Page 21 of Rivers and Roads

I would have one half hour, once I got started. Nadya had given me a couple of practice tasks to test my skill before I began the download, in case I needed to postpone another day. They were mindless busy work that needed to get done—reports to be run, data to be scraped from the system that they needed in HR. It would get my workstation online and functioning before everything went down.

And I would know when that happened the moment Nadya rang my desk once, hung up, then once more. I would set a timer for three minutes, and then I would begin.

The chair was well used, comfortable when I sat, and for a moment, I let myself wonder what life would be like to exist this way. To have an office job and someone to come home to. To stress about simple things like paying bills, and eating healthy, and finding time for self-care so I didn’t burn out.

But that had never been on the table for me. For as long as I could remember, I knew I existed to fight. Kor used to talk about going to space when we were kids. I would listen and smile because his imagination was vast and beautiful. But they were only fairy stories—and I had never believed in shit like that.

Just like I had never believed in love.

Even now, even if we toppled this whole thing to the ground, there was no peace to be had. We would be fighting those who wanted to take our power for as long as the world turned. It seemed like a losing battle, but it wasn’t one I could ever stop fighting.

Rolling up to the desk, I took out Nadya’s notes and began to follow the steps. The workstation was almost identical to the one in the safehouse, so it was easy enough to log into the program and get started. Her tasks for me were meant to mirror the search for the labs, except I wouldn’t have to hack in and dig for them.

It went off without a hitch, until an hour in when a face appeared in the doorway. He was human—I could smell it on him before I looked up. He was sour, burnt coffee and cheap cologne, and he looked like a man who drank himself to sleep every night.

His pale skin was almost yellow, and his heart was beating harder than it should be as he lounged in the doorway. “Another one?”

I stared at him. “I’m sorry?”

“They hired another one of you? This Bridge Hire bullshit…”

I fought the urge to bare my teeth. I knew he was trying to bait me in the way humans often did with Wolves in public. They tried to push us into shifting, into showing teeth and claws so they could scream about how we really were animals. And I wasn’t going to rise to it.

I offered him a bland smile. “My name is Drake Carson. Today’s my first day.”

“Doubt you’ll be here long enough for me to remember,” he said. He meant it like a threat—especially with the way he winked, pat the door, and then wandered off.

He seemed like an absolute nobody, but I wondered if he was a man with power. Or, more likely, he was just the product of generations of misinformation about Wolves leading the majority of humans who would never believe we deserved the right to exist as ourselves.

It didn’t really matter, though. That human was nothing to me—he would be crushed if he got in my way, and if he was wise enough to stay out of it, I would happily forget ever speaking to him.

Glancing at the clock, I realized it was near lunch. Nadya had told me to come in at half past eleven, so I locked my computer and made my way down the hall to her office. I could hear voices just inside, so I hung back, but my heart jumped a few minutes later when the door opened, and another Wolf stared at me.

He was an Omega—as tall as I was, but far more slender. He stared at me with suspicion in his eyes, and I wasn’t sure how much he could possibly know. He said nothing, however, walking down the hall with a hitch in his step, and I felt nerves creeping up my spine.

“Drake,” Nadya said, and it took me a moment to remember my fake name.

Walking into her office, I shut the door behind me, then glanced out the window again. “Is he your contact?”

“No,” she said, folding her hands under her chin. “He’s a plant from Marion.”

My heart sped up at the sound of our Prime Minister’s name. “Does he know about me?”

“He knows we’re both spies,” she answered, like it meant nothing at all.

“And you’re not worried?” I took a seat in the chair across from her desk and stared, disbelieving at her soft grin.

“There’s nothing to worry about. We’re aware of each other. He thinks he’s able to stop me from sending any relevant information to the resistance, and I let him. There’s no way he knows you’re a Beta.”

I wanted to believe that, but I had been Kor’s second in command for years. It was entirely possible he knew who I was, even if I didn’t know him. “I don’t think I should delay much longer.”

She raised a brow at me, but eventually she sat back and spread her hands. “If you feel ready, then go for it. Remember, we have one shot at this, and you have enough serum to work on the database for a couple of days if you want to take your time.”

Taking my time meant condemning Zane to more torture. And taking my time meant days to second guess myself. It needed to happen now. “I’m ready.”

Nadya let out a small sigh, then she nodded. “Alright. It’ll take me a little while to get everything ready. Not more than an hour, but don’t panic if you don’t get the call right away.”

“I won’t,” I told her. “I understand. One shot.”

---