Page 59 of Chased

Matéo nodded.

Sanchez sighed. He stepped forward, pulled them in and touched his forehead to theirs. “I know,” he said. “I’ll make sure she knows it too.”

He looked around, seeing their ritual all set up. He’d forgotten all about it last night, because of Madison. But they needed to know they were still important to him. La familia.

“We didn’t do the thing last night after the mission,” he said. “Let’s do it now. And then I need you two to help me make sure no one here ever makes that mistake with Madison again. Bueno?”

They nodded. “Bueno.”

They’d just finished their ritual shots when Sanchez’s phone beeped with a text alert. It was Gunn.

I want to see you all in my office. Now.

Sanchez didn’t know how the fuck Gunn knew what had happened with Madison last night, but he did. Either it was some kind of alpha thing, or one of the other wolves had seen and snitched on them all.

He would have tracked the fucker down, whoever he was, and punched him a few times just because he’d ratted Madison out, but he couldn’t really because it saved him the guilt of ratting her out himself.

He couldn’t protect her if no one knew she was a lapin.

Gunn was sitting at his desk, growling. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me about this. A fucking rabbit, in the middle of a wolf pack, and you didn’t see how that could go wrong?”

He glared at all three of them, but Matéo and Cisco, standing behind Sanchez, kept their mouths shut. For once.

Sanchez knew this could get dicey. He and Gunn had never gotten along, and Sanchez had been one of the people most opposed to Gunn taking over the pack after Gregor died. He still wasn’t what you’d call one of Gunn’s most loyal supporters. In fact, he probably definitely gave the dude shit whenever he could.

Now all that shit was probably going to come back to bite him. But he had to do what he had to do—Madison needed his help. “I promised her I wouldn’t tell.”

Gunn sighed. “Should I even ask why?”

“Because she needs this job, genius. She was afraid you’d fire her.”

“Of course I would have fired her. I can’t keep her here! You know what these guys are like. It’s too dangerous for her. What if it happens again? She could get killed.”

“It’s not going to happen again.”

The finality in his tone stopped Gunn. He looked carefully at Sanchez, using his fucking alpha X-ray vision, or whatever he used to read the pack members. He could feel Gunn probing at his mind.

Sanchez didn’t know what Gunn thought he saw, but after a minute the alpha said more quietly, “You can’t protect her 24/7.”

Sanchez felt a snarl rising in his throat. “Watch me.” He picked up Madison’s blanket, which he’d tossed on the desk when he came in. It was the one he’d wrapped her rabbit in last night, and it had her scent all over it. “Call the pack together.”

Gunn said, “I can’t call them all in. Some of them are on duty.”

Sanchez was losing patience. “I don’t fucking care. Get them down here to the command center. And tell them to be ready to Change.”

Gunn opened his mouth, gave Sanchez another X-ray look, and shut it again. Instead, to Sanchez’s surprise, he picked up the phone on his desk and dialed the Big House.

“Sugar,” he said, when that little fucker answered. Three rings. Like always. “I need you to temporarily take over video surveillance on the gate, and monitor the comms from your control room. I’m calling everyone in. Pack meeting.”

He listened, and then said, “Why, no. I inconvenience everyone for fun. Of course it’s necessary.”

Sanchez held out his hand for the phone. Gunn compressed his lips, pissed because his word as alpha should trump anything Sanchez had to say. But then he shook his head and handed it over.

Sanchez said, “Sugar? It’s me.” He didn’t let the guy get more than a couple of words out before he said, “I don’t have time for this. Tell Big T I requested the meeting, and if he doesn’t like it he can take it up with me.”

“So it’s something Thanatos would approve?” Sugar said.

“Hell, no. But it’s happening. So if you don’t want a lapse in security, you boys up there better get on it.” He hung up.