Page 31 of Black Moon

A hand clamped down on my shoulder, squeezing tight. Zeke, looking as tense as I’d ever seen him. “It’ll be fine. We’ll be fine.”

The alpha in me wanted to bluster about how it was the Reids who needed to worry, but, well...I just wasn’t that kind of guy. Never had been.

“Tell me the plan again.” I said it, not to Zeke, but to one of the younger enforcers, Lane Daniels.

He nodded to me, then motioned to the map. “We drive here, arriving at one in the morning, and enter Reid territory through the woods.” Tracing a line of the decided route, he tapped on the other side of the woods. “Coming out as close as possible to the east side of Reid’s own house.”

“We know the pack has nearly forty members left,” Claudia said aloud, for everyone. “Yes, we outnumber them, but don’t let that make you cocky. They’re the next best thing to feral, and they will go for your throat.”

“We’re not going to let them catch us off guard again,” Zeke added. “We have to walk in assuming any member of the Reid pack is hostile. I won’t lose more of you to hope that they can be reasoned with.”

“Don’t attack first,” I said, trying to temper Zeke’s anger. He wasn’t wrong, but I wouldn’t have my pack end up like the survivors in Wyoming, imprisoned for attacking first and asking questions never. “But look at anyone outside the pack as a potential threat.”

One of the younger alphas raised his hand, like we were in a classroom. “What about Brook?”

“Brook is a Grove,” Zeke and I said at the same time.

I added, “Be prepared for him to not act like himself after what he’s been going through, but he’s still Brook. He’s our priority, but whatever you do, don’t leave anyone else behind. I don’t want to have to do this again.”

There were nods all around at that. We could do this, yes. We had pack enforcers for a reason. But we weren’t a pack created with violence in mind. Our enforcers were fry cooks and teachers and construction workers on days when no one had been kidnapped.

“Everyone meets back here,” Claudia said, pointing at a spot on the map, then stopped to tap it repeatedly. “Everyone. Hear me? You leave someone behind, we have to turn around and do this again, but this plan won’t work next time.”

There were nods of assent around the table, and the conversation quickly broke down into who was going in which car.

My own very sensible SUV didn’t seem like the best vehicle to drive into Reid territory, so I started to head toward Birch, where he was splitting people into two groups, when Zeke again caught my shoulder.

“Talk to you,” he mumbled, dragging me into the hallway.

I let him lead me out, turning and trying my best to look serious. Not that I wasn’t serious, I just felt like a little kid playing at adulthood.

He lowered his voice to a bare mutter, probably trying to avoid being overheard by the people in the game room. Or, I supposed now it was the war room. “You can’t come with us.”

“What?”

The murmur of voices in the next room went silent, and I realized just how loud I’d been. Zeke winced, poking his head back into the room long enough to shout, “Back to it, slackers. The alpha is allowed to be annoyed without you assholes listening in.”

“I’m not the alpha yet,” I pointed out when he came back in. “Maybe not ever.”

He shrugged, but he didn’t seem concerned. “They need you to be, right now.” He glanced at the wall, like maybe he could see through it and know if any of them were still listening in, then back to me. “That’s why you can’t come.”

“Because they need me to be a leader, I’m not allowed to lead?” I hissed back. That didn’t make any damn sense.

Zeke didn’t seem to see the issue. He nodded vehemently. “Yes, exactly.” He swiped a palm down his face. “After last time, Linden? Those people need to know that when they get home, home will still be here.”

“Of course it will,” I insisted. “That’s not a question. The pack will survive, even if—”

“No.” His eyes blazed with an anger I’d never seen in Zeke before. And something else. Fear? “They watched—Wewatched our alpha gutted, right in front of us. I can’t speak for them, but I can’t fucking do that again, Linden. I need to know that whatever happens, you’ll be here, taking care of the pack. Organizing what comes next. We’re soldiering, Linden, but we ain’t soldiers. We need that backbone. That base. We need our alpha safe.”

“What ever happened to not sending men to fight if you’re not willing to join them?” He wasn’t wrong, but dammit, I wasn’t either. On the other hand, it probably wouldn’t help anyone if I started stamping my little foot and yelling to get my way.

He reached out and put both his hands on my shoulders. “We all know you’re willing to join us. But we need you here, not there. Please, Linden. Hell, do it for me if you won’t do it for them.”

And that was...unique. Zeke had never asked me for anything in my life. In fact, I’d never heard him ask anyone for anything serious. He’d always been completely self-sufficient. Never a man who gave orders or made demands.

I took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh. “Okay, Zeke. For you.”

He bumped his forehead against mine, a wry smile on his lips. “Whatever it takes to make sure the pack is safe, Alpha Grove. That’s what we’re doing this for. Pack and territory. All of us.”

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