Chapter 42

42

T he plan is set. All the pieces are in place. Now, the only thing left to do is execute it.

Forty of us are riding out today, split between eight different vehicles. We're heading up the convoy in Madd's Jeep, and even with the windows down, the tension in here is so thick it'd take a chainsaw to cut through it. We're all on edge; all lost in our own thoughts as Madd white knuckles the steering wheel and Sloane busies herself by rummaging through the bag at her feet. Avery and I are in the back, both of us silently staring out at the blur of trees on either side as we pass. Not only is my stomach churning with my own apprehension, but I swear I can feel the pinch of her anxiety through the mate bond, too.

"Hey Cam, I've got some light reading for you to pass time on the drive, if ya want," Sloane offers, pulling a manilla envelope out of her oversized purse and handing it back to me between the seats.

I eye it hesitantly as I reach out to take it from her. "What's this?"

"Everything you want to know about where you came from," she replies, sliding me a smile of encouragement .

I drop my gaze to the inconspicuous looking envelope in my hands, heart hammering against my ribcage. "You found him?" I ask, my throat constricting. "My real father?"

"I followed a hunch, and yeah, I think I did," she breathes. "It's all in there, see for yourself."

My eyes glaze over as they remain fixed on the envelope, my mouth going dry.

"Well, aren't you going to open it?" Avery urges, sliding across the leather of the back seat until her thigh bumps mine. The brush of her skin breaks me out of the daze I was in, and I look up to meet her doe eyes, brimming with curiosity.

I've been so preoccupied with recent events that I'd forgotten Sloane was even looking for my bio-dad. When she'd offered to help find him, it wasn't just to trace my family tree- it was also to identify the shifter pack I belonged with so I could return to them. Getting these answers was supposed to be a lifeline for me, but now, it feels more like a gut punch.

"No," I decide, tucking the envelope into the pocket of the seatback in front of me.

Avery's mouth falls open. "Seriously?" she asks, flabbergasted.

"I need to stay on mission today," I grumble. "No distractions. I'll look at it when this is all over."

"Aw, c'mon," Avery tuts, bumping her shoulder into mine playfully. "You sure you don't just want to sneak an itty bitty peek?"

"Are you that eager to get rid of me?" I grit out.

She furrows her brow, frowning. "No, but I thought…"

"He's right, we need to stay on mission," Madd cuts in, and I glance up to meet his eyes in the rearview mirror, both shocked as shit that he's agreeing with me onsomething and wary of the tight, unreadable expression on his face.

"Whatever," Avery sighs, sliding back over to the opposite window and slumping against the seat with a huff.

Another tense, unnerving silence falls over us all as Madd eases the Jeep onto a highway, hitting a button to roll up the windows so we don't get blasted with wind as he increases his speed. The drive to the safehouse isn't a short one, and if this is how the entire trip is gonna go, I have half a mind to just throw open the door and bail out now. I'd rather be splattered on the pavement than endure hours of this tortuous quiet.

"Riv made us a playlist for the trip," Sloane suddenly chirps, saving my goddamn life. She whips out her phone, connecting it to the Jeep's bluetooth and queuing up her Spotify app. As soon as she hits play, a familiar tune floods through the speakers, all of us exchanging glances as we immediately recognize the song.

Avery's the first to laugh, and the sound of it is damn contagious. Sloane titters in the passenger seat, and even Madd cracks a rare smile and chuckles. It's too ironic not to laugh, though, considering the first song on the playlist is ‘ Eye of the Tiger' by Survivor.

I guess River was aiming to pump us up for the fight ahead. I'm not sure if she achieved that, per se, but she definitely lightened the mood. By the second chorus, the girls start singing along, and some of the heady tension finally bleeds out of the vehicle. Even more so when the song ends and the next one begins: ‘ Fight For Your Right ' by the Beastie Boys.

By the third song, I finally get my head on straight, refocusing on the task at hand and getting in the zone. The hours slip by as I stare out the window, combing through the battle plans over and over again in my mind. I mentally rehearse exactly what I'm going to say to try to end this before it starts, and as Madd turns the Jeep onto the mountain road that leads to the cabin, I slide my hand onto Avery's thigh, eyeing her as I flex my grip.

This is it . In less than five minutes, we'll be parking up on the access road a half mile from the safehouse and continuing our advance on foot. Matty came through and provided all the details for The Guild's ambush strategy. After corresponding with him some more on the encrypted server he set up, we were able to get a clear picture of their plans and strategize our own counterattack.

Thanks to Matty, we know to avoid the main driveway to the cabin, which they've blocked with two vehicles that are armed with explosives. Their play was to force us out of our own vehicles, then remotely detonate those bombs, but instead, we've come up with a plan to turn their own weapons against them.

Hopefully it won't come to that. While a small team heads in to handle the explosives, the others will fan out to form a perimeter around the cabin. Then I'll be going in solo, angling to negotiate a ceasefire with the man in charge.

"Phones off," Sloane reminds us, picking up her bag from the floor and setting it on the center console. The music abruptly cuts off as she switches off her phone and tosses it in her purse, looking to all of us to follow suit.

One by one, we turn off our phones and drop them in, because The Guild has software that can pick up wireless devices within a five-mile radius of the safehouse and we don't want to tip them off as to our arrival. The only way this'll work is if we have the element of surprise on our side.

We're swallowed up by an eerie silence as Madd swerves off the main road and onto the narrow access road, the uneven terrain jostling all of us as he navigates his way along it to our rendezvous point.

"Remember our deal," Madd grumbles from the front seat, flicking me a glance in the rearview mirror.

"Remember your side of it," I mutter back as I meet his eyes. The two of us struck a bargain last night- that as long as I play my role today to a T, Matty will be spared. Madd didn't take kindly to helping out another hunter, but it was a non-negotiable for me. After all he's done to help us, the kid deserves to walk away from this and start fresh .

Madd jerks a nod, yanking the steering wheel to pull the Jeep to the side of the road and hitting the brakes. As he throws it into park, Avery grabs for my hand and I thread my fingers through hers, lifting it and pressing a kiss to the back of her palm. The two of us share a long, meaningful look, and I hope that in it, she can read every quiet whisper of my soul.

It's a look that says how much I've come to care for her. A look that says hey, don't fuck around and get killed, because I need you more than I need air to breathe. But mostly, it's a look that says thank you for saving me, and now I'm going to do my best to save you, too... and even if I don't make it, as long as you do, this'll all have been worth it.

The moment between us is cut short as Madd throws open his door and climbs out, the rest of us quickly following suit as the other vehicles park up on the road behind us. Everyone piles out of them, Nash and Andie passing out firearms and the squad leaders quietly murmuring instructions to the others. Nash passes me a handgun, and I check that it's loaded and the safety's on before tucking it into the back of my jeans, concealing the grip beneath my t-shirt.

I lock eyes with Javi, threading my way through the other soldiers to approach him. "Remind me how long you need to rewire those explosives?"

"Fifteen minutes, max," he replies confidently, tipping his head to Cheyenne beside him. "Chey needs less than that to hotwire the cars, she's a pro."

"Living on the run teaches you a few things," she adds with a wink.

I nod slowly. "I'll try to buy you twenty just in case," I say, glancing over at Lo as she stuffs some supplies in a backpack and hauls it up onto her shoulder.

"We good to go?" she asks, sauntering over.

I nod, dragging in a deep breath as I look toward the woods.

Here goes nothing .

Shoring up my resolve, I start in the direction of the cabin, but I only make it a few steps before someone's grabbing me by the arm and yanking me back. I pivot around just in time for Avery to grab my face in both hands and crush her lips against mine, stealing my breath with a filthy kiss.

For a long, blissful moment, the world around us fades away. It's just me and her; our lips sliding, tongues tangling. Then as quickly as it began, she pulls back, grinning up at me as she gives my cheek a little pat.

"What was that for?" I ask, still a bit dazed.

"For good luck," she chirps, falling back a step and grinning up at me.

I can't help but crack a smile of my own, taking a second to drink in everything about her appearance, just in case it's the last time I get to. I hope it isn't, but what I'm about to do is a huge risk. As a strategist, I know my odds, and they admittedly aren't great.

She's the first to turn away, blowing me a kiss over her shoulder and jogging off to join her battle partner. The scarred-up guy eyes me hesitantly as she takes his arm, and my gut twists at the realization of who he is. It's the guy who was captured when she was; the one who was left for dead as a warning to the werewolves. Looks like I'll have more amends to make if I get out of here alive.

Everyone starts to disperse, heading out to form a perimeter around the safehouse, and I share a long look with Madd before I turn to start toward the cabin, resolute in my objective. I center myself and get my mind right as I traverse the rocky terrain of the forest, finding that it's easy to slip into the cold detachment of running a mission. This is what I was trained to do, after all.

Before long, I get a glimpse of the rear of the cabin through the trees, pausing at my rendezvous point and looking around for Matty. It doesn't take long for him to peek out from behind a trunk, bounding out and jogging over to me like an excitable puppy, those eager blue eyes shining. "You made it," he breathes, clutching the straps of his backpack on his shoulders. "It's good to see you, Knox."

"You too," I murmur, cracking a smile. "Do they know we're here?"

"Nope, I looped the feeds so everything here looks normal, then patched in footage of your convoy leaving so it looks like you just hit the road."

"Good man," I say, reaching out to clap him on the shoulder. "Where's he now?"

"In his office. The others are upstairs strapping up since he just gave the word you're on your way. Do you want me to…?"

"No, you've done more than enough," I cut in, dropping my arms to my sides and glancing back toward the way I came from. "Just head back that way to the access road. I've cleared it with the others, they're expecting you and will get you outta here safely."

He nods stiffly, clutching the straps of his backpack tighter. "You gonna be okay in there?"

"Don't worry about me," I chuckle halfheartedly, tipping my head. "Just get going."

He chews on his lip, gaze darting to the cabin, then back to me. "Alright, see you soon," he breathes, pivoting to head toward the access road.

My chest squeezes painfully as he starts to walk away. "Hey Matty?" I call after him, and he pauses to glance back. "Thank you," I rasp, forcing the words past the lump in my throat. "For everything."

His lips curve into a proud smile and he nods, turning back to continue his trek to safety.

I wait for him to gain some distance, then resume my path toward the cabin, carefully creeping up to the treeline before making a run for the back of the house. I regulate my breathing as I press my back against the wall, triple-checking the gun in my waistband as I slink along toward the patio, watching and listening for any signs of the soldiers inside. As I peek through the windows, I find the kitchen and living room vacant, sneaking over to the patio doors that Matty left unlocked for me and slipping inside.

Those enhanced shifter senses really come in handy on a job like this. I can hear the dull roar of conversation on the second level and the thump of footsteps overhead, but the main level is clear. I sneak through the open concept living space on silent feet, slinking into the hall and carefully making my way toward the office at the front of the house.

Luck must be on my side, because I don't run into anyone on my way there. I slide the handgun out of my waistband as I approach the door to the office, flicking off the safety and holding it at the ready. The door's ajar, and I slide along the wall and peek through the gap, catching sight of the man I'm looking for sitting behind the desk. In a blink, I push through the door and aim the gun at his head.

"Hands where I can see them," I snap as I kick the door closed.

The man who raised me looks up and slowly lifts his hands, his impassable expression not betraying even a hint of surprise at seeing me here.

"Cameron," he deadpans.

"Jonathan."