4

I offered, “We believe you.”

I glared at Jason in clear warning to stop talking. I linked Alexander, “Text T to get in that damn room, and tell Jase to shut the fuck up. This is our brother’s mate, and her life is literally on the line. We will follow down every lead even if we aren’t sure, but we know this is legit.”

Of course Jason didn’t shut up. “This could be a trap. You clearly don’t like my pack.”

The voice shrieked, “SCREW YOU, BETA JASON! I have still saved your ungrateful selves… time and TIME AGAIN! WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!”

“I have done everything… Stop waving your arms at me… he deserves… I have HELPED them! I didn’t even call them…so his argument is ABSURED! If I was trapping THEM I would’ve called THEM! Or I don’t know…NOT SAVED THEM MULTIPLE TIMES! It wouldn’t even have been my fault! UGH! FINE! Keep waving your arms and pointing at cue cards. I’ll even say what I wrote down. Luna Elise, are you there?”

Elise moved forward answering, “Yes, I’m here.”

The sniper asked, “Will you go and save those girls? Or do people get sent in, which means… they get their identities blown…. probably… the probability is like ninety seven percent and…”

Elise interrupted, “We will go get them. Jase is just frustrated.”

The sniper snorted, “Being behind can do that to a person I suppose… then again, he should be used to it by now… he’s been behind for a long time… if he thinks about it then he’d….”

The phone call cut off.

Clearly someone with the sniper hung up before we could get more clues, but I didn’t have a single one that told me what they thought it would tell us. Other than someone was pissed off at Red Run, which we knew already.

Alexander looked pissed. I growled, “JASE, WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!”

Jason frowned, “I’ve got a massive headache going on. I was supposed to be talking to Melanie right now, and I missed it because of this. I’m not in the mood for the holier than thou sniper who hates our guts.”

I growled, “This is Theo’s mate’s life and our allies daughter’s! Next time I will cut you out of the conversation or have Micah mute you. We’ve been trying to get a meeting with this girl, who thinks we don’t like her, for years. You just proved to her that we have problems with her. After YEARS of trying, they FINALLY reached out for our help, and you fucked us over!”

My mom commented calmly, “And you missed something very important.”

We all turned to her. I noted she looked sad. Her walls were up in the bond which pissed me off. I asked, “What did we miss, mom?”

My mom answered, “The sniper said you’d save six of the seven fighters tonight. She even had a specific time for you to go in. All that information tells us our sniper is the seventh fighter. She’s having us save them while she fucking fights as cover. The fight won’t be in Kentucky where we could find it. The goddamn undergrounds are too smart for that. We can’t pop to her and she’s literally fighting for their lives tonight.”

Jason flushed scarlet and walked out of the room.

Dalton sighed, “He’s had a headache all day. He’s having nightmares about when he was taken. He wakes up screaming for Ladybug. He just really needed to see her to settle himself. Then he missed the skype call.”

I looked at my Beta and linked, “Did we know that?”

He answered, “No. I’ll talk to T.”

We could easily get Jason set up with help. Brutus grumbled, “If only we knew before he went OFF the rails.” No joke. Alexander frowned, “Will he be ok? I can pop to him.”

My mom cut in, “Exfuckingcuse me?! You all in Red Run are getting headaches too?”

Dalton nodded, “Every so often. Drake gets them the worst, but the McAlister’s in general are hit hard by them. Our pack doctors think someone is growing something we are reacting to.”

My mom threw her hands in the air, “Does no one think, hey I know a fucking Fairy who could fix this for me!? Or maybe I could ask since well she helps us all the fucking time! What the fuck am I to you people?! USELESS!”

She popped out.

My dad cringed, “We will all pay for that. Great.”

Dalton frowned, “Headaches aren’t an emergency, Alpha Eric.”

My dad snorted, “Like that’s going to matter to my wife. You have met her, right? You’ve all just given me an additional headache. Thank you all SO MUCH for that. I’ll call Nathan McDermont and let him know we are going to save his daughter and his Beta’s tonight.” Theo stood, “I’ll pop you to them dad.” He felt so much relief and hope it made me want to hug him. My dad and Theo popped out.

Tristan ran into the room. He asked, “Where’s Jase?”

Alexander answered, “He’s upset with himself. He went off at the sniper and they went at each other.”

Elise snorted, “Like siblings who are pissed at each other.” That made my head hurt.

I added, “She called him Beta Jason again too.”

Alexander agreed, “She did.”

Tristan sighed, “He’s been having a rough time lately. He’s waking up sweating. Honestly, I’m worried. I think he needs to talk to someone about the trauma he endured with the Hunters. I think the stress of everything is catching up to him.” Alexander offered, “I’ll talk to him.” We spent the rest of the time planning.

By the time we were ready to go we were a half hour early from the sniper’s timeline. My brother’s had popped to our allies and brought them back to our pack lands. Uncle Aiden was here with Fairy Warriors. Uncle Bjourn was here with Cayden and some of their army. I nodded to Cayden as I put his hand on Theo’s back.

We walked out to our lawn where our allies were waiting. I told them, “The sniper gave us intel on how to get Jane and Madeline back. We WILL save them and deal the first blow to the undergrounds tonight. Any and ALL information you find WILL be filed with the council.”

I added, “This is the first proof we’ve gotten we are right about them. We need more information to take them down. We were told today that they are bigger than we could imagine. There is another fighter in this group that won’t be there tonight. We WILL work to free that fighter too. Tonight, we will bring Jane and Madeline home.”

They cheered.

Alpha Nathan’s brother, Nick, walked up to me. He held out his hand, “I thought for a long time I’d made a mistake not keeping my brother in our pack and joining as your family and the Daniels had. My brother lost his mate, and my niece was kidnapped. We will be joining back together after this.”

I pledged, “We will assist with anything you need.”

I hesitated before adding, “How is Alpha Nathan?”

Alpha Nick sighed, “My sister in law wasn’t supposed to be there. She’d come back to surprise him, but he didn't know that. He wasn’t there when the attack started, and she was dead before he got arrived.” I winced, “Well, we will help anyway we can.”

I walked off and noted that Cousin Emmaline was debating something. Then I heard her whisper to the man I’d just been talking about. “Your second chance is out there, Alpha Nathan.”

He jerked back, “Huh?”

She sighed, “I only tell you that because I just get the sense that might be sooner rather than later. Just be open to her.” Alpha Nathan sighed. He said, “I’ll think about that later, Luna Emmaline. Right now, I can’t.” She nodded and stepped away from him.

We all gathered together. I grabbed my Warriors and Alexander grabbed his. We didn’t know what kind of opposition we’d be facing. We didn’t exactly get all the information after the fight between the sniper and Jason.

We popped in together. Alexander walked over to where the underground facility was supposed to be. He jumped into the air three times. I linked him, “What on earth are you doing?”

Alexander answered, “I got an email that Micah is working on trying to track down location or IP address for. It gave extra instructions.”

My head itched because something about that seemed important.

Brutus agreed, “It is.”

I replied, “It always comes back to Alexander and these things being for him. What is it?”

No answer came to me. UGH! I pushed those thoughts out of my head. A panel with a pin code popped up. Micah quickly put in the codes we were given. A panel moved that looked just like grass.

I was somewhat offended that I had Fairy blood and I’d been fooled into thinking that was actually grass. I popped down with Alexander with Elise jumped down next. I grabbed her quickly and put her behind me. We began making our way through the facility.

I felt in the bond what was about to happen before I watched Theo start to run away from us. I grabbed him and pulled him back. I linked him, “Brother, we do not know what or who is here.”

He popped away from me. I linked my family, “FUCK! Someone get on his fucking six!”

I heard Theo sob and felt his utter heartbreak. Brutus howled in my head. Jane had to be ok. Theo screamed, “MOM!”

My mom immediately popped to him. I heard her whisper, “She’ll be ok, Theo. I’ll heal her.”

I sighed in relief.

I wasn’t all too worried that Theo’s scream had not just alerted our mom that he needed her but the opposition. They were a small force that were here guarding the prisoners. I threw my shield up when gunfire started. My dad yelled, “HALEY! THEO!”

Alpha Nathan McDermont yelled, “JANE! MADELINE!”

Madeline yelled, “Nathan? Oh goddess, we are saved! NATHAN, PLEASE HELP US! Don’t leave us here!”

I knew his heart had to break hearing her say that because it nearly broke mine. Her dad roared and she screamed, “DADDY, HELP ME!”

One of the Hackura men broke forward. I sighed, “Of course his mate is here too. Alexander, get on his six. Only you can heal her.”

Alexander nodded and immediately moved forward with his men. They quickly killed those here that stood in our way.

I watched the Hackura kick the door off the hinges that was keeping him from Madeline. She growled, “MINE!”

I looked in her room and saw her. Brutus snarled, “Barker saw his mate in this shape.”

It would explain the call to mom.

I whispered, “Alexander.”

He linked, “From what I saw when I pushed, she isn’t in as bad as what Jane was.”

I wanted to scream and curse at the sky that my younger brother has seen his mate in worse shape, considering Madeline and her wolf were hurt pretty badly.

Alexander rushed in and told the Hackura, “Hold her hand. I’ll heal her, but you can hold her while I do that.”

I asked Cayden, “Who is he?”

Cayden answered, “The youngest son of a Lord in our realm. Good guy and a great fighter.” I was relieved, “She might just need that right now.” I left.

I went to check on my mom. She was still healing Jane. Brutus snarled, “It was really bad.”

It had to of been. Mom could heal people very quickly. Alpha Nathan McDermont was waiting just behind her. I left them to that and found there were two other male wolves in this facility.

To our surprise there was a half Demon too. Lastly, we had a partial Hood. I called Heath. He answered, “I was on backup duty so I’m about five miles away. I didn’t expect a call though. What’s wrong?”

I told him, “We’ve got a partial Hood down here.”

He cursed, “God damn it! I’ll be there in a flash.” Of course he would.

When he arrived and saw her condition he was enraged. He was going to figure out whose daughter this was. I couldn't say I wanted to be that man when Heath found out who’d fathered the girl. Aunt Lexi was inside her room, speaking with her and explaining what she was. For her part, the girl seemed genuinely thrilled there were others like her.

I went back to where my family was waiting. My mom finally sat back from healing Jane. Jane woke up with a start. She locked eyes with Theo and started crying. They both growled, “MINE!”

She wrapped her arms around him. He told her, “I’ve got you, Jane. No one will hurt you ever again.”

Alpha Nathan McDermont watched them with tears pouring shamelessly down his face breathing heavily. His Beta put a hand on his shoulder. Alpha Nathan whispered, “She’s ok. My pup is ok. I thought I’d lose her and her mother.”

I cringed away from that thought altogether not wanting to be in his shoes.

Madeline ran to Jane from across the room. She cried, “She was telling the truth! She brought help and got us out. She wasn't a trick! Oh God Jane, I thought we’d meet the Moon Goddess together.”

Several growls filled the room that it was that close.

I asked, “Who is she? Did you see her face?”

Jane frowned, “It was…”

She trailed off. She whispered, “I can’t remember her. I know I talked to her but what she looked like won’t come to me.” I asked, “What was her name?”

Madeline scoffed, “They don’t do names down here with the fighters. I know her fighting name though. She’s called The Swiffer because she wipes the floor with her opponents. She’s the most popular fighter to watch. They had Jane out so much because she was hurt and they didn’t have their star, but she came back. She took Jane’s fight tonight. They didn’t care because she draws a crowd.”

I frowned, “Why did she take the fight? And how?”

Madeline winced, “She took the fight because Jane wouldn’t have made it.”

Theo growled. Jane added, “She saved my life, but she definitely shouldn’t be fighting. She’s hurt pretty bad herself.”

Alexander growled, “How bad?”

Madeline offered, “Really bad. Plus, her thing is letting people beat the shit out of her before she snaps and kicks their ass. According to everyone down here, just when you think she’s going to lose she fights back and wins. No matter how badly she’s hurt. She’s practically a legend to everyone we fought and met. Like wow and could fight Alpha Alexander and hold her own good.”

I blinked several times because there was only one person I thought could ever go toe to toe with my brother. I shoved that away. Brutus agreed, “She’s living her dream.”

I knew that. Plus, my dad had a guy following Melanie around. He’d notice if she was hurt that badly and would’ve reported it.

Alexander yelled, “Who the HELL would fight like that?”

Jane whispered, “The Swiffer. She doesn’t lose, but she’s not like the other fighters though.”

My mom asked, “What do you mean?” Jane answered, “She was sold into this by her aunt, but she’s their money maker. She went to the guys in charge and somehow got them to agree to pay her. She makes money from her fights. She told us she uses it to free people. To fight back. She…”

She trailed off, then pulled out a card from under her bed. I looked at it and handed it to Alexander. It was the Ring Resistance circle with a line through it. I linked Alexander, “Now we know how they are so well organized. The sniper is funding their operation through fighting.”

Alexander raised an eyebrow, “And we know why she tends to go missing in action for periods of time. She’s letting herself get beaten to hell when she fights before winning. What the fuck, EJ?”

Brutus growled, “I do not like that. We need to stop it.”

I was on board with that plan, I just didn’t know how to get it done.

I asked our other witness, “Madeline, did you ever see her?”

Madeline frowned, “It’s fuzzy but I think I did. I need to think about it though.”

I caved, “That’s fine.” Her mental state of mind mattered here, and I wasn’t going to push her.

My Aunt Katie motioned to me to step outside into a different room. I asked, “What they are talking about is magic, right?”

Katie nodded, “Yes, but I don’t think it was the sniper’s Witch. This is dark magic. I’ll have to look into this with my brothers. I’m also worried because we don’t know what type of trauma is hiding in this dark magic other than possibly a face of someone we want to know.”

I groaned, “What do you mean?”

My Aunt explained, “I think this sniper is FAR too smart to let these girls see her face when she knew she could be using us to save them. That had to be a plan in her mind for quite some time. If there was ever someone she needed extracted immediately, calling you is the obvious way. You’ve made it known you want to be friends. She knew this was always an option for her and she knew that we would come.”

I nodded knowing she was right.

She continued, “But our sniper wouldn’t hurt them. Lately, she’s clearly wanted Red Run to know who she is. She didn’t do this because the Witch she’s worked with in the past doesn’t do dark magic. This was done by the people in the undergrounds, and we don’t know what else they are hiding in their minds.”

I pulled her into a hug, “Thanks for the insight, Aunt Katie.”

She squeezed me and then let me go.

We questioned the rest of the prisoners we’d rescued. None of them could remember seeing our sniper, who apparently just had another name now. The Swiffer. Every single fighter here all agreed The Swiffer made promises to get them out. She was taking fights for these people so they could save up their strength when they were hurt. That begged the question, how badly hurt was she then? Was anyone worried about her besides us?

Brutus commented, “With the way she fights, it sounds like she is fighting way too much.”

I agreed, “We have to get to her.”

There was no other option. Every single piece of evidence we found was only about this underground cell. They even made sure not to refer to it as the damn underground. FUCK! We had nothing. No proof that my dad could move on.

Elise wrapped her arms around me. She whispered, “We are one step closer now. We got here in time. Theo is with Jane now. Madeline is ok and we learned more than we knew before.”

I acknowledged, “Yes, we did. We are several steps closer to our sniper. Or the Swiffer, I guess.”

I had a suspicion that Elise wouldn’t like about her identity now that I had time to think about it.

I needed more proof before I said it out loud, but something told me Ashley was key. She was a source of some kind for Micah. She would be the best fighter the undergrounds had. My dad had made that point. The ‘above board’ underground wasn’t approaching her because she was already in the REAL undergrounds.

This was going to be their big mistake that worked in our favor. They should’ve made an effort to act like they were attempting to recruit her. This made it a connection. Ashley didn’t think she deserved a good life, and the way the sniper talked was a lot like how Ashley’s emails read.

Brutus snorted, “When she deviates from the script written out for her.”

That was key. As pissed as I was for Jason going off on her, it did make her reveal more. A thought swirled in my mind. I asked Brutus, “Is Ashley the sniper?”

He grunted, “That would upset mate.” I knew that.

I hugged Elise as these thoughts ran around in my mind. I needed to dig, but I finally had a direction. Something finally clicked and it made sense. The only thing that held me back on my new theory was Red Run. Everything we had said Ashley had never been there. Why would she care about Red Run? It was the one flaw in my new theory.

One thing was certain. I was going to look into this carefully. I knew there was something I was missing when it came to Ashley.

Something I was now determined to figure out. If the sniper was Ashley, then Elise’s face to face meeting with her would be happening soon. That much I knew.