“I didn’t think so. If you’d be so kind,” she added, back to the polite host she’d been at the start of their meeting, as though none of the last five minutes had happened. “I’d like you to tell us exactly what it is Cole would be expected to do.”
Cole, his mum, and his dad sat and listened for the next forty minutes as Logan gave them a thorough explanation of everything that Paul’s team did.
The lead weight in Cole’s stomach got heavier with each sentence, dread engulfing him like a big black cloud.
I don’t want this.
I don’t want to spy on complete strangers, let alone people I used to know and go to uni with.
And that wasn’t even the worst part.
If, God forbid, they found evidence to suggest someone was working against the government, he’d be expected to arrest, detain, and interrogate them until they got to the truth.
Cole ran a hand through his hair, gripping the strands hard enough to make his eyes water.
No.No, no, no.
“I don’t know the first thing about interrogating someone.” He sounded desperate and frightened, but there was no way he could hide it.
The look of pity Logan shot him made him feel ten times worse. “They’ll teach you everything you need to know.”
“I don’t want to fucking learn!” Cole paced about the kitchen, frantically thinking of some way out of this. “I didn’t go to college for five fucking years to be someone’s trained thug.”
His mum had started to cry. She sat with his dad’s arm tight around her, the sight making Cole stop in his tracks.
He was making this worse for them. So much worse.
His heart raced, palms were sweaty, but he forced himself to breathe in and out slowly. Forced himself to calm down.
After all, there was nothing any of them could do to prevent this. Was there?
“Can I ask other packs to take me?” he took the seat next to Logan again, hands clasped tightly together in his lap to stop them shaking. “There’s got to be more than just yours who were interested.”
“There was plenty of interest. I’m not privy to what goes on between alphas. But if you haven’t had any offers yet, then I suspect McKillan has made a deal with those alphas already.”
Motherfucker.
Cole had suspected as much, but hearing it confirmed sucked.
“There must be something we can do?” he muttered, more to himself than Logan.
Even as the thought entered his head, he knew it was hopeless. Of course people had tried to run away before, but they always got caught. The punishments varied, but each one was forced to join the pack they’d run from and immediately take the bite. That way the alpha’s commands were nigh on impossible to ignore.
And those that didn’t get caught just disappeared.
Presumed dead.
Was Paul’s team responsible for that? Would Cole be expected to hunt people down and kill them?
He wanted to cry. Wanted to break down right there and then, but he couldn’t put his parents through that.
This had been bad enough.
He needed to get out of there. There were things he wanted to ask Logan, things he needed the blunt truth about, but he didn’t want to ask in front of his mum.
“Can we go for a walk?”
“What?” Logan looked over at him, surprised. “There’s still some things we need to discuss.”
