The Pack's Hacker (by Cooper) novel Chapter 16

Hijack

I wasn’t happy to hear that Hacker got injured, but I wasn’t surprised to hear that he got injured protecting Wendy. That’s why I didn’t think it was a good idea to have her ride along. It would have been better if she’d started with Beta Squad or C- Squad, but Alpha Squad rides hard and runs into more problems than the others. They’re the Alpha Squad for a reason and they’re always the ones sent on the hardest missions.

Hacker knew this, so he knew the risks he was taking by bringing an underage, untrained Sphinx with him. I’m sure he thought that he would be able to keep her safe, but shit happens, especially with Alpha Squad.

When I get to the old packhouse, I see Alpha Squad already packing up, ready to go. I get out of the car and look around.

“Where’s Sphinx?”

Raptor looks behind him. “She was here a minute ago,” he says.

“I’m here,” she says, rushing out of the packhouse. Alpha Quirin walks out behind her. I’m guessing he was giving her a pep talk.

I wasn’t thrilled to find out that Wendy is still freezing in dangerous situations. She has to be confident if she’s going to be a valuable member of the team. This job isn’t all desk work. There’s a reason that Hacker and I are still scheduled to receive warrior training in our fourth year at the Academy. When we’re out in the field, we have to be ready for anything, just like the elite teams.

“Hijack, if you’re taking Sphinx, she’s your responsibility,” Raptor says.

“I’ve got her.”

Wendy has a lot of people supporting her and in some ways, that’s great, but in other ways, it could be what’s holding her back. She is used to depending on others to catch her if she falls, or to make sure she doesn’t fall in the first place. She’s had a very safe life and this job isn’t safe. She’s going to have to learn to trust herself and her instincts, as well as the others around her. And we have to be able to trust her too.

I climb into the van that is used for the tech team, seeing Cipher in the driver’s seat.

“I heard you went down,” I say.

“Luna Yara, aka Luna Murmur, aka Sanatrix, fixed me up and now I’m ready to fight another day.”

“Sanatrix?” I ask.

He grins proudly. “Yeah, my sexy, smart mate came up with that one.”

“Oh goddess, there’s another one of you,” I grumble.

“And she’s going for the elite squads. Lucky you,” he says grinning even more widely.

“Thank the goddess I’m graduating next year.”

“Hey! Hopefully we’re not all bad,” Sphinx says getting into the van.

“That has yet to be determined. Give me the rundown while we travel and where are we going?”

While we drive, Sphinx and Cipher update me on Stellan going feral and literally jumping off a cliff to escape Raptor.

“One thing you both need to understand is that feral wolves are unpredictable. Do not expect them to act like regular wolves. Cipher, you have a year of training under your belt, but you’ve never gone against a feral wolf before. If you do, be smart and

be cautious,” I say, then turn to Wendy.

“Sphinx, do not, and I mean do NOT engage Stellan in a confrontation.”

“What if he comes after me?” she asks.

“Did he come after you?” I ask.

Something about Arden specifically asking about Wendy in prison has been bothering me. Why her? Why did he ask about her? If it had been Alpha Leo, I would have understood it, but Arden? Wendy wasn’t part of his trial, at least, not in a way he should have known about. However, Arden, Leo, and Stellan were all in the same prison. I’ve already requested access to the video surveillance at the prison, but with all of the rogue she-wolves going missing on the streets, I haven’t had a lot of time to follow up on it. Now I realize that I need to. If Stellan is focusing on Wendy, it’s because of something that was said in prison. 1

“He looked like he was going to, twice. Once when Hacker leaped at him and got injured and again after Hacker was down, but then Raptor was racing up the stairs and he took off.”

I make a mental note to let Tracker and Hacker know that we need to take turns watching the video surveillance for the past several months until we find something. For some reason, Wendy is being targeted.

As we drive, I call Tracker.

“Give me good news,” I say.

“You know feral wolves are notoriously good at hiding, since they usually don’t choose normal spots.”

“And? You are notoriously good and sniffing out difficult to find hiding spots,” I say to her.

“Yeah, yeah. Flattery will get you nowhere, Hijack. I lost him when he jumped. Best case scenario is that he drowned.”

“I’m not holding my breath for that.”

“Me either. It looks like you guys are nearly there. Hook me into your computer and I’ll hunt while you do whatever it is that Hijackers do,” she says.

“We have all the fun,” I say.

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