Chapter 214: Chapter 214
Blake
I’ve always believed every terrible plan starts with someone saying one sentence.
“Trust me.”
Theo’s version was somehow worse.
“Let’s think this through.”
The moment those words left his mouth, I knew the next several hours were going to involve maps, patrol schedules, and enough strategy to make my brain hurt.
Sure enough, thirty minutes later the dining room table had disappeared beneath stacks of papers, hand-drawn maps of the pack lands, and enough coffee mugs to keep an entire patrol awake for a week.
Theo stood at the head of the table with a pencil tucked behind one ear.
Sebastian leaned over one side of the map, quietly pointing out possible blind spots around the eastern tree line.
Marcus had already crossed out two patrol routes and rewritten them in his own handwriting.
Meanwhile…
I was eating another cinnamon roll.
Everyone had a job.
Mine was morale.
Ellie caught me stealing another bite and shook her head.
“You know those were supposed to last all day.”
I shrugged.
“They’re accomplishing their purpose.”
“The purpose wasn’t feeding you six of them.”
“Who’s counting?”
She gave me a look.
“The empty plate is.”
I looked down.
“Huh.”
There really wasn’t much left.
I slid the plate toward Marcus.
“Witness tampering.”
Marcus laughed.
“I’m not helping you hide the evidence.”
“Some Beta you are.”
“The honest kind.”
“I liked you better five seconds ago.”
“You say that every time I refuse to lie for you.”
Ellie laughed, the sound light and easy.
It hit me then.
Not dramatically.
Just… quietly.
She laughed a lot now.
She teased us.
Interrupted us.
Rolled her eyes at our nonsense instead of sitting silently wondering if she belonged.
It was amazing what happened when someone finally believed they were loved.
Theo looked up from the map.
“Blake.”
“What?”
“Were you listening?”
“Absolutely.”
He waited.
I smiled confidently.
“…Mostly.”
Marcus chuckled under his breath.
Theo pinched the bridge of his nose.
“What did I just say?”
I looked at Ellie.
She lifted her hands innocently.
“Oh no.”
“Come on.”
“Nope.”
“We’re mates now.”
“I don’t recall signing a contract that says I help you cheat.”
I placed a hand dramatically against my chest.
“Betrayed.”
Sebastian didn’t even glance up from the map.
“You deserve it.”
“I thought mates were supposed to support each other.”
Ellie grinned.
“I am supporting you.”
“How?”
“I’m supporting your opportunity to learn.”
Marcus actually laughed out loud.
Theo looked strangely pleased.
I pointed accusingly at Ellie.
“They’re rubbing off on you.”
She leaned back in her chair, looking entirely too proud of herself.
“I’ve been spending a lot of time around you.”
“I’ve created a monster.”
“A slightly sarcastic monster.”
“The worst kind.”
The room relaxed.
It wasn’t forced.
No one was pretending the threat had disappeared.
The note was still sitting inside an evidence sleeve on the corner of the table.
The maps still marked every place someone could hide.
The danger was real.
But so was this.
This family we’d somehow become.
I caught Ellie looking around the room.
Not at the maps.
At us.
There was something thoughtful in her expression.
“What?”
She blinked.
“Hm?”
“You’re thinking.”
She smiled softly.
“I was just realizing something.”
Theo looked up.
“What?”
She rested both forearms on the table.
“I don’t think I would’ve survived this six months ago.”
Silence settled over the room.
Not uncomfortable.
Just reflective.
“I would’ve panicked.”
Her fingers absentmindedly traced the edge of her coffee mug.
“I would’ve convinced myself every bad thing was somehow my fault.”
She laughed quietly.
“I probably would’ve packed a bag and tried to disappear so nobody else got hurt because of me.”
My chest tightened.
Because she wasn’t wrong.
That was exactly what the old Ellie would have done.
She looked up at each of us.
“But now…”
She hesitated, smiling almost shyly.
“…my first thought wasn’t to run.”
Theo’s voice was barely above a whisper.
“What was it?”
She reached across the table.
Without thinking.
Without hesitation.
She slipped her hand into mine.
“My first thought…”
Her eyes met mine before drifting to Theo, Sebastian, and finally Marcus.
“…was that we’d figure it out together.”
For one long moment, nobody spoke.
Because there wasn’t anything to add.
Those words meant more than any victory we’d had so far.
Not because we’d solved the mystery.
Because Ellie finally believed she didn’t have to solve it alone.
Marcus smiled quietly.
“I think that’s the biggest change I’ve seen.”
Ellie looked at him.
“What?”
“You finally trust people to catch you.”
Emotion flickered across her face.
She looked down at our joined hands before letting out a soft breath.
“I do.”
Theo closed the folder in front of him.
“Good.”
Ellie tilted her head.
“Good?”
He nodded.
“Because the next part of this plan requires exactly that.”
The warmth in the room faded just enough for everyone’s attention to return to the maps.
Theo stood and walked to the large map pinned to the wall.
He picked up a red marker.
Then, without another word, he circled one location.
Ellie’s house.
“We know they’ll come back,” he said quietly.
Marcus nodded.
“They’ve already shown us what they’re looking for.”
Sebastian folded his arms.
“So we make sure the next time they break in…”
A slow smile spread across my face as the plan finally clicked.
“…they don’t realize we were expecting them.”
Theo looked around the room, meeting each of our eyes in turn.
“No mistakes.”
“No heroics.”
His gaze lingered on me.
Especially me.
I looked offended.
“I’ve matured.”
Three voices answered at once.
“No, you haven’t.”
Ellie burst into laughter so hard she had to wipe tears from the corners of her eyes.
I sighed dramatically.
“You know…”
I looked around the table.
“I really thought getting mated meant I’d finally have people on my side.”
Ellie leaned over and kissed my cheek so quickly I barely had time to react.
“Oh, I’m on your side.”
I smiled.
“I knew it.”
She grinned.
“I’m just also on theirs.”
The room erupted into laughter.
For one fleeting moment, despite the danger waiting just beyond our walls, the Alpha house felt exactly like home.
And that, I realized, was precisely what we were fighting to protect.