“Are we the first ones here?” he asked, turning in his seat to look around at the seemingly empty space around them.
“Looks that way.” They’d lost the others on the M5. Travelling in convoy might have gained them unwanted attention. Michael pulled out his phone and fired off a couple of texts.
The replies were almost instantaneous.
“Logan is five minutes out, Alice’s not far behind him.” Michael set his phone on the dashboard and peered out into the darkness, now that Callum had turned his lights off.
“What about the humans?” Smith asked, leaning forward from the back seat.
Michael’s gaze tracked the barest of movement in the trees. “I think they’re already here.”
Callum frowned. “I don’t see any other cars.”
“Maybe there’s more than one car park. Or maybe their cars are elsewhere? Either way, they’re here, and they’ve seen us arrive, so we might as well get out.” Michael reached for the door handle and slowly got out of the car.
Sure enough, several figures melted out of the trees and walked towards them. Even in this light, Michael had no trouble recognising those he’d met that morning.
Goddess, is it still the same day? Feels like a lifetime has passed.
Nick walked past him, enveloping Val in a quick hug. “Didn’t think we’d be meeting again so soon,” he muttered.
“Neither did I.” She looked past him to Michael. “Any news on your alpha?”
His chest tightened atyour alpha, but he ignored it. “None since we heard they have authorisation to interrogate him.”
She cursed under her breath. “They’ll waste no time starting.”
“I know.” He’d spent the last three hours trying not to imagine. He knew more than most what his pack was capable of.
Because you made them that way.
He pushed that thought away. Now was not the time for guilt and self-pity. “Are your people ready?”
“Yes. Most are already in position. The rest are making their way to their designated packs.” She gestured to the four men and two women behind her. “We’ll be coming with you.”
“Good.” Michael glanced up at the sky. Heavy cloud cover meant the moon was barely visible, giving them an advantage. “Do you have weapons for us?”
She motioned for one of the men to join her. He handed her two handguns that Smith walked over and happily took from her, examining them with appreciation. “Thank you,” he said, tucking one into a shoulder holster Michael had only just noticed.
Where the hell did he get that from?
Smith caught him looking and shrugged. “Callum didn’t have any guns, but they had these.”
Two SUVs pulled into the car park, headlights illuminating everyone for a second before they were extinguished. Cole, Logan, and the others got out and made their way over.
Smith gave one of the guns to Cole, who handled it like Smith had. It might only be one gun against many, but Michael was happy to have even that going in with them.
Turning to Nick, he said, “You got all the information from Cox?”
“Yeah.” Nick smiled. “It’s not like I don’t know my way around.”
That was true. So much had happened in the past few days, Michael had forgotten that Nick was a member of the Cox pack. “Sorry.”
Nick waved him off. “It’s fine. Our pack should be virtually all on board anyway, and I know a fair few members of the Sutton pack who feel the same. I don’t anticipate it being a big fight.”
Smith and Nick would join up with the Cox pack and help them persuade the neighbouring Sutton to join them. Michael had a strong suspicion that Smith was going with Nick to avoid running into any of his old HRU team members.
Not that he blamed him.
