Chapter 16 - Kit

After my little stumble into intimacy with Kaiden, the pace around the compound went into overdrive. He, Lupe, and Grayson were always talking about the upcoming infiltration of Eli's, and Kaiden's entire pack circled around him to lend their skills and advice.

I was there for nearly every second of the planning, offering my knowledge about the compound itself and Eli's predilection for violence. Literally speaking, Kaiden and I had talked constantly; we spent most of the day together, and I was allowed to use one of the spare bedrooms instead of being kept like a prisoner.

We hadn't spoken once about having sex, though.

Hating him a bit for it seemed easier than admitting there was still so much to work through. But every time we had a moment alone together, he looked so damn freaked out, like a deer caught by a hunter.

Years of pessimism and doubt bubbled under the surface of my skin at all times, and I couldn't make heads or tails of what I actually wanted.

After today's lunchtime meeting, which had been even more of a clusterfuck than usual with the influx of messengers sent on behalf of some weird alpha council Jet had put together, I'd needed a break.

Exhaustion and dread clung to me hard enough to turn my stomach, and no matter how well I thought I slept the night before, I was consistently waking up tired. The thought crossed my mind that I might be coming down with something, but it could also be the tremendous physical and emotional stress I'd just been through.

Hell, my body felt like a warzone with all the conflicting desires and tension plaguing my muscles every time someone brought up more concerns regarding Eli.

My feet dragged as I walked to the small room I'd been using for the past two days. It was nice enough, with clean floors and sheets, and it wasn't freezing cold like the room I had at Eli's.

"Maybe a nap," I mumbled to myself, shuffling over to the bed and plopping down.

I'd taken several over the past forty-eight hours, and none of them seemed to be very helpful. Still, it sounded better than being conscious right now.

Lying back against the thin pillows, I kicked off the boots a woman named Sunny lent me and rolled onto my side. The room was still so bright, with it only being midday, and I covered my face with my arm to block out the light as it reflected off all the stark white walls.

Even the sheets were white, and it was a little too much like staying in a low-star motel or the hospital. Not that I'd been to either of them. I just heard stories and saw them in silly teen movies from before I left Jet's pack.

The springs in the bed groaned as I struggled to get comfortable, my stomach still unhappy with me and uncomfortably bloated. Maybe my blood sugar was off or something, because the dizzy spells of the past two mornings were another joy my body decided to throw at me.

I sighed, rolling over again and squeezing my eyes shut even tighter. After only a few seconds, I rolled again, unable to decide if I wanted the thin white covers or not. I settled for pulling them over my head as I stuck a foot out.

"Ugh, I hate this."

My voice was muffled into the light blanket and pillow, and behind my closed eyes, all I could see was Kaiden's face.

The new alpha, my old bully and apparently closest ally now, seemed open to change when we'd spoken. But we hadn't done much more of that that didn't revolve around the assassination, and I wasn't feeling so sure anymore.

Kaiden didn't hate humans. It had been dumb teenage bullshit. I thought I could at least believe that. Maybe…

But there was still so much keeping us apart. He couldn't bring himself to be alone in a room with me for longer than a few moments, and Kaiden barely made eye contact with me when we were alone. Why exactly was being around me still so hard for him?

Shit, he said some pretty intense things in the heat of the moment, and now…

What if all that had just been a ruse to get into my pants?

I stifled a chuckle. Kaiden was gorgeous, and slim pickings could obviously get a guy desperate enough to mess with someone beneath him, but there were wolves here—female wolves—who looked all too happy to spread their legs for their young new alpha.

That nausea flared again, and I had to stop this train of thought before I forced myself to go worshipping at the porcelain throne.

As the exhaustion slowly started to win me over, that ache in my chest just burned. I wanted to talk with Kaiden. I wanted to figure all this shit out, because the truth was that single time with him had been the best experience of my life.

But there were bigger things at stake right now. Not that it made me feel any better to remember that. The heart was a stupid organ, it seemed, and even though I logically knew that the time to discuss all this would come later, it did nothing to ease that gnawing hole in the center of my chest.

My eyelids felt heavy as my breathing evened out, and before I knew it, I was asleep.

***

"We'll be heading out in fifteen minutes. I want everyone shifted before we even get outside. I'll be near the front with Kit, who'll be guiding us through the safe approach. Do not get ahead of the pack. You are all to remain deadly silent and follow every command I give. Understood?"

Kaiden addressed his pack members as I stood at the opposite side of the room. His features were set in a stoic mask, but I could see the tension squeezing down on the muscles of his neck.

"Understood, Alpha," Lupe responded, the handful of other wolves going on this suicide mission returning the gesture.

Gray was coming, of course, and it looked like three other wolves I'd only been adequately introduced to two days ago were as well.

There was River, Sunny's mate, and I could see the worry as plain as day on the woman's face that her man was about to head off into the unknown.

She'd been incredibly kind since I'd been allowed out of Kaiden's room, providing me with several sets of loaned clothes donated by herself and a few of the curvier residents in Pack de Kaiden. Sunny had even helped get my room clean, apparently, and she was happy to check over my injuries as the pack's resident MD.

An older male wolf named Bolt was also coming, and it had taken everything in my power not to bring up the movie I'd managed to watch when I was younger. I mean, hell, the guy was even sort of a "dog," and he was named Bolt. It was right there.

I was clearly better at biting my tongue than teenage Kaiden, though, and it was easy enough to let it slide, considering what we were all going to be doing.

Cirrus was the last male wolf who'd volunteered to come. He was thinner as far as shifters went, more of a swimmer's body than the thick, broad types I was used to. Still, he was brilliant when it came to tactics, and he and Lupe had plotted the entire course we'd be using on the little hand-drawn map I'd made.

Kaiden had eyed their work approvingly, and the rolled-up map was tucked into a small satchel I'd been given to bring with us on our infiltration.

Silence hung, and then, in response to Kaiden's nod, each wolf there shifted into their primal form. I'd seen wolves transform before, of course, but it was still a sight to behold, especially when they were doing it all at once. The room rang with the sounds of their growls and howls, and I trembled despite myself.

Scratching to my right drew my attention to where Kaiden stood in his massive wolf form. He pawed at the floor to get my attention, and I got up on top of him as we'd discussed. I was too slow and noisy as a human, so riding on Kaiden's back had been the best plan we could come up with.

His thick black fur was like silk under my fingers, and the enormous spread of his back was plenty large enough to hold me comfortably. With no words, because there couldn't be any, Kaiden sniffed at the air, making a gruff sound that drew his pack to the door behind him.

Turning over my shoulder, I could see Sunny pet River a solemn goodbye. Then she walked over to the front entrance and held it wide for us all.

Here we go.

***

Navigating through the woods to the compound had been the easy part, but as soon as I'd led the pack to the back entry that I used to sneak in and out of Eli's, I'd found it double-bolted and the rusty hinges fixed. Eli had known I'd lead them here.

We were so fucked.

Kaiden had sprinted around to a low window on the first floor and jumped through. Lupe and Gray were hot on his tail, but he hadn't let me go in with him, snarling at me until I stomped my foot down and sat on the ground behind a bush Kaiden pulled me toward with his teeth.

This is so absolutely pointless. They don't know where they're going.

It took less than thirty seconds for me to stand back up and go to the broken window. Growls and loud thuds bled out from inside the compound, and I threw my jacket over the broken glass to crawl inside.

Kaiden was nowhere to be seen, though. He'd covered a lot of distance in that short time, and I peeked my head around the corner of the open door to this room. Scanning the hallway outside for any sign of them—or of Eli—I saw nothing. The sounds of fighting were louder now, however, and that did not bode well.

A deep snarl sounded from down the hall to the left, and some part of me recognized it.

"Kaiden?"

Hurrying out of my hiding spot, I crept down the hall until it came to the main foyer. Claw marks and blood slashed over the walls next to me, and my stomach flip-flopped.

No, no, no. He has to be okay.

I used everything I had in me to get to the damn foyer and toward that sound. When I did, I skidded to a stop, my eyes going wide as I took in the scene.

Wolves tangled with each other, barking and snapping and tearing at each other. I could see Kaiden leap halfway up the main stairs after another shifter. It wasn't Eli, the wolf there being too small and light colored to be the Williams Alpha.

Jaws clamping down, Kaiden landed a solid bite on the other wolf and then tossed him back down the stairs to the floor. The massive thud shook me, and the sickening sound of bones crunching boomed when the other wolf's head hit the ground.

"Kaiden!"

His handsome wolf face shot in my direction, and I knew it had been a stupid move. His yellow eyes flared, and I tried to point toward the far hall across the room from me. That's where he needed to go. There were stairs at the far end that went to Eli's private wing.

He growled, and I narrowly dodged the scramble of wolves that tumbled in my direction. It looked like River fighting with one of Eli's inner circle. I couldn't pick out which one in the tussle, and when I looked back toward Kaiden, he was obscured by the massive shapes in front of me.

I moved this way and that, trying to get a glimpse of him. When I could finally make eye contact with Kaiden again, it was for less than a moment. I watched his eyes flare wide like he could see something behind me, and then I was on the floor.

I yelped, and fingers twined in my hair and started pulling.

The force dragged me across the ground, and I reached up for my hair, struggling to pull free from the person intent on snatching me.

"Well, well, well." My heart sank. "Would you look at that? The bitch is back."

My eyes shot open, and there he was—Eli. He hauled me across the floor as I stared up at him, and I could do nothing to break free of his hold. As we rounded the corner that would take us to the back of the compound, Eli yanked me up, pinning me against the wall with a hard slam.

All the air was forced out of my lungs, and I gasped as the pain ricocheted through me.

"I'd say it was a surprise to see you, but we both know I'd be lying."

I tried to glare at him, but my vision was blurry, and the pain in the back of my head throbbed harder when I tried to focus my eyes. Breath spread across my face, smelling like copper and alcohol. Nausea pooled in my gut, and I could hardly hear anything but the pounding of my blood in my ears.

"Thought you could just run off, huh, you little bitch. Ha, no fucking chance. You're going to tell me everything you heard from Kaiden, and then I'm going to take you apart piece by piece."

Even as I fought against it, my body trembled, and my eyes burned with unshed tears.

"Aww, cry, you dumb bitch. I'm going to bleed you slow so I can enjoy every last drop."

The sound of steps approaching boomed louder until they were right here, and both Eli and I turned to see who'd come. Oh, please be Kaiden .

"The fuck is going on out there?!"

It wasn't, and as my crappy vision focused, my heart was absolutely crushed by the reality before me; I saw a male wolf I didn't recognize standing next to another one who looked just as pissed—and a little familiar.

"Reggie," Eli drawled, "I told you they'd come. And my wolves are handling it."

Reggie? Wait. I know that name.

"This doesn't fucking look like handling anything, Eli! Kaiden and his fucking wolves are here. I can smell him."

The guy clearly knew who Kaiden was, more than Eli ever had, and I shook my head, trying to place where I'd seen him.

"If you're so concerned about it, Leon"—I flicked my attention to Eli, watching him glare and the tension in his neck skyrocket—"why don't you go deal with your old buddy yourself?!"

I couldn't hold back the flinch, and then it hit me. Kaiden had mentioned Leon helped Terrance. Fucking hell, was he that Leon? Jet's deserter and now a rogue mutt?

Kaiden had so much more to be worried about if the wolves who'd attacked Jet's pack were involved in all this. Struggling, I fought to pull myself down and away from Eli. I had to run, I had to get the fuck out of here and—

A hard punch landed in my sternum. I coughed out all my air, my eyes watering as I sputtered for breath.

"I don't think so, Kit." He lowered his face into mine, and all I could do was sob, reeling from the hit. "I've got plans for you."

"The next batch is almost ready, Eli. Just get the fuckers out of here until we can get the shit ready and take them all out."

Leon's voice cut through me like a knife, the cold calculation of his plan to murder Kaiden's pack.

"They'll be back for their little bitch," he added, "I'm sure of it."

Eli made a noise of agreement, and I heard Reggie sigh. The pain was too much, though, and my ability to stay conscious was rapidly fading.

"I hope you enjoyed your time outside these walls, Kit." I struggled to look up at Eli. "It was the last time you will be."

His hand clamped down over my mouth, suffocating me. After just a few seconds, the world spun, and everything went black.