Page 70 of Alpha Brock
“You guys are fucking weird,” Theo grumbles, eyeing our intertwined hands.
I ignore him. Instead, I slip Astrid another side-eyed gaze, the corner of my mouth tipping up into the faintest of smiles as I give her hand a squeeze.
Fuck she’s beautiful.
Looking over at me, Astrid’s plush lips curve into a little smirk.
And she squeezes my hand back.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Astrid
Damn it feels good to be home. As soon as we pull through the main gate and onto my pack’s territory, I can’t stop the smile from spreading across my face. This is the longest I’ve ever been away from Denver, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t glad to be back- though I wish it was under better circumstances.
When we pull into the packhouse driveway, I’m practically bursting at the seams with excitement, a total contrast to the somber moods of the other three guys in the car with me. I get that we’re here for a battle, and I’m just as nervous as the rest of them for that- but right now, I’m just excited to see my brother.
We all pile out of the vehicles and grab our bags- Brock grabs mine- and we’re escorted inside by packhouse security. When my eyes land on Cole waiting in the foyer, I practically tackle him with a hug, earning one of his rare smiles. My brother is typically all business in his role as Alpha; few people get the privilege of seeing the real him or how beautiful his smile is.
“I missed you too,” Cole laughs, pulling back look at me. “Glad to have you back home.”
“Glad to be here,” I grin.
He leans in a little closer, dropping his voice low. “Sam said you were having more visions, that you’ve seen one about your ma…”
“Later,” I blurt, cutting him off and giving a little shake of my head.
Cole narrows his eyes, searching my face. A silent conversation passes between our gazes, and I don’t need to elaborate further for him to understand my meaning. The two of us are so close that we can basically communicate without words.
Cole nods, clapping me on the shoulder before moving past me to greet Gray, who starts introducing him to the others. I’m left standing there facing Sam, who I last saw when he left Riverton yesterday morning. Normally, I’d give Sam the same big hug that I gave Cole in greeting, but things have shifted between us since our conversation on Saturday night. Now it’s…awkward.
I hope it’s not like this forever, but for the time being, I get it. He’s still adjusting to the bomb I dropped on him the other night and I’m still reeling a little bit from his declaration of love. Sam greets me with a soft ‘hey’ and an uncomfortable half-hug, all while eyeing Brock over my shoulder. I glance back at the big bad wolf and he’s standing there rigidly, his jaw twitching- and we’re definitely going to have to have a talk about this at some point, because I’m not going to end my lifelong friendship with Sam over Brock’s jealousy issues.
Once Cole greets everyone, he tells them to leave their bags in the foyer and leads us all into the large living room in the back of the packhouse, where Cole’s four advisors- Chris, Sasha, Victor, and Micah- are seated, as well as Rico, the head of Denver’s IT. Cole makes more introductions, and then everyone sinks onto the numerous couches spread around the room so we can get right down to business.
I’m wandering around while everyone else gets settled when I feel an arm come around my waist and I’m yanked down into a hard body. When I realize I’m on Brock’s lap, my cheeks flush and I quickly shuffle sideways, sliding onto the seat next to him instead. It’s not the time or place for him to be getting handsy- and I feel like the gesture has more to do with Sam being in the room than anything. He settles for slinging an arm around my shoulders and I relax back into it, crossing one leg over the other and looking to where Cole’s standing in the front of the room.
“Now that we’re all acquainted, we should get started,” he says, giving Rico a nod. Rico has a laptop resting on his knees that he’s using to control the TV screen behind Cole, and it lights up, an image coming onto the screen.
“These are the aerial maps you’ve already seen, and we’ll take you out there this afternoon so you can familiarize yourselves with the terrain,” Cole says, his gaze shifting between the six-pack alphas. “The first fighters that you guys sent up last week have already been out there with our troops and have their positions sorted out. The others that showed up today should be out there getting the lay of the land as we speak.”
Cole turns at the waist, gesturing to the thick treeline visible on the aerial image. “We’re almost certain this is the section of the perimeter they’re going to breach, since it’s the most accessible and it’s also the area their scouts staked out a few weeks ago.”
“Are we still going with the three-prong approach?” Gray asks, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees and squinting to get a better look at the image on the screen.
Cole nods. “That’s the plan.” Rico clicks the mouse, and the image on the screen changes to an aerial shot with several white X’s marked. “As you know, we’ll have multiple teams with direct defense positioned across from the treeline and groups waiting in the wings on either side that are ready to sweep in once they engage.”
“It’s solid,” Reid mumbles, leaning back with an ankle resting on his knee and his chin grasped between his thumb and forefinger. “I know we said we’d make final tweaks to the battle plan today, but I’m not sure whether any are necessary.”
“Might actually be detrimental to make any changes at this point,” Chris adds. “Both our troops and the six-pack’s squad are familiar with the current battle plan.”
Cole looks to Chris, nodding in agreement. Out of his four advisors, Chris is the strategist when it comes to this kind of stuff, so his word carries a lot of weight.
“Well, if we don’t have any changes to make, we might as well head out there,” Cole suggests.
Several people mumble in affirmation and begin rising to their feet. Brock gives my shoulder a squeeze before climbing up from the couch, turning and offering me a hand. I take it and he pulls me up, nearly flinging me across the room in the process. Dude is even stronger than he looks. He sticks close to me as we all group up to head out to the border of the territory.
We all know the battle plan well. We’ve gone over it again and again during squad practice with the six-pack, and I know they’ve been doing the same here in Denver. Now all we’ve gotta do is execute it- and, with any luck, it just might work.