He understood their reticence to a degree, but they’d been helping humans escape forced pack affiliation for the last five years. Didn’t that earn them some trust, for fuck’s sake?
Michael caught his eye. Obviously Isaac wasn’t hiding his thoughts very well. “Give them time to come around. Would you trust us in their shoes?”
Isaac sighed. Probably not. “But they did agree to a face-to-face meet, right?”
“They did. As long as Cole is there.”
Isaac hated the idea of them going to meet people they didn’t know. Wouldn’t be able to recognise on sight. It set his teeth on edge just thinking about it. “How will you know you’re meeting the right people?”
Michael cocked an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“I know the alphas I’m going to meet up with. It’s not like anyone could come in their place. How do you know the people you meet are who they say there are? You don’t know what they look like, do you?”
“I know their voices.” He moved close to Isaac until their thighs brushed. “It’s a big network they have. I know the people who know them, and I trust them. We can’t ask them to trust us if we aren’t willing to do the same.”
“It could be a trap,” Isaac muttered.
“What would they have to gain by that?”
Isaac had no answer to that. “I still don’t like it.”
“Duly noted, and that’s one reason I don’t think we should meet them here. We need to find somewhere to meet these people that won’t expose us all.”
Reluctantly, Isaac took a seat at the table where Michael had spread out a map. The London pack territories were outlined in red, and it suddenly occurred to him that there was actually only one place safe enough to meet all ten alphas.
And no one was going to like it.
“Aaron and Logan can’t come with me to meet the alphas,” Isaac said, stopping all conversation.
Michael looked down to where Isaac had his finger on the London border and frowned. “And why is that, exactly?”
“Because the safest place to meet with ten London alphas... is in London.”
“No. Absolutely not.” Michael pushed his chair back as he stood, the legs screeching on the floor.
Isaac winced. “It’s the only way.”
Slamming his hands down on the table, Michael loomed over him. “It’s not the only fucking way. It’s madness to go back into London after everything Paul said to you. What the fuck are you thinking?”
Isaac swallowed down the urge to snarl at him. Michael wasn’t angry, he was worried. Isaac knew him well enough to tell the difference, and it was the only reason he didn’t bite his head off for talking to him that way.
“If they had proof that I’d helped you. Proof they could use,” he added when Logan looked ready to interrupt. “Then Paul would’ve been sent to arrest me. We’ve been over this.”
Michael glared at him, temper barely contained as he fought to control himself. “That doesn’t mean you should go waltzing into London as though everything is fine,” he said, voice soft but with an edge to it that made Isaac wish he’d go back to yelling.
“I know that, but realistically, how are we going to get ten alphas out of London without anyone noticing? Frankly, I don’t know what we were thinking when we decidedthatwas a doable plan.”
Michael stood and turned away, walking over to the sink and gripping it as though his life depended on it. Isaac feared for its safety. “For fuck’s sake, Isaac. Do you know how dangerous that could be? For all of you,” he whispered, this time sounding so defeated that Isaac wished he could take it all back.
But he couldn’t.
They needed to meet up and formulate a plan with the alphas they could trust, and the easiest way to do that without arousing suspicion was for Isaac to go to them.
“I know it’s not without risk, but—”
“Not without risk?” Michael glanced over his shoulder, eyebrows up to his hairline. “Simon could have the HRU out searching the whole of fucking London still. If any of them catch you meeting up with that many alphas, they’ll haul you in for questioning without a second fucking thought.”
“They can’t do that.”
