Chapter Twenty-One

I went into the last mission woefully unprepared. It had turned out well, but that was sheer luck. My mate disagreed, saying I had the skills they needed for it. And maybe that was true, but luck played a significant role. Had the alphas seen us coming or had guests—reinforcements—there, things could've gone much differently.

I felt confident in my training. I could fight with teeth and claws, human weapons, or in my skin. Never had I had three options before and, while the goal was to need none of them, it was good to know they were there for me to draw from.

Tyrus' research was solid. His focus was intense, and he left no tech stone unturned. According to everyone, he had a way of finding hidden things on the internet. He tried to explain what all he did once, but I left the conversation confused. I took that as a sign he was doing tech magic of some sort.

It was time to go, and I was ready for this mission. Or so I thought. Come to find out, I wasn't prepared for what we'd find once we got there.

I'd braced myself to find omegas in various states of health and well-being. I expected to see abuse and the residual effects thereof. Heck, I was even prepared for possible carnage. But when we pulled up and the lights were out, with no cars around, something clenched in my gut. I wasn't prepared for this.

Something wasn't right. Everything in my body said so and my wolf was begging to be set free. I hadn't been able to piece together why I was so ill at ease, but my beast seemed to, and he was ready for action. It wasn't time.

Silence filled the vehicle. Tyrus, who had ridden with us, didn't say a word, but I could hear his heartbeat speeding up. It wasn't just me overreacting to lights being off and cars hidden away. Something was up.

When the time came, Mav asked us to step out of the vehicle and move into the formations we'd been practicing. It was so much different doing it here than it had been outside a nonexistent safe house in broad daylight with no danger whatsoever.

Mav and I walked up to the front door while others circled around to the various entrances and potential exits. The air was off, an almost swimming-pool quality to the place that would've been fine if there had been a swimming pool in sight. There was none.

Something was off—very off. Before even setting foot inside, the place felt and scented as if it were abandoned. It made no sense. This was supposed to be the last safe house, where fiftyish omegas, maybe more, were meant to be. How could we rescue them if they weren't here?

When Mav got the order and kicked the door open, we found nothing. It wasn't just the people were gone. It was everything. The building was empty. No omegas, no furniture, no scent of shifters. Absolutely nothing but the smell of bleach and the faintest scent of humans. This place had been abandoned and cleaned so thoroughly that if there had ever been shifters here, all evidence was wiped clean.

"This isn't right," I muttered.

Had it been anyone but Tyrus who'd done the intel, I'd have assumed we were just at the wrong address. Everything was how it was supposed to be, aside from the lack of omegas. The building layout, the coordinates…all of it.

Mav nodded. "Agreed."

Unwilling to leave without at least one clue as to what happened, we split up to look for something—anything that might help us. I ended up in the kitchen. The cupboards were bare, and the refrigerator wasn't just empty but also unplugged, its door propped open. There was nothing inside but some boxes of baking soda. It was almost too clean, just like the rest of the building.

"Okay, we need to circle around the place," I said. "Our animals might pick up scents that we can't."

"Absolutely not. In the car," King replied.

He took over and ordered all of the others inside their vehicle to wait for further instructions, leaving only Mav and I. Tyrus had already headed back to the vehicle, saying he needed to start researching what went wrong. He seemed almost obsessed with it, like he was holding himself responsible for us not finding what we needed.

"You need to go to the car too, Hutch," King commanded. "I'll walk you back."

I looked to Mav who nodded and, reluctantly, I walked out the door, my mate following behind but not closely.

Sitting in the SUV, listening to Tyrus type away on his laptop…it was too nerve-racking. I needed out of there. I needed to find my mate.

I cracked open the door and climbed out, not caring I was breaking protocol. I'd face the consequences later. Tyrus didn't seem to notice my departure, focused entirely on whatever he was typing. That was a good thing. At least he wouldn't be in trouble for my actions.

Ducking down so as not to be seen by the others, I started around the car. I was only halfway when I looked up in the sky and saw what my mate was doing. His dragon was circling the area, his beautiful form shining in the moonlight. He was doing what I suggested, but in a way only his beast could.

He returned only a few minutes later, and we all left. My mate held my hand as we drove away, Tyrus not stopping his tapping the entire time. Back at the warehouse, the car hadn't even fully stopped when Tyrus popped out with his computer and ran straight inside, saying he could be found at his desk. I didn't know if it was guilt manifesting itself or what, but Tyrus was hyper focused, and I was worried.

I asked my mate about it, but he just shrugged. "I don't know. He's obsessed though," he said. "Has been since he discovered the place."

The same impression I'd gotten, but that somehow made it worse.

We were about halfway back to our room when something felt off. My head spun, and my ears were filled with static, as if an old-fashioned radio was playing at the highest possible volume but not on any particular channel. The next thing I knew, I was in bed with Mav hovering over me, looking terrified.

"What happened?" I asked.

"You passed out."

"What?"

"You passed out. I think all the training you've been doing has just been too much for you. How have you been feeling?"

"Different. Honestly, I haven't been feeling well, but I thought it was just exhaustion. This passing out this is new though."

"I think we need to get you to a healer."

I did too.