Page 6 of Deception

“I’ll drive her to Utah,” Luke said.

“She can hitchhike the last couple of miles to Hope Springs,” Sam said.

Hitchhike?he nearly yelled.

“So no one sees any of us with her,” Sam explained, and again, Summer winced.

“We’ll give her two weeks to gather whatever information she can, then somehow report back…” Soren said, tapping his fingers on the tabletop.

Somehow?

Summer stood stiff as a statue, listening to them talk about her, not to her.

He wanted to bellow. Were they out of their minds? It was too dangerous. Too risky. Too rushed. Before he knew it, Tina had hurried Summer away to prepare to depart, concocting a cover story as she went. The back room of the saloon emptied quickly, and he stood there, clenching and reclenching his fists, ready to tear the place apart.

He grabbed Soren’s arm before the bear alpha could lumber out of the room.

“This is crazy. Are you really going to let her go?”

Soren scraped a hand through his hair, and damn, he didn’t look any surer about the idea than Drew was.

“I know it’s crazy, but it makes sense, too. We killed all the rogues she was forced to work for. Whatever believers are left in Hope Springs don’t know she resisted. She’s perfect.”

Well, of course, she was perfect. Just not in the way Soren meant.

“What if they figure it out?” Drew protested. “What if her cover is blown? They’d kill her on the spot.”

Soren looked grim. “You got a better idea?”

He nodded immediately.

“I’ll go.”

Soren snorted. “Sure. Those crazy wolves would welcome my cousin into that fucked-up den of theirs. They’ll trust you and spill all their secrets and all their plans. No problem.”

He shook his head. “I could make up a story.”

“Like what?”

“Like I’ve come on behalf of my clan. Katahdin clan, back home, I mean. A clan that’s concerned about what their cousins in Arizona are up to.”

Soren shoved him against the wall and fisted his shirt, looking ready to strangle him. “Is that what you’re here for? I asked for help, and the clan sent me a goddamn spy?”

Drew locked his hands around his cousin’s wrists and pushed back. “No. The clan sent me in good faith, just like you asked for. But yes, there are some elders who asked me to report back about what you’re up to here.”

“And what exactly were you planning to report?” Soren demanded, shaking with rage.

Drew stared his cousin right in the eye. “That you’re doing your family proud. That those elders can take their old-fashioned bullshit and go straight to hell. You’ve built an amazing clan here. Everyone pulls together. Everyone cares. Everyone knows their job and does it well. It’s everything a good clan should be.”

Soren loosened his grip a little, and the aim of his glare went from Drew to a point on the floor. “Damn elders. I guess they’re used to clans being made up of bears — and bears only.”

Drew shrugged. “Time for them to get used to a new idea.”

“Yeah.” Soren exhaled and let him go with a belated pat to his crumpled shirt. “Sorry.”

Drew scowled. Like he cared about his shirt. All he cared about was Summer. “Look, all I’m saying is they might buy that story and let me in.”

“Summer is still better. It makes more sense.”

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