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“So,” he said. “That helped us put together the pieces of Ash’s research, which could’ve otherwise been easy to dismiss.”
The others murmured in agreement and he had what he needed: a cohesive team again. They worked better together than they did running off on their own.
“We have to stay alert all the time.” Kodiak looked at each of them. “The vampires want her, which means we need her. We need her on our side, under our eye and protection. Trusting us.”
“You think she’s working with them?” Channing asked.
“No.” He lifted his shoulders. “I don’t. But for some reason they want her, and that means we do, too. Maybe she’s special.” She was. To him. “And maybe she knows something she doesn’t realize she knows. But I do know one thing: Only she can show us why they’re doing this and how to stop them.”
“You make some good points, for once,” said Olcan from behind him.
Slowly, Kodiak turned. “Thank you.”
It would be easy to take up the taunt tacked on, but he chose to ignore it. The pack leader would see it as weakness and not what it was, picking his battles.
“I want you all scouring the city. Go to different places, seek out the vampires, follow them, and see what they’re up to. Dismissed,” Kodiak said to his team, not lifting his gaze from the alpha.
Olcan leaned against the threshold, his face dark as the others passed him on their way to carry out Kodiak’s instructions.
“Can I kill a few?” asked Skoll, a cheeky glint in his eyes.
“No,” Kodiak said, “not even one.”
“Not even in self-defense?”
Kodiak rolled his eyes. “Always in self-defense, butonlyin self-defense. Skoll, don’t go drawing attention to yourself. We’re not ready to fight them, but we will be soon. Be patient. It will be worth it.”
Kodiak patted Skoll on the shoulder. “Promise me. I want you to stay alive so we can fight together.” He held Skoll’s gaze.
“I will, but you make sure this comes to a head soon. And we fight them. Every last dirty one of them. My wolf wants to sink its teeth into as many vampires as possible.”
A small smile came to Kodiak. “Deal.”
Skoll rubbed his hands together. “Excellent. I look forward to it.”
“Good work, Ash.” Kodiak said to her as she walked past, laptop held to her chest.
“Thanks.” She smiled, blushing a little. “I just wish I had something more concrete.”
“It’s a start,” he said. “You’ll have the chance to find out more later.”
“I hope so.”
“Take care out there tonight, all of you.” Kodiak called out. “I’ll see you in the morning for a debrief. And I mean all of you. Stay in one piece.”
“Sure, Kodiak,” said Channing, lowering his voice as he passed. “As if you’re not planning to see that woman, hey?” He winked.
Kodiak narrowed his eyes. “After this, you and I are going to have a chat about boundaries.”
“Sure.” Channing followed the others out of the room, leaving Olcan and Kodiak alone.
He waited. Clearly the other wolf had something on his mind.
“I don’t like this,” Olcan said, moving about the room, picking things up and putting them down. Then he stopped and looked at Kodiak. “There’s too much we don’t know.”
“Not after tonight. They’ll come back with information so we can start planning an attack.”
“I hope so, for all of our sakes.”
