Alpha Theo by C.J. Primer

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Brooke

My blood runs cold upon hearing Rico’s words. ‘The shadow pack. They found us.’

My chest tightens, my breath catches in my throat.

Theo. I have to find Theo.

I slide my hand around to my back pocket and pull out my cell phone to call him. Before my shaky hands can even unlock it, the door behind Astrid and me bursts open. I spin around wildly, my phone clattering to the ground as Theo and I lock eyes.

“We came as soon as we heard,” Cole says, pushing into the hive ahead of Theo. “What do we know?”

Theo comes barreling straight into me, enveloping me in his arms, holding me tight to his chest. “You okay?” he whispers, bringing a hand up behind my head and threading it in my hair.

“Yeah,” I sigh, burying my face in his chest. I breathe him in, his scent filling my nose, calming me. As terrified as I am right now, I feel safe in his arms. After a moment, I press my palms to his chest, leaning back to gaze into those hazel eyes. I’m so glad he’s here- his presence is already making me feel more clear-headed. Though I’m still trying to figure out what the heck we just walked into.

“Deploy teams to each of the border stations,” Cole barks, and I spin around to look at him. Theo steps closer behind me and loops his arms around my waist protectively as I take in the wide space of the hive again, still a flurry of activity.

“We aren’t getting anything on the cameras,” someone across the room offers.

“They could’ve tampered with the feed,” another guy grumbles.

“Rico, status update!” Cole demands.

Rico still looks like he’s seen a ghost. “All we know right now is that they’ve hacked into our servers.”

My head spins. This is bad. Really bad. We’ve been sharing information with Denver for a while now- if the shadow pack has gained access to their servers, it wouldn’t be a stretch for them to reach ours.

“Is it offline?” I ask, but nobody seems to hear me. I clear my throat, stepping forward out of Theo’s arms and raising my voice. “Has someone taken the server offline?”

Rico nods. “Yes, it’s offline now.” The poor guy’s hands are shaking.

Astrid steps beside me and speaks up, taking charge. “Unplug everything, shut it all down.”

I nod furiously in agreement. “Laptops, personal devices, everything could be affected. Once you figure out how far they got in, everything will need to be checked for malware.”

Rico barks out orders to the rest of the IT team while Astrid ushers me over to a desk, swiping an arm to clear off the clutter. Loose sheets of paper go sailing in the air, wilting to the floor.

“You got your laptop?” Astrid asks, and I wordlessly start shrugging my backpack off my shoulders. “Good,” she clucks. “Check your systems, make sure they’re still clean.”

I drop into the chair in front of the desk, pulling my laptop out of my bag and setting it down. I’ll have to use my phone as a hotspot… wait, where’s my phone?

It’s like Theo is reading my mind because he slides it onto the desk next to me. He must’ve picked it up at some point after I dropped it.

Since he arrived and this madness started to unfold, I’ve remained acutely aware of Theo’s presence. He hasn’t left my side, making me feel safe, protected, even amidst the chaos.

I swipe to unlock my phone, turn my hotspot on, and work to get my computer connected.

“How can I help?” Theo asks, placing his palms on the desk and leaning in toward me.

He can’t. He doesn’t know anything about computers. This problem is totally out of his wheelhouse.

“Uhh… find out how they got in?” I suggest, glancing up at him. “If we know how they gained access, maybe we can mitigate the damage.”

It’s sweet that he wants to help, but I’ve got this. All I need for him to do is be here for me, keep me calm and focused. My laptop connects to my hotspot, and I immediately get to work on establishing a remote connection with the six-pack’s servers.

Theo nods, pushing off of the desk and straightening. “I’m on it.”

I pause my frantic typing to look up at him as he starts to turn away. “Theo?”

He glances at me over his shoulder.

“Please stay close.”

Theo

This is the last fucking thing I expected to happen on this Denver trip. I hustle around the hive, gathering information and taking it back to Brooke periodically. Once she confirms that our servers at the six-pack haven’t been breached, she springs into action, flitting around the place and assisting with damage control. Seeing her in action like this is a thing of beauty, though I’ve never felt so useless.

I’m tempted to ask if I can go join one of the border teams, make myself useful that way, but I get the feeling that Brooke doesn’t want me to leave. Given the threat we’re facing, I don’t want her out of my sight either. So I stick close to her, keep making rounds and relaying messages back and forth.

From what I’ve gathered, one of the members of Denver’s IT team was trying to assemble information about shadow pack affiliates to input to Brooke’s program, but got sloppy with a hack, left it traceable. They must have been able to reverse it somehow to get into Denver’s system, but thankfully, Denver caught it early and shut it down before the hacker was able to get much. The biggest concern is that the pack’s location may have been revealed, and their security measures compromised.

I step away to give Gray a call and loop him in at one point, and he’s already got our IT unit shoring up the firewall of our servers. I guess Brooke tipped them off when she checked in on our system from here when this all started. Then I pace around some more, waiting for updates. Hours pass. My wolf’s agitated, close to the surface.

“Theo?” Cole calls, and I turn from my spot behind Brooke’s computer chair, looking to him.

He waves me over and I head his way, folding my arms across my chest as I approach.

“We have confirmation that there’s no sign of an impending physical attack,” Cole says, his voice low. “Some of our pack resides in the surrounding area, so we called them in just to be sure, but for now it appears that this is a cyber attack only.”

I grunt, nodding.

Cole scrubs a hand over his face, leaning in. “Listen, I know this isn’t really your problem right now, but if they were able to get our location…”

“It’s all of our problem,” I interrupt, my voice gruff. “If they come for you, then we’re next. We’ll stand with you, do what needs to be done.”

Cole gives a curt nod. “We’ll do the same.”

I swallow hard, the reality of the threat still sinking in. The shadow pack has been out there for years, and we’ve remained isolated, insulated by our remote location. Shoring up defenses for a fight we weren’t ever sure would make it to our doorstep. There are a few large packs out west that should’ve been able to take the shadow pack down by now, but it keeps growing, keeps progressing closer. The threat is real, and it’s only becoming more imminent.

“I’m glad you guys are here,” Cole adds, clapping me on the shoulder as if we’re old friends. Given the stress we’ve endured today, I’ll take it. “Your mate’s brilliant. She helped us get it contained and traced quickly. We’re in your debt.”

I glance over at Brooke, a pang of fear chilling me from the inside. What if the shadow pack attacked and something happened to her? I couldn’t fucking bear it.

But wait- how’d Cole know she’s my mate? I swivel my head back around, eyeing him suspiciously.

Rico calls him over before I have a chance to ask. I return to Brooke’s side instead, slumping down into an empty chair at the desk beside her.

“What was that all about?” she asks, her eyes not leaving the computer monitor positioned in front of her. The bright light of the screen reflects off the lenses of her glasses, makes her eyes behind them glow even more blue.

I heave a sigh, raking a hand through my hair and leaning forward. “Cole thinks they dodged a bullet with this one. There’s no sign of a physical attack, at least not yet.”

Brooke nods, chewing on her bottom lip nervously.

I wheel my chair closer, dropping my voice low so it’s barely audible. “I think there’s something screwy going on here,” I say. “Cole knows we’re mates.”

Brooke’s eyes finally leave the computer monitor to meet mine, but she doesn’t appear surprised at my admission.

“Yeah,” she breathes, lifting her hands from the keyboard and swiveling to face me. She leans forward, setting her hands on my knees. “It’s not what you think, though. It’s his sister Astrid, she’s an intuitive.”

“A what?” I ask, furrowing my brow.

Brooke chuckles softly, leaning in closer. “An intuitive. She knows things, perceives things. Like some sort of physic ability.” She shrugs, as if it’s the most normal thing in the fucking world. “Apparently it’s a family trait, she told me about it earlier. After she asked if we were together.”

“And you believe her?” I ask dubiously.

She nods. “I do. She said she picked up on it last time we were here. Kinda explains why they tried to put us in the same room.”

“Huh.” I try to wrap my mind around the whole thing, but it’s pretty bizarre. I’ve heard rumors about shifters possessing other abilities, but I guess I always assumed they were exactly that- rumors.

“Why didn’t she see this attack coming then?” I grumble, still suspicious.

Brooke shrugs again, blowing out a breath. “Guess it doesn’t always work that way. She said she can’t control it. Although…” she pauses, biting her lip again, “she did pick up on something right when we got here.”

I’m not sure if I buy into the whole ‘psychic abilities’ thing, but Brooke’s the smartest person I know. If she believes it, then who am I to question it?

“How’s it going over here?” comes a sing-songy voice, and I look up to see Astrid striding over, her light brown curls bouncing with her movements.

“Good,” Brooke smiles warmly, spinning her chair toward Astrid. “This one’s all clear. How many left to scrub?”

“You guys have done more than enough,” Astrid says, waving a hand flippantly. “Why don’t you head back to the packhouse, grab something to eat and settle in? We can finish up here.”

“Are you sure?” Brooke asks.

Astrid nods adamantly. “Definitely. Your help today has been invaluable. I’m not sure how we’ll ever thank you.”

I rise to my feet, holding out a hand to Brooke. It doesn’t seem like she wants to leave, but she takes it, rising to stand beside me. Astrid’s eyes track our movements and her lips curl into a knowing smile.

“Just ask security at the packhouse to take you to the kitchen, there’s always a huge spread there for dinner,” she says, urging us on.

I give her a nod, sliding an arm around Brooke’s waist and pulling her into my side. Even though the threat seems to have passed, I have such a strong urge to keep her close, to protect her. “Sounds good,” I grumble. “Thank you.”

After Astrid walks away, Brooke spins back around to the desk, grabbing her things off of it and stuffing them into her backpack. As soon as it’s zipped, I take it from her, tossing it onto my shoulder.

“You ready?” I ask, and she just smiles, stepping into my waiting arm, allowing me to guide her to the door of the hive.

When we step outside, the air’s cool, the night still. Streetlights illuminate the road ahead of us, and the packhouse up on the hill is all lit up, beckoning.

I slide my hand down Brooke’s arm, taking her hand in mine. It’s so small, so soft. It reminds me of how fragile she is- of how she needs someone like me to protect her if the shadow pack comes knocking. Then again, I couldn’t do jack shit to protect her today- she was the one who stepped up, showed her strength. I’m constantly finding myself in awe of her.

I glance down at Brooke, taking in how the glow of the streetlights makes her blonde hair look luminescent. She must feel my eyes on her, because hers fly up to meet them, her lips quirking up into a smile.

“What?” she asks, the hint of a blush forming on her cheeks.

I stop in my tracks, yanking her in by her hand like a rubberband. She lets out a little puff of air as her chest collides with mine, those blue eyes wide, questioning.

I drop her hand, bringing both of mine up to tuck her hair behind her ears, then cup her face. “You’re so beautiful,” I growl, dropping a kiss on her forehead.

I feel her palms cruise up my chest, her arms looping around my neck. She pushes up on her tiptoes, pressing her lips to mine. I kiss her back tenderly, wrapping my arms around her body possessively.

“Will you stay with me tonight?” she murmurs against my lips.

After the crazy day we’ve had, it isn’t even a question; I don’t want to let Brooke out of my sight until we’re safely back on six-pack territory- and even then, I might not.

“Of course,” I growl, my lips moving against hers.

She pulls back, gazing up at me with the sweetest fucking smile on her face. “Let’s go,” she whispers.

Oh yeah, baby. Let’s. Fucking. Go.