Chapter Nineteen

Sutton

No part of this plan did I feel even the tiniest bits comfortable with. None. My mate was putting himself directly into harm’s way.

I respected my mate and understood why he felt like he needed to do this, but every part of me wanted to be there, protecting him. Instead, I had to stay back and keep him safe from a distance. It sucked.

It was probably for the best that we didn’t have much time to plan because every second until the mission was over and done with drove me to the edge. Every moment felt like agony that wouldn’t end.

He went to the event “alone,” but we weren’t far behind. We couldn’t enter the pack’s territory—the incursion would be marked, and they’d know, destroying our element of surprise. Between our surveillance skills and technology, we had, the managed to set up a strong perimeter around the property. It wasn’t ideal, but I felt confident no one would be able to leave without us knowing. And just as important, we were ready to move in within thirty seconds if he called.

Instantly, I spotted a problem.

Few people arrived, and no one left. Any party, no matter how great, has people coming and going. But not one person even stepped outside for air, to let their beast out, grab something from their cars, or even a smoke. Once they crossed the threshold, they stayed.

I wanted to crash the party—pretend I’d heard about it and just showed up—but Tyrus pointed out that if I did that, I’d make it worse. I’d put my mate in even more danger.

Instead, I sat in the van, ready to follow the plan to a T. It was the safest way. Every minute felt like an hour. My only hope, my only dream, was that he’d come out safely with information, the people inside none the wiser. We’d be able to go in and take everyone down once Raven was out of harm’s way.

But that didn’t happen.

Instead, the chip we’d placed in him activated. I hated the idea of a tracker being inside my mate. Now that it was used, I was happy for it.

Once the signal beeped, we drove straight to the door, nearly crashing into it, and jumped out. People came at us from all sides as we barged in.

A couple of alphas tried to stop me. They weren’t successful. My team took them down. I didn’t pay attention to who or how, the thuds of the bodies and the scent of blood all I had to go by. They were not my priority.

The room was filled with omegas, but there was no screaming, no running. They were just…milling around. Like they weren’t really there at all.

I scented deeply and followed the trail to my mate. My beast wanted out, wanted to run, but there were doors blocking his way. As powerful as my animal was, he didn’t have thumbs.

I followed the scent through one doorway, then another. My team had my back, but I wasn’t paying attention to them. I had one focus: get to Raven.

It had been nearly a minute since the chip activated. Longer than we’d hoped. So much could happen in that time.

My heart thumped. His scent grew stronger, but also… different. Wrong.

The trail led me to a door marked Employees . I opened it, expecting an office, but found a staircase leading to a basement.

I descended, the stench of the air slamming into me. It was stale, dirty, and suffocating, but my mate was there. So close.

It took but a second for me to see him in a dark corner. An alpha was trying to chain him, but he kept slipping to the floor. My mate wasn’t fighting back. He wasn’t moving purposefully at all, but I could hear his heartbeat. He was alive.

My bear broke through and I lunged, swiping the man’s back, the scent of iron hitting my nose before he shifted into a wolf. He was smaller than me but strong and agile.

I wasn’t playing wolf games. No pack rules. No challenges etiquette. None of that crap. I went straight for the kill. Three swipes of my paw later, he was dead.

My beast wanted to stomp on him, tear him to shreds, but I had to save my mate.

I shifted back and rummaged through the wolf’s torn clothes to find the keys. I unlocked the single chain that held my mate.

He wore a necklace. Something about it repelled me. My beast didn’t want to touch it. I’d figure it out later. Right now, I needed to get him out.

I carried him up the stairs and found my team ushering omegas into vans. I didn’t know if there was one or ten or fifty of them. My focus was on one: my mate.

The ride home was a blur, and I was relieved that the healer was already there waiting. He quickly worked out that Raven had been drugged. But there was more to it than that. He examined him, trying different methods to wake him. Nothing worked. I’d never felt so helpless.

Just as the healer was about to test his blood for a common poison, Pop-Tart burst into the room, out of breath. “It’s the necklace. Get it off him! Get it off him!”

He handed the healer some wire cutters, and he snapped the necklace off, careful not to touch it. Almost instantly, my mate stirred. Thank fuck.

Pop-Tart grabbed the necklace and clippers in his shirt and rushed back out

“You’re awake. You’re okay,” I said softly. I wanted to smother him with kisses, to hold him tight, but the healer insisted I stay back while he worked.

The first words out of my mate’s mouth were, “Did we get them all?”

“We got everyone at the club.” I couldn’t tell him the whole truth. We hadn’t gotten them all. Some omegas were “decoys” to keep the marks calm. Others were new. According to one “decoy” omega, there were more—hidden deep in the pack lands.

But that would be for another time.

“Good,” Raven whispered.

The healer gave him some tonics. “He’ll be okay.”

“Are you sure?” I asked, my voice trembling.

“I’m sure. Both of them are fine.”

“Both?” I looked at him, confused.

“You didn’t know?” The healer smiled. “Congratulations, you two. You’re going to be parents. The drugs they gave you won’t harm the baby at all. You’re good. You’re protected. Rest now.”

Tears flowed down my mate’s face, and I climbed into the bed beside him, not wanting to interfere with his treatment.

My mate was safe and home, and we were going to be dads.