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Now Grant’s goal was to keep his people alive.
With the weapons distributed along with a hefty amount of ammo, Grant could only wait.
He sat in the conference room, eating a ham sandwich and guzzling another cup of coffee. He had a dull headache at the front of his forehead. Too much adrenaline. Waiting was the hardest.
It was nearly midnight and Natalie had been gone for several hours. He missed her, and he wished she was here.
Yet, part of him was glad she was gone. He’d spoken truthfully when he’d said he didn’t want to have to worry about her safety. But his relief carried more weight than he’d thought. As he pondered it now, he realized he had been dreading her staying.
He had a job to do that didn’t allow for the complications of a woman in his life. He’d never wanted to get this involved with Natalie. Not for a moment had he thought his term as pack alpha would begin with a passionate love affair with a fae female.
“You’re in a funk.”
Ryan’s words snapped him away from his thoughts. He shifted his attention to his second-in-command. “Yeah.”
Ryan lowered his voice. “Natalie?”
Grant huffed a sigh. “Unfortunately, yes. But now that she’s gone, I can focus on what’s important?”
“Huh.” Ryan took a bite of his sandwich, then shoved a couple of potato chips into his mouth.
“What does that mean?”
Ryan shook his head. “I don’t know. Because she’s great or at least I think so.” Grant was grateful Ryan had kept his voice to a murmur, especially when he added, “Want my honest opinion?”
Grant almost snapped an ungenerous, ‘no’. Instead, he nodded curtly then ate more of his sandwich. Maybe his body language would dissuade Ryan.
Apparently not.
Ryan turned to face away from the others eating at the table, all of whom were chatting, then said quietly, “You don’t know what you have in her. She’s one in a million. Hell, one in a billion and you know it. So, don’t be an ass and dump her the way you have the women you’ve bedded over the past six years.”
Grant was ready with his reply, But Ryan lifted his hand. “Don’t want to hear your excuses, my friend. This is Five Bridges. Take the gift when it’s offered or be alone for another six years, or a hundred. But I’ll tell you this, you’re going to be miserable if you fuck this up and she leaves you for good.”
Ryan turned back to the table and accepted a refill on his coffee. He then hunkered down and set to work on his second sandwich.
Grant didn’t want to think about Natalie right now. He felt guilty as hell that he’d basically taken her into his bed then sent her on her way. Nothing new there except damn if Ryan wasn’t right. She was exceptional and had been instrumental in helping him to take over the Meldorin Pack.
Something inside him grew hard as steel, however. This wasn’t the time to be thinking about love and marriage. He had to focus on his wolves. Period.
The alarm sounded just as he finished his coffee. The external security force leader tapped on Grant’s telepathy.
Give, Grant responded.
We’ve got incoming from all directions.
Grant shot to his feet. To the room, he said, “This is it. Get to your stations.”
Along with the others, he left the conference room on a run and headed to the command station they’d finished setting up an hour ago. With a collection of screens, he had visual around the entire property and could see Kryder and his force advancing. They wore black tanks with blue trim, carried AR-15s, and moved on a trot toward the front of the compound. Grant had been right. He recognized the uniform of The Sapphire Club’s security force.
Checking out the Meldorin response, Grant smiled as he watched his men and women take up their positions. All the secret work he’d done for years now became evident. Small portions of walls slid away to reveal well-fortified firing positions. The rocket launcher team moved to their station which was protected by a thick layer of cement. Support personnel was ready to run ammunition as needed.
Using a top-of-the-line com system, he spoke to his team leaders. “This is it. You know what to do. Once the firing starts, continue until Kryder and his force retreats.”
All twelve responded in the affirmative. Each was positioned with ten trained men and women. There wasn’t a single blind spot around the compound.
Each monitor reflected a portion of the exterior. Grant kept his gaze fixed on the one that showed a heavily armored Jeep. Kryder was no doubt within the vehicle.
He rose through the top aperture and started shouting orders. His men immediately started firing as they continued to advance.
