Chapter 32 Jo
thirty-two
Jo
It’s time to make a game plan.
Things have been tense ever since Mabel had her sleepwalking episode, but after Doctor McFadden gave her a different prescription, she hasn’t had any more night terrors and seems to be sleeping reasonably well.
Declan finally started talking to me again yesterday, and we’re officially two days away from D-Day. Which means that tomorrow is our deadline to deliver Brooks to Xavier, and we need to make sure he reacts exactly like we want him to when he thinks we’re not complying.
We’re sitting in Declan’s living room—Dec, his pack, me and my guys, Ozzy, Illya, Luka, Alexei, and Roland. He’s not smelling very strong at all, and I suspect it’s because Helaena helped him out with some good old-fashion scent suppressing cream.
“You’ve reached out to Leslie?” Sam asks West, who nods.
“Yes, and she’s in.”
“Oh, thank fuck,” I sigh, falling against the couch. “Did she question anythin’?”
“No, because it turns out they’ve been holding something over her as well. It’s her condition on helping us—we have to get her nephew to safety first.”
“Her nephew?” Hayden’s brows shoot up.
West nods again. “Her sister died five years ago, and she’s been raising him ever since—she has special permission to live off-campus and everything.
I guess shortly after we left, she started digging deeper into the situation, and then Thornfield threatened her nephew’s life if she said anything or went anywhere with the information.
So before we get her help, we have to guarantee her nephew’s safety. ”
“Done.” It’s Ozzy who speaks from the corner of the room. He glances at Fuzzy, who stands. “We’ll secure the boy, make sure he’s safe.”
We? I look between the two men. I suppose it would make sense for the two of them to have formed a friendship, considering they’re of similar ages and have been housemates the last few weeks.
Sam frowns. “Dad, you’re retired—”
“Retired, not dead. At least not yet. Let me do my part to help.”
“But—”
Fuzzy huffs. “Come on, Sam. Your dad’s still got a few good years in him. It’ll keep us busy, at the very least.”
“I don’t have a problem with it,” Declan shrugs. “You were here mostly for consult anyway—this way we don’t have to pull men from other positions to cover the new task.”
Sam nods once, his mouth in a tight line.
My hand reaches over to squeeze his arm. I know how close Sam is to his daddy, and it must be hard to willingly send him off into danger when he thought he was done with that life. Sam’s hand covers mine, even as he keeps his eyes on the group.
“After we secure the nephew—”
“Hudson,” West interrupts. “That’s his name.”
Sam continues, “We will need to time it precisely with when we’re going in, so there’s no time for them to figure out what’s going on. Immediately after we secure Hudson, we’ll move in. Jo, Hayden, West, and I will cause a distraction—”
“While we,” Kole motions between him, Luka, Illya, and Alexei, “sweep the lab to make sure there are no new or lingering omegas.”
“And take out any guards who stayed behind,” Alexei adds darkly.
“Once you guys go in,” Declan stands, walking over to the whiteboard where we have little hand-drawn maps, “Aidan will live-stream the security cameras from the Monroe residence all over the state while their Beta Liberation Union meeting happens. At the same time, we’ll send all of our information to Kirsten Graves and the FBI. ”
“How do we know the reporter will go public with it?” Kole asks, frowning.
“She will,” Dec promises. “I, uh…used to date her. A long time ago. She has a pesky need to expose the truth, no matter what her personal consequences are. I wouldn’t be surprised if she asks us to get her inside.”
I turn to Aidan. “You’re in Xavier Bowen’s system?”
He nods. “Just a fly on the wall. He has no idea that we’re monitoring every communication, every meal, every time he enters or leaves.”
It would have been too risky to do before, but now that we’re making moves to take him down once and for all? Xavier Bowen won’t know what hit him.
Aidan’s fingers tap on the arm of the couch. “If we fall through, he’s planning on moving her the same night as the meeting, just like we anticipated.”
Perfect.
I turn to Declan. “You know what you’re doin’?” His jaw tight, he nods. “Good.”
“Why are we bringing Brooks back to Thornfield again?” Nolan asks, frowning as he crosses his arms. “I still say it’s too risky.”
“We should just kill him now,” Rory mutters. “That way he can’t escape somehow.”
I shake my head. I’ve been over it a million times in my head, and there’s no other way.
“If Xavier shows up and sees the trap we laid for him, he’ll become desperate.
There will be nothin’ stoppin’ him from just flat-out killin’ Adela right then and there.
” Roland lets out an omega growl as I stand, looking around the room.
“We have to make it look like we just needed more time to get Brooks from where we said we were keepin’ him. ”
“What about Kinsley and Whitmore?” West asks, his expression perplexed. “We still don’t know where they are.”
“All the information that we stole from the servers has their names all over it.” I shrug.
“It’s up to the FBI to find them after that.
Their research is destroyed, Xavier is furious—I’m sure they’re just off lickin’ their wounds somewhere.
The second they pop their heads out of the sand, the authorities will be all over ’em. ”
“What will I be doing?” Roland asks, looking around the room.
“You’ll be here,” I say gently, internally wincing at Roland’s expression. “You need to stay safe. You have no trainin’, experience, or…anythin’. We wanted you to know what was goin’ on with our plan to save Addie, but you’re not in a position to join us.”
“Because I’m an omega?” His voice is hard.
I nearly roll my eyes. Out of all the things I just said, and that’s the conclusion he comes to? The omega inferiority complex is strong with this one.
“Roland,” I pop my hand on my hip. “I’m an omega, but I was trained for three years on all manner of weapons and fightin’ techniques so I could break into an insane asylum and rescue my sister. I’m not sayin’ you can’t go because of your designation.”
Ozzy clears his throat before glancing at Fuzzy. “He…he could come with us?”
My eyes narrow. “And do what?”
“He could be our eyes,” Fuzzy nods. “That way, he’ll be out of danger, but will still be helping.”
“And,” Ozzy jumps back in, “we can bring the kid up to the asylum after everything is said and done, and then Roland can see his daughter.”
“I’ll do it,” Roland jumps up, his eyes bright.
My mouth opens to protest, but Declan beats me to the punch. “Sounds great.”
“Fine,” I grumble, “but you have to wear a bulletproof vest, you have to stay in the car, and you have to listen to Fuzzy and Ozzy! I’m not gonna be the person who gets her best friend's daddy killed before they can reunite."
“Oh, so now you see the importance of wearing a bullet-proof vest, even if you’re staying in the car.” Sam smirks at me.
“That was completely different.” I roll my eyes.
“Alright,” Declan stands and claps his hands together, “I think we’re all done here. But, Jo? Do you have a minute?”
His slightly formal tone makes my nose wrinkle, but I nod as everyone besides me and my pack shuffle out of the house.
When it’s just the nine of us left, Declan sighs, running his hands over his face. “Okay, look. I know we promised to stay away—”
“Is this about Mabel?” I frown, crossing my arms.
“Yes, but just listen? Please?” I nod begrudgingly, and he continues. “I know we promised to stay away, and we will, but I need to know how she’s feeling. What she’s thinking. Does she really think that we made the whole thing up? That we’re trying to trap her because we think she’s…naive?”
“I…” I sigh, standing from my spot on the couch. “I don’t think she really does. But I also know she doesn’t think you’re a true scent match. Honestly, I don’t know either, Dec.”
“But…I scented her. We all did.” He looks at the members of his pack, who all nod in agreement. Even Nolan. “And you said—”
“Dec,” I shake my head, “all I know is my experience. We know they gave her the same concoction they gave me, but it didn’t have the same effect on her. She can’t scent anythin’—not even Rory’s scent all over the sweatshirt she was wearin’.”
“It could still be true,” Declan insists, even as Rory’s expression turns dejected. “Maybe her nose just doesn’t work anymore.”
“It could,” I say gently, “but if she isn’t open to it…” Huffing, I shake my head. “Even if you are her true scent matches, it doesn’t give you ownership of her. It’s still her choice to make.”
Rory looks pained. “But you could—”
I hold up a hand, stopping him. “As much as I love all of you, she’s been through too much for me to try to push her in a direction she doesn’t want to go.”
“So what, we’re just supposed to…accept this? What world exists where true scent matches don’t end up together?” Declan sounds desperate, a sound that breaks my heart.
But I’ve already hurt Mabel enough by trying to make decisions for her. I’m not about to do it again.
“This one. At least for now.” My jaw is tight, and I sigh, taking a deep breath. “Just…give her time and space. She’s still recoverin’ from the trauma of the last five years.”
“How long?” Rory seethes. “How long are we supposed to just sit on our hands while our true scent match is alone and afraid? According to you, if we bond her, she’ll be able to scent us—”
“And what then?” I snap. “What if she isn’t your true scent match? If that’s your whole reason for wantin’ to be with her, and it turns out you’re not a match—you’ll still be bonded, and she will be just the same as she was before. Will you be able to accept that?”
“That’s not the only reason why,” Declan mutters.
“How is it not the only reason?” I cross my arms. “You’ve not even had a full conversation. What reason could you have for wantin’ to be with her?”
Declan doesn’t have an answer for that.
I can feel the muscles in my shoulders tighten, but they relax slightly when I feel Kole’s hand grasp my shoulder. I glance at Nolan and Aidan, who haven’t said a word. “You two are awfully quiet.”
Aidan’s fingers absentmindedly stroke the jagged scar on the front of his throat.
The ink of his tattoo covers it, but he’s always aware of it.
“I don’t blame her.” His usually stoic voice holds the barest hint of emotion.
“I don’t think I’m ready to let anyone bite me again either—and I only have one mark. She has five.”
The old flame of rage at the alpha who scarred the man who is like an older brother to me flickers in my chest, but I push it down. “And you?” I look at Nolan.
He shrugs. “I’m not about to beg someone to be with me.” There’s an undercurrent of hurt in his voice, and I can’t help but notice he said “me”, and not “us”.
Is this just about Mabel?
Declan whips his head around, eyes narrowing. “Nolan, that’s not—”
Nolan cuts him off, standing abruptly. His expression of feigned nonchalance crumbles on the spot, a stark difference from the calm and easygoing alpha who told her to “take care of herself" only a few days ago. “It doesn’t matter. She doesn’t want us? Fine. We don’t need her.
” He storms out of the room, a flurry of hurt feelings and misplaced anger.
“That’s not fair,” I shake my head, “none of you are bein’ fair to her…except for Aidan.”
Hayden surprises me by speaking up, his voice uncharacteristically serious. “She’s got some real damage, guys. I’ve seen it. I went to high-five her the other day and she flinched back on instinct.”
Growls rip out of Declan and Aidan, but they quickly catch themselves.
“We fucking know that, dumbass!” Rory snaps at Hayden, standing and pulling at his bun. “Why the hell do you think we want to help so badly?”
I bristle at his tone, and before I know what I’m doing, I’m taking a step forward. “You don’t speak to him like that.” My voice is low and even. “You’re mad at the situation? Fine. You’re mad at me? Cool. But you do not take your anger out on him.”
“Fuck,” Rory collapses back on the couch, “I know, okay? I fucking know.”
“After we take down Thornfield,” I sigh, running a hand over my face, “I’ll see if she’ll give you five minutes. Maybe you can convince her that you didn’t mean any harm—”
Declan looks up in indignation, “We didn’t—”
“I know you didn’t!” I snap, my hands going to my hips. “But she won’t believe it. And I don’t know what can change her mind, but I’ll see if she’ll give you five minutes. That’s all I can do.”
Declan and Rory exchange a look, then nod. “If that’s what you can do…” Dec sighs. “Then that’s what we have to take.”
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.” I grimace, wringing my hands together. “I can’t imagine how hard this must be for you…but I can’t sacrifice her well-bein’ for your instant gratification.”
They can protest all they want, but that’s exactly what they’re trying to make me do.
I just hope Mabel doesn’t hate me for asking.