This was either going to be incredibly terrible or surprisingly successful, and I truly had no way of knowing how it would go. Hence the backup plan.

The backup plan had been my first idea; bring dinner to the wolves while they held their all-important meeting, sneaking my phone underneath napkins or something to audio record it. I’d miss the first part of the meeting, but that couldn’t be helped. Hopefully I’d catch enough at the end to make plans of my own.

But then my brain had a hissy fit. Why did I have to resort to sneaking around when I could figure out a way to be included? Point out my worth in the pack. Granted, it might not work, and I’d have to play it just right, but it was worth a shot. Especially if it left a good impression on my future pack.

I bit my bottom lip. I had always been worried about stepping on people’s toes out of ignorance. Again, harkening to having no female role model to learn from, and dealing with the misogynistic views that definitely needed shaking up.

It was time to stop being so damn afraid of what others thought of me and embrace every part of myself, even if I wasn’t one hundred percent sure of every step forward.

So I came up with the first plan; walk in with dinner and simply not leave. I had mentally rehearsed what I wanted to say, going so far as to write a few phrases down on paper to help me remember them.

Thankfully, the women working in the kitchen today hadn’t questioned me when I said we were to take trays of food to the men. They’d nodded, as if expecting as much, and quickly put together four trays, one of which included desserts, faster than I thought possible.

I paused in front of the double doors of the meeting room, hearing mumbled and indistinguishable voices behind the thick wood. I shifted the heavy tray to balance on my right shoulder and knocked twice, briskly.

Let’s rock and roll.

After a few seconds’ wait, the door opened, revealing my father.

I let out a breath at the delight in his eyes. Hopefully brining food would be a point in my favor.

“Thought you men might be a little hungry,” I explained.

“Eliza, how thoughtful,” he said, loud enough so everyone behind him could hear, even if they didn’t yet see me. He pulled the door wide and stepped aside.

Maddock was almost beaming at me as I stepped in to the room, shadowed by Heather and Bettie, two of the middle-aged wolves, and Micah, Heather’s precocious eight-year-old. Maddock most likely was seeing this as a demonstration of my capability to perform wifely and household duties.

Ew.

My father directed us to the far wall, where a long table sat unused. Bettie sat down the smaller appetizer and dessert trays at either end while Heather and I set down the main course ones in the middle. Micah handed over the paper plates and plastic utensils to his mother before quickly darting out of the room without so much as a ‘hello’ or ‘goodbye.’

Once Heather and Bettie finished helping me set up, they said their greetings to the room and left.

I didn’t.

I walked over to my father, ignoring the other eleven men in the room as they slowly made their way over to the food. I could feel more than a few pairs of eyes on me, but I refused to acknowledge them.

“How is everything going?” I asked my father as casually as I could while I observed the table. A crude map had been drawn on several individual pieces of paper in the center. A variety of legal pads, notebooks, and pens created a border around the long table.

“It’s a bit slow going,” he admitted, “because we don’t have a lot of intel.”

“Makes sense,” I agreed. “But that’s the point of a reconnaissance mission, isn’t it?” I reached down and lifted the legal pad that had my father’s neat capital letters on it as I heard someone approach me from behind. I took a deep breath through my nose as I brought my wolf closer to the surface.

Maddock’s scent.

I started to scan over my father’s notes when Maddock’s large, warm hand clamped down on my shoulder. My heart rate felt like it doubled at the anticipation of a fight, even just a verbal one.

“You know,” I began, willing my voice steady despite the tremor I felt in my bones, “The only problem I see here is that, I’m assuming, all of the wolves present are too visible. Of course, I haven’t seen the Blood Moon pack’s wolves, but it would make sense to bring the biggest and best in case of a fight. And it seems like you’re bringing the biggest and strongest from ours.”

Immediate silence.

Oddly enough, I wanted to chuckle; the reaction was so predictable it was almost sad.

I turned, forcing Maddock to drop his hand, and faced him fully as Tobias approached with a plate full of food. His eyes met mine, and they shone with what I thought was mischief.

“Alright, little firecracker,” Tobias said with a grin. “You’re right; I brought my best fighters. So what would you suggest?”

I took a steadying breath, clasping my hands behind my back to hide their shaking. My father undoubtedly noticed, but he didn’t react in any way. He always had my back.

“A few smaller wolves, especially those without bold, noticeable coloring, would be able to get in and out quickly in most circumstances without being noticed. It makes them perfect for a mission like this where a direct conflict is not intended.”

Maddock began to open his mouth to surely shoot down my idea when Tobias clapped him on the back, startling the alpha wolf.

“You have quite the strategist in your pack,” he told Maddock. I internally celebrated with balloons and confetti cannons how smoothly everything had gone. He turned to me again. “I see your point, Elisandra. We could use smaller wolves on this task force. Any idea who would be up for it?”

I nodded, wringing my hands behind my back now. “Me. Lydia. Valorie and Nicole. Connor is also on the smaller side.”

“Then it’s settled. We’ll have two teams of two.” Tobias pointed at me. “You and my wolf Henry will be one, and we’ll recruit two of those other wolves you suggested as the second.”

I blinked as my hands fell to my sides, the only tell of my surprise. I hadn’t considered that Tobias would bring a smaller wolf or agree with me so easily. But then again, it was pretty clear that he had different opinions on matters than my alpha.

Maddock cleared his throat. “We can finish up our dinner while we round up those wolves; I also have a few in mind who might be up for the job.”

Maddock called Adam and Bryce over, and I turned my back to them as they arranged to gather more wolves. I met my father’s eyes and let out a silent sigh through my nose, willing my heart rate to slow.

He reached out a hand and clasped my upper arm. The pride in his eyes didn’t need explaining and nearly made my own start to water. He nodded, just once, and I nodded back.