“I would’ve thought you’d be encouraging all of them to take the bite.”
“Why?” Isaac leant forward to rest his arms on the table, bringing him closer to Paul. He knew very well why. It wasn’t the written law, but every alpha was strongly encouraged—read badgered—to get all their human pack members to the take the bite as soon as possible.
Living so far from London, Isaac and his pack were left to their own devices. No one bothered them. At least they hadn’t until now.
Isaac tapped the side of his mug, taking his time to answer. Paul stayed relaxed in his seat, unruffled. “I offer everyone the bite as soon as they join my pack. It’s an open-ended offer. Some take it straight away, others after a few months. And some not at all.”
“You’re happy for them to remain human?”
“As far as I’m aware, it’s not against the law.”
Paul stared at him, assessing. “It’s not. But you know as well as I do that a pack is stronger with no human members.”
Physically, maybe. Isaac couldn’t argue with that. “The strength of a pack is based on more than physical strength. You know that better than most, Paul.” The HRU was physically superior, there was no denying that, but that’s not all they were. Intelligence also played a part.
Again, for a split second, Isaac saw a weariness in Paul’s eyes that went beyond tiredness. “That’s true. But humans are a weakness that can be exploited by other packs.”
Isaac did raise an eyebrow at that. “I wasn’t aware we were in any danger.” But Paul did make a good point. His wasn’t the only pack with a significant number of human members, and if he couldn’t afford to join Michael in London and leave his own pack vulnerable, neither could any of those helping them.
If Michael had ties to the packs outside of London, it stood to reason that the others did too. He knew Michael would never use humans as a way to get control of the London packs, but he wouldn’t put it past Simon and the alphas who backed him.
He filed it away to bring up with Michael later.
Paul leant forward to match Isaac. “Aren’t you curious as to why Michael McKillan suddenly decided to flee London and took five prisoners with him?”
Isaac debated how to play this. Only CEG members and those in the cave below knew that Michael was the founder. The rumour mill only went so far. “Of course, but since there’s zero chance of you telling me, I didn’t bother asking.”
Paul acknowledged that with a tip of his head.
“So,” Isaac asked, “are you going to tell me now?”
He didn’t answer straight away, and Isaac waited, wondering how much Paul was willing to tell him. How much he knew.
“Nick Cox, one of those he escaped with, was a suspected member of the CEG. Aaron, Logan, Cole, and Smith all helped Nick escape from an HRU interrogation. So we can assume they also have links to the CEG.” He raised both eyebrows as he met Isaac’s gaze. “Can you see where I’m going with this?”
“Since Michael helped them escape, you think he’s involved with the CEG too?”
“Looks that way.”
Isaac drew his bottom lip between his teeth, as though considering this information. “The McKillan pack aren’t known for their love of humans. In fact, I’m pretty sure no human remains one for long when they join that pack.”
“That’s true. But wouldn’t that be the perfect cover?”
Isaac shrugged. “I guess.” It was more information than he’d expected Paul to share, and out of everything else that morning, it was the one thing that made him uneasy.
“And if the alpha of the McKillan pack is involved, you’ve got to wonder who else is, right? Because I guarantee he had help getting out of London.”
“You sure he actually left?”
Paul laughed. “Oh, believe me, we’re sure.”
Isaac suppressed a shudder. He was well acquainted with the methods the HRU used for interrogation. Would they use similar tactics searching for Michael and the others? Maybe getting the other packs on their side might be easier than they thought if they’d already had Paul’s team to deal with.
“What makes you think he’d come here?” Isaac finished off the rest of his coffee and carefully set the mug aside.
Paul tapped a finger on the edge of the table. “I’ve been doing some investigating of my own. Decided to go back to the start, see who Michael knew before the war. Who he fought alongside, anything that might give us a lead to who could’ve helped him.”
Isaac bristled.
