“But you don’t believe that?” Sawyer asked curiously.
Misty shrugged. “Not really. Like I said, the evidence was too easy to find. And worse, if you look at the upload times, you’ll notice that all the evidence was dumped onto the servers at nearly the same moment. That tells me that someone hacked in and staged the evidence, assuming everyone would immediately believe it without digging any deeper.”
Beside Misty, Forrest chuckled. “Except you, because you’re the suspicious type.”
“I am.” She smiled. “I ended up following the evidence trail along an endless assortment of communication cables and satellites, out of Europe, across the Atlantic, all the way to the computers in Harrington’s office in New York City.”
“Wait a minute,” Jake interrupted, sitting up straighter in his chair, an alarmed look on his face. “You actually hacked your consciousness all the way around the world? Isn’t that dangerous?”
Brielle could understand why Jake was so concerned. She’d been terrified of getting lost inside the relatively small computer network inside that facility in Siberia. The idea of leaving her body that far behind and surfing the internet infrastructure all the way from Moscow to New York made her knees shake.
“It wasn’t as much dangerous as it was exhausting,” Misty said as Harley got up to walk into the adjoining kitchen. “The best way I can describe it is sort of like running a marathon while breathing through a straw. I don’t plan on ever doing it again, but it paid off; that’s what matters. We might not know why Harrington is doing it and what his endgame might be, but at least we finally know who’s behind this whole thing.”
Harley came out of the kitchen with a few more bags of chips, tossing them on the table, then sitting down beside Sawyer again as they all discussed what to do next. Since Julian had fallen completely off the radar, Brielle couldn’t add much to the conversation, so she sat there and listened as Misty and Genevieve talked about what they’d be doing the rest of the night, namely working with the analysts back in DC to build a file on Xavier Harrington and everyone associated with him.
“Speaking of which, is anyone else concerned that those supernaturals we fought tonight seemed to know exactly where we were and what we were doing?” Hudson asked. “They shut down the video feeds and hit the server room as if Misty was their target all along. They probably would have gotten to her, too, if it wasn’t for Caleb losing his damn mind.”
Brielle glanced at Caleb, wondering if he was offended by the remark, but he didn’t even lift his head as he tried to get the last of the peanut butter out of the bottom of the jar with the spoon.
“What are you saying?” Jes asked. “That you think someone in STAT tipped off Xavier Harrington about Misty being a technopath and that he sent his goons to try to take her out?”
That started a whole new discussion—although maybe argument was a better word—until Jake finally shut it down.
“We don’t have enough information to know if there’s a mole inside STAT, and arguing won’t change that,” he said. “Unfortunately, Misty and Genevieve will probably be up most of the night, but that doesn’t mean the rest of us can’t get some sleep. We’re already booked on the first flight to New York City tomorrow and I, for one, am beat.”
Within minutes, the dining room emptied out, everyone heading for the bedrooms they’d claimed when they’d first gotten there. Brielle followed more slowly, Caleb falling into step beside her as they made their way upstairs.
“Thanks for pulling me out of that downward spiral I was trapped in,” he said softly as they reached the landing. Brielle wondered if he was keeping his voice low so his teammates wouldn’t hear or because he was embarrassed about losing control and not being able to stop. “If you hadn’t gotten through to me when you did, I’d probably still be running around Moscow like a psycho trying to find those guys.”
Seeing Caleb standing there looking lost and almost a little hurt, Brielle had to fight the urge to wrap her arms around him and hug him tight. While he might like kissing, hug therapy didn’t seem like his thing. Instead, she took his hand and led him over to the couch in the center of the common area off the stairs. With the bedroom doors closed, they shouldn’t disturb anyone if they talked quietly enough.
“You don’t have to thank me for that,” she said.
“Yeah, I do.” The corner of his mouth edged up. “Most people stay out of my way when I go all omega.”
She returned his smile with a small one of her own. “I’m not most people.”
He regarded her thoughtfully for a moment. “No, you aren’t.”
“If you don’t mind me asking, what made you lose control like that?” she asked. “I’ve seen you do it before, but this seemed more extreme than the other times.”
Caleb was silent for so long that she thought he wouldn’t answer, but then: “It was. Or at least, it felt like that to me.”
“But why?” She nudged gently when he didn’t continue.
He let out a heavy sigh. “I was pretty far gone from the moment the bullets started flying because I knew it meant you were in danger. Then afterward, when I smelled your blood, it was like the human part of me was gone completely, leaving nothing but an enraged, scared omega werewolf behind.”
Enraged seemed to be the default setting for Caleb’s inner werewolf, so that wasn’t surprising. It was the other part of his confession that had her a little confused.
She turned on the couch so she could look at him, tucking one knee under the other. “Why would smelling my blood terrify you?”
Caleb didn’t say anything right away, and from his expression, it seemed like he was still wondering that same thing himself.
“Because you’re special,” he finally said, the words coming out slowly, carefully, as if he was worried he’d get them wrong. “In some ways, I think I’ve known that since the moment I met you all those months ago. But I didn’t understand exactly how special you are to me until I smelled your blood and realized you’d been wounded. That’s when it hit me that I could lose you before I even got a chance to get to know you.”
As he spoke, Caleb’s eyes began to glow blue at the edges, and before she knew what she was doing, Brielle was off the couch and climbing into his lap. His hands immediately found their way to her hips, but she caught one and slid it under her shirt to rest on top of the well-healed bullet wound.
“But you didn’t lose me. That’s what matters,” she said urgently, enjoying the feel of his warm skin against hers, his firm thighs beneath her legs. “The wound is completely closed up and barely hurts at all. So that chance you wanted to get to know me? Well, there’s nothing stopping you.”