Page 135 of Moonlit Nights & Northern Lights
Then again, how much did I really know her? I’d left shortly after I turned twenty. Maybe desperation had driven them to compromise their principles.
The thought made my stomach churn.
“All we know for sure is that Callum’s involved,” Maxwell said. “Which doesn’t surprise me. The man has ‘prick’ written all over him.”
“So, are we going to check out this building?” I said, at the same time my phone buzzed in my pocket.
Unknown
Is this your number? It’s Isla. Let me know if you have any time to hang out or go for a run. Hope you’re enjoying the cottage!
“It’s my cousin Isla wanting to meet me.” I chewed my bottom lip, considering. “Actually, it might be a good idea to bring her in on this. She might be helpful. She’s much more in the know about my family than I am, and she keeps reaching out to reconnect.”
Maxwell glared at me through his glasses. “Absolutely not.”
“Why not?”
“We can’t trust that she won’t tell Edina everything we’ve discussed. She’s ultimately her alpha, after all.”
I shifted on the chair arm, feeling a spike of frustration flow through our bond. “Yeah, but Isla’s different. You heard her. She hates the pack almost as much as me. She barely comes back here.”
“That doesn’t mean she won’t feel obligated to report back,” Maxwell said, “or feel unable to lie if your mother directly asks her. I’m not a shifter, but my understanding of these things is that pack loyalty runs deep?”
I couldn’t help my hackles rising. Maxwell, daring to educate me on shifter politics?
We stared at each other, Maxwell pursing his lips together in a stubborn line. But underneath, I caught flickers of genuine worry—not just about operational security, but about me walking into another potential trap.
The weight of that concern, flowing warm and steady through our connection, deflated my anger.
“Fine,” I said, shoving my phone away. “But if we end up needing insider information tomorrow and don’t have it, I’m going to be insufferably smug about being right.”
Maxwell’s mouth twitched. “I can live with insufferable smugness.”
Dev’s gaze flicked between Maxwell and me, his expression shifting from casual interest to something sharper. His eyes lingered on how close I was sitting to Maxwell, then tracked back to our faces with the sort of look that suggested he was piecing together a puzzle.
“So,” he said slowly, drawing out the word. “Are you two… getting along better these days?”
A prickle shot across my neck. I could feel Maxwell tense, probably picking up on my sudden spike of anxiety. The last thing I needed was Dev finding out that I’d accidentally forced this upon poor Maxwell. He’d probably laugh himself sick.“Just don’t scare him off by suggesting you move in together,”the Dev in my mind cruelly sneered, even though I knew Dev wasn’t actually like that.
“Well,” I said, sliding off the chair arm and putting some distance between Maxwell and myself. “Are we going to this building, then?”
A sharp pang ofsomethingfrom Maxwell.Shit.Was he hurt? Had I fucked up, once again? He adjusted his glasses, not meeting my eyes.
“We could go find it, spy from a safe distance. Set up cameras. Armed, taking precautions. Look for tyre marks around the area, footprints. They’ll definitely have their own cameras, so we’ll need to be careful. We could bring hiking gear, pretend to be hikers.”
I managed a grin. “I’m sure I could muster up a vaguely hiking-appropriate outfit.”
“Dev should stay behind, though,” Maxwell said, glancing his way. “He can’t risk being seen anywhere near there.”
I looked to Dev, who’d gone very still. He didn’t jump in with an argument—perhaps he agreed. Perhaps he was having flashbacks of whatever horrible things had happened to him in that place.
The idea of spending time alone with Maxwell in the wilderness sent an entirely inappropriate thrill through me.
“There’s a tiny tent in the cupboard,” Maxwell continued. “We can bring that for the full hiking effect.”
My stomach did a little flip. Did he actually want the two of us to camp out there tonight? Together? In a tent?
“But… who’ll stand guard over Dev?” I asked. “We can’t leave him like this!”
