“So, do you?” Sam knocked his knee against Michael’s. “Wish you and Isaac were bonded?”
Yes.
“I don’t know. Like I said before. It’s complicated.”
“I guess it is.” Sam let the subject drop, thank fuck, because Michael was in no mood to discuss it further. Not with an audience, and not when he didn’t know if Isaac would ever want that with him.
“Why don’t we have Smith and Cole walk us through the HRU members and their protocols again?” Nick offered. “It’s not like we have anything else to do, and the more we know about what we could be up against, the better.”
“Actually,” Smith said, “I’ve been thinking about what we discussed before. That the HRU have access to a whole array of weapons.”
“Go on,” Michael encouraged. He knew a great deal about the HRU, but Smith had working knowledge that could prove invaluable.
“Well, if we attack them at the McKillan Estate, unless they’re out on a mission, then Paul will have them working in the training centre, surrounded by all the weapons within easy reach. And there’s a lot to choose from.” Smith glanced at Cole for confirmation.
“There is,” Cole agreed. “Paul walked me through the armoury when I started weapons training. They could arm most of the pack, let alone just the HRU.”
Michael rubbed a hand over his eyes. He’d known that the HRU had weapons, of course he did, but he hadn’t realised they’d amassed so many. Being a shifter came with in-built weapons all their own, so carrying guns and knives wasn’t something that came naturally. Clearly Simon thought otherwise. Had he been stockpiling? Planning ahead for a pack takeover?
Smith continued. “The second they realise the pack is under attack, all HRU members will arm themselves to the teeth and seek out the threat to destroy it. That’s HRU protocol.” He paused and glanced out at the night sky.
They couldn’t see the moon from here, but Michael felt the low-key pull like always.
“We needto time our attack so that as many of the HRU are out of the building as possible.” Smith bit his lip. “And one way to do that would be to attack on the full moon.”
Silence met his words as everyone took that in.
Michael’s first instinct was to say no. Full moons were when they let loose, shifted into their wolf form, and ran until they almost collapsed with exhaustion. It was a time for pack to be together, to hunt and play, to forget about the stresses of human life, and let their instincts take over.
To mount an attack under a full moon seemed... wrong. So wrong. Like they were waiting until the pack showed their soft underbelly before striking.
But that’s what you do in a war.
“I know it feels wrong.” Smith huffed out a strained laugh. “Fuck, it feels wrong to suggest it. But Paul likes the HRU to run together, says it strengthens the bond between them. It’s the one time that the majority of the team will be outside without immediate access to weapons.”
“Isn’t everything heightened on a full moon though?” Cole again. “If all their senses are dialled up, then won’t it be harder to get in there in the first place?”
“We’ll need someone within the pack to deactivate the alarms and sensors anyway,” Michael said. There was no way they’d get into the grounds unless they had help.
“But if they’re acting mainly on instinct, won’t we be too? Will we be able to even stick to a plan? I remember the last full moon.” Cole glanced at Logan next to him. “And I’m pretty sure all rational thinking went out the window.”
Smith snorted. “That was just Logan wanting to protect his mate.”
“We weren’t bonded then.”
“But he wanted to be and that was enough to trigger his protective instincts. We’re not all rash fuckers when we shift.”
Logan rolled his eyes but didn’t argue. “Regardless, Cole does have a point. Plans very rarely go off without a hitch, and adapting to changes will be harder in our wolf form. We don’t always make the right choices when being driven by instinct.”
Smith shrugged. “It’s just one option. Not necessarily the only one.”
Michael clasped his hands together, running it over in his mind. “They wouldn’t be the only ones out running. I know not all pack members choose to do full moon runs at the McKillan Estate, but a substantial amount do. And if they’re all shifted, we won’t be able to talk to any of them to explain what we’re doing and give them the chance to join us.”
“With respect, I don’t think we can count on many of the HRU switching sides. There might be a few exceptions, but the majority are so loyal to Paul that they’ll follow him blindly no matter what anyone says.”
Michael sighed. “Then neutralising Paul needs to be one of our first objectives.”
“Shame we can’t get him on our side.” Sam’s words were met with derision from everyone sat around the firepit.
