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“Alright,” Gav cuts in. “Explain to me why you think she’s working with her father, Daxen.”

The tension in the room is so thick I could bathe in it. It’s not like Dax and I don’t butt heads. We do. He’s stubborn to a fault, and his refusal to entertain anyone else’s opinion once he comes to his own conclusions has been the root of many fights over the centuries. Most of the time, I back down after ensuring he understands my displeasure, if only to keep the peace.

There are times I know I have to fight with him, and times it’s better just to let him hold onto his beliefs.

This is not going to be one of the times I let him have his way. Hopefully, once he realizes I’m not backing down, he’ll take me seriously. He knows by now that I only fight for the things I genuinely believe in.

If not, then he’s about to find out that he isn’t the only one in this pack who can be stubborn as fuck.

“I heard the entire conversation,” Dax answers, eyes flicking between Gav and me. “I never once heard her tell her father she wouldn’t come with him. She asked him why, but there was no argument. If the girl were afraid, she’d have put up some kind of fight.”

“Oh, for fucks sake,” I mutter, rolling my eyes. “Is that your professional opinion, Doctor? I was unaware you decided to pursue a degree in psychology.”

Dax opens his mouth to respond, but I don’t let him. “No, seriously. It’s a very unique approach to deciphering the human psyche. I’m curious, is that how you plan on diagnosing all your patients? Base shit off of nothing more than a random twenty-second conversation you overhear by accident?”

Vae tries to cover his laugh with a cough, but Dax isn’t amused.

Good.

“Forgive me for assuming you’d want to stay away from someone working for the enemy,” he replies, glaring at me. “I must have underestimated how desperately you need to get laid.”

I see red. My fangs throb, and it takes every ounce of willpower I have to keep them from dropping and baring them at my brother in rage.

I settle for bending over the table and snarling in his face.

“You fucking⁠—”

“Enough!” Gav’s shout is accompanied by the sound of his palms meeting wood and his chair flying across the floor before crashing into the wall. The anger and command in his tone slice through the tension, forcing us both to look away from each other.

“You,” He turns his glare on Dax, nostrils flaring in anger. “Stand. Down. Stop trying to start a fight. Until we have solid proof that the female is involved, we treat her like any other unknown. It’s fine to be wary, but accusing her of her father’s crimes without anything to back it up isn’t how we do shit here.”

Dax’s throat works. He looks like he just swallowed a lemon. “Yeah, alright.”

“I want you to focus on finding information about the structure at the back of his property. Look into the Omega as well. I doubt she’s in any actual danger if she’s lived there unscathed for that long, but do your due diligence just in case.”

Gav straightens and addresses the rest of us.

“Ford, go pack. You’ll leave for Chicago in the morning. I want to know everything you find about the Omega, understood?” He doesn’t wait for Ford’s acknowledgment before turning to Vae. “You and Caelan keep assisting Dax with his searches. It’ll be best if we have multiple eyes on this. Silas, pick another team tonight and join them on patrol. We’ll reassess your assignments long-term once we find out how long Ford and Evander will be gone.”

Silas clearly doesn’t like that idea, but he knows better than to argue with Gav a second time.

“Get yourselves ready and in the right headspace while you can,” Gav orders. He scrapes agitated fingers through his shoulder-length hair and sighs. “I have a feeling this is going to get worse before it gets better.”

No one speaks as the meeting disperses. It isn’t the first time shit’s got tense in this room, and it won’t be the last. Still, there’s something about this situation that makes everything feel so much more ominous than normal.

After the meeting, I make my way to my room to grab a shower before I’m forced to stare at screens for the next few hours. Dax falls into step beside me, but doesn’t speak. That’s fine. I don’t have shit to say to him right now, either.

My luck only lasts as long as it takes to get to my room. Placing my thumb on the fingerprint scanner to unlock the door, I’ve just started to think I’ll make it in without my packmate starting shit again when he opens his mouth and proves me wrong.

“I’m just trying to look out for you,” he mutters.

I freeze, one hand wrapped around the doorknob, and bite my bottom lip to keep from detonating.

Look out for the pack. Protect the pack.

Those are his excuses every time he lets it slip that his distrust of Omegas is more deep-seated than he’ll admit. It doesn’t matter how many times Vae and I ask him why he distrusts Omegas; his response never varies. He denies and deflects, ultimately refusing to give either of us a solid answer.

He swears our Fated Mate will be different when—and if—we meet her, but I’m starting to wonder if that’s true. I don’t dare hope that Idril is who we’ve been waiting for all these years, but if she is and he still can’t get over this mistrust… What then?