He holds my head tighter, stroking my hair, as the spitting rain continues to patter down on us.
“It’s okay,” he says. “We’ll be ready for them. You did amazing, baby.”
He kisses the top of my head and from over his shoulder I lock eyes with Omar. He looks as terrified as I am.
Later that afternoon, as the sun dips behind the tops of the trees in the distance, wolves begin to show up. They come in buses and vans, each pulling into the parking lot at the top of the hill, more and more members of the Elite Pack spilling out of their vehicles.
Slowly the camp comes to life.
Tobias stands at the edge of the camp, assigning cabin numbers to the arriving troops as if they were campers. I remember not being assigned the same cabin as Katie and then meeting Todd and Simon once I’d found my lodgings. I stand with Tobias and hand out blankets that Jasper and Omar dug out of storage. They smell a little musty, but the lingering scent is that of wolf pheromones, of young wolves excited about finding their mates. It seems ironic given the dire circumstances.
The rain has continued to drizzle all day, which is making the ground soft and muddy. My hair is damp and falling in my eyes, but I know this is nothing compared to what’s coming. Wolves traipse across the grass to their dorms, churning up the soil. Already the place is beginning to look less like a summer camp and more like a war zone.
Omar has taken it upon himself to direct traffic and is up at the parking lot making sure we can fit all our vehicles and still have enough room for the Rocky Pack when they get here tomorrow.
Salazar arrives midafternoon with Olivia by his side.
“Afternoon,” he says, when he approaches.
“Afternoon, sir,” I say. “Hey, Olivia.”
She nods curtly in response. I don’t have to read her mind to know that she’s not happy about Mia having gone back with her father. Sure, they’ll be reunited tomorrow, but they’ve not been apart since they ran.
“Your rooms in the lodge are ready for you,” I say, feeling like the concierge at a hotel, but mostly just not having anything elseto say. The rooms are as they were when we arrived, we didn’t come with ground staff, not wanting to put any more wolves in danger than necessary, and Jasper and I aren’t really equipped to provide turndown service.
“Thank you,” Salazar says. “And everything went smoothly with the alpha’s transportation?”
“Yes,” I say. “Jericho made it in a stable condition. I’ll let Jasper know you’re here, he’s down helping everyone find their cabins.”
“Excellent.”
Salazar moves off and Olivia follows him, giving me another, slightly less curt nod than before.
“This is oddly familiar,” I hear a warm, welcome voice say. I turn and find Katie, along with the bro twins, approaching with their bags. They actually do look more like they’ve come to camp than to fight in a wolf war.
“Katie!” I say, shocked and excited but also ... suddenly horrified. “What are you doing here?”
She looks at me like I’ve asked the dumbest question in the world.
“We’ve come to help,” she says.
“But—but it’s dangerous, you have no idea—”
“Max.” She steps up close and puts a hand on my shoulder. “We’re here. We’re helping. There’s more to pack life and apparently more to this campsite than just finding a mate.”
“Sure but—but—”
“If you’re putting yourself in the path of an oncoming army, I’m going to be right there with you,” she says.
“Us too,” Simon says, and Todd gives a reciprocal “Yeah!”
“So,” Katie says, sassily popping a hip. “Where can we sleep?”
Tobias, who has just finished assigning a room to a couple of massive gamma officers, turns and approaches.
“The cabins are all spoken for I’m afraid,” he says. “There is room in the Alpha’s Lodge.”
Katie smiles super wide. “Perfect. Gosh, it’s weird being back, right?”
