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“What are we missing?” Max asked, frustration lacing his voice before his eyes widened dramatically and his gaze shot between me and Sam. “No fucking way.”
“Somebody spit it out,” Damon growled, sounding like he was about to explode.
All the alpha pheromones spiking in the room were making my head spin. I was suddenly glad we were in a big open space, not a cramped meeting room somewhere.
“They’re a secret pack, and one of them is likely a prime alpha,” Pala answered gently, getting right to the point, as usual, with his soothing manner. It usually calmed people down. It didn’t work this time.
“Oh my god,” Maia gasped loudly. She was breathing heavily, as if she was about to hyperventilate. “He was their center. But why would he leave and then try to take them down?”
“Because he loved their omega, and they broke her,” Sam whispered.
Maia looked green suddenly and bolted for the bathroom with her hand over her mouth. Lexie jumped up and followed her.
“It’s the espresso she drank. It doesn’t agree with omega biology, she’ll be fine. If not, I’ll come get you,” Ava said as she got up to follow, closely followed by Lexie, gesturing to Maia’s mates to stay where they were. “She won’t want you to see her if she vomits. We’ve got her.”
“I don’t care what she looks like when she vomits. If she needs one of us, I will break down that door,” Damon growled. Ava just waved her hand over her shoulder, like she’d heard alpha threats before and was unbothered.
“I remember Maia telling us when we first met that she thought her gramps loved an omega once, and alphas mistreated her. She thought maybe that was why he hated alphas and sent you away.” Max was watching Sam closely.
Sam looked surprised. “So it said in his letter. I had no idea. Maia was always more perceptive about people than I was. That wasn’t why he sent me away, though.”
“There’s more in the letter?” Damon asked. It wasn’t really a question, judging from his tone of voice.
“Yes, but it’s personal, and I’d rather Maia read it before I share it with everyone.”
Damon gave Sam a brusque nod, respecting his privacy. The guys all threw questions at Max for a few minutes, which he tried to answer, but he knew little more than what he’d already told us. I wasn’t really paying attention, though. My mind was racing, working out implications for our pack.
“This is all very enlightening, but what does this mean for us? Right now.” Dave’s gruff, commanding voice jolted me out of my thoughts. Everyone turned to look at him, most of them frowning.
“Right now, nothing,” Damon said, “But we don’t want to make a wrong move because we didn’t know something important. Missing intel always trips you up in the field. You know this, Dave.”
“I do, but this is all big picture stuff. We knew there was more to the Crash than we understood. Knowing the cause is important, but we can’t do anything about any of that right now. So does it change what our plans were for today? Cleaning out the town?”
Damon’s eyebrows almost jumped clear off his head. “We said we would clear out the town, but I don’t recall agreeing it would happen today.”
Maia, Lexie and Ava chose that moment to walk back through the bathroom door. Maia still looked a little green, and Leif sprinted across the room to pick her up before she’d even fully made it through the door.
“I’m okay, big guy.” She patted him on the arm as she reassured him, but he didn’t seem convinced. “You smell funky.”
“Thanks,” she said dryly and swatted him. “I need some mouthwash.”
“Not like that, just different. I thought I noticed it before, but it’s stronger now.”
Maia just huffed at him and rolled her eyes. “I can walk, you know.”
“I know,” he replied easily as he made it back to his chair and settled her back in his lap. He didn’t look like he was letting her go anytime soon. “I can also carry you.”
Dave and Damon continued their debate about timeframes for clearing out the town, quizzed Pala on what his surveillance had revealed, and asked Cary questions about what he had observed at the Palace. I noticed Maia glance at Lexie, who was hovering and hadn’t sat back down. Lexie suddenly interrupted Damon mid sentence. “I’m going to grab Maia a cold drink. Does anyone else want anything?”
Before anyone could really say anything, she answered her own question. “I’ll just bring some jugs of juice. Ava, do you want to give me a hand?”
Ava jumped up quickly, and they disappeared through the swinging doors. I felt for Lexie in our bond, sensing something was up with her. She seemed frustrated but was trying to swallow it down and project a calm manner.
The discussion still going on around the table distracted Sam and Pala, as Pala continued answering questions and Sam jumped in with his opinion on what we should do. But Dave was watching the kitchen doorway now, almost as intently as I was. Cary had diverted his focus as well, watching the door the girls had disappeared through with obvious suspicion.
“I think Lexie’s up to something,” I leaned over and whispered to Dave.
“Oh, she is definitely up to something,” he replied with a frown. He glanced at Maia, who gave him a fake innocent smile.
