Zoey
I stared down the empty hall, still trying to figure out what just happened. I hadn't expected a hug and a welcome party, but the way Van had looked at me and then brushed past so fast... Had I done something wrong? Was I not supposed to spend time with his mom? Did he know about that I was looking for a place to hide from him?
"Hi."
I squeaked, whirling around to find Stitch in the doorway. My heart thudded for a moment before settling back into a normal rhythm.
"Sorry; I didn't mean to scare you." He took a step back and stuffed his hands into his pockets.
"I know you didn't," I sighed. "I was just lost in my own thoughts. Is everything okay?"
"Yeah; everything's fine. Please, come on in." He waved me into the room.
I stepped inside and glanced at the three guys at the table. I'd seen them but hadn't officially met them yet. They didn't look as intimidating as Van had. In fact, two of them looked more like office nerds than tough soldiers.... Not that I would tell them that.
"You... You haven't met the rest of the team yet," Stitch noted, closing the door behind me. "All right. We have Snuff, our weapons engineer."
The tallest of the group waved a hand in greeting.
"We have Bug, our communications specialist."
The first of the 'geeks' nodded at me.
"And we have Goggles, the man with all the intel."
The last member at the table looked up from his laptop and sent a smile my way. I smiled back and took a seat at the end of the table. Stitch dropped into the chair next to me.
"So... does everyone in the military have nicknames?" I dared to ask.
"We're a close-knit group," Stitch explained "As we went on missions together and figured out that we were going to be our own unit, calling each other by our formal names just didn't feel right. It helped us distinguish being in the field and at home."
"...but the names kinda stuck," the guy Bug added. "We got so used to calling each other by our mission names that we never went back."
"That's a unique bond you guys have," I noted, looking down at my hands in my lap. "Not everyone has that."
For a moment, everyone was quiet. Stitch finally was the one to rub his hands together and lean back in his chair.
"Did you have a nice house tour with our luna?"
I like him, but don't tell him about our secret space, my wolf cautioned. He might feel a duty to tell Van, which would defeat the whole purpose.
I agreed with her, so I wracked my brain for a way out. "Yes. She helped me understand the general layout of the house, so I'm not as worried about getting lost anymore."
"Even if you did get lost," Snuff said, pulling a small lighter out of his pocket and flicking the switch to activate the flame, "we'd find you."
A tiny shiver ran down my spine. They'd find me... that was a good thing. They were looking after me, not hunting me. I could trust them.
I glanced back at the door before turning to Stitch. "Did I do something to upset Van? He barged out of the room so fast..."
Stitch waved a dismissive hand. "Don't worry about him. He's feeling a bit cooped up here at home, so he probably just needed a good run to loosen up."
I nodded slowly. I understood the feeling, but I'd never had the freedom to just 'go for a run.' The one time I tried, even just laps around the house under supervision, Jax ended up tackling me and dragging me back to the room. Apparently I'd been flaunting myself in front of all the guys, and he didn't like it. His fists had beaten any desire to try again out of me. I'd forced my wolf to bottle her anxious energy over the years, dispensing it in the form of keeping us alive.
"Anyway..." Stitch's voice brought me back from the brink of those memories.
I looked over at Bug and Goggles, both pecking away at their laptops. "Any progress?"
Bug glanced up from his screen, a hint of a smile lighting his face. "We have a plan on how to set up the meeting. It does involve a little bit of waiting for someone from Midnight to contact us, but it's our best option."
My heart pounded against my ribs. "Why... Why would someone from Midnight contact you? Do they know that I'm here? Doesn't that defeat the purpose of all of this?" The room was starting to spin a little. They'd told Midnight that I was here? Why would they do that? They were supposed to protect me!
"Zoey, take a breath." Stitch leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table. "Midnight has no idea that you're here, and we're going to keep it that way. They won't know a thing until they arrive for the meeting. We're tricking them into thinking that they've been compromised."
"So..." I swallowed hard and took a deep breath. "So, as far as Midnight knows, the meeting has to do with a security breach?"
"Yes," Stitch confirmed, causing my heartrate to slow back to a reasonable pace. "As I'm sure you know, anyone from Midnight will bolt as soon as they suspect anything unusual. The way we're doing it, they'll believe that they are in control of this meeting. Little do they know is that we're actually the ones pulling all the strings. They won't be able to move before we anticipate it."
My cheeks burned a little as I realized how ridiculous I'd sounded. Of course they had control of the situation. How could I think otherwise? They were trained military specialists. They wouldn't compromise their advantage or put me in danger.
"I'm sorry," I murmured, burying my face in my hands. "I'm not used to anyone caring about my safety. People around me usually want to reach their goal the quickest way possible, regardless of who gets hurt along the way."
The silence that followed was all too familiar. They were either deciding to feel sorry for me or didn't know what to say. I didn't expect an answer from any of them, especially since I'd just told them that I wasn't used to it.
"I can only imagine what you went through in Midnight," Stitch finally murmured. "But please believe me when I tell you that your safety is at the center of our thoughts. Everything we plan and do is centers around that."
My wolf laid down and sighed, both of us feeling the deep truth of his words. The warmth of knowing I'd be protected was rimmed with the cold shadow of fear. I'd never fully shake it, but I could certainly try.
"Thanks, Stitch. I need to be reminded of that sometimes."
He nodded, as if making a mental note to himself. "Since you've had a tour of the house, how about a tour of the grounds? Not the whole territory, of course, but at least some of the places our team goes."
Where would a military team spend their time? On a training course? At the military base? Despite having lived in a power-based pack, I knew absolutely nothing about the workings of the military. Jax never told me anything, and the few places I was allowed to go were out of the way of everything.
"I'd suggest waiting to let Van go with or do it himself," Snuff commented. "He's getting very weird about her, so I wouldn't go anywhere without at least letting him know first."
Stitch shot a glance at me. "Right. Probably for the best if we wait until he comes back."
Having experienced at least two of Van's various moods, I didn't dare disagree. He'd seemed testy enough about me going around the house with his mom, so I didn't want to push the boundaries of my current freedom. Even a tour guided by him would be better than risking his anger. I'd do whatever they suggested.
"I need coffee," Snuff muttered after a moment of uncomfortable silence. "All this emotional rollercoaster drama is getting on my nerves."
I shrank a little into my chair as Snuff left the room, a painful inkling that these guys didn't deal with 'emotional rollercoaster drama' in their usual missions. As if I wasn't already insecure about the inconvenience I was causing them...
"Don't mind Snuff," Stitch murmured to me as the door closed. "He always has a hard edge to him, even when he's in a good mood."
"Is there any way to distinguish between the two?"
Goggles gave a little snort. "Wouldn't that be nice..."
"Goggles," Stitch warned. "Let's try to encourage Zoey during her stay, shall we? Not everyone is a stone ghost like we are."
"Stone ghost?" It sounded strange to me. Ghosts moved quickly and silently. Stone... did not. On top of that major difference, I couldn't see how such a weird title was a compliment. Why would someone want to be called a 'stone ghost'?
"It's a name our group has picked up over the years," Stitch explained. "We're ghosts because no one ever sees us coming or can tell that we've been somewhere... unless we want them to. And we're stone due to a certain emotionless detachment during missions."
Emotionless detachment... great. If that's the attitude that Van was bringing to my situation, this whole thing would be all the more unpleasant.
These other guys don't seem so bad, my wolf suggested. Especially Stitch. I think he can compartmentalize between missions and home. He's going to be our biggest ally.
...as long as we don't do anything that would set Van off, I countered, remembering what he said about being his personal assignment. He wouldn't appreciate being undermined in any sense, even if it was by his second-in-command.
"I have an interesting question for you, Zoey." Stitch leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, moving off the stone ghost subject.
"Sure," I sighed.
"How much training have you had? Of any kind?"
"I was at the top of my training class when I found my mate," I answered, dreading what I'd have to admit next. "Once I moved to Midnight..."
He nodded, a silent signal that I didn't need to finish the thought. "It's been a spell since you've worked on any skills. That's understandable."
I couldn't read his face on what he thought about that. Their job was to protect me, so how big of a deal was it that I probably couldn't defend myself in a pinch? There was so much about this team that I didn't know yet, and the mental limbo was absolutely terrifying.