"Yep." Bear led her to the far back wall and moved a panel to the side to show a keypad. He punched in numbers and a door slid to the side, revealing a situation room.
"Wow." Nessa stepped inside. Twelve people could sit comfortably around the burnished teak table, which held the Grizzly MC emblem in the middle. Notepads and pens were placed before thick leather chairs. A huge screen took up the far wall, while smaller screens were spaced across another wall. A third wall held computer consoles.
Bear sat at the head of the table and put Nessa on his right. She sat, her gaze taking everything in. Bear reached for a keyboard and smoothly punched in several codes.
Wasn't he full of surprises.
Within seconds, the big screen lit and King Dage Kayrs sat with a green board behind him. "Afternoon," the king said. Dage had black hair, silver eyes, and a hard-cut face. He grinned. "I see the boys made it."
Bear snorted. "Do you have intel?"
Dage looked around the room. "Hello, Nessa." He nodded at Lucas. "Luke."
Lucas nodded back. "Hi."
Nessa smiled. "King."
"Intel?" Bear snapped.
Dage rolled his eyes and tapped a keyboard that was out of sight. "We're still working on new intel. I'm bringing in Simone to update us on the Coven Nine research."
Simone Brightston came into view, on a split screen now that showed both her and Dage. "Bear," she said, her face lighting up.
Bear's eyes crinkled. "Hi. You look better. Not so pale."
Nessa's heart turned over. The cranky shifter obviously loved his sister. What would it be like to have a family beyond just her uncle? To have that backup in life no matter what? She shook herself out of her thoughts. "Hi, Simone."
Simone waved. "Nessa. So good to see you."
"Hi, Aunt Simone," Logan and Garrett drawled in unison.
Simone scowled, but the displeasure didn't reach her eyes. "I am not your aunt. Either of you. We are not related by blood, and I have not married nor mated an uncle of either of you. How many times do I have to explain this?"
Logan shrugged. "You mated my brother's best friend, who's more like an uncle, so that makes you my aunt."
Garrett grinned. "His aunt is my aunt. We're family."
Simone huffed out air, her lips twitching. The amusement sparkled in her eyes.
"Enough," Bear said. "You should be resting. Give us the info, and then you're out of this, sis. At least while you're pregnant."
Simone shared a look with Nessa, barely rolling her eyes.
Nessa kept an eye on Bear. His sister was on the Council. Surely he understood undercover ops and the secrecy required in governmental work. He wouldn't be angry that she hadn't really been honest with him even though they'd been intimate. He'd understand.
Yeah, right.
Chapter 14
Bear kept a close eye on his sister to make sure she seemed all right. Truth be told, Simone looked healthy and happy. He'd have to be nice to that demon she'd mated next time they were in the same room. "I haven't paid a lot of attention to the Apollo problem until recently," he admitted. "We provided support for the Enforcers, but we stayed out of it."
"That has now changed," Lucas added.
Simone nodded. "Agreed. You're in place to hunt down the manufacturer, Bear. We need you."
"Of course," he said. He'd do anything for his sister. "Whatever you want, Simone."
Nessa smiled next to him.
His chest warmed. He liked making her smile during this brief time they had together. "Catch me up, sister."
Simone smiled prettily at his use of her title of sister. "All right. After Titans of Fire MC was destroyed, the distribution of Apollo in Seattle almost stopped until a month ago. Then it picked up dramatically, so there's definitely a new distributor. We've identified witch residents in the area, and I'll send the list to you."
"You want a protection detail on them?" Bear asked.
"No. We have that taken care of already. I'm just keeping you in the loop," Simone said.
"How rare for a witch to say that," Bear said, his chin down.
Simone glowered and then smoothed out her expression. "Like you tell us everything. For now, we need you to infiltrate the Seattle bars and trace back to the source."
Bear grimaced. "My people don't like venturing out."
"This is important," Simone said, her eyes shining with intelligence and determination.
"That's also something we can do," Garrett piped up. "Logan and I were undercover all over Seattle last spring, and we have contacts. We just need to reach out to them."