Page 15 of Winter Lost

“And Warren,” Adam agreed.

There was a pause, and Adam let Darryl think for a moment.

“You could have stopped that fight. All the fights.”

Adam was pretty sure Sherwood Post could have done it, too. But Darryl didn’t need to understand that yet.

“Yes,” agreed Adam. “I could have used the pack bonds and put everyone on the ground.” He decided to let Darryl in on a secret. “And even back in their human bodies if I’d had to. All of you.”

“What?” Darryl asked, sounding appalled.

It was supposed to be the kind of thing the Marrok could do to you. Not an ordinary Alpha. In fact, Adam had never done it to more than one wolf at a time. But Adam’s wolf was certain.

“Yes. I could have. But it would have hurt them a lot worse than Post hurt Mary Jo and George. It would have told them I didn’t trust them to control their wolves. It might have made them lose trust in themselves, in their ability to keep their wolves under control, when sometimes the only thing that allows them to do that is the belief that they can.”

Silence hung in the air for a moment.

“I’ve been in a pack like that,” Darryl said. Adam felt the muscles in his back release at the sudden lack of tension in Darryl’s voice. “With an Alpha so busy making sure no one lost their cool that not one of them could function without him.”

“Except you,” Adam said, because that had been something the Marrok had told Adam when he’d sent Darryl to join Adam’s pack.

“Except me,” Darryl agreed, and Adam could hear that the events of the moon hunt had been dealt with to Darryl’s satisfaction. “So why did you call me?”

Darryl had government clearances that were higher than Adam’s—working in a think tank made that a necessity. That meant Adam could lay the whole problem out for him.

“Sabotage?” Darryl said thoughtfully when Adam was finished.

“Or spies. Or someone on the inside playing games. Kidnapping, even.” He paused. “Vincent said they had been ready to carry off bodies. He thought that meant they intended to kill both of my people and take their bodies. Maybe they were intending to carry off a live person as well.”

“To what end?”

Adam shrugged, though Darryl wasn’t going to see him. “I don’t know. I don’t know what all they do in those labs—I’m not sure SecDef does, either. But one of my people got killed, so I’m going down. I need you to take charge of the pack for a few days—maybe a couple of weeks—while I go and bless some hearts and take some names.”

“Everyone knows that’s your security company down there,” said Darryl. “If I wanted to get you to leave the pack to its own devices, this is how I would do it.”

That thought had not escaped Adam. He had it every time he had to go to DC, too, for the same exact reason. “Yes.”

“Why aren’t you calling Sherwood to hold the pack?” Darryl asked, his voice carefully neutral. “Since he quit hiding his light under a barrel, it’s pretty obvious that he is tougher than I am.”

Than I am, too, thought Adam, but that wouldn’t be useful to say aloud. He wasn’t sure his wolf would let him do that, anyway.

“Who cooks the pack Sunday morning breakfast?” Adam asked softly.

Darryl didn’t answer.

“You love this pack. Warren loves having a pack to belong to, but there are some of our wolves that he’d be just as glad to kick to the curb. Sherwood is just finding his balance. He lost a lot, and sort of regaining his memory”—the whole pack now knew about that—“has been a mixed bag.”

“He’s got pretty good balance from where I’m sitting,” muttered Darryl.

“So do you,” Adam said. “And my wolves look to you to take care of them. They trust you. Being a second, being an Alpha, is a two-way street. The pack has a place in those decisions.”

“Okay,” Darryl said. “I hear you.” He cleared his throat, evidently done with that subject, too. “I felt a flash of something through the pack bonds tonight. Mercy get another call?”

“Yes,” Adam said.

“She tried to hide it from you again.” Darryl sounded grimly amused. “If she hadn’t, I’d have felt more than a flash.”

Darryl was getting sensitive to the pack bonds—another sign that he was ready to take on his own pack. That was understood between them. But Darryl wasn’t going to desert this pack until the heat was off them, even if it took years. Which was a good thing, because Adam was very much afraid that he couldn’t let him go until that time. His wolf wouldn’t let him weaken the pack like that.

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