She swallowed hard. “Fine. But you need to get Axel out, too. Or there’s no deal.”
I considered it. “If you help me burn Greenbriar to the ground, I’ll get your brother out. But you fuck up once—”
“I won’t,” she said, and for once, I believed her. I believed she was going to do her damnedest to make this work. The thought of anything happening to her sent my wolf into a fit. We had to be sure she’d be safe.
I grabbed a notepad and pen from the coffee table and slid them to her.
“I don’t have stuff committed to memory. Come over to my office nook.” She headed over and opened her laptop.
I watched. Every time her eyes flicked up to mine, it was like she was measuring out the weight of her own grave.
“Why didn’t you just come to Bronc?” I asked again, not expecting a real answer.
She paused after getting logged in. “Because I didn’t want to owe anybody. Not even him.”
That stung in its own way. “We all owe somebody,” I said. “That’s how packs work. That’s how families work.”
She didn’t reply, just grabbed the legal pad and started writing.
“I haven’t been inside any of the Greenbriar systems in weeks. It’s possible that some or all of these passwords have changed. If they have, at least you have a jumping-off point.” She continued to write.
I poured two more cups of coffee. We drank in silence, the only sound the scratch of her pen and the tick of the fridge. I watched the sun finish clawing up the wall. Watched the way the light caught her face and made her look older than she was, more tired. Like the world had already chewed her up and was just waiting for the right time to spit her out.
“Silas is a coward,” I said. “He won’t come at us directly.”
She nodded. “He’ll use proxies. Always does.”
“He’s already got eyes on you. Probably has a tail out back right now.”
“I don’t think he’s gone that far yet,” she said, voice flat. “But fuck him if he does.”
“That’s my girl.”
She finished the notepad, tore the sheet, and handed it to me. Her hands were still trembling.
I folded the paper and tucked it in my pocket. “You need a safehouse?”
She almost laughed. “If he thinks I’ve gone into hiding, I’m as good as dead. You think you can keep me safe?”
I thought about the pack house. The vault in the basement. I thought about what Bronc would say, and then what I’d do, anyway.
“Yeah,” I said. “I do.”
She let out a breath. “What now?”
“Now you go to work. Act normal. I’ll handle the rest.”
She blinked. “You’re just going to leave?”
I nodded. “I’ll be watching, Wren. But if you need me, you know how to find me.” I hated that I was 30 minutes out. But I needed to be in my tech room with my equipment.
She watched me, those electric blue eyes, trying to read the part of me that wasn’t there. “Why are you doing this? Why not just burn me and move in on Greenbriar?” she asked.
I looked at her, really looked, and saw the truth in it. “Because you’re mine,” I said, “and I protect what’s mine. And when we take out Greenbriar, we’re taking it all the way out. We have to be thorough, know all the moving parts.”
She didn’t answer. Didn’t need to.
I walked to the door, pulled on my boots, and left.
