“Sure, Pa.”
I go back inside and close the door behind me. The sound of it seems too loud in the quiet hallway. I stand there for a moment, then I walk to the landline.
I dial.
A voice answers. Male. The regional operative I’ve dealt with for half a decade, the one who takes the handoff calls andcoordinates the transfers. I don’t know his real name. I know the voice.
“Forrester.”
“I want a meeting.”
A pause. Longer than it should be. They weren’t expecting this call. They were expecting me to wait for them to come to me. A week, maybe, before they escalated past the cage.
“Terms.”
“I come in alone. I surrender. The compound is untouched. My pack is untouched. Permanently. In exchange, you take me, and whatever happens next is between your people and me.”
“What are you offering?”
“Myself. The information I carry about the corridor network, if you can extract it. An alpha who refused you, alive, for whatever use you can make of that.”
“You know we’ll take you apart.”
“I know.”
“And still.”
“Yes.”
“Stand by.”
I stand by. Three minutes. The phone buzzing faintly against my ear. The study is dim and cool, and the light outside is turning the ridge gold. Above me, my mother’s footsteps cross the bedroom floor — the slow, deliberate movements of a woman who hasn’t slept and isn’t pretending otherwise.
The voice comes back.
“Accepted. Your compound and your pack are off the table, contingent on your full cooperation. You will present yourself today. Alone. Unarmed.”
“Where.”
“The old grain depot on County Road Eleven. Two o’clock. You know the location.”
I know it. Abandoned freight facility, sixty miles west of my territory. Off any watched route. Large enough for a vehicle extraction, remote enough that nothing happens there gets noticed.
“I’ll be there.”
“Forrester.”
“Yes.”
“People higher up want to see you personally. Your cooperation isn’t just procedural. You’ll be evaluated by leadership.”
“Understood.”
“One more thing. If you bring anyone — if a single wolf from your compound is within twenty miles of the depot — the deal terminates. We hit your compound tonight.”
“I’ll come alone.”
The line goes dead. I stand with the phone in my hand. Ellis is at the door — he came through from the kitchen, heard enough.