Michael reined in his temper. Getting angry at the shitty situation they’d found themselves in wasn’t going to help anyone. He set his now-empty plate on the table and stood.
He might have calmed down, but that didn’t mean it was any easier to sit still. What he wanted to do was shift again.
Shift and run and run until his lungs burnt and he couldn’t fucking run anymore. But not here. They had a section of beach outside, but it wasn’t enough to really stretch himself. And as beautiful as the sea was, Michael craved the feel of grass beneath his paws. The crack of twigs as he raced through the trees.
How long will it be before we can all run free again on the full moon?
“Hey, Michael?”
Michael looked up at his name to find Smith standing in front of him. “Yes?”
He sighed, and Michael got the feeling this wasn’t going to be an easy conversation. “When we go back to London...” He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck, sighed again. “We’re going to attack our own pack, aren’t we?”
Fuck.
The look on Smith’s face said it all.
It was how Michael felt.
As he glanced around the cave, aware they had an audience, he caught a similar expression on everyone’s faces.
Except Sam’s.
Because his pack is here.
Perching on the end of one of the tables, Michael crossed his arms. “Yes.” There was no easy way to say it. “We have some pack members who’re already on our side, and I’m hoping there are a whole lot more we can get on our side.” He paused, licking his lips and trying not to imagine what waited for them back home. “But there will be some who don’t want things to change. They don’t want to give up the power they hold over the human race. And those? Those we will have to fight if we want to take over the McKillan pack.”
“To the death?” Smith whispered, face paling.
And Michael got it. Smith was ex-HRU. He had friends in that team, close ones, no doubt, and even if they turned out to have opposing views, it wouldn’t make it any easier to face them down in a fight.
“I don’t want to kill any of our pack. It’s the last fucking thing I want. But if it’s a matter of us or them?” He held out his hands. “Then yes. To the death.”
“Fuck.” Smith glanced upwards, hands in his hair now. “Rich is an arsehole, I know, but...” He met Michael’s gaze, eyes filled with desperation.
Michael stood and gripped his shoulder. “You don’t have to be part of the assault team for the McKillan pack. You can join another team.” Straightening, he positioned himself so he could see everyone. “That’s something we can discuss now, while we wait for Callum to bring us the info on the other packs. With the exception of Sam, we all face the strong possibility of having to fight pack members, team members, yourfamily.”
He waited for that to sink in. Not that it was news to anyone, but he wondered if, like him, they’d all been choosing not to think about it. “If you don’t want to be put in that position, then say so.”
Silence settled over the cave as they all considered it.
“But you won’t be able to reach everyone, right?” Logan said, rising from his chair and pacing.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, the aim is to get as many as possible on our side before we go in there. But we have to be careful with who gets approached, otherwise they’ll be waiting for us. So there’s going to be plenty of our pack who won’t have been given an opportunity to pick a side.”
“True.” As much as Michael wanted to give the whole pack the benefit of the doubt, it was impossible.
“But when we get there, when it comes down to it, some of them might be on our side, and wouldn’t our argument be better, more persuasive, coming from members of their own pack?”
Michael sighed. He got what Logan was saying, and he was right, but not everyone could handle it. “Yes, of course it would. But if that person decides that the old way is better, you have to be prepared to fight them because the only way we get control of the McKillan pack is to take out Simon and all those who think like him.”
And that would most likely mean a good portion of the HRU. He spared another glance at Smith. He’d be one of their best fighters. Michael understood his reluctance, but they could really use him.
Smith met his gaze and Michael watched the desperation slowly evolve into something else. He squared his shoulders, determination visible in the way he now stood. “The HRU won’t be easy to overcome.” He looked around at the others. “Especially if we don’t have the numbers.”
Michael snorted. “We’ll have more than us six.” Hopefully. “I’m not suicidal.”
