strange staring contest.
This wasn’t a choice she could make lightly, and not one she’d ever make Liam shoulder. She knew he wanted to fight and protect everything he’d built over the last year.
What did she want?
Zoe wanted to make Liam happy. She wanted to protect him and take care of him.
Would he really be happy if they left while all this was going on? Both Liam and Noah would worry about their friends.
“I may not get a vote here since I’m not officially a part of the pack,” Zoe said, ignoring the way they all turned to look at her. This was nothing. She’d managed entire teams before. “But I want to fight. Whether that’s as a nurse, or as an actual fighter, I suppose that’s up to you.”
She felt Liam stiffen beside her.
“We could definitely use someone as strong as you,” Kai told her, still holding her gaze. “As long as you’re aware that I’m the Alpha.”
“I’m aware.” Zoe decided she could live with someone else leading the way. If she didn’t like the direction they were going in, she would say something just like she always had. Blind allegiance and obedience never helped anyone in the long run.
The others cast their votes as well and the silence as they all absorbed the final decision was heavy. Zoe could feel just how tense Liam was beside her. She wanted to reassure him—comfort him, but she didn’t know how, not in this situation.
“We’ll fight for what is ours,” Kai said quietly. “We’ll go on the offensive.”
Shane and Olivia nodded – eyes gleaming.
“Alexander and I will start working on the plans,” Shane said, nodding his head at the biggest wolf.
“I’ll manage the new wolves,” Olivia said. “And train the ones who want to fight.”
“Sage, Noah, and I will keep up patrols,” Jacob offered. “We’ll take care of the majority and switch out when we can.”
“Bonnie and I can help with that,” Amelia offered. “But we’ll need training too. Neither of us are experienced fighters.”
Zoe tried not to worry about Liam, but he seemed unsure. She squeezed his hand and turned to study him. “If you want to patrol, I don’t mind.”
Liam shook his head. “Not yet. I can help with the training though.”
It was interesting to see Kai smile about that like he thought it was the right choice. Noah slapped Liam’s shoulder in a way that seemed reassuring for the both of them.
“I’d like to stay,” Chris announced. “My mate and I already talked about it. That would give you two trauma nurses which I assume will be very helpful.”
“Combined with Lily’s healing potions and I think our odds will be better than it was a few months ago,” Alexander said, tapping away on a tablet while he spoke. “We have a lot more contacts now than we did before too.”
Kai nodded, folding his arms across his chest. “All right. It’s decided then. Any decisions regarding staying past your first full moon can go through Alexander. Officially Olivia is our Enforcer and Third. Shane is the Second. But Alexander manages most of our admin. We’ll set up a schedule for everyone that should help us get through the next two weeks.”
“We’ll have another meeting once we figure out the details of the next step with Cascade,” Shane said, checking everyone’s state of being just as Kai had, but he didn’t try to hold Zoe’s gaze. “For today, just rest.”
It was kind of awkward for the new wolves after that from what Zoe could tell, but she didn’t have time to worry about them. She wanted to see how the rest of the patients were doing and make sure they had enough supplies if more came in.
“Hey,” Liam said, his voice soft as he followed her down into the basement. “You really want to stay and fight?”
“Do you think I would have offered if I didn’t want to?” Zoe powered on the laptop to hide the way her cheeks heated.
“Is that what you were thinking about for so long?” Liam asked, running his hands down her arms. “You were very quiet today.”
“Some of it,” she admitted, sighing when she let herself lean back into him. Contact with Liam really did help with her volatile emotions and it made her feel more centered and focused. “I think I want to stay for good, even after the full moon.”
Her heart started pounding when he froze again, fingers tightening on her arms. “Yeah?” The word was breathless, and she smiled at the sound of