CHAPTER 53

The Sentinel Pack accommodations was an eight story apartment building in the north west part of the facility. Aiden took the time to explain that apartments could be rented by any pack member in exchange for working at Hoventech. More productive members had access to grander apartments, but they were all modern and well outfitted. Some members, of course, preferred to live away from the facility and either came to work at Hoventech daily, or secured jobs elsewhere and contributed to the pack in other ways, so there were always empty units. It was an impressive system, and one I could actually see the organization befitting from, even though we didn't have a single business to center around. As it stood, the organizations system of housing was a bit archaic. With the highest members well taken care of and the lowest fending for themselves.

"Do you live here?" I asked as we entered the elevators through yet another lobby, staffed with human reception and a subtle werewolf guard standing behind the counter.

"I do," Aiden shot me a glance gesturing for me to enter the elevator first. "Apartment eight oh four, if you need anything."

I shifted uncomfortably. Was he coming on to me?

He was handsome, which was flattering, but...I still had the whole mess with Anthony to figure out.

He entered the elevator and pushed the button for the eighth floor.

"As for our dilemma," he announced suddenly, confusing my train of thought. "I think that taking your traitor by surprise is the only way to go. The second she becomes suspicious she's been outed she'll shut down. She might even be pulled from the pack. It's what I would do. And then we'll lose our chance."

Oh. He was back to Leanne.

I warred with the emotions inside me. One one hand I wanted to warn Anthony, it wasn't that long ago that he would have been the first person I went to with my concerns. He was supportive and thoughtful and always took what I had to say with enough gravity to make me feel heard. But he'd changed. He was still changing, and I wasn't sure his reaction would be logical or helpful at all.

"How will we surprise her? It's not like she's easy to get to." Leanne rarely left Anthony's side. Even before Rob had died she'd lingered at the manse, the center of the organization's operations.

"Isn't she though?" he looked at me pointedly.

"You want me to...what? Go back? I barely escaped last time and look what happened to Micheal because I did. Anthony is...not himself, and I have no confidence in my ability to convince him to let me waltz back out."

Aiden tilted his head. "That is a concern, if you get caught, but it stands to reason that your talents and inside knowledge of the organization makes you uniquely suited for this."

He wasn't wrong there. I was built for sneaking. Getting in and out without being detected. And I was good at it.

"You escaped from a diner with no unguarded exits and lost your guard in a matter of minutes. I have full faith in your abilities."

I'd been busy processing information, first what Anthony had done to Micheal, and now calculating my chances. That was the excuse I gave myself for not noticing something sooner.

"How do you even know that I escaped the diner? I didn't tell you that."

The elevator dinged and the doors opened. The top floor of the apartment complex was decorated in cool marble flooring, pillars and modern lighting that cast warm glowing beams along the hallway. Aiden stepped out of the elevator and guided me to the left. The end of the hall had a floor to ceiling window that looked out onto the rest of the facility beside it was a soft looking loveseat and a table. A little nook for anyone wishing to sit in the hallway, I guess.

He stopped in front of one of the four doors this side of the elevator, at room eight oh one, and opened the door.

Wow.

It wasn't like I'd never seen luxury. Rob's mansion was one of the most expensive places I'd ever been in. This wasn't even close in comparison, but somehow the set up of deep mahogany furniture and clean polished marble gave it the feel of quiet wealth. I was so impressed I almost forgot my question. Almost.

"How did you know about the diner?" I repeated.

"I hacked the owner's phone," he admitted at last. As if it wasn't a big deal.

"Alice? You hacked Alice's phone? Why?" Why would he do that. It wasn't like she was really even a member of the organization. She ran the diner where it was safe for us to meet, and we offered her protection in return. She didn't have her hands in anything big, she wasn't privy to any special information. It made no sense to spy on her when there were much bigger players, like Leanne and Anthony that he'd already mentioned... "Aiden, have you hacked my phone?"

Aiden didn't answer, he walked into the kitchen and began shuffling appliances. Ensuring everything was in order.

"Aiden?" I stood perfectly still.

"Yes." He kept his back turned to me. "After our jog into Defence Medical, I thought it would be wise to keep tabs on you. You made it easier by conveniently forgetting to return my EFG. I used its nearby location to transfer the spyware into your phone."

The electronic field generator my wolf had wanted to look at.

I pulled the phone from my pocket and set it on the black marble counter top. For some illogical reason, knowing I couldn't trust it, I didn't want it on my person any more. My defences, which I'd started to lower around Aiden sprung back into place. What else did he know about me that I was completely unaware of?

"Look, it's nothing personal," he turned to me, his face serious. "The Sentinel Pack, Hoventech, survives because I am always on top of information, and when I find I'm lacking information I fix the problem. I am alpha first and foremost and everything else second. Even friend, as I'm hoping we can be. I won't lie to you, I can promise that."

Right. He wouldn't lie to me, just omit the fact that he'd been spying on me for days. But then again, that was on me. I'd trusted that he'd been what he'd showed me on the surface, and nothing more. I knew better. Knew that wasn't how the world worked.

That lonely ache welled up inside of me, sapping what was left of my strength. I needed rest, above all else. And though I now knew I couldn't quite trust Aiden, I also knew that he had the capability of protecting me from a vampire attack and to keep Anthony away for now. He wanted something from me, so he wasn't likely to sell me out at the moment. And that was going to have to be enough, I could sort out my priorities later.

"I'm sorry, I really need to go to bed," I told him, changing the subject.

He frowned, reading my sudden coldness, but nodded and went to the door.

"I won't apologize," he said when he was about to step out, "but I regret that I've done something that bothers you. Sleep well, Raven. I hope we can be considered friends in the future."

And then he was gone.