Page 57 of Alpha Reid

“How so?” Theo asks, narrowing his eyes on Astrid.

“As a double agent?” Jax suggests, speaking up for the first time since I dropped the bomb about Serena. He’s been quieter than normal throughout this meeting, just sitting back on a couch with his arm slung around Quinn’s shoulders. I arch a brow in his direction, and he continues. “Right now, they think she’s their inside man, right? But maybe instead, she can beourinside man.”

I clear my throat. “So you’re suggesting that we flip it around on them, use her against the shadow pack…”

Jax snaps and shoots me a finger-gun. “Exactly.”

“You said she has a contact number for them, right?” Theo mumbles, brow furrowed in thought. “So what if she calls them, says the virus didn’t work but she’ll try again. We can plan exactly when, knowing what they aim to do, and get the upper hand.”

“She can report back to them that the border security system is shut down when it isn’t,” Brock murmurs, continuing Theo’s thought.

“You think she’ll play along?” Jax asks, looking to me. “Think you can get her to call them and keep up the façade?”

I blow out a breath, nodding. “I think so. I think she’ll do anything to help at this point. While she had good reason for doing what she did, she’s feeling guilty as hell about it.”

“What about her sister, then?” Chase asks. He’s been so quiet up until now that I almost forgot he was here. “If we’re going to use Serena to our advantage against whatever deal she had going with them, then I sure as fuck hope you’re planning on doing something to help her get her people back.”

Once again, my wolf’s protective nature pushes to the forefront- I’m certain he’s showing in my eyes as I snap my head sideways to look at Chase. “Of course we will,” I growl, annoyed that he’d even question my intentions when it comes to helping my mate.

“As long as Serena’s still playing along, I’m sure her sister will be safe,” Brock says. “She’s their leverage.”

“We can’t be sure of anything when it comes to the shadow pack,” Gray murmurs, eyes trained on the floor again. The look in them is haunted, similar to what I’ve glimpsed in Serena’s on occasion.

“Why don’t you see if she’ll make that call, and we can do a longer strategy session tomorrow up at the complex to decide exactly how to play this,” Theo suggests.

“For sure,” I agree with a nod. “I appreciate you all coming together like this on short notice”

Jax rises to stand, stretching. “Yeah, no problem, Brock gave us the heads-up this morning.”

I narrow my eyes on Jax. “He what?”

This is news to me. I turn to Brock for confirmation as everyone else starts to rise to their feet, Astrid heading to the kitchen to play the host and offer beverages.

“Astrid said Serena was talking to you and we’d need to meet after,” Brock offers as I stand and make my way over to him. “So I figured I’d go ahead and rally the troops.”

“You knew?” I ask incredulously. I’ve gotta hand it to him, if he knew when he was at my packhouse this morning, he deserves an Oscar for his performance.

“Not until after we left your place today,” he clarifies, pulling his hair back and tying it into a quick man-bun. “And even then, she didn’t give me specifics.”

“Thanks for the heads up,” I grumble, though I know my annoyance is misplaced. I’m just taking my own guilt out on him at this point, faced with the realization that Serena was telling the truth- that she had every intention of coming clean before she knew I found that thumb drive. Now I feel even more shitty for being such a dick to her.

Brock holds up his hands. “Hey, that was between you two. Astrid said it was all going to work out, so I had no reason to doubt her.” He glances toward Astrid fondly, watching as she doles out beers to the guys. “C’mon,” he sighs, clapping me on the shoulder. “You seem like you could use a beer.”

“Or three,” I chuckle wryly. I start that way, then pause, turning back to Brock. “You think this is gonna work? Serena playing double agent?”

He shrugs. “It’s our best shot, isn’t it? Astrid seems to think that Serena’s the key in this whole thing, and I trust my mate more than anyone in the fuckin’ world. So yeah, I’ve gotta believe it’ll work. What other choice do I have?”

He’s got a point. I swallow hard, nodding, then follow Brock into the kitchen to join the others.

I know it’ll take some time, but I hope someday Serena and I can build that blind, unwavering trust between one another like Brock and Astrid have, and like my other buddies have with their mates. Even now, as I walk into the kitchen and accept a beer from Jax’s outstretched hand, I’m itching to get back to that feisty little redhead, the connection between us feeling stronger than ever.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Serena

I’m emotionally drained. Putting everything out there for Reid was a lot, and as cathartic as it was to get it off my chest, it was just as exhausting to rehash it all- I feel like I could sleep for a week straight. Now that everything’s out there in the open, it’s like I can think clearly for the first time in a long time. Clearly enough to realize that I should’ve done this sooner. I should’ve opened up and let myself trust Reid.

As silly as it sounds, until that chat with Astrid, it never really occurred to me that I had the option of picking a side. That I had a choice. I had blinders on, conditioned to believe that there was only one way to save them. I’m still terrified that something could go wrong, but I believe Reid when he says he’ll do everything he can to get Olivia and my pack out alive. I hope he does, because if anything happens to my little sister, I’ll never be able to forgive myself.

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