6

ASTRID

“So this is the hub,” Quinn says as she leads me into a large room full of desks and computers. “I’ve heard that ours is puny compared to Denver’s, but what we lack in size we make up for in heart.” She spins around, a goofy smile on her face. “That was really fucking corny, wasn’t it?”

“Nah,” I laugh, waving her off. “I liked it.”

“Astrid!” Brooke calls, beckoning me from the back of the room. Her glasses slide down the bridge of her nose and she pushes them up with a finger.

“C’mon.” Quinn spins back around, leading me toward Brooke.

I was grateful when she found me on the practice field this morning- as much as I’m enjoying this little push and pull with my broody roommate, it’s nice to talk to someone who will actually talk back. Training with the squad was a lot of fun, and I even learned a couple of new moves from Fallon. I’m no stranger to combat training; we start young in Denver, so I’ve been doing it for half of my life. Suffice to say that I may have taught her a few things, too.

I stuck by Quinn for lunch in the dining hall after training and met a few of her friends, including a tattooed hunk that she introduced as her best friend Logan. I guess I don’t get out enough, because I feel like every guy I meet here is ridiculously attractive. Maybe I just need to get laid.

Quinn brought me up here to the IT unit right after lunch. As I follow her back to Brooke’s workspace, I take it all in- seven neat rows of desks on either side of a center aisle, a conference table in the back, and a large screen in the center of the far wall. It’s definitely a lot simpler than what we have going on in Denver, but obviously just as effective considering the amount of intel the six-pack’s IT unit has been able to garner. I’m excited to be here and finally meet everyone in person.

“Hey!” Brooke greets with a bright smile as we approach. She’s dressed in what I’ve gathered is typical Brooke fashion- chuck taylor sneakers, ripped up jeans, a Queen t-shirt, and a flannel tied around her waist. She pulls off the punk rock/nerd combo flawlessly, even makes it look sexy, which is no surprise since the girl is supermodel gorgeous. “You ready to jump right in?”

I grin. “Absolutely.”

Brooke pushes out of her desk chair, stepping over to the conference table and sinking down into one there, instead. “Have a seat,” she urges as she clicks a remote to turn the large screen on, pulling a wireless keyboard and mouse closer to her.

I take the chair next to Brooke’s, watching as she logs onto the conference computer.

“So as you can see,” she mumbles, clicking into an application once she’s logged on. “We’re now fully integrated with Denver’s systems, and vice versa. We’re sharing all of our information in real time.”

She pulls up an activity log that I saw briefly before I left Denver- our head of IT, Rico, walked everyone through it the day before I left.

“Everyone’s been adding any updates and new information they find to this log so we’ve all got access… but you’ve probably already covered this,” Brooke continues. “I’ll get you set up on this computer to work after we conference with Denver. And speaking of…” her voice trails off as she looks over her shoulder, toward the rest of her IT colleagues seated at their desks. “You guys ready for this meeting or what?” she calls out.

There are a lot of mumbles in affirmation, and slowly, the other people in the room begin to make their way over and crowd in around the conference table. Quinn drops into a chair beside me as we wait for everyone to assemble. I don’t think that the six-pack’s IT unit has an official leader, but it seems that Brooke has unofficially stepped into that role since she’s mated to a squad leader and spearheaded the joining of their systems with Denver’s.

“Guys, as you know, this is Astrid,” Brooke says by way of introduction, gesturing to me. “She’s gonna be here with us for the next few weeks, so let’s try to make her feel at home.”

I smile at Brooke appreciatively, then listen as she points around the table naming people off. I’m actually terrible with names, so I doubt I’m going to remember half of them. I’ve totally got the girls down, since there are only four, but the ten guys’ names have already escaped me.

“Alright, you ready to conference with your pack?” Brooke asks after she’s finished introducing everyone.

“For sure,” I nod.

Brooke clicks around the screen with her mouse to connect the video chat, and moments later, I see Rico’s face on the screen set against the backdrop of the Denver hive.

It’s so nice to see a familiar face that I get really excited, giving a little wave and calling out “hi, Rico!”

His face splits into a wide grin. Rico has always liked me- he took me under his wing when I started dabbling in IT and the two of us get along well. Plus it’s fairly obvious that he’s harbored a little crush on me for a while.

“Hey Astrid, nice to see you,” Rico replies smoothly. “We miss you here already.”

“Aww, I miss you guys too!” I gush. Seeing a glimpse of back home tugs at my heart. I’m rarely away from my home in Denver.

“How’s it going over there?” Rico asks.

“Pretty good so far,” I smile. “Still settling in.”

I give Brooke a side-eyed glance, suddenly realizing that I’ve totally hijacked her meeting. Whoops.

“Guess we should probably get to it,” I say, turning to Brooke and effectively handing the reins back over to her.

She smiles at me like she didn’t even mind my interruption, then turns to Rico and starts to speak. “Do you have your whole team together?”

He nods. “They’re here, they’re just off camera.”

“Perfect.” Brooke straightens her glasses, leaning back in her chair. “So going forward, I think we should probably check in once a day to confirm that we’re still on target with the timeline.”

“Agreed,” Rico says. “And right now we’re still at two to three weeks, correct?”

“That’s what we’ve got. Twenty days, give or take.” She looks around the conference table at her colleagues. “Any timeline updates that we should be aware of?”

Nobody speaks up, and after a moment, Brooke looks back to Rico. “We’ll just have to keep a close watch on it. Let us know if anything changes.”

“Will do.” Rico nods again. “And same on your end.”

We go over a few more things before disconnecting, including our intel of the shadow pack’s current position and their projected movements over the coming weeks. When it comes time to say goodbye, I find myself feeling a little sad. I can’t believe I miss home this much already.

“Bye, Rico!” I call, waving as the video feed ends. The rest of the IT staff disperses back to their desks until it’s just Brooke, Quinn and I left at the conference table in the back of the room.

“So how are you settling in, really?” Brooke asks, pushing her chair out and turning to face me fully.

I push my own chair back so we’re in more of a triangle formation and I have a better view of Brooke and Quinn on either side of me. “Everything’s good!” I chirp. Then I lower my voice a little bit, leaning in. “Though I have to ask, what’s up with Brock?”

Brooke tilts her head questioningly. “What do you mean?”

“It’s just… everyone else has been so friendly, but he’s been kinda stand-offish.” I bring my hands together in my lap, lacing my fingers. “Like, is it just me? Or…”

Quinn laughs, shaking her head. “It’s not just you. Trust me.”

I let out a little sigh in relief. For a minute there I wasn’t sure if I’d done something to offend the guy.

“He’s always been prickly,” Quinn continues. “Well, at least as long as I’ve known him, which is only like a month. So take that with a grain of salt.”

“I haven’t known him for much longer, but Theo’s said before that’s just how Brock is,” Brooke adds. “Kinda grumpy, straight to the point.”

Quinn jumps back in. “I actually asked Jax about it just the other night because Brock didn’t seem very happy when we told him we were mates. Well, he acted like he was, but he was totally faking it.” She waves a hand. “Anyways, Jax said that Brock was hurt by some girl in the past and he’s never been the same. He’s just a cynical prick now.”

“Quinn!” Brooke turns to her, wide-eyed.

Quinn cracks a smile. “Okay, he didn’t use those exact words, but that was the basic gist of it.”

Brooke rolls her eyes, sighing and turning back to me. “You could ask Fallon about him, she might know more. She used to run patrol with Brock when she was a recruit.”

I nod slowly. “Yeah, maybe I’ll pick her brain a little. Thanks.”

Brooke pauses, searching my face. “Is he making you really uncomfortable? Because if he is, I could talk to Theo about getting you a room here to stay in…”

“No, no,” I say quickly, shaking my head. “It’s totally fine, I promise. And the other guys that live at the packhouse are lovely.” I look from Brooke to Quinn, but neither seems convinced. So I go on. “I’m just trying to figure out how to get him to let me in a little bit, that’s all. Get to know him. Since we’ll be spending so much time together.”

That seems to work because both girls nod in understanding.

“Maybe you should just sneak into his room one night,” Quinn suggests after a beat, waggling her eyebrows.

Brooke’s eyes fly wide. “Q!”

“What?” she laughs. “The guy clearly needs to get laid.”

“I mean… he’s definitely easy on the eyes.” I shrug innocently, winking at Quinn.

All three of us laugh. I like hanging out with Quinn and Brooke- I don’t get nearly enough girl talk like this back at home since I’m typically with Sam and Cole. I’ve always had close friendships with guys, but deep down, I’m a girl’s girl. It’s fun to gossip with the girls, to laugh and joke with them.

Though that last comment wasn’t entirely a joke. I can’t deny that I’m attracted to Brock, which boggles my mind a little bit since he’s so surly. There’s just something about him, something behind those eyes that makes me want to reach deeper to see what I find. He may be trying to keep me at arm’s length, but I have no doubt that I can get a little closer if I put in the effort. I’m pretty damn charming, after all- and it’s now my mission to melt Brock’s icy exterior.