Michael tore his gaze away from Isaac to face his brother. “Yes. Nothing obvious to start with until we have a solid plan in place, but there’s no reason they can’t start feeling people out, get more of an idea who we can hopefully count on when it comes to it.”
Isaac wondered just how many CEG members the McKillan pack had. And did Michael know all of them? It would make sense that he did. How else would he be able to protect them and not inadvertently out them to the rest of the pack?
Michael drew a line under Paul’s name, then began to list the members of the HRU.
It took the rest of the afternoon and into the evening to go through the McKillan pack members. Isaac left halfway through to go attend to pack matters, and by the time he returned, the sun sat low in the sky and the air in the cave was considerably cooler.
After lighting the firepit again, Isaac set all the food he’d brought down with him on one of the tables.
Logan came over to him to help. “How come we haven’t met any of your pack yet?”
“You’ve met Sam,” Isaac replied, smirking when Logan glanced over to where Sam stood at the mouth of the cave talking to Aaron.
“A fact that Aaron seems to be enjoying more than anyone else.” He frowned, and Isaac raised an eyebrow.
“You don’t approve?”
Logan sighed and rubbed at the back of his neck.
“It’s not that.” Logan’s gaze was drawn to them again when Aaron’s laughter filtered back into the cave. “We don’t know what’s going to happen.” He bit his lip, anxiety and despair easy for Isaac to pick up.
Ahh.
People might die.
“Surely now’s the time to seize any chance at happiness we can find?” Even as he said it, Isaac realised what a hypocrite that made him.
Am I seizing the moment with Michael?
No.
I told him we needed to take things slowly.
But Aaron and Sam had none of the history that he had with Michael.
Logan dragged the toe of his boot along the sand. “I guess. I’m probably reading too much into it anyway.”
Aaron’s laughter sounded again, and Isaac ducked his head to hide his smirk. “Probably.”
“What about the rest of your pack?” Logan asked, clearly not deterred by Isaac’s previous answer. “Where are they all?”
Isaac stopped what he was doing and leant back, perching on a table behind him. “While the HRU visit hangs over our head, I want to keep my pack as separate from you as I can. The less they know, the less they have to hide. We have enough to keep secret without adding to it.”
“Fair enough.” Logan smiled as Cole joined them. He didn’t touch Logan but stood close enough that barely any space separated them. Everything about them screamedmate.
Isaac tried not to imagine what might happen if... He shook his head.
Not going there.
“How big is your pack?” Cole asked.
Isaac smiled. “Not anywhere near the size of the McKillan pack. I have one beta, Callum, who’s been with me since the start, and twenty other pack members.”
He laughed at the expressions on their faces. “We’re on the coast, away from everything. It’s not like the population is huge around here.” He shrugged. “Don’t underestimate our strength or the work we do here.” Isaac might have a small pack compared to the London ones or those surrounding the major cities, but he was fiercely proud of them and what they did here.
Logan met his gaze, expression serious. “We would never.” The two of them knew more than anyone what Isaac and his pack did for the CEG. Cole reached for his hand, linking their fingers together, and Logan smiled. “And we owe you our lives more than once.”
Isaac waved their thanks away. That wasn’t why he did this. “I’m not keeping score.”
