Alice looked at Callum, some silent conversation seemed to pass between them, then they both faced Isaac.
“We’ll go.” They both spoke at once and Isaac grimaced.
“That wasn’t creepy at all.”
Alice laughed, then sobered as she met Isaac’s gaze. “Seriously, though, we know the risks, and we want to go.” She shrugged. “You’re our alpha.” As though that said it all.
Warmth filled him, his wolf calm and settled for once at the loyalty shown by his pack.
His family.
As his gaze drifted around the table at the others sat there watching them, Isaac couldn’t help but feel that his family was growing. Pack or not, he cared about the people sat in his kitchen, and the man currently pacing up and down in his garden.
If anything happened to any of them, it was going to hurt.
“Well?” Isaac asked as soon as Michael walked in through the door, phone in hand.
His smile was grim, like it pained him to have to say the next words. “They know a place you can use.”
“Where?”
“The university. Specifically the final-year building at the back. They say they have a shifter contact who works there.”
Cole shot a glance at Nick. “Do they mean our old tutor?”
“I have a contact number, not a name yet. They said he’ll be expecting my call.”
“So he must be Davidson pack, right?” Nick asked, and yeah, he had to be. “I bet it’s him.”
“Regardless of whether it’s him or not, it makes things easier, as I’m pretty sure Alpha Davidson will know who he is, so we can trust them not to set us all up.” Michael seemed a little appeased by that news.
Isaac glanced at the map again, trying to find the university.
“It’s here.” Nick put his finger on a spot not too far into Davidson pack territory. “Perfect for Isaac, but I’m not sure about the other alphas.”
“It’s the summer holidays at the moment, so the campus will be empty.” Isaac tapped the map. “How do we explain the fact that ten alphas are meeting there? Someone could easily notice a sudden flurry of activity.”
“It won’t be totally empty, though,” Nick offered. “The new students tours have finished by now, but they do some summer classes there, I think.” He looked to Cole for confirmation.
“Yeah,” Cole nodded. “I’m not sure what, but I remember seeing people there last summer.”
“And it might not be that strange for a few alphas to meet there,” Nick went on. “They all have university campuses in each borough, so maybe they want to compare notes or something? Find ways to improve. The block you’re meeting in is for the humans, so they could say they’re trying to make the transition to pack-life, if they’re suitable, a little easier?” He shrugged a shoulder. “Or something like that.”
It sounded weak at best, but no one else appeared to have any better ideas. “Considering we have nothing else, we can go with that. They can use that as an explanation to tell any pack members they need to.”
Michael sat and ran a hand through his hair. “I’m not sure how convincing an argument it’ll be should you run across any HRUs, but hopefully you won’t have to find out.”
“So we’re doing it? Meeting at the uni?” Isaac asked. “Does everyone agree that’s the best place for this?” He’d asked the whole table because, really, they were all invested in this, but he looked at Michael.
Are you okay with this?was what he wanted to ask, but he already knew the answer to that.
Cole and Nick both agreed straight away. “There’s plenty of exits from that part of the campus, and we know some shortcuts and places to go if anything should happen,” Cole added.
“Good,” Michael said, jaw tense, and Isaac knew how much it cost him not to argue about this anymore. “The two of you can write down everything you think might be helpful.” He looked around the table. “Anyone else got anything to add?”
Logan tapped the map showing the Davidson pack territory. “This could also be a place of interest for the HRU, considering it’s where Cole’s from. We should check with Alpha Davidson or Baker, if you can get through to him, to make sure they’ve already been there.”
“Agreed.” Michael opened the laptop and starting typing.
