Zoey
Even though I hadn't had time to make the place a little more comfortable, I was grateful that Luna had found me a place to call my own. I would slowly bring a few blankets and pillows up to make the place a little more homey, and I could eventually sleep there if I felt the need to. Truthfully, I hoped it never came to that. My safe haven was a daytime place.
What happened? I asked my wolf as I scrambled up the back stairs to my hideaway. Why did that hit hurt some much?
We've never been super strong, she answered. We usually weren't thrown to the ground like that. The force caught me off guard... and it hurt!
I couldn't disagree with her. It had hurt... a lot. The emotional pain of not bouncing back matched the physical pain of slamming into the ground. I needed to find my inner fortitude, but I would only do it in the comfort of privacy. Van already had a low opinion of me, so giving him the opportunity to watch me sort through my thoughts would only bring that opinion lower still. I needed to build myself up, not down, in his view. He'd be more likely to protect someone he at least semi-respected.
So what do we need to do to make sure this doesn't happen again? I asked as I stepped into the room and closed the door behind myself.
We need to train more, build up our strength. One day at a time... that's all we can focus on.
I sagged onto the couch and rested my head against the back of it. Training... strength building... These things took time, and I may not have that much time. But I would certainly give it my all while I could. It was my only option.
It quite interesting to Van was the one that snapped us out of that funk, my wolf noted. Nothing Stitch did worked. But as soon as Van touched you... Hoo, that was quite the jolt.
I shook off the underlying suggestion, not wanting to let my mind wander down that path. It was too risky. Besides, once my mate bond was broken, I would be off and back to my parents' pack. They would be thrilled to have me back, and I would certainly feel safe and protected there. I could reestablish what 'home' felt like and hopefully figure out a plan for the future. If everything in my future was not here, what was the point of getting involved... even mentally?
Listen... I told her. I don't know how long we'll be here, so we should just take all of Stitch's help and leave it at that. I'd rather not get any more confused and unsettled than I already am.
She nodded and laid down for a rest. Whatever you say. Tomorrow, go back and try again with Stitch. Ask him to go slow, and we'll be more prepared.
I smiled at the ceiling and shifted my position on the couch. The cushions were quite worn and had lost much of their fluff, but it was still comfortable. A few hours' sleep, and I'd be ready to go back downstairs to face whatever was waiting.
Van
He'd lost track of her... again. Just like when she'd gone exploring with his mom, she went into a blank space where he couldn't find her. Not that he was going to go charging after her, but it unsettled his stomach to not know exactly where she was. Stitch couldn't track her either, but at they knew that she was still in the house.
He followed Stitch into the conference room and dropped into the chair at the end of the table. The whole team had gathered for another meeting, and he sincerely hoped that they had made some progress. The list of to-dos was quite long, but each step was one step closer to completion. He needed at least one big win for the morning.
"Goggles..." he drawled. "Where are we with that location?"
Goggles looked up from his laptop and chewed on his bottom lip. "Still haven't found it yet, Boss. Every time I think we've found it, something shows up that makes it too big of a risk. I'm crossing off enough places that the right one will reveal itself soon."
Great.
"Snuff? How are we doing with the logistics of keeping everyone in place for the meet?"
Snuff clicked his tongue and leaned his elbows forward on the table. "We're on track. The tech for the fence is done; we just need to test it out. And I'm already working on a second layer of mindlink blocking tech."
Finally... something good.
"Bug?" he shot a glance at the quietest member of the group. "Anything from Midnight to be concerned about?"
Bug tilted his head to one side and scrunched his eyebrows together. "I... I'm not sure. They're still sending out some feelers to other packs, slowly increasing their radius."
Van steepled his fingers and pressed them to his chin. "And?"
"Well... listen to this." Bug punched a button on his laptop, starting an audio recording. Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing to listen.
'Where could she be, Dad? How could she just vanish?'
'Son, the world is a big place. We've only begun looking. We'll find her. We'll get her back.'
'Dad, I... I need her back. It's hard not having her around. It's like my soul is slowly dying.'
Van rolled his eyes. The guy sure knew how to put on a show for his parents, but the lie was far from convincing. Van could hear the agitation in his voice.
'The girl can't hide forever, Jax,' the Midnight alpha said. 'Sooner or later, she'll feel safe and emerge from wherever she thinks she can hide. We have our teams on high alert, so we'll know when and where.'
Bug tapped another button and stopped the recording. "That was from yesterday. I'm recording everything, especially any feed from the private offices. Even if they want to try something, we'll know far in advance."
Van growled deep in his chest and rubbed a hand over his face. Midnight pack thought they were untouchable, a powerhouse of force and brutality. But their assumed strength was also their greatest weakness. His team would be able to strike hard and knock some key players in that pack down a few notches.
Stitch puffed a breath and leaned as far back as his chair allowed him. "Is there any hope of them giving up the hunt?"
"Not a chance," Van answered. "You heard them on the recording. The father might be willing to give up, but the son won't. From what Zoey has told me, he's all about the show... what it looks like to everyone else. He's made everyone believe that he's a devoted mate, so now he has to play heartbroken lover boy to keep it up. If he seems fine on any level, his whole façade will crumble."
"I'm not a big fan of the whole 'emotions' thing," Snuff muttered, "but this guy's fake emotions are really getting on my nerves. Can we just pick him off and be done with it?"
"You know why we can't," Stitch said. "If we kill him before we break that mate bond, Zoey dies too... and then we'd really fail."
"Failing by succeeding," Snuff muttered. "What a drag..."
Van and Stitch exchanged knowing glances. Snuff was their team wild card, and he teetered on the edge of reliable and dangerous. He'd pushed to taking out Zoey's ex from the beginning, and the topic had come full circle. He would only be pacified for a certain amount of time before he'd start crabbing about having his job stinted.
"So we're still searching for the perfect location... We have the fencing tech ready to go... And the ex is still hunting for her," Van summarized. "Am I missing anything?"
"...just the okay for me to take out a few dudes when we're finished," Snuff drawled, "but we all know that's probably not going to happen."
"Once we have a location and can assess potential collateral," Van allowed, "then we'll talk about it."
For a moment, the rest of his team stared at him. He hadn't lied. He was completely willing to have a discussion about what to do once Zoey's mate bond was broken, but they needed to get their actual job done first.
"Right. I'm off for a run," Snuff announced. "I need to work off some of this annoyance."
"I have some ideas to follow up on," Goggles said.
"I'm gonna keep working through the recordings," Bug agreed.
Van nodded and let the guys leave the room. As usual, Stitch remained behind.
"Do you have another lecture for me, or are we just going to talk about something?" Van sighed. "Actually, can you feel Zoey at all? She came into the house, and I lost track of her."
"Didn't that happen when she was getting a tour from your mom?" Stitch asked. "Did your mom tell you where they went?"
Van shook his head. "She said it was a private time with Zoey and that she didn't want to break Zoey's trust by telling me. I know it's in the house, but I can't figure out where."
"Do you want me to try to find her?"
Van shook his head again. "No. She's recovering from that scare in the woods, so I don't want to spook her more by invading her space. If she hasn't come downstairs in a few hours, then we'll go look for her."
Stitch nodded. "I have some ideas about her training. Can I run them by you and get your thoughts?"
"Absolutely."