“Oh, bloody feckin’ hell,” she whispered, closing her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose.
“Now, we don’t know for sure,” Trevor cautioned. “But there were strange intermittent signatures, like a helicopter trying to avoid radar, around the same time. The trajectory took them in that direction.”
“They’re already carvin’ him up in some lab, ain’t they?”
“We know no such thing, Aisling. You know the contingencies he laid out. It has not been two weeks yet—not even close. This bears the stench of a private operation, not an official military action. Meaning they would want to keep it a secret from Russian officials, too.”
She kept her eyes closed and pictured Tamsin’s sweet face, how she smiled over baby Maisie.
And how that happiness would likely never be her own to share.
Not now.
“So I just sit here wi’ my thumb up my arse?”
“For now, you wait for your orders. If the situation doesn’t change in two weeks, then you know what you have to do.”
“Yeah.” She ended the call and dropped her phone onto the bed, falling back on it to stare up at the ceiling.
Yer a feckin’ cruel one, Goddess. To put heaven so close to my grasp an’ then whisk it away like this. This is my penance for Maisie and Rupert gettin’ killed, and not catching that cunt yet, innit?
She never should have even entertained the possibility that she might one day have something passing for a “normal” life.
Luck like that never settled over her.
Ever.
And it damn sure looked like it never would now.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Ken
Ken never fell asleep, but he was glad Dewi did. Even in sleep, she looked troubled and he hated he was helpless to fix this for her.
He wished they could cancel the gathering that night but knew it had to happen.
For multiple reasons.
Barring the unlikely chance Peyton popped up before then, they had to designate an acting Pack Alpha and present a united front to the Enforcers, who would then help present a united front to the rest of the pack.
Ken now felt certain Peyton’s timing of the invitations wasn’t coincidental. He may not have known something would happen to him, but he damned sure prepared as if he suspected it might.
Slipping out of bed while Dewi still slept, Ken closed the bedroom door, walked out to the living room, and used that time to call Aisling and talk with her per his instructions.
It didn’t leave him feeling any better about the situation, either. He knew Peyton had his reasons for siloing the information the way he had, but he couldn’t help wondering how dark and devastating the information Aisling bore had to be for Peyton to keep it from Ken when in his brain he now held a shitload of knowledge he wished he’d never learned.
When Dewi woke up they took a quick shower and then Lyssa awakened, ready to nurse. Dewi was just finishing with her when Trent texted Ken that Beck was on his way over, and for them to please join them in the office in the main house.
Ken didn’t even have to tell Dewi. She glanced at him after he’d read the text, likely sensing his thoughts since he wasn’t shielding them from her. “Need to tell Beck, right?” she asked.
He nodded.
“Okay,” she quietly said as she stood, looking weary and aged in a way that hurt his heart. “Let’s do this.”
Ken picked up the baby carrier holding a sleeping Lyssa, while Dewi grabbed the diaper bag. Five minutes later, Gillian was watching Lyssa for them while Dewi and Ken gathered in the office with Trent, Badger, and Duncan. Beck arrived moments later after leaving Nami and the baby at Asia’s.
The shifter pulled up short in the office doorway as he scanned their faces. “What the hell happened?” he immediately asked.
