Page 26 of Betrayed Knocked-Up Mate

The pack center is alive with urgent activity when we return. Elena and Sara huddle over computers, tracking movements and analyzing data. James confers with Veronica about medical supplies, their voices tight with controlled panic. Even the newer pack members I've come to know—Devon with his weapons expertise, Michael still learning to live without his shift—move with focused purpose.

"Tell me everything," Marcus demands as we enter the strategy room.

"Three confirmed sightings," Elena reports, pulling up surveillance photos. "Two of Kane's lieutenants at a gas station in Chester Falls. Another team spotted near the highway. They're being careful, staying mobile, but the pattern is clear—they're establishing a perimeter."

"Like they did with us," Sara adds quietly. "Before they hit the compound."

I watch Marcus absorb this, noting the minute tensing of his shoulders, the way his hands curl into fists at his sides. The Marshall City pack's scents spike with remembered fear—they've been through this before. They know what's coming.

"We need to accelerate the timeline," Aris says, materializing from the shadows. "Get the next round of false trails active. Make them think we're scattered across different states."

"I can help with that," I offer, moving toward my workstation. But Marcus's voice stops me.

"No." The word comes out harsh, almost desperate. "You need to stay away from this. All of you—" he gestures to the Rosecreek pack members present "—need to distance yourselves from our operation. If Kane realizes you're helping us..."

"It's too late for that," their intel specialist, Keira, cuts in, her tone brooking no argument. "We're already involved. You’rehere.And you know as well as I do that Kane doesn't leave witnesses. If he comes for Rosecreek, he comes for all of us. So, kindly,let us do our jobs.”

The truth of her words settles heavily in the room. Because this is what Kane does—he doesn't just target individuals; he destroys entire communities. Poisons pack bonds. Breaks the connections that make us strong.

“It’s true,” mutters Ado from nearby, appearing near Marcus’ shoulder. There’s no warmth in his voice, just a cool, non-judgemental honesty. “What’s done is done. Now, we just get through it.”

I catch the way Marcus flinches at his words. A horrible flash of guilt ghosts over his face, there and then gone, and I feel the force of it as if it’s my own guilt, my own sorrow and regret.

"He’s right," James adds, his years spent at Marcus’ side evident in his precise tone. He goes for the core of Marcus’ fear like he’s cutting out a growth. "We’ve established a few potential protocols—come see, we’ll chat to Aris and Bigby about what comes next…”

Looking faintly overwhelmed, though I suspect nobody here but me would see it in his eyes, Marcus looks around the room, at the faces of both packs united in determination. His gaze lingers on me for a moment, and I see that faint, single-frame crack in his facade again—that glimpse of the boy I knew in California, who believed in protecting others but hadn't yet learned the cost. There and then gone again.

"Fine," he says finally, to nobody in particular, to all of us somehow. "But we do this smart. Professional. No unnecessary risks."

The room is alive with activity—Elena coordinating with Byron on security protocols, Sara and I planning the next phase of our prolonged and desperate digital deception, James and Veronica inventorying medical supplies.

Through it all, I feel Marcus watching me, his presence a constant awareness at the edge of my consciousness.

Later, as the sun sets over Half Moon Lake, I find myself alone in my studio again. The photos on my screen blur together—faces, places, and carefully constructed lies designed to keep us all safe.

"You should rest," he says from the doorway, his voice softer than it's been in days. "We've got a lot of work ahead of us."

I turn to look at him, really look at him, seeing the weight he carries. The fear he's trying so hard to hide. "So should you."

For a moment, just a moment, his expression softens into something almost vulnerable. Like he wants to say more, to explain everything that's brought us to this point.

"Get some sleep, Camila," he says, already turning away. "Tomorrow's going to be a long day."

I watch him go, my wolf whining softly at the distance between us. Because something's coming—something that terrifies Marcus more than anything I've ever seen. Something that made him walk away five years ago, that keeps him pushing everyone away even now.

And as I turn back to my work, to the careful lies we're building to keep everyone safe, I can't shake the feeling that we're running out of time to bridge the distance between us.

Kane is coming. And whatever secrets Marcus is keeping, whatever truth he's trying to protect me from—it's all about to come crashing down around us.

I just hope we're strong enough to survive it. Together or apart.

Chapter 10 - Marcus

The strategy room smells like coffee and fear. Maps cover every surface, their edges curling from constant handling. Elena's computer screens cast a ghostly blue glow over faces I've known for years, turning familiar features strange and shadowed. The pre-dawn darkness pressing against the windows feels alive somehow, watching, waiting. Even the air tastes different—sharp with adrenaline, thick with possibilities we don't want to consider.

"They're moving faster than we anticipated," Elena says, fingers flying over her keyboard. The shadows under her eyes have deepened in the past few days, but her voice remains steady. Professional. "Latest intel puts them twenty miles out, moving in a standard search pattern. But something's off about their formation."

"Show me," I say, leaning over her shoulder to study the surveillance feeds. The movement brings me closer to Camila, who's been silently observing from her position near the wall. Her scent hits me like a physical thing—gunmetal and sandalwood and something wild that makes my wolf pace restlessly. I force myself to focus on the screens.

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