Saved By The Alpha
Chapter 13

I didn’t know what to think. For the rest of our shift, Iris and I didn’t see any movement. No one else approached the log cabin, and no one exited. After seeing Maverick talk to someone inside, I didn’t want to risk getting much closer. He would recognize my scent, after all, and no matter what was going on, I didn’t want him in the position of having that information.

He was surely not an actual member of the Raven Brothers, but he still reported to them.

It was probably an act. Maybe the tattoo is fake. There were plenty of websites where you could buy custom-made temporary tattoos. Ones that lasted weeks, even. Some of them looked real enough, and why would anyone be concerned about someone faking an elite member’s tattoo? Yeah, that makes sense.

My own argument sounded hollow to me, though, even as Iris and I walked back to Clay’s truck in silence. There was nothing else to see. The lights in the building had gone out over an hour ago, and I couldn’t think of anything past Maverick’s direct involvement.

Thoughts rattled wildly around my skull. I just couldn’t believe what we’d seen. Iris hadn’t said anything else to me, but I knew what she must be thinking. That Maverick wasn’t as trustworthy as I thought he was, that he’d got in too deep, or that he’d gotten turned by someone within the Raven Brothers — that maybe I didn’t know him as well as I thought I did, or that he’d changed in the years we’d been out of touch.

People did change, after all.

Not Maverick. Not that much.

A man might go through hell and come out a different person, but I couldn’t imagine my old friend transforming so much that he’d be willing to kill innocent people — shifters and humans both — to rack up points on some sick scoreboard, “winning” the prize of a raven tattoo. My stomach churned and rolled over.

There must be some explanation. Maybe Maverick had convinced the higher-ups that he was valuable — that he would be good as protection or something. Dr. Brenner would be one of their most valuable assets. That would make sense, I thought, pulling the truck out of the López driveway.

There has to be something. Maverick is smart. Clever. Whatever it is, I’m clearly just not thinking of it yet. He has years of military training. I’m sure he has all sorts of practice infiltrating all kinds of organizations.

One corner of my mind suggested that experience was espionage, not military, but I squashed that down as quickly as I could. I didn’t care how outlandish my explanations sounded.

I just couldn’t believe that Maverick was selling us out — that he’d been playing me — that I didn’t know him.

“I’m sorry,” Iris said quietly as we drove toward the city, her voice breaking my spiraling train of thoughts.

I gripped the steering wheel so tightly that my knuckles turned white. “He’s not one of them,” I said automatically. “There has to be some other explanation.” I knew how it looked. I knew what she must be thinking. But she was wrong. She has to be.

Iris glanced over across the bench seat, her eyes roaming over me. I stared ahead, keeping my eyes trained squarely on the road. I didn’t want to know what she was thinking. I didn’t want to see pity or disbelief or anything else that might indicate Maverick was—

That Maverick had—

No.

After a moment, she shrugged and shifted her gaze back out the window. “Okay,” she said. “What do you think is going on?” I knew Iris was just placating me, but at that moment, I didn’t care. I’d rather be placated than argue Maverick’s innocence.

“He’s probably just protecting vital information for them,” I said after a moment, holding the wheel like my life depended on it.

Iris sighed. “Why would they give him information if it needs to be protected, Eli? They’d probably keep critical information in one place and send guards to the location,” she said carefully. “That looked just like the file folders we found a few weeks ago in the abandoned building. The subject files.”

I swallowed hard, trying to force the lump in my throat back down. “That doesn’t make sense. Maverick isn’t a scientist or a doctor — he’d have no use for a subject file,” I countered.

“Sure,” Iris replied slowly, “but he’d be a perfect candidate for getting a new subject.”

I didn’t argue with her. I didn’t know what else to say or how to reason away the file folder we’d seen get passed to Maverick. They aren’t Dr. Brenner’s taxes. Whatever it was, it wasn’t harmless.

But Maverick isn’t that kind of person. Part of me was certain he wasn’t that kind of wolf, lone alpha or not. But the rational corner of my mind, the corner that had been grimly observing all the atrocities Project Night Moon had been racking up…

Well, that part of my brain was having trouble explaining what we’d seen without Maverick’s culpability.

What if this is how Maverick got you information so quickly? He knew so much about the Raven Brothers within days.

The thought made my mouth run dry. At the time, I just assumed my friend was that good at his job. After all, we’d been out of touch for ages, and—

Maybe it wasn’t a coincidence that he was already in Texas. He said he wanted to buy a horse farm, but…plenty of those exist in the United Kingdom too. It wasn’t as if he had to be anywhere near London.

There were plenty of horses in Ireland. Lots of space. Hell, he could go to Wales or Scotland and still stay way outside of England, much less Longbow’s territory.

Has he been here the whole time?

The knot in my stomach felt like it couldn’t get any tighter. My anger was tempered only by the chill of fear. I didn’t know what to think. I didn’t know what to do.

If the one man I trusted most had been lying to me all this time…

Shit.

When we got back,Remus and our father looked like they were just getting ready to head out. Remus gave me a puzzled look. “What’s going on?” he asked, stepping back as I kicked off my boots. “We were just about to come to relieve you.”

I shrugged as I marched toward the kitchen, dejected.

“There’s been a bit of a snag,” Iris said as she followed behind me. “Maverick showed up at the house. The person inside gave him a file. We weren’t able to see them, but Maverick showed them the tattoo on the inside of his wrist before he was given the folder, so they must have been higher up.” She grimaced. “It could well be Dr. Brenner. The file folder looked just like the ones we found earlier with all the subject information.”

“I don’t understand,” my father said. I could hear the confusion in his voice. “I thought Maverick was helping you, Eli, that he was working undercover and feeding you information? How would he have that kind of access?”

“He had the Raven Brothers’ tattoo on his wrist,” Iris repeated. I ducked my head down. “He must have. I don’t know what else the person inside would have been looking for.”

Remus growled softly. “He must have been working both sides this whole time. No wonder we keep running into dead ends — Project Night Moon knows what we’re going to do next before we do it.” He paused for a moment. “Shit. Does he know about the safe house? Does he know where Iris and Bella are hiding?”

I whirled around. “No. I haven’t told anyone,” I hissed, shaking my head. “And there’s no way that he would betray us — betray me — like that. He’s not that kind of person.”

He wouldn’t sell me out — and he certainly wouldn’t sell a child out.

My father frowned. “We know the kind of person he used to be, Eli,” he said gently, holding a hand up as I opened my mouth to protest. “I don’t want to believe someone we took into Longbow would change that much either but remember — he was a soldier. He fought in human wars. That kind of thing changes people, no matter who you are.”

I wanted so badly to argue, but he had a point. Maverick had been in military service for years, and he had certainly implied he’d seen action. I didn’t ask where because that seemed rude, but…f**k. Surely whatever he’d seen couldn’t have changed him so much he’d be willing to sacrifice his own to…to…to what?

Get some supposed leg up on humans? An advantage we didn’t really even need?

“Were you able to see the file?” Remus asked, changing the topic.

Iris shook her head. “No. It was too far away, and we were in the forest. No one else came or went, and all the lights went out in the house. The place had been dark for a while when we left, so I assume the person inside went to sleep.” She paused. “I’m assuming it’s Dr. Brenner if they were giving out files, but I can’t be positive. It could be a higher-up from the Raven Brothers.”

“I don’t think so,” Remus replied. “Agent Foxrun specifically said the shell companies were involved with Project Night Moon, and as far as we know, the project hired the Raven Brothers. They’re not otherwise associated.”

My father walked over while they spoke, reaching over to squeeze my shoulder. “Hopefully, more information will come to light tomorrow,” he said, addressing the other two. I knew he was talking to me too, though — and he meant Maverick as well.

I turned, pulling away as I headed back toward the front door. “I need to go for a walk,” I said. I just needed space. I needed to breathe and…to think.

Thankfully, no one tried to follow me.