Isaac could no doubt sense it as well as Michael could, and he held out his hands. “He didn’t, but I think he knew it was there. Knew we were hiding something.”
“How?” Michael asked, confused as to what the hell they’d talked about.
Isaac met his gaze. “The same way he knew that you were involved with the CEG. He told me.”
“Exactly what the fuck did he say?” Michael barely tasted the last of his bacon cob as he listened to Isaac’s detailed retelling of his conversation with Paul. Not that he didn’t trust Isaac’s judgment, but he was having a hard time believing what he was hearing.
A quick look around the group told him he wasn’t the only one.
They’d been gone five days. How had things deteriorated so much that Paul, of all fucking people, wanted them to overthrow the Shifter Alliance?
“So let me get this straight,” Logan began as soon as Isaac finished speaking. “Paul—the same Paul who willingly injected me with that fucking serum as a training exercise—wants us to hurry up and install a new government because ‘things have changed’ in the McKillan pack?”
“That’s what he said.” Isaac pulled out a chair and sat down. “I know it sounds like a load of bollocks—”
“Because it is!” Cole spat. “I was with him on that raid when they caught Nick.” He glanced over at Smith. “We both were. And no way does he suddenly want a joint human-and-shifter government. He was furious that Nick had supposedly joined the CEG. Told him he’d betrayed his pack and his alpha. No way has he had a change of heart in five fucking days.”
“I don’t know what’s been happening back in London, but my gut feeling as he was stood in the dark telling me all that?” Isaac blew out a breath and slumped back in his seat. “He was telling the truth.”
The cave erupted into several conversations at once, all of them expressing disbelief and ranging from hissed words to full-on shouting.
Fuck.
Michael didn’t want to pull the alpha card. He wasn’t even an alpha to some of them, but Isaac was looking at him with raised eyebrows.
Michael ran a hand through his hair, then got to his feet. It had the desired effect of quietening everyone without having to say anything. “I’m not doubting that Paul said any of that.” He glanced at Isaac. “Or that your instincts are off. But having been in the same pack as Paul, having seen him follow Simon’s orders with fucking relish when it comes to humans or perceived traitors to the Shifter Alliance, you can see how we’re having a hard time believing a word of what he said.”
His heart raced as he waited for Isaac’s response. Their relationship was fragile. The last thing Michael wanted to do was damage it by questioning him. But his relationship with his pack was just as fragile, more so, even, and Michael had to support them, especially when he had exactly the same doubts and concerns.
To his surprise and utter fucking relief, Isaac grinned. “Yeah, I figured you’d all be a hard sell, and honestly, despite being there and feeling like he was being one hundred per cent sincere, I’m still having trouble with it.”
“Do you think it’s a trap?” Michael mused. “Get us to rush things and attack London with a half-formed plan?”
“Maybe, but then, if he truly believes you’re here, why not call Simon and get him to send reinforcements? Why not take me in for interrogation?”
“Because they don’t have proof?” Sam offered.
Smith snorted. “It’s not stopped him in the past.”
“Let’s go back to the bit about us having a fucking mole.” Logan had been relatively quiet so far, but now he sat forward, almost on the edge of his seat, vibrating with nervous energy, and Michael knew why.
Isaac sighed. “He said Simon was getting his information from somewhere but refused to tell anyone where it was coming from. So either he’s taken someone in for questioning or someone is willingly giving him information.”
Looking to Michael, Logan asked, “Who knew that you were coming here, to Mothecombe?” He’d gone frighteningly pale and swallowed thickly, as though he knew the answer to his question but had to ask it regardless. “Was this the plan all along, or did it change last minute?”
Michael grimaced. There were only four people who knew what his emergency evacuation plans were. What they’d always been.
“From the moment the Shifter Alliance took power, my plan has always been to get to Mothecombe if I got found out.”
Logan’s hands clenched into fists, expression pained. “Who knew?”
“Baker. Isaac.” Michael paused, not wanting to say it out loud. “And your parents, Logan.”
Logan dropped his head into his hands. “Fuck.”
The cave was silent as that sunk in.
“So,” Cole began when it was clear no one else was going to say anything, “it’s obviously not Isaac.” He glanced at Michael. “And don’t rip my throat out, but can you be absolutely certain about Baker?”
