The Pack's Luna: The Pack Series Book 4 novel Chapter 401

Wendy

I hate that Jude can see things that don’t even stand out on my radar. Like that den. How did he even see that?

“Don’t over think it Wendy,” he says. “You’re still learning. That’s why you’re here. You haven’t even started at the Academy yet. Give yourself a break,” Jude says from where he’s sitting at his console.

“How can you pay attention to everything?” I ask, a little snarkier than I meant to.

He turns and looks at me. “I have three years of practice and Academy training that you don’t have, Wendy. Give yourself a break. You won’t be perfect at first,” he says patiently.

I nod. “Sorry I snapped at you. I didn’t mean it to come out that way,” I say.

“I know you didn’t. Pull your chair over here and we’ll watch them together.”

I do as he asks. In the small confines of the van, I sit close enough that I can feel the heat of his body against mine. That’s another thing I don’t understand. How is he immune to our close proximity? This van is filled with his scent of cedarwood and leather and my mouth is watering so badly that I have to keep drinking water to wash it down.

When I look at his monitors I see how he’s set up his station. He has his own monitors, he has one connected to my computers, he has one monitoring the area immediately surrounding us, and he has one that is monitoring the den and the Alpha Squad as they make their way across the river.

As we watch, he flips a switch and the voices of the Alpha Squad fill the van.

“This current is fucking strong,” Intrigue says.

“Do we know if Stellan was strong enough to swim across this river?” Venom asks.

“I didn’t get that impression in the couple of times I saw him in court. He seemed like he skated on his Alpha title and didn’t really work for it,” Cipher says.

“I would agree with your assessment, Cipher,” Raptor says.

“So, it’s not likely this is him,” Siren says.

“Probably not, but we never leave any stone unturned, Siren,” Raptor says.

“Raptor’s a strong swimmer,” I say to Jude.

“He’s the leader of Alpha Squad for a reason,” he says as we watch their bodies through the heat sensors as they cross the river.

Not realizing how strong the current was, they started out from where we are parked. However, as they swim across the river, they are very quickly being pulled downstream. They’ll have to make their way back to the area where the den was located and then swim back across the river to get over here again.

“We may be making the fire tonight. They’re going to be tired when they get back,” Jude says.

“I can make a fire,” I tell him.

“Let’s see how things go. I don’t want you out there by yourself. I may have eyes in here, but I’d rather keep eyes on you. Your safety is my primary concern,” he says, not taking his eyes off his computer monitors.

He creates a split screen as the Alpha Squad gets pulled farther downstream, so he can monitor them and the den at the same time. Inside the den, we can see movement. Now that I know what I’m looking for, I can see the larger animal moving around. “Make sure you check the other monitors while you’re focused on the main target and watching our team,” Jude says, his voice distracted by his concentration. “You don’t want someone coming up on you while you’re in here focused on something else.”

I look at his other monitors, but I’m not sure I’d see what he sees at this point.

“Raptor touched ground,” I hear, and refocus on the split screen.

“Venom touched ground,” Venom says, sounding off as they get to the other side.

“Intrigue touched ground.”

Zach and Megan, or Cipher and Siren as I’m supposed to call them now, still haven’t said they’ve reached the other side.

I watch as Cipher and Siren continue to float downstream.

“Get your fucking feet on the ground,” Raptor snarls.

“Cipher touched ground,” he says, and from our monitors, I see him reach out to grab Megan.

“Siren touched ground.”

“Siren, you’ll need to live up to your name better than that. Pool training for both of you after this job is done,” Raptor says as they drag themselves out of the water. 1

“Yes, sir,” they say.

“Hacker, anything new for us?” Raptor asks.

I realize Jude has an ear bud in so he can communicate with the team. He unmutes it.

“The animal is still in it’s den, Alpha Leader,” he says, pointing to another ear bud for me.

“How far downstream did we go?” Raptor asks.

“You’re about three miles off course, Alpha Leader.”

We watch as the group begins walking back to where the den is.

“Okay, you stay here and watch them, let me know if you see anything at all out of the ordinary,” Jude says, getting up.

“Where are you going?” I ask him, moving over to his seat and putting in the earbud.

“I’m going to go search for firewood.”

“Jude, no. What if I miss something?” I ask him.

He stops and looks at me, reaching out to cup my face in his hands. “Don’t miss it. Focus. Watch the monitors, all of them, and let me know if you see anything at all that seems out of the ordinary,” he says before stepping out of the van.

I turn, focusing on the monitors. My heart is beating so hard that I swear the Alpha Squad can hear it through the earbud.

“Jude, I don’t know what I’m doing,” I whisper, hoping the microphone is off.

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