Chapter 15 - Hanson

It was next to impossible to believe that Christopher and his pack had failed to move their base from the farm where they had found them last time. But there they were, right where Elena's scent had finally led them after nearly four hours of searching.

There seemed to be even more wolves than there had been last time, even though the Nightstar pack had taken out a huge number of them, and Hanson and the others suspected that many of them were the lucky—or perhaps not so lucky—newly turned.

Hanson felt as if he had been waiting in the shadow of the woods for hours, though it couldn't have been more than five minutes since Jack made the update call to John, the major from his military days who was also well-connected with the US werewolf high council, and asked him for orders on where they should go from this point.

He was, more than ever, understanding how Kane had felt the last time they were here. And yet, when they started to talk quietly, Hanson couldn't hold back, even though he had tried to get Kane to do so before.

"We should just go in there," Hanson said, his hands tightened into fists and knuckles turned bone-white. His claws were itching to protrude and start tearing flesh.

"We went in all guns blazing last time," Kane pointed out, "and look how that turned out."

"That's easy for you to say," Hanson snapped back under his breath, well aware that if he raised his voice, every wolf in the farmyard would hear him, and those guarding the barn beyond besides. "The last time it was you rescuing your mate."

At that, Eddie who had been eagerly keeping an eye on the farm at the front of their group, whipped his head around and glowered at him.

"And this time," he pointed out with bared teeth, "it's my sister. So shut the fuck up!"

Hanson gulped hard. The others were looking at him suspiciously. Had he just insinuated what he believed he had?

He hoped not, because Eddie hadn't tried to tear his throat out, but the others, with their raised brows and wide-open eyes, made him less hopeful.

Clearly, Eddie was too concerned about his sister to worry over the fact Hanson had practically just insinuated that he believed she was his mate.

Jack sighed and clapped Hanson on the shoulder. "We're all worried about Elena, but Kane is right. We tried force last time, and it didn't end things, nor did it even give Christopher and his men the slightest hesitation. So maybe it's time we go in there a little differently."

Hanson's stomach twisted. "Differently how?"

Jack and Zander were the ones to look at each other, both nodding before Zander stated, "Peacefully."

Hanson stumbled backwards a little. His jaw dropped open and he shook his head incredulously. "You can't be serious!"

"You can't expect us to just walk in there with our hands up," Kane agreed, throwing his finger in the direction of the farm.

"Those guys are psychos," Hanson added, hoping to make Jack reconsider. "How can you possibly imagine they would let us walk out again?"

Jack looked Hanson deep in the eye and without blinking, he said, "I can't. That is why we aren't all going to go."

Hanson's insides twisted further. If Jack tried to tell him to simply wait behind like a good little dog, he was going to blow a fuse.

Elena was in there, in that barn, he was certain of it. And there was no way he was just going to sit on his hands and wait.

"We are stronger together," Hanson pointed out. "What if you're attacked?"

"Then Zander, Kane, Will and I will handle it," Jack assured him, and Hanson's heart skipped a beat. Why did he have to leave only one name out of that list?

The alpha looked between Hanson and Eddie and added, "You and Eddie will sneak around the back and get a look in that barn. If Elena's there, we should be able to distract them long enough for you to get her out."

Eddie, whose attention had partially returned to the farm, turned his gaze on Hanson again, though when he spoke, it was clearly to Jack. "Like hell I'm going in there with him."

The alpha's fury at his questioning wasn't even aimed at Hanson, and yet he felt its power all the same.

"You will," Jack said, and though his voice was low and quiet, it was filled with power and authority. "And while you are both at it, you will sort out whatever the fuck is going on between the two of you."

With that, he gave Eddie a shove away from the farmyard and in the direction that would take them around the back of the barn.

Eddie paused just long enough to glower at Hanson for a second or two before he whipped around and stormed off into the trees on his alpha's orders.

"You better go with him," Zander whispered into Hanson's ear, nudging him with an elbow. "Before he goes and gets himself killed on his own."

Hanson gritted his teeth. Though Eddie had been a fucking asshole lately, he didn't like the idea of losing a single packmate, and so he dipped his head and started to follow.

He caught up in just a few paces, but when he thought of something to say about how they were on the same team whether Eddie liked it or not, he couldn't bring himself to speak.

He was sure that if they didn't figure this out soon, they were sure as hell going to get into serious trouble. How could he help on a mission in which his own packmates didn't trust him? He was as good as dead, and so were his friends.

Only the thought of Elena kept him going. Just seeing her smile one more time would send him to his grave happy. Seeing her freed before then would make it even more worthwhile. All he could hope for was that they would accomplish that before all hell broke loose out front.

I'm coming, Elena, he thought, wondering whether she could feel his closeness as he felt hers, like a flutter in his stomach and a tightness in his chest that told him he wouldn't be able to breathe until he had laid eyes on her again.

"Slow down," Hanson hissed when they drew near the back of the barn and Eddie started to climb up onto a large old rusted farming machine. "We don't know it's safe yet."

"What are you?" Eddie demanded, reaching up to a shuttered window above his head that Hanson suspected lead to some kind of hayloft or something. "A wolf or a mouse?"

Hanson would have liked to grab hold of Eddie's ankles and yank him back down off the machine. He'd have liked to pin him to the ground and demand to know what the hell his problem was. But a scuffle between them right now might well be the difference between life and death. So he fought the urge for violence, and instead watched his packmate's back as he hauled himself up onto the wooden sill of the opening.

When this is all over, I may well beat your ass! He thought, glancing this way and that, reaching with his hearing for any signs of their being discovered.

It was as he started to follow Eddie, hopping up onto the machine himself, that he caught the strong scent of Elena wafting from inside. And his own pace quickened. He was not going to let her think her brother was the only one who cared for her wellbeing.

Besides that, the wolf inside him was clawing to be free. If he didn't lay eyes on her soon, all hell might break loose.