Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
After dinner in the mess flat, Miko revealed his dreams to the group.
A few jaws were on the floor, lots of eyes moving between me and the alpha wolf.
“I have to stress,” Miko added, “Orion isn’t a hundred percent confirmed as the scarlet-haired figure.”
“Who else would it be?” Trev responded. He picked up his water, totally bemused.
Paige placed a hand on his back, stroking his spine. “Could this really be a new a link to the oracle?”
I wish she and the others wouldn’t put too much hope in these dreams. What if I were nothing but a damp squib? What if there was a better, stronger scarlet-haired man on his way? A real piece of hope haunting Miko’s dreams?
I liked the idea of it being me…
“Sorry, sweetie,” Paige said. “Made you sound like an object.”
“It’s fine,” I answered.
Miko spoke again, revealing the drama of yesterday. A bristle of surprise rippled around the table.
“It will never happen again,” the alpha added.
The other wolves looked at each other, James getting up to stand beside his alpha, wearing a neon green cap this evening.
“Alpha made a mistake any one of us would have,” he said. “He wanted to see if the foot tunnel mark would react.”
Silence.
A growl rumbled from the beta. “Are you casting judgment on your alpha?”
“No,” Cate answered. “We wouldn’t.”
“We’re just taken aback,” Paige added. “This is a lot to think about.”
“We would never judge you, sir,” Cate reiterated. “We understand your reasoning.”
“I regret it,” Miko said, glancing at me.
“No harm done,” I responded. “You had to be sure.”
Honestly, it did still annoy me that he put me in danger before explaining the reasons. But at least he admitted he messed up.
“Do you feel anything since you touched the mark?” Cate asked me.
“Nothing, I’m afraid.”
“But this has to mean something.”
James nodded. “Agreed.”
“Unless it’s not me in his dreams,” I said.
“I’m betting it is,” Trev threw in.
I drank some water, then asked, “What if we looked for another mark?”
“I’m already thinking about our next move,” Miko said. “Possibly Camden. We haven’t explored it fully yet.”
“Especially after last time,” Cate said.
“What happened?” I asked.
“A high concentration of speedies chased us away,” Miko responded.
My head snapped round to meet yet another surprise. “What did you say?”
His face gave nothing away.
“Speedies, sir?” Paige questioned, sharing a smile with Trev.
“Yes.”
He’d adopted my term.
“Camden can be at the top of the list,” Miko said. “I’ll start planning, but I won’t put you at risk again, Orion. I’m not making the same mistakes again.”
I cleared my throat. “Fine. We’ll be better prepared. Go in quietly.”
He folded his arms, his focus boring into me. “And if you die on the mission? It’s over. We have to be more than careful.”
“I could die tomorrow, the next day. Tonight. This isn’t exactly a safe world.”
“But I can keep you safe.”
“How? Do you have special cotton wool to wrap me in? Because that’s not happening. And don’t even think of giving me an order to stay inside, not take part in runs. Because that is also not happening.”
He took a few moments to respond. “If you want to be part of Haven, you have to abide by its rules.”
The alpha pushed my anger button again. “Being part of Haven doesn’t mean I get locked in my flat twenty-four hours a day.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You’re implying it.”
His nostrils flared as he glowered at me. “Stop reacting badly and listen.”
I huffed rather petulantly. “Fine.”
Miko looked around the room. “I’m not suggesting we keep this fae locked inside his flat. Let’s clear that up first.”
“This fae? My name is—”
“Can I speak?”
Okay. I really was overreacting. “Speak.”
“Thank you. What I am saying is, we be extra careful.”
“Obviously,” I said.
Miko emitted a soft growl.
“If you’re worried I’ll get hurt again, then don’t be.
Now I’ve forgiven you for that stumble, I can see the bigger picture.
This is hope, this is a possibility of going home for me, for giving you a new world to rebuild in.
And if we don’t act now, play this oracle game, we might lose all of that.
” I sighed. “I get the risk. It terrifies me. But I’m willing to try Camden, and other places. I’m good for the hunt.”
The other wolves and Trev smiled at me.
Miko did not.
Trev stood up. “I passed through Camden earlier this year and barely made it out.” He stood up, lifting his sweater to reveal a nasty scar on his torso.
“Got this running from a horde of speedies. But I’m willing to go back.
They might have moved on. You have no idea how much you’ve blown my mind with this oracle stuff. ”
Miko stayed quiet, his attention glued to me.
I made an attempt to speak to him. “We’re behind you.”
No response.
“Sir?” James tried softly.
Nothing. The alpha stood as still as stone, no inch of him moving or reacting.
“We must take our time,” Paige said. “Train for it. Spend the next weeks scouting Camden’s perimeters, working on our physicality. You can never be too trained up for these things. The worst thing we can do is charge in there too quickly.”
The other wolves nodded in uneasy agreement.
The silent Miko remained, his eyes locked onto the table now. Drifting off somewhere else.
“What about Haven?” Cate asked. “We can’t leave it empty.”
“Something to discuss,” James answered, watching the alpha.
Miko had seriously zoned out.
“I think we should stop now,” James said. “There’s lots to think about, but let’s call time on this tonight.”
Miko lifted his head, not making eye contact with anyone. “As for the shooter, I have a suspicion Lance is back.”
Intakes of breath sounded around me.
“Who’s Lance?” I asked.
Miko left the room.
I stood up, aiming to follow. “Miko?”
James stopped me. “Leave him for now. He needs some time.”
“What’s wrong with him?”
“Just give him time.”
“I didn’t mean to upset him. But he kind of sounds like he doesn’t want to look for another mark.”
“He does.”
“What if he doesn’t want to?
“He hears us,” Paige said. “He considers us. But at the end of the day, he’s the alpha. His decision is final.”
“Which means he can shut this down?”
“He won’t,” Cate added. “After what happened to you, he’s anxious. He’s being careful.”
I looked to the door, hoping he’d suddenly return. “I’ve upset him.”
“No way,” James said. “The best thing to do with Miko is give him quiet time. He likes a lot of quiet time.”
“I really have forgiven him for Greenwich,” I said.
“He has to forgive himself.”
“But I’m a stranger. It’s not like he betrayed a loved one.” Stars, that sounded awful the moment I heard myself speak.
“Miko is one of the most noble men you will ever know. It doesn’t matter how well he knows you. He’ll take this mistake to heart. He already has.”
“Really?”
“Really. He might not show it, but he cares deeply about every single one of us in this room, old faces and new. Now you’re here, you’re pack to him. And him putting you at risk has shaken him to his core more than you can understand.”
I sat down, releasing a long breath. “And I had to rant at him.”
“You’re passionate,” Paige said, sitting down with Trev.
James and Cate sat, too.
“I’m an assbug,” I countered.
“Lance is the assbug,” Paige retorted, vitriol on her tongue.
“Who is Lance?” Trev asked.
James sighed. “Shall we make some tea first?”
“That bad?”
The wolves nodded as one.
James made the tea then told the story. “Shifter packs are divided into species territories in every country—north, south, east, west.”
Though I already knew this, I didn’t interrupt. Shifters boasted their own governing systems separate from humans, the Shifter Accords separating the races in such terms unless breached by either side.
There were six shifter species: Wolf, lynx, lion, fox, dolphin, and hawk.
“Our pack, the Reyes Pack, consisted of wolves from southern England,” James said.
“The Forest Pack was made up of lynx shifters, also in the south. Lance Forest was their alpha.” James sipped his incredibly dark tea.
“From the moment Miko became alpha, Lance caused trouble.
He wanted his wolf lover in place. Miko beat her, along with every other contender for the top job easily.
Even at twenty he kicked serious arse. Anyway, when he won, Lance petitioned him to make his lover beta instead.
Miko told him to keep his nose out of wolf business.
Lance did not like that, so Lance spent the following years giving Miko a headache.
Sticking his nose in, creating a whole list of problems.
The real pièce de résistance were the staged wolf attacks, ending in the murder of two humans in positions of power.
It was so bad the human government ordered Miko’s incarceration for two weeks until we got him out with hard evidence.
Lance is sly, manipulative, and the epitome of a shit stain, but he’s cocky.
And he rules with too much of an iron fist. A couple of lynx rebelled against him, coming forward with recordings of Lance boasting about bringing Miko down. ”
“What a vile piece of work,” I said during a pause for a tea sip.
Cate nodded, taking up the talking mantle. “Unfortunately, Lance disappeared without facing any consequences. No one ever knew where he ran too, but his pack fell apart when he disappeared, coming under Miko’s rule until a new alpha was found.”
“Did they get a new one?” Trev asked.
“No,” Paige said. “Dawn hit during the contest for the lynx throne.”
My feet twitched under the table, wanting to take me out of this room and up to Miko. The urge to hug him practically danced through my body. He’d probably be horrified at the prospect of hugs, but after hearing this, he’d certainly earned one.
“What an awesome bloke to take those lynx in,” Trev said. “Did they give him grief?”
“Not really,” James responded. “They felt so betrayed by Lance and adjusted quickly. Most of them didn’t want a new lynx alpha.”
“Understandable. So, you think he’s the one who shot at Miko and Orion?”
My stomach rolled at the memory, the sound of the shattering glass going off in a distant corner of my mind. “I think I need a gin.”
“Forget it, pal,” James retorted.
“I didn’t mean it.”
“You did.”
“I did.”
“How about we play a few games instead?”
Games were the last thing on my mind. “Will Lance attack Haven?”
“I don’t know. I’ll talk to Miko later. Try not to worry.”
“Difficult.”
“I know.”
The werelynx alpha could take us out one by one with a gun as we left the tower. Or storm it and burn it to the ground, stars only knew what. The man sounded unhinged.
A thick layer of unease fell over the room.
“Games would be awesome,” Trev cut through the silence.
He was right. Anything was better than sitting here worrying about some assbug alpha, Camden, or everything else. Our lives were already stuffed with worry, every hour a reminder of the horror we were trapped in.
Why not alleviate the pressure when the opportunity arose?
“Good idea,” I said.
And so, we played and laughed in our resistance to the darkness. Trev told us the story of his attempt to forge a career in retail. It lasted four days until he lost his temper, the man screaming in his face over an out-of-stock item wetting himself in fear at the troll’s volume.
Trev lost his job, the man got a voucher.
“But it remains a highlight in my life reel,” he said. “You should’ve seen the man’s face, and his jeans.”
James excused himself for an hour, returning with some news. “Miko wants us to attend a meeting at breakfast. Seven o’clock sharp here.” He pointed at the table. “Anyway, who’s for a game of Frustration?”
Cate groaned. “Do we have to?”
“Don’t be a sore loser, my darling heart.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m always the loser.” She spoke to me and Trev. “You’ll both see I’m hexed when it comes to this game. I think my dear husband has done something to me.”
“All in my kiss,” James said, winking.
“I knew it! He’s the devil with amazing lips!”
He wriggled his eyebrows. “Too much information, Cate.”
She batted him on the arm. “Idiot.”
“Stunner.”
They shared a quick kiss before James unboxed a plastic board divided into four colors, a dice trapped in a dome at the middle.
Wow. It sure made a loud pop each time you pressed it to roll that dice.
Miko didn’t return for the rest of the evening.