The Upper Hand
1333 Words
The red dots moved across Rae’s screen.
Twelve armed men.
Moving toward pack territory.
Nobody spoke for a moment.
Then Noah pointed toward the screen.
“There’s one problem.”
Rae looked at him.
“What?”
“If they already had wolfsbane rounds once…”
Noah’s expression hardened.
“They could have them again.”
Will nodded.
“Everyone stays alert.”
Remi crossed her arms.
“And protected.”
Trey glanced toward the windows.
“We should move everyone into the pack house.”
Rae suddenly slammed her coffee onto the table.
“Oh, my God.”
Everyone looked at her.
“What?” Trey asked.
Rae threw her hands up.
“Why is everyone acting like we’re completely screwed?”
Elijah raised an eyebrow.
“Because twelve armed people are moving toward us?”
“Exactly.”
Rae pointed at the screen.
“And they’re doing exactly what I wanted them to do.”
Will frowned.
“What are you talking about?”
Rae turned toward him.
“The bright side is that they’re staying near Northern Ridge.”
Noah looked confused.
“How is that a bright side?”
“Because Northern Ridge is covered.”
She tapped her tablet.
“Thermal sensors. Motion cameras. Night-vision cameras. Trail cameras. Everything.”
Remi’s eyes widened.
“You put all that up there?”
Rae shrugged.
“Of course.”
Trey stared at her.
“When?”
“While you were all busy being Alphas.”
Elijah laughed.
Trey looked at him.
“Don’t.”
Rae continued.
“They already hit two of my thermal sensors.”
She pulled up the footage.
“Which means…”
She smiled.
“We have their movements.”
Another screen appeared.
Then another.
Footage filled the war-room monitors.
Twelve armed figures moved through the trees.
Their faces were partially covered.
Their weapons were visible.
Their movements were clear.
Noah stepped closer.
“That’s more information than we had before.”
“Exactly.”
Rae pointed at the screen.
“Every camera they trigger gives us another angle.”
She zoomed in.
“We can see their weapons.”
Another tap.
“Their numbers.”
Another.
“Their positions.”
Another.
“And where they’re going.”
Will studied the footage.
“They don’t know they’re being watched.”
Rae grinned.
“That’s the fun part.”
Remi smiled.
“You’re enjoying this way too much.”
“Maybe.”
Del stepped closer.
“So what’s the plan?”
Rae reached beneath the table.
She pulled out a controller.
Then tossed it across the room.
Del caught it.
Rae pointed toward the screen.
“Control the drone.”
Del looked down at the controller.
“Me?”
“Yep.”
“What am I doing?”
“Fire at the armed idiots.”
Del smiled.
“Finally.”
She turned toward the screens.
The drone feed appeared.
Elijah immediately stepped forward.
“I could control the drone.”
Rae whipped around.
“No.”
Elijah frowned.
“Why not?”
“Because it’s my expensive drone.”
“I know how to operate technology.”
Rae stared at him.
“You are not touching my expensive drone.”
Elijah crossed his arms.
“Why?”
“Because if you crash it, I’m haunting you.”
Elijah blinked.
“You can’t haunt me while you’re alive.”
Rae smiled sweetly.
“Watch me.”
Trey burst out laughing.
Even Will’s mouth twitched.
Elijah shook his head.
“Unbelievable.”
He looked at Trey.
“Control your women.”
Trey’s smile disappeared.
“Excuse me?”
Elijah nodded toward Rae.
“She clearly needs supervision.”
Rae turned around.
“Keep talking, Alpha.”
Elijah immediately looked away.
“I said nothing.”
Del laughed.
“Smart choice.”
She adjusted the controller.
“Okay. Which one?”
Rae pointed toward the screen.
“See the group on the left?”
“Yep.”
“Wait until they get closer.”
Del nodded.
The drone moved silently through the night.
The attackers continued forward.
Unaware.
Remi watched the footage.
“They’re moving toward the northern access road.”
Will nodded.
“That’s the fastest route into pack territory.”
Noah studied the thermal feed.
“There are two more behind them.”
Rae zoomed in.
“Three.”
Noah frowned.
“Three?”
“Yep.”
She switched camera angles.
“Look.”
The thermal image revealed three additional figures moving through the trees.
Luke stepped closer.
“Fifteen.”
Rae nodded.
“Looks like it.”
Will’s expression hardened.
“Then they’re not just scouting.”
“Nope,” Rae said.
“They’re coming in force.”
Del raised the controller.
“Ready.”
Rae smiled.
“Take the closest one.”
Del pressed the button.
The drone fired.
A tranquilizer dart struck the first attacker in the shoulder.
He stumbled.
Dropped his weapon.
And collapsed.
Trey grinned.
“One down.”
Del fired again.
Another attacker dropped.
Elijah watched the screen.
“I’ll admit…”
Rae looked at him.
“Careful.”
Elijah smiled.
“Your drone is impressive.”
Rae nodded.
“Thank you.”
Elijah pointed at the controller.
“Still think I could operate it.”
“No.”
He sighed.
“Had to try.”
Luke was studying the feeds.
His expression slowly changed.
“Rae.”
She looked over.
“What?”
Luke pointed at the monitors.
“How many of these sensors are connected to the pack network?”
Rae shrugged.
“All of them.”
Luke looked at the network architecture.
Then at the footage.
Then back at Rae.
He slowly picked up a marker.
Walked to the large map.
And made a mark.
Will noticed.
“What are you doing?”
Luke looked at the screens.
“I’m making a note.”
“For what?”
Luke looked at Rae.
“We need to update the pack network.”
Rae smiled.
“Finally.”
Luke continued.
“With her technology.”
Rae’s smile grew.
“Now we’re talking.”
Noah looked at the screens.
“Can we really integrate all this into the pack system?”
Rae folded her arms.
“Absolutely.”
She pointed at the monitors.
“Your current system is outdated.”
Luke nodded.
“I noticed.”
Trey looked at him.
“You’re actually agreeing with her?”
Luke sighed.
“Unfortunately.”
Rae grinned.
“See? I’m making friends.”
Remi laughed.
“That’s one word for it.”
Will looked at Rae.
“If we let you rebuild the network, can you secure it against whoever is behind this?”
Rae’s expression became serious.
“I can make it much harder to breach.”
Will nodded.
“Then do it.”
Rae smiled.
“Gladly.”
A sudden alarm sounded.
Everyone turned toward the monitors.
Rae’s smile disappeared.
One of the thermal cameras had gone black.
Then another.
Then another.
Elijah stepped forward.
“They’re taking out the sensors.”
Rae stared at the screens.
“Yeah.”
Will’s voice dropped.
“Can you still see them?”
Rae switched feeds.
A new camera appeared.
Then another.
Then another.
Her smile slowly returned.
“They can destroy the cameras.”
She looked at Will.
“But they can’t destroy the ones they don’t know about.”
Remi looked at the screen.
“How many more do you have?”
Rae smiled.
“Enough.”
Del raised the controller.
“Should I keep firing?”
Rae looked at the screen.
Then smiled.
“Absolutely.”
Will looked around the room.
“Everyone stays together.”
Noah nodded.
Luke grabbed his weapon.
Trey stepped beside Will.
Elijah moved toward the door.
Remi stood beside Rae and Del.
The pack was ready.
The attackers thought they were moving unseen through the darkness.
They had no idea the darkness was watching them.
And for the first time that night—
the Bayou had the upper hand.
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