the leader,” he said. His voice was even, but with an undercurrent of excitement. “I need to know more about what they’re doing out there. Want to come with me?”

I hesitated. On one hand, this was exactly the distraction I needed. And I desperately wanted to protect the pack: figure out what was happening and why. But I shouldn’t say yes to doing something dangerous with the pregnancy.

I paused, but the glimmer of excitement won out. I’d be careful.

But I wanted to go with him.

To be a part of the mission.