Page 109 of Bite Me Alpha Cole

I sit straighter when his face falls a bit, his head quirking with surprise. “So, am I getting it right that these scouts saw you and a woman alone in the Children of Solace? And the woman had ajob? And she was talking to you?”

I screw my face up, completely baffled. “Yes, Jude,obviously. Why?”

He laughs a little, shaking his head. “Look, Cole, I hate to break this to you – but you’re screwed.”

“What?”

He holds up his phone with the screen to me, twitching it back and forth teasingly. “I have it on good authority that thesekids have probablyneverseen a man talking with a woman, especially a woman inpants. With acamera. Not only are they going to get insane rewards for reporting that they actually saw somethingworthreporting, but they’re going to befascinated. These kids have nothing to do all night long but crawl through the woods and look for shit. No matter where you are, if you left tracks back to where you’re camped? They’ve found you. And they’re watching. Reporting everything back.”

I slump in my chair, dumbfounded, thinking about the tire tracks that lead them right to us. “What thefuck.”

Jude straightens, tossing his phone onto the desk and crossing his arms over his chest. “If I were you, I’d move. Your location hasabsolutelybeen compromised.”

“Impossible to move right now,” General Amir says behind me, his voice grave. “The assault tonight prevents it.”

“Right,” dad says, sighing, looking between all of us. “Shit timing to get this news. We should have consulted Jude on this as soon as we got the images from Ms. Lind.”

I glare at my dad, thinking that’s right. Now we’re all seriously in danger, and there’s no time to deal with it before we have to face something very serious.

“Jude,” dad says, moving on to problems that we potentiallycouldsolve. “From your perspective, is there any way to aid these children? Get themawayfrom the Children of Solace?”

Jude shrugs. “Look, I’m no expert on it, and I can look into it further if you want, but basic psychology suggests that these kids will have been raised to be terrified of you, even if they’ll find you fascinating. They’d do everything they could to get away if you caught them. And, like I said, they won’t hesitate to lash out and try to hurt you if you try to trap them. They’re notlikekids in Clythera.” Slowly, he shakes his head. “They’re already raised to be little warriors.”

“Could we lure them?” dad muses aloud, his voice curious. “With food, maybe? Warmth, shelter?”

Jude’s mouth presses to a thin line as he considers it. “Considering what I’ve learned of the CoS, they’d be beaten severely and shunned if anyone in the cult finds out they took aid from you, and they know that. And they’ll probably think that whatever you’re trying to give them is poisoned.”

He shrugs like it’s a bit of a hopeless cause as my heart sinks, tightening in my chest. My wolf howls, desperately afraid for them.

I sigh, finished with this and ready to move on. I glance up at General Amir. “Anything else?”

General Amir shrugs, looking down at me. “It was your meeting, Cole.”

“Hold steady for now, Cole,” dad says, drawing my eyes back to the screen. “Let your guards know what to look for. Have your journalist take more photos of the surrounding areas, see if she can turn anything up with that imaging technology of hers. When tides turn a bit, we’ll move your camp somewhere else for increased safety.”

“And don’t forget to look up,” Jude adds, nodding seriously.

“What?” I ask, my face screwing up in confusion as I look to my brother.

He continues to nod to me as he thinks about it. “Kids are little, light. They’ll take advantage of small spaces and craggy hillsides. It would be foolish to assume that they’re not spying on you from above just because the cliffs around you are too narrow and steep for adults.”

I nod slowly, watching my brother, kind of thinking that it’s a bit of a shame for the Goddess to have awarded someone who is such a jackass with a clever mind like that. But another part of me is more practical, thinking that it’s kind of crazy that Inow have to instruct my guards to look for lethal children in the cliffside on top of their other duties.

My dad starts to say goodbye, but I snap my head up, frowning at my friend.

“Jude,” I say, words sharp. “Are any of the scouts girls?”

Jude scoffs and laughs, shaking his head ruefully. “No, Cole. They would…not send the girls out for that. Not in a million years.”

“Would you like tocheckwith your source on that?” I ask, a bit through my teeth.

He smirks at me and shakes his head. “I already know the answer. Trust me. The girls will be…kept away. And the reasons for why are best left unpondered.”

I sigh and hang my head, the realization sweeping over me that even if some of the Children of Solace’s child population will be out of those caves tonight during the assault…

The girls will very likely be inside.

“Hey, wolfie!” Shayne calls.

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