“Not a single one.”
“Good. Make sure it stays that way. I want the information I need soon. Very soon.”
“You’ll have it, sir.”
“Hm, we’ll see. I’ll be in contact.” He turned to Lars as he placed the phone down on the receiver. His assistant was hopping from one foot to the other, like a puppy dog waiting on a treat.
“Well?” Lars asked excitedly.
“Do you have to be right at my back? Go stand on the other side of the room.”
“I take it things aren’t going well.” Lars’s face fell as he inched away from his superior.
“According to our spy everything’s going perfectly well. She’ll be sending the information we need over the next few weeks.”
“And Caia?”
“Integrating into the pack. By the time we get the little bitch, the pack may actually mourn her.”
Lars sneered. “Yes, but by then we’ll have all the information we need to destroy the rest of the mangy mutts … they won’t have time to mourn the abomination.”
A slow, lazy smile spread across his face. He liked it when his lackeys were particularly enthusiastic. “Sometimes, I do like your way with words.”
8 -Secret Worlds
“You nervous about the run tomorrow?” Sebastian asked, as he eased back on her bed. Caia had been hoping to maybe sleep late, what with it being a Saturday and all, but she’d been woken up by Ella, who told her she had visitors coming over. She’d reluctantly got up and showered, had a sleepy breakfast with Ella, while Irini sat sipping cup of coffee after coffee. She was venturing out to an early picnic with Aidan. Caia hoped Aidan liked grumpy for brunch because Irini really wasn’t a morning person.
An hour after she had gotten up Sebastian and Jaeden came strolling in, bright eyed and bushy-tailed. Goddess, they were superhuman.
“I don’t know. A little.” She nodded from her position at her desk. “Especially after the little reminder that we’ll all be na**d... together.”
Jaeden was on the floor doing sit ups. She smiled in-between them reassuringly. “There is nothing to worry about, I promise. It’s a lot of fun, all of the pack running together, the sound of all those paws pounding into the ground.”
“All those parts bouncing around,” Sebastian teased.
Caia groaned. “There’s a mental image I just didn’t need.”
“Oh come on, Caia, just keep your eyes at face level and you’ll be fine.”
They laughed together for a moment, enjoying Caia’s embarrassment.
“What about the little ones?” Caia frowned. “Who looks after them?”
One thing Caia did know about the pack run, anyone under the age of thirteen was not allowed to take part.
“You mean like Jaela and Sunday and the others?”
Caia had no idea who the kids were, except Jaela, so she just nodded. “I guess I do.”
Jaeden shrugged. “The moms take turns looking after them. For instance, Lucia will look after all of them one run, but for the next one Cera will, and then Imogen.”
She found herself frowning again. “Whose Cera and Imogen?”
“Cera is Lucia’s sister - and Ivan, Joaquin, and Kerianna’s mom. Her husband died a year back … shot,” Jaeden whispered the word.
Caia’s eyes widened. “Shot?”
Jaeden’s eyes teared up. “Some stupid human wanted his wallet and he wouldn’t give it to him. We guess it’s because he thought he could take him, you know if it came to a fight, but he just pulled out the gun and shot Michel in the head. If it hadn’t been such close range he would have been able to change so he could regenerate. ”