Brenna turns to him. “Con—”
“If there are children, she needs to be there. Her thread-sense will tell us if they’re being tracked. And the kids will respond better to a woman than to a man with our reputations.”
Brenna nods. “Willow too. Five of you. Any more than that and we’ll look like an invasion force.”
Merric stands, already planning. He steps out to assemble gear. Sienna is already in the doorway — she came in at some point during the call, I didn’t notice. Willow stays, her hand on Conner’s arm, her eyes on me.
Brenna walks around the table and stops beside my chair. Her hand settles briefly on my shoulder — a rare gesture from her. Her eyes hold mine.
“Whatever’s going on with you,” she says quietly, “I trust you to manage it. But if there comes a point where you can’t… you tell me. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
She squeezes once, then walks out.
Conner is still looking at me. He hasn’t moved. Willow nudges him, and he finally pushes his chair back and stands.
“I need air,” he says, and walks out the back door.
Willow watches him go. Then she turns to me.
“He scented Garrett on you.”
“I know.”
“He’s trying to figure out what it means.”
“So am I.”
She tilts her head. The thread-sense assessment. “The connection between you is different than it was last week. Stronger. Rooted.”
“Willow, I can’t—”
“I’m not asking.” She leans forward. “I’m telling you what I can see. The thread goes both ways, and it’s thick. And it has other threads attached to it that weren’t there before. That’s all I’ll say.”
My hand goes to my belly before I can stop it.
Willow’s eyes follow the movement. She doesn’t comment. She doesn’t have to.
“When you’re ready,” she says, “I’m here. Until then, I’ll keep Conner off you. He’s confused, and he’s hurt because he doesn’t understand, and he’s my mate, so he’ll listen to me. You don’t need to explain anything tonight.”
“Thank you.”
“Go pack. You’ve got two hours.”
I leave the kitchen.
Chapter 24
Briar
Midnight. The truck is loaded. Merric is driving with Conner in the passenger seat with the map open on his lap, running routes. Sienna and Willow are in the back with me, Sienna in her patrol leathers, Willow with a small canvas bag that probably has more useful items in it than everyone else’s gear combined.
We head south.
The night is clear. The Ozarks fall away behind us, and we pick up the highway through eastern Oklahoma, heading toward the coordinates Brenna passed on from Garrett’s text. A rest area off a farm road, two hours north of the Forrester compound. Chosen because it’s neutral ground, neither territory claims it, neither pack has any reason to watch it.
I drive the second leg. Merric sleeps against the window. Conner takes the third watch, and I catch an hour in the back, curled against the door with Willow silent beside me.