bChapter /bb285 /b

    Hijack

    The space where Hacker set up the security system is small, made smaller by the young girl who is practically bouncing out of her shoes.

    “Are you always this excitable?” I ask her.

    “This is exciting,” she says, peering over my arm to watch. “I mean, don’t you think so?”

    To me, this work is boring. But I appreciate her enthusiasm, and I want to nurture it, so I don’t say that.

    “There are many other things that we do that are more exciting,” I say instead.

    “Like what? Wendy is always at herputer working with you guys,” she says.

    Interesting. Wendy isn’t always working with me. If she’s spending that much time at herputer, then she’s spending more time with Hacker than I realized. I already knew he liked her and was probably using this weekend to spend time with her away from me. Which is exactly why I showed up. Wendy isn’t eighteen and if we’re both interested in her, there’s a possibility that she could be mated to one of us. So yeah, I’m here to cockblock that bastard.

    “Well, hunting down bad guys is a lot more fun,” I say, as I work.

    This pup smells a lot like her sister. I’ve noticed that all the women in the Hill family smell like something out of kitchen, something warm and enticing, something that smells like home. I’ve never really paid attention to other families before to see if it’s the same and not having any sisters myself, I can’t reallypare. The men in this family smell more earthy, like most male wolves do, but the females all have a very

    attractive scent.

    “How do you find them?” she asks. She’s pressed so close to me that I can feel her body heat and her head is practically resting on my arm.

    Her excitement is practically pulsing off of her.

    “It depends on what they’re hiding and how good they are at hiding it. If you’re going to continue to breathe down my neck, I’m putting you to work,” I say, grinning at her to take the sting out of my words.

    “Sorry,” she saysb, /bscooting back. “But I’ll help. Just tell me what you want me to do.”

    She’s eager, I’ll give her that. And she’s just like Sphinx. She absorbs everything I tell her and never onceins about what I ask her to ollido. /li/ol

    When thest line turns green, she squeals in excitement and throws herself into my arms.

    “We did it!”

    I’m unused to any disy of affection unless it’s in the bedroom. I’m certainly not used to young females hugging me excitedly. It takes a second for me to remember that her mother is a hugger and she probably got that from her.

    “We did it,” I confirm, hugging her awkwardly.

    She jumps back, grinning at me. “What’s next?”

    Hacker’s right. We need to keep our eye on this one. She’s definitely a techy in the making.

    Cyra POV

    I let our omegas on the other side know that we need two rooms made up for my family and several more for their warriors to stay overnight.

    ug

    Then we introduced my uncle and cousin to Beta Lewis.

    b“/bYou have two Betas and two Gammas now?” Arman asks as we walk.

    b“/bTwo Betas and one Gamma. The other was demoted,” I tell him.

    “How did that go? Most ranked members don’t appreciate being demoted back to warrior status,” he says.

    “Warren moved him to this side so we can keep an eye on him. He was demoted because he waszy so other than running bhis /bbmouth/bb, /bI don’t

    expect any problems.”

    As we walk, I see the freshly dug trench on the side of our packhouse leading away from the this side toward the other side.

    “It looks like he’sying the line so it’s closer to the edge of the packnds,” I say to iYorick/i.

    He looks, following the line of the trench. “That’s smart. If we ever decide to build anything over here, we won’t have to worry about cutting the line for our security system.”

    “As long as it’s not too close to your pack border. You wouldn’t want someone sneaking onto your packnds and cutting the line before your patrols catch them,” Uncle Ramin says, looking over the trench lines.

    “I know Hacker was mapping it out earlier. That’s why he and Wendy were walking the packnds. Let’s go see if he can show us where he’s digging the trenchpared to where the pack borders are,” Yorick says.

    We follow the trench which is being dug faster than I expected. When we catch up to them, I can see why. Both Hacker and Wendy are in their wolf forms, digging into the ground making the job go much faster. As we approach, it looks like theirpeting to see which wolf can dig

    the fastest.

    “Not to barge in on your contest here …” Yorick begins. Wendy’s wolf, Dasha, yips in surprise while Hacker’s wolf spins, growling and taking a protective stance in front of Dasha.

    Yorick raises an eyebrow at him. The hair on his wolf’s back goes down and Hacker shifts, grabbing a nearby pair of shorts and pulling them on before wiping his dirty hands on them.

    “Hey, you startled us,” he says.

    “So I see.”

    Dashaes to stand beside Hacker. She doesn’t shift, probably because of my uncle and cousin.

    “Hacker, this is my Uncle Ramin and my cousin Arman,” I say introducing him.

    “We spoke on the phone,” he says, his tone remaining professional and a bit aloof. My uncle didn’t make a good first impression on Hacker.

    “We didn’t. I’m Alpha Arman.”

    “Nice to meet you,” he says, ncing at me. I nod, reassuring him that everything is good.

    “This is Dasha, my sister, Wendy’s, wolf. You’ll meet Wendyter, I’m sure,” Yorick says, introducing her to my family.

    “We’re showing my uncle and cousin around the packnds and saw the trench you’re digging. We wanted to see the outline bof /bwhere you n toy the cable inparison to where the pack borders are,” I say.

    “Ah,” he says, walking over to get a tablet that’s lying with their clothes.

    Yorick’s eyes are unfocused and Dasha is looking at him, so I know he’s checking to make sure his sister is doing okay. I smileb, /bthinking bthat /b

    b19:49 /bbFri/b, 15 Aug

    he’s going to make a wonderful father to our pups someday.

    He must catch my thought because he turns and smiles at me.

    82%

    “Here we are,” Hacker says, handing me the tablet. Yorick steps up beside me as Hacker exins where he’sying the cable in rtion to the

    pack borders.

    “Hijack looked it over as well. This is pretty standard when youy cable in packnds. You want it far enough inside the pack so it can’t be tampered with, but far enough away to avoid cutting the lines if you build,” he says, reinforcing what Yorick had already guessed.

    “Sounds good. Make sure you don’t miss dinner,” Yorick says.

    “We’ll stop when it gets dark. That should give us enough time to get back, shower, and make it to dinner before the kitchen closes,” Hacker

    says.

    “Howl if you need us,” he says, and we continue our tour of the packnds.

    We stop in the central area, showing my uncle and cousin where we want to build our centralized packhouse and where our training grounds are. I watch Yorick sniff the air and walk away, sniffing the ground.

    ‘What is it?‘ I ask him in the mind link.

    ‘It smells like Hacker and Wendy were sparring. I know she didn’t spar with him this morning and their scents are stronger than the others.”

    ‘Is that a problem?‘

    ‘I’m not sure,’ he says, distractedly.

    By the time we get to the other packhouse, it’s time for dinner. We introduce my family to Beta Eric and Gamma Elliot and then we show them to their rooms.

    “Thank you for giving us a chance to get to know you, Cyra,” Arman says. I really do like him. He seems very genuine.

    “Yes. I’m d my son saw the error of my ways and brought me here to meet you,” Ramin says.

    “Sons are good at that,” Yorick says, grinning at Arman.

    “That we are,” Arman agrees, chuckling.

    Ramin rolls his eyes before looking at me again.

    “Thank you for giving this old man another chance.”

    “You’re very wee.”

    “Tomorrow, perhaps we can talk about me joining you during the trials this week. Your father’s, in particr, but I’d also like to see the man who thought he could force his mark on my niece and get away with it,” my uncle growls.

    “I’d like to be there as well, at least for Alpha Arden’s trial. I’d like to see the man who has caused my family so much distress,” Arman says.

    I look at Yorick who shrugs. “You know mom, dad, and probably most of my siblings will be there. What’s a couple more?” he asks.

    I shrug. “If you’d like toe, I’d wee the support,” I tell them.

    “Then, we’ll be there.”