Bronc scratched at his beard. “Basement of the compound gonna accommodate?”
Papa was all smiles. “We’ll have to take a closer look. Every underprivileged kid in Dairyville is gonna have toys out their wazzoos this year.”
We all laughed at that. It was nice that something good was happening in our world for once.
Bronc nodded, made a note. “Good. Check the Civic Center for staging if necessary. Let’s play it by ear. I’d prefer to keep it in the compound with all the nonsense going on, but we’ll roll with the punches. Talk to Ms. Pearl and Juliet to help coordinate.”
His eyes turned to me. “Speaking of nonsense. Wrecker, what’s happening with the Greenbriar problem?”
That was my cue. I stood. Every other eye at the table followed, some out of habit, some out of suspicion.
“Greenbriar thinks they’ve got it made,” I said. “They’re going to get more than they bargained for. I’ve got Parker set up to get micro-cameras and mics all over their compound.”
Arsenal’s lip curled. “You trust her?”
I didn’t blink. “I wouldn’t have brought her in and given her the equipment if I didn’t.”
He didn’t buy it. “You sure she’s not still running a side op for her brother?”
I could feel my hands clench. “There’s nothing in it for her to be doing anything for her brother. He fucking sold her out. She only wants to be sure he comes out of this alive, like any good sister would. I told her we’d pull him out when the time came. He’ll be dealt with then.”
The room went cold for a second, then Big Papa cleared his throat, low and gentle. “If it’s a trap, we got a contingency?”
“Have y’all heard a goddamn word I’ve said?” I was on a razor’s edge. “I built the program she’s running. If she didn’t have it, she’d be dead. Silas would end her. Without Iron Valor, she’s dead. What trap do you think she’s running?”
“She’s a fucking traitor,” Arsenal snarled. “I say she takes one step outa line, we end her.”
My wolf surged up, hotter than blood. I was across the table before I knew it. Arsenal rose to meet me, all wiry anger and sharpened teeth. We’d fought before. He had scars on his back to prove it.
Bronc’s voice dropped two octaves, that rare Alpha edge slicing through both of us. “Enough.”
We froze. I could feel the veins in my neck pulsing, the animal in me howling for release. But Bronc had command. Always did.
“Sit down,” he growled, to both of us.
We did. My hands shook. Arsenal wiped a fleck of spit from his chin.
Bronc eyed us like we were wayward kids, then cleared his throat. “Here’s what you all need to know, so we don’t kill each other before the real enemy does.”
He waited for silence. You could hear the pipes ticking in the wall.
“Parker’s not just some wayward pack member,” he said. “She’s Wrecker’smate.”
The words hit like a car crash. Arsenal’s jaw popped. Doc’s pen rolled off the legal pad and clattered to the floor. Even Big Papa leaned forward, one elbow on the table, a slow smile cracking his scarred face.
I wanted to tear Bronc’s throat out. This was my secret, my business. Not for the table.
“We respect mate bonds. Period.”
He continued. “This is not up for debate. If anyone has a problem with it, you talk tome.” He let his eyes settle on Papa, then Arsenal, then Doc, then me. “Otherwise, we follow the plan.”
Big Papa’s voice was the first to break the spell. “Mates are a gift,” he said, his preacher’s cadence cutting through the tension. “Even when they come wrapped in trouble. Even an ugly bastard like me has hopes that someday…” His voice filled with longing, trailed off.
There was a pause, then the table relaxed. Just a little. Arsenal flexed his hands, Doc scribbled something on his pad, and the world didn’t end. Not right then, anyway.
Bronc finished the briefing, the rest of it a blur. The routes, the signals, the fallback codes. It all faded into a white-noise hum. I was already thinking about Parker, about the enemy territory she was walking into, about the way she’d smiled when I showed her how to activate the micro-cams.
When the meeting broke, Bronc caught my arm, squeezed once.
