They had to.
Isaac held up his phone. “Do we have a date in mind for these meet-ups? I’d like to get people’s agreement to turn up and then let them know the exact location for it later.”
Less time for anyone to discover where it is.
Not that Isaac didn’t trust any of them, but Paul had shown him that things changed. People changed. Even the ones you never expected to.
Michael hummed, considering. “The sooner the better. Tomorrow is out of the question, but do you think the day after?”
“For both of them?” Isaac would’ve loved to have gone with tomorrow, but Michael was right. No one would be ready for them. Alphas needed to plan for their absence, even if it was only for a few hours. “We don’t both need to be at the meetings, do we? We could split up and get them done faster.”
Michael frowned. He didn’t like the idea of splitting up. That was obvious. Neither did Isaac if he was honest, but they didn’t have the luxury of time on their side.
“The humans will want to see you and Cole, so I’ll take the alphas. Everyone else can decide who they want to go with or can stay here.”
“I’ll go with Isaac.” Logan was the first to respond, and Isaac’s eyes widened in shock. He’d fully expected Logan to stick to Cole’s side.
“That’s fine.”
“I’d like to go with Michael,” Sam said. “As long as that’s okay with you?”
Isaac nodded. “Of course.” Sam was a member of his pack but also Michael’s brother.
That had never been a problem before now, but Isaac didn’t want Sam to have conflicting loyalties in the coming days. He’d rather do this in private, but Michael had said no secrets, so Isaac forged ahead. “If you want to have Michael as your alpha now that he’s here, I understand and it’s fine, Sam.”
Sam grinned, and Isaac pushed away the stab of disappointment. He’d given him the choice. He didn’t have the right to sulk when it didn’t go his way. “As much as I love my brother and missed having him in my life, I have no wish to have him as my alpha.” He mock-shuddered, causing a ripple of soft laughter around the table. “I had enough of him telling me what to do when we were younger. I’ll stick with you if you still want me?”
“Of course.” He couldn’t help his grin, and it widened even more when he caught Michael’s eye-roll.
Nick chose to accompany Michael, Cole, and Sam, which made sense. He had a lot of human contacts in the CEG already. Aaron chose to join Isaac and Logan, which left Smith. Isaac hid a smile in his coffee, when Smith’s gaze flickered to Nick, before saying he’d go with Michael.
Isaac set his mug down. “So we have a date and two teams decided. I’ll contact the alphas we trust.” He picked up his phone, then looked at Michael. “Do you want to contact the human side of the CEG?”
“Yeah, okay.” He pointed outside. “Should we go out there to make the calls?”
Isaac glanced at the table where six shifters sat watching them. Waiting.
Might be slightly less pressure.
“Can do.” He led Michael outside, stopping a few feet out the door. “I’ve got a few calls to make, so I’ll see you back inside.”
Michael nodded, then turned away, walking over to where the grass started. Isaac headed in the other direction around the side of the house.
Scrolling through to the first number in his list of alphas, Isaac made the call and waited.
* * *
Isaac putthe pen down and tapped the whiteboard. “All ten alphas I contacted are keen to meet up and get this organised. I didn’t realise the level of resentment some of them have for the way the Shifter Alliance has behaved.”
They’d been more than keen.
At least six of them had been champing at the bit to get their own government overthrown. It fed the little bit of hope Isaac held inside.
The hope they could actually pull this off and make a difference in their world.
Michael leant against the worktop, phone in hand. “The humans are... wary. Still. Despite my reassurances that our intentions are to install a joint government. Which is understandable considering that’s what we promised last time around.”
Isaac grunted.
