Van
Of all the missions he'd done, this one scared him the most. He'd seen plenty of lives-on-the-line situations before, but the lives were never people he was personally invested in. They were innocents who needed saving. This time was different because he cared about the person involved: Zoey. If things went south, it was her life that would haunt his conscience. He couldn't let that happen.
They'd all been busy with preparations for the past couple days, and now the first of three important days had come. Later today, Bug would activate the secret homing beacons. Then they would wait for Midnight to figure out who the beacons belonged to and make contact. In the meantime, Snuff and Bug would pack up all the fencing pods to move out once that contact was made. And they'd all continue preparing for the Formal as if nothing else was happening. Zoey had a final dress fitting, and his team had their own "costume" fittings.
The breakfast table was a paradox of energy. The other pack members chatted happily about the big event while Van's group ate their breakfast in silence. Zoey barely looked up from her plate until he nudged her with his shoulder, and the contact startled her. Her gaze whipped up to meet his.
"Why are you so jumpy today?" he whispered. "Nothing's happened yet."
She let out a long breath and pinched the bridge of her nose for a second. "Sorry... It's the knowing what will be happening that has me a little on edge. It's been planning and discussions up to this point, and now it's actually happening. There is actual risk and danger now."
Stitch leaned forward on the other side of Zoey. "We've accounted for all the risks. We won't put you in any situation that we can't handle. Not to mention that Van will be stuck to your shadow like glue."
Van shot his friend a half-hearted snarl and grabbed Zoey's hand as she gripped her fork. Her hand relaxed under his, and her eyes slowly lost that wide, startled look. He offered her a brave smile and waited until she smiled back.
"It'll be all right," he encouraged her. "Just take it one step at a time."
She nodded and turned back to her plate. He gave her hand a quick squeeze before releasing it. They ate the rest of their breakfast without any further conversation. Everyone else finished their meal and left the dining room to go about the tasks of the day. Once the room was vacant aside from Van's group, he leaned back in his chair and looked around at his team.
"This is it. By the end of today, we will be one step closer to achieving our goal. We all have things to do this morning, but we'll meet in the conference room after lunch to see Bug activate those homing beacons. Sound good?"
Everyone nodded their agreement, and the guys headed out. Van stood and held out a hand to Zoey.
"May I escort you upstairs for your final dress fitting, my lady?"
She placed her hand in his and smiled. "Yes, thank you. You may escort me there but not stay. Your mom absolutely insists that you don't see my dress before tomorrow night. I think she wants to see your reaction when you see her handiwork."
"Yes, well..." Van pulled Zoey to her feet and tipped his head a little. "It's also possible that my mother is also trying to push me into making some romantic grandioso gesture. I don't intend to sound flippant or cruel, but please don't expect me to drop to a knee and propose the second I see you in your dress."
Her eyes widened a little. "I... most definitely will not expect that. We've well established that we won't make any decisions until after my mate bond is broken, so a proposal before that happens will be contrary to that decision."
He tucked her hand into the bend of his arm and led the way out of the dining room. Zoey seemed to be lost in her own thoughts again as they made their way upstairs.
A proposal? Really? His wolf rolled his eyes. You think that's what your mom wants you to do?
You think she doesn't? Van shot back. I know that Mom really likes Zoey and thinks we should be together. Why else would she make such a fuss over the Formal and dressing Zoey up for it?
Well, you better hope that you haven't spooked Zoey indefinitely.
Van brushed off the comment as they arrived at the door for the fitting room. While he wanted to respect his mother and give Zoey her dazzling "moment of reveal" tomorrow, part of him wanted to stay with her to see the process.
"Thank you for escorting me," Zoey announced, sliding her hand free. "You should probably take a couple steps away from the door before I go in. We better not risk you peeking inside, or your mom will have a few words for both of us."
He pouted a little but backed a few steps away from her. "Have fun. The guys and I have our own fittings, and then we're going to test the fencing pods. Meet me on the patio for lunch?"
Her eyes sparkled a little, and she nodded with a smile. His own smile broke out before he could stop it. The click of a door opening somewhere in the hallway brought him back to reality before he turned into a complete fool. He and Zoey blinked at the same time, and she took a sidestep towards the door.
"I should... go in for my fitting."
"I'll see you later."
She nodded again and turned the door handle. "Enjoy your clothes fitting."
He grit his teeth and scrunched his nose. "Yeah..."
"Just go get it done, and then you can go do the fun things with your guys." She shot him a smile and ducked into the room.
He stared at the closed door for a minute before his wolf gave a huff.
The sooner you go do what you need to do, Romeo, the sooner you can be with her again.
"Yep," he muttered, turning away from the door.
#
"Well that was just as awkward as I thought it would be," Snuff muttered, straightening his jacket.
"It's for a good cause," Stitch answered. "We need to keep a low, yet diverse profile during the Formal. The outfits are just part of the job."
"At least we can now focus on our mission," Van cut in before Snuff could vent his feelings. "Let's go out and test the fencing pods. While we do so, you can all complain about the fabulous titles my parents scraped up for you."
"Oh, uhm... the title's fine!" Snuff protested as they all left the conference room.
Van bit back a smirk, leading the team out of the house into the back woods. "So who's the lucky one of us that is getting fenced in?"
"I feel like telling you would defeat the purpose of the test," Bug chipped in. "Only I know who is registered in the pods, so it's in Zoey's best interest for all of us to be on high alert. We'll know that they're working when one of us can no longer continue forward."
That sounds suspiciously like he's going to enjoy whoever gets fenced in, Van's wolf grumbled. If it's not you, then it might as well be all of you.
"Well, I guess I'm the lucky one," Snuff announced.
Van glanced over his shoulder to find Snuff standing still with his arms crossed like an annoyed child. Stitch let out a chuckle and took a few steps forward before stopping short.
"Uhm... why can't I go forward any more?"
Van's head whipped towards his best friend a few feet behind him. "You too?"
"...and now me," Goggles admitted, waving a hand a few feet ahead of Stitch.
Van took another step forward before an invisible force bounced him back a couple feet. When he'd shaken off the momentary daze, he tried walking forward again only to have another gentle shove backwards.
Bug turned around with a big smile on his face. "And, that my friends, is the effect of the shrinking fields. I programmed each of you to have a certain perimeter. Snuff had essentially none; Stitch had a few extra feet; Goggles had a few more feet than Stitch. I figured Van would be a bit harder to cage in, so I turned up the intensity on his perimeter. As you can tell, the barrier pushed him backwards which then started shrinking his perimeter."
Van backtracked a few yards to join Snuff at the center. "So this is supposed to be our meeting spot? Very limited movement by those who get fenced in?"
Bug nodded. "We'll be able to remain outside the innermost ring, so we can talk but they can't come closer."
"How will the pods know who to fence in?" Goggles chimed in. "Didn't you use our DNA to link us to the pods?"
"Here's the beautiful part," Bug explained. "Now that we are registered in the pods tech, I can reverse the code to have them recognize us as 'good guys.' We'll be able to move in and out, and everyone else will get recognized as intruders and be fenced in."
"Then what? Do they stay fenced in until the batteries run out?" Goggles asked.
"And how do we prevent Midnight from stealing the pods and using them against us later?" Van added.
A gleeful smile lit up Snuff's face. "I may have implanted tiny explosives in the pods. When we're far enough away, a touch of a button will make the pods self-destruct and release whoever is fenced in."
"Resourceful..." Van mused. "A pity that the examples of your fine work will be destroyed in the end."
Bug waved off the comment. "It's the concept that's important. Now that I know it works, I can easily construct more of these pods. The sacrifice of the first ones will be worth it for future missions."
"Can we go back now?" Snuff groaned. "There's still a million things to do before the Formal, not to mention our big Beacon Activation party after lunch."
Van nodded and turned to Bug. "You gonna let us out, or just leave us here?"
Bug's eyes twinkled for the briefest moment. "As fun as it would be..."
Zoey
I couldn't help but smile as Van leaned back in his chair and tipped his face up to the sunshine. We'd taken our lunch on the patio, so we were both enjoying the fresh air. Stitch had tried to join us, but Van had shooed him off faster than Stitch could say 'hi'. The rest of the guys took the hint and stayed inside. We ate without any interruptions, so it almost seemed like we were in our own secluded bubble.
"The sun is nice," Van sighed. "I've been so focused lately that I haven't taken the time to actually enjoy the warmth of the sun."
I followed his example and tipped my face upwards, closing my eyes against the light. The warmth penetrated deep into my skin and touched my wolf. She hummed her contentment and stretched out like a puppy for a late afternoon nap. If my afternoon schedule wasn't determined, I would have done just that. However, such a luxury would have to wait until after all the activities.
Something lightly tapped my forehead, and I opened my eyes to find Van leaning over me. I hadn't heard him get out of his chair! Stealthy lycan moves...
"I can teach you to be sneaky too," he murmured, tapping my nose
"You're a lycan," I pouted. "You're just naturally extra stealthy."
His eyes twinkled and a smirk tugged at his mouth. "Jealous?"
Well, duh! my wolf huffed. Look at him, making fun of us in our weakness.
He's not making fun of us, I scolded her. He's just... He's not making fun of us.
"Yes, I'm jealous," I answered. "Some things come naturally for you. The rest of us have to work really hard to become like you."
"But there are things that you do naturally that I struggle with," Van countered. "For example, you have a naturally sweet disposition people. I have to make an effort to be civil."
I blinked up at him. "That's part of being in the military. You're trained to be emotionless. It's not how you naturally are."
He bent down until our foreheads were almost touching. "Are you shutting me down when I'm trying to encourage you?"
I guess I was... Oops!
"Sorry."
He sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose gently. "You need to stop apologizing for everything. You didn't do anything wrong, so don't apologize as if you did."
Some habits die hard, and it would take a lot of intentional effort on my part to break this particular one. Having him point it out would definitely help me remember.
The patio door slid open, and Van straightened again. From the tight line of his mouth, he was not happy with whoever had decided to come outside just now. I pursed my lips to hold back the giggle that bubbled in my mouth. He could be really cute when he was annoyed.
"Sorry to disturb you guys..."
Stitch.
"Bug says we're just about ready to activate the beacons. I thought I'd come and get you so we'll all be there."
Van let out a sigh and nodded. "We'll be right in. Thanks, Stitch."
Stitch went back inside, and the door slid closed again. Van squeezed my shoulders and let out a long sigh.
We followed after Stitch into the house, through the dining room, and down the hall to Bug's tech room where he'd been monitoring the beacons and creating the fencing pods. From all the computer screens, sound boards, and speakers, it resembled a secret surveillance room. I'd only glimpsed the surveillance room at Midnight once, but I remembered the craziness of it all.
Bug sat in the big office in front of the desk. Snuff, Goggles, and Stitch stood behind him, arms crossed like the militants they were. Van pushed the door closed behind us and nodded to Bug.
"So this is it, huh?"
Bug pointed to a red button in the center of one of the boards. "Once we push that, the beacons will start sending a homing signal. Everything kicks off from there."
I glanced over the various screens. Half of them were videos, and half of them were audio feeds. Each screen had a location tag in the bottom left corner. There were two video screens labeled "Midnight," and each screen seemed to be switching between three streams. I watched each feed twice before I'd figured out exactly where those secret bugs were. They were mostly outside in places I wasn't allowed go, so they'd probably never seen me in their surveillance. I'd been invisible... just as Jax had wanted it to be.
"Zoey?"
I flinched as Van nudged me with his arm. "Huh?"
"You okay? You were zoned out for a couple minutes." He turned towards me to get a full view of my face.
"Yeah..." I rubbed the bridge of my nose. "I, uhm... Sorry. It's a little unsettling to see the surveillance you have on Midnight and know that help was so close. I never went in the scope of your cameras, so you never would have seen me. But..."
Van glanced at the screens before the light of understanding reached his eyes. He puffed out a breath and placed his hands on my shoulders. "I didn't think about it. I'm sorry. If you'd rather not be here, we'll go out and let the guys do their thing."
"I'm fine," I assured him. "I'm not the unstable, broken girl I was when I first got here. I can handle it."
He nodded and dragged his hands down my arms. "Okay. You know yourself best."
Bug swiveled in his chair to face the group. "Is everyone ready?"
One by one, we nodded and gave him a thumb's up. When we had all answered, Bug spun around to face the screens. With a hand over the activation button, he glanced over his shoulder at Van for final approval. Van squeezed my hand and nodded to Bug.
There was no dramatic countdown or flashing red lights. We all held our breath until the audio screens for Midnight brightened with an incoming signal message. It was subtle, just a few light beeps every 30 seconds; but it had been done. The process had begun.
"Now we wait until the monsters figure it out," Bug announced. "I'll let everyone know as soon as Midnight makes contact."
Since we were onto the waiting game. I'd need something to distract me for the rest of the day. Luna was down to the particulars of her plan, so there was no guarantee she'd have anything for me to do. I couldn't sit around until someone had a task for me.
"Stitch, why don't you take Zoey into the ballroom to see how the setup is going?" Van suggested. "I'll meet you guys there shortly."
Stitch and I glanced at each other before we both shrugged. Why not? It would be something to do, and it would build the anticipation for the big event.
If I hadn't known that events of this scale were 'normal,' I would have suspected that the lycans were trying to cover up a scheme with excess. The crazy amount of food, the candles, the crystals, the extra staff and security... Everything screamed 'look here!', distracting the mind from anything else going on.
I stood in the middle of the morphing ballroom, watching the crew hang lights and greenery from every banister. In the last 12 hours, the massive space had changed from an echoing hall to a dazzling social place. A special decorating crew arrived late last night and went to work. By the time I'd woken up this morning, they had put in nearly 10 hours of labor.
"It seems like a lot, doesn't it?"
I turned as Stitch wandered towards me. "I'm just astonished at the transformation of this place. Look at it... It's magical!"
Stitch chuckled and stopped beside me. "The lycans only hold a 'public' ball like this once in a great while. If you're going to invite the outside in, you should put on a show like they'll never forget."
Some of my glee died. The "outside" meant invites were carefully selected, but that didn't mean that someone couldn't get their hands on one and come under a false name. The event hadn't been publicized, so it wasn't widely known. Special precautions had been taken to prevent anyone from Midnight hearing about it; but Midnight spies were everywhere. There was no perfect guarantee that someone wouldn't come.
"All the glamor is a distraction," Stitch continued. "It's a distraction from troubles, from reality, from life. People flock to events like this because they can be whoever they want to be."
I smiled at the thought. Pretending to be someone else was fun as a child; even as an adult, the illusion of being someone else held a certain appeal. Masquerades were hugely popular, especially among the new socialized.
"Have you ever pretended to be someone else?" I asked Stitch, trying to picture who he could have been.
He shot me a smug grin. "Snuck into another pack's New Year's party and passed myself off as a lord's son in hiding."
My jaw dropped. "You didn't..."
"I assure you that I did."
"Did they ever find out the truth?" I gasped.
He shrugged. "In order to prove that I was lying, they'd need someone to verify my fake-real identity... and my fake lord father had such an obscure title that they are probably still looking for him. If they even still care, that is."
"So the mystery remains," I mused.
"To be honest, it was part of an undercover assignment," he admitted. "I didn't sneak into a party just for fun."
"Well, that's different!" I protested. "You had a purpose for being there! It sounded more scandalous when you said it the first time."
Stitch chuckled and stuck his hands in his pockets. "I know... which is why I like to tell it that way. Van doesn't approve, but I like how it sounds more adventurous."
"Still telling the story of breaking into that party, Stitch," a voice called from somewhere behind me. "I thought you'd gotten tired of that one."
Stitch and I turned as Van strode across the ballroom with confident steps. I didn't try to stop the smile that yanked my lips upwards. He made a beeline straight to me and stopped in front of me.
"I hope he hasn't been telling you anything ridiculous about me," he announced, shooting his friend a sidelong look.
"I didn't think you'd done anything ridiculous that's worth his telling me," I countered, pulling out my 'innocent' face.
Stitch snorted back a laugh which turned into a cough. Van sighed dramatically before wrapping an arm around my shoulders and pulling me against his side.
"I'm glad you think me so staunch and principled. I'd hate to have my reputation spoiled by gossip."
I elbowed him in the ribs and squirmed out of his hold. "All right. Enough..."
Van let me go and glanced around the room. "Everything looks to be in order here. I think we'll be ready to go by tomorrow night."
I nodded. "It will certainly be a night to remember."
"If everything goes according to plan, you'll be three days away from breaking your mate bond and being free," Stitch reminded me.
Free... There was a time when I couldn't believe that it was possible. Now, even saying the word felt like a deep breath of oxygen to my lungs. I knew every step of the plan, so I could see how my freedom was possible.
"I'm looking forward to all of this secrecy and uncertainty being over," I breathed. "I don't know how you guys live in this constant state of mentally being on-the-edge. It's exhausting."
Stitch and Van smiled, clearly knowing what I meant yet still loving their lifestyle. Neither of them said anything for nor against my claim, as was their usual. We all knew that I was in a different dimension of life, so they let me say 'outrageous' things about their line of work.
"We should let them continue working," Van announced. "The catering crew will be coming soon to start setting up the tables, and we'll get in the way."
"I should check in on Bug and Snuff," Stitch agreed. "They'll head off as soon at the end of the Formal when everyone is focused on the speech."
I nodded slowly and watched Stitch sweep out of the room. Bug and Snuff needed to go early to set up the fencing devices, and they needed a big diversion to overshadow their departure. If everyone was focused on some public announcement, very few would care if a couple guests went missing. It was all sketched in the team's plan. The "announcement" was complete bogus, but everyone listening would believe it to be true.
"Hey."
I jumped out of my musings as Van intertwined his fingers with mine and squeezed. The warmth of our hands pressed together spread up my arm and across my chest. I desperately wanted to believe that my reactions to his physical touch were early indications that he was my second-chance mate. Even if he was, we'd spend weeks apart from each other when he was out on missions... and that was only if he didn't reject me. Since he'd followed me to my attic hideaway and stayed the night just so he could apologize the next morning, I couldn't imagine that he'd reject me. We would just have to find our way to be.
"We're in the last phase," Van murmured, squeezing my hand again. "It'll all be over soon."
I leaned into him and rested my head on his shoulder. "That's good. That's really good."
He hummed a little and rested his head on top of mine. "I know you're tired from all of this. Hang in there with us a little longer. We'll get you out of this mess."