CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Walking into his kitchen a few mornings later, Alex frowned at the sight of his uncles sitting at his table, drinking coffee and eating Danish pastries. He’d picked up their scents as he walked through the apartment with Bree. A growl built in his chest. He could hardly expect his mate to feel safe here when three people who were relative strangers had so easily broken in. Not that it was possible to keep out wolverines, but still.

The three males looked up and nodded, as casual as you please … like it was totally the norm for them to appear in his apartment on a Sunday morning.

Alex looked at his mate, surprised to see she was stifling a smile. “Why are you all here?” he asked his uncles.

“We have location of Silva Clan,” replied Dimitri, halfway through a Danish. “We thought you might want it.”

Like that, Alex’s entire being went on high alert. His beast jumped to his feet.

“You know where their territory is?” Bree stepped toward the table. “Where?”

“Not far from marina.” Dimitri slid a folded piece of paper across the table. “We have coordinates here.”

Alex unfolded the slip of paper and read the numbers. A shot of adrenaline spiked through him. Equally eager to get to the clan’s territory, his beast bumped his body against Alex, wanting him to move now. Wanting to deal with the hyenas once and for all.

A deep sense of purposefulness filling him, Alex gave the other males an appreciate nod. “Have you told Vinnie?”

Isaak frowned. “Why would we tell dumb cat?”

“Watch it,” Alex bit out. “Bree is a cat.”

Isaak lifted a finger. “But not dumb. She mated wolverine. That shows intelligence.”

“And guts,” added Sergei. “We do not make easy mates. She will never know peace.”

Alex couldn’t even argue that. “I’ll call Vinnie and update him.” He turned to Bree, who looked at him, her eyes wide and glowing with anticipation. “I’ll ask Elle to stay with you here to keep you company while I’m gone.”

He didn’t want his mate alone for even a single moment. The idea of leaving her behind didn’t sit well with him at all, but he had to get this done. He had to ensure that the hyenas would never think to come for her.

“I have a meeting with Dani in an hour,” said Bree. “She and I need to go over primary stuff. She’ll be leaving the pride in a week’s time.”

His stomach hardened at the thought of Bree leaving the building without him at her side. Alex ground his teeth, biting back the reflex to order her to stay inside—it wouldn’t get him anything other than a vacant stare. “Can’t you rearrange it?”

“I could, but I’d rather not. If I stay here, I’ll just obsess over where you are, what you’re doing, and if you’re okay. And wasn’t it you who said that Paxton won’t act in public? I’ll be safe.”

Alex scraped his hand over his jaw. “I’ll arrange for Greg to escort you to the daycare center and back. He’ll also wait inside the center while you have your meeting.”

“If it’ll make you feel better, okay.”

Relief fluttered through him, and he took an easy breath. He’d half-expected her to fight him just because, but he shouldn’t have. Bree was headstrong and stubborn, but she wouldn’t be contrary over something so serious.

Palming her nape purely because he wanted to touch her, Alex called Vinnie and brought him up to speed.

“I’ll gather a few cats to come with us to scout out the location,” said Vinnie, a note of keenness in his voice. “Can you be ready to leave in twenty minutes?”

“I’ll be ready,” replied Alex.

“Then I’ll meet you at the antique store shortly.” The line went dead.

Bree clutched her hands together. “What did Vinnie say?”

Alex swept his gaze over each person in the room. “He’s going to gather a small group—we’ll leave in about twenty minutes.”

“Why only small group?” demanded Isaak, scowling. “Why not more?”

“Because we’re not heading there to have a war.” Alex almost rolled his eyes as disappointment flashed across his uncle’s face. “We want to survey the area, confirm the hyenas are there, and then I’ll leave my message.”

“War delivers biggest message,” Isaak pointed out. His brothers nodded.

“But if what Dale Bray said at the mediation was true, the only thing the hyenas are guilty of is sending the ex-cop to talk to Bree.” Alex wasn’t happy that the wolf approached her, especially since he’d pulled out a gun, but it wasn’t a reason to start a war.

People died in wars. They lost mates, children, parents, siblings, friends. Alex had already attended a memorial for two of his pride mates; he didn’t want to attend more.

“Then why act at all?” asked Sergei.

“Because I don’t trust that they’ve truly given up on trying to find Paxton. If they haven’t, they might harass Bree again. I just want to penetrate their territory’s defenses, leave a little message inside so that they know they’re not safe from me if they ever come after my mate, and then I’ll come home. That’s it.”

Each of his uncles let out heavy sighs, their shoulders slumping. Well, they did like a good fight, even if it was over jack shit.

“We will come with you to see location,” announced Dimitri.

Alex’s brow creased. “Why?”

Dimitri lifted his mug. “We are nosy. Why else?”

“Whatever.” Alex chugged back a cup of coffee and scoffed down a Danish so fast he barely tasted it. He headed to the bedroom with Bree hot on his heels, who was nervously tugging on her earlobe.

As he pulled on his clothes, he spoke to her. “Stick with Greg while you’re outdoors. When you’re done …” He trailed off, realizing it might not be best to ask her to return to his apartment. It was doubtful that Paxton would manage to get inside, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t try it. That was a risk that Alex didn’t want to take. Asking her to head to his parents’ place—and essentially hide—would only rub her up the wrong way, though.

“After the meeting, I’ll go hang out with Elle in her apartment until you come home,” said Bree with a sigh, obviously sensing his internal struggle. “I don’t want you distracted worrying about me while you’re trying to infiltrate an underground hyena den.”

Crossing to her, Alex rested his forehead against hers and squeezed her nape in thanks. “I won’t be long.”

She laid a hand on his chest. “What kind of message are you planning to leave?”

“I don’t plan on killing anyone, if that’s what you’re asking.” He tucked her hair behind her ear. “I just want them to know I can get in or out of their territory unseen. I want them to know I could have easily killed one of theirs if I’d really wanted to.”

She blew out a breath and then gave him a soft smile. “Be careful.”

“Always, baby girl.”

While the primary read the notes from her file aloud, Bree snuck a glance at the wall clock. Yep, it was a whole minute since the last time she’d looked at it.

Really, she felt shitty. Because no matter how hard she tried to focus on what Dani was saying, Bree occasionally found herself zoning out. She just couldn’t concentrate.

She’d thought that going to the meeting would keep her distracted. Well, she was wrong. Was that any surprise, though? Hell, her mate meant to infiltrate an underground hyena den alone. It was hard to think about anything else. She couldn’t stop obsessing over what could go wrong. If it all went to shit, if they sensed his presence and captured him …

She found herself constantly fussing with her clothes, twirling her ankle, and crossing and uncrossing her legs. She was so damn edgy her skin tingled, as if every nerve-ending was hypersensitive with anxiety.

Her cat was equally tense. She had faith in him, just as Bree did. But she’d worry nonetheless, because that was what mates did.

Bree had thought about insisting on going along to check out the coordinates—she could have hung back with Vinnie while her mate crept into the den. But Alex would have been so distracted by her being close that he wouldn’t have had his head on straight.

Realizing she was plucking at her clothes, Bree clamped her hands together and rested them on her lap. Her eyes strayed back to the clock yet again, as if it would help the time tick by faster. It didn’t.

She’d subtly glanced at her phone a time or two, hoping to see a text message from Alex. So far, there’d been nothing. Hell, they might not even have arrived at the clan’s territory yet.

She’d feel Alex’s pain if he hurt himself, right? For now, all she could sense was a fierce determination. No panic, no anxiety, no discomfort. He’d be fine.

He would. He’d deliver his “message” to the hyenas, return home, and then he and Bree could spend the rest of the day relaxing.

“And that’s pretty much it,” said Dani.

Bree snapped out of her thoughts just as the primary closed her file.

Wearing a faint smile, Dani lifted her head. “Any questions?”

“Not that I can think of right now. I’ll probably think of some later.”

“Well, you can always text or call me if need be. Do you have any concerns?”

At that moment, her only concern was Alex. “I’ll think I’ll be worst at planning pride events than I will be at anything else.”

“You’ll do fine. And I’ve written plenty of notes for you.” Dani capped her pen. “The other omegas will help if you need them to contribute. Let them. They like to feel involved.”

“They’re all bummed that you’re leaving.”

“But not bummed that you’ll be the new primary. They’ll just miss me as a friend. They’d miss you in much the same way if you declared you were switching to another pride.”

Bree highly doubted that, but it wasn’t something she’d lose sleep over—she was used to pride members not being all that warm toward her. The people who were important to her both respected and cared for her. That was enough for Bree. It was just a shame that the person most important to her was on his way to a damn hyena den right now.

Dani tilted her head. “Are you okay? You seem … off.”

Bree forced a smile. “I’m fine.” If Dani was someone who she trusted, Bree would have talked to her about the current goings on. But although she and the primary had reached a sort of … impasse, that wasn’t enough for Bree to feel comfortable sharing her thoughts and feelings with Dani.

“If you’re nervous about taking over, that’s only to be expected. But you don’t need to be. Everything you need to know about the young omegas, the ones in training, and the active omegas are all in these files. Each have their own profile—all you need to do is keep those profiles up to date. It’s the best way to help you monitor their welfare and progress.

“You remember how I taught you to shield and to control your gifts, right? You just need to give those same lessons to the young ones and the trainees. Admittedly, your teachings for how to counsel people will no doubt be different than mine,” Dani added with a smile. “But I’m sure you can simply help them find their own way. Being a primary is hard work, but it’s the kind that leaves you feeling good about yourself afterwards.”

“For what it’s worth, I am sorry that you feel you can’t stay in the pride. It doesn’t seem fair that a primary has to be the most powerful omega. It should be the most competent. Honestly, I’d originally planned to leave the pride.”

“Really? What changed?”

“Alex asked me to stay. He wanted us to try to make a go of things.”

Dani’s mouth curled slightly. “He asked you to stay or sort of ordered you to stay?”

“Maybe a little of both. But that’s just—”

The door swung open and crashed into the wall. Four unfamiliar males silently hurried into the room, guns in hand.

For a moment, Bree didn’t react, caught up in shock. Then she jumped to her feet, feeling a sharp pain hit her chest. A dart. She yanked it out just as more tranquilizers sank into her—one. Two. Three. Four.

Hissing, she leapt across the table and slammed into one of the males. Thick arms wrapped around her from behind, pinning her arms in place. Another male put a cloth over her face. A pungent, sweet smell overloaded her senses.

If the tranqs hadn’t caused wooziness to sweep over her, blurring her vision and fogging her thoughts, she might have been able to battle the effects of the chloroform. Might have been able to shift and fight. But her world tilted. Spun. Dimmed.

She slumped, distantly aware of Dani whimpering in pain as flesh thumped flesh over and over and over. Bree wanted to yell at the bastards to leave the other female alone, but she couldn’t speak or stop her eyes from fluttering shut. Couldn’t let her raging, hissing cat free. Couldn’t stop darkness from falling and swallowing her whole.

Lying on the grass among tall, weathered trees, Alex peered over a fallen log as he scanned the massive clearing a short distance away. “This has to be the place,” he said quietly to his uncles and pride mates. “The smell of hyena is faint, but it’s here.” Not even the scents of wild mint, sweet cedar, and pine needles could conceal it.

“The border must start a few meters ahead of us,” said Sergei. “You can see trip wires from here. They probably surround entire perimeter.”

The wires didn’t worry Alex. He’d penetrated high-security defenses a thousand times before. He could easily bypass any locks, alarms, sensors, and other security measures.

He drew in a breath as more adrenaline buzzed through him, heightening his senses, readying him. He felt no fear or unease. His beast was all pumped up and raring to go.

“I’m betting that rickety barn at the side of the clearing is where they keep their vehicles—” Vinnie cut off at the sound of a crunch. He frowned at Dimitri. “Are you seriously eating right now?”

The wolverine shrugged and showed them a handful of berries. “I am hungry. They were on bush.”

“Anyway,” began Tate, “now we just need to find the entrance to the underground tunnels. It wouldn’t surprise me if it’s in that barn. It makes sense that they’d want to be able to get to their vehicles quickly.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” said Vinnie. “They’ll probably have landmines and traps everywhere. You sure you want to do this alone, Alex? We have no way of knowing how many hyenas are in that den or just how far down the network of tunnels goes.”

“I’m doing it, I just need to …” Alex trailed off as shock slammed into him, making his heartbeat stutter and his body tighten. He couldn’t move. Felt stuck to the spot.

Vinnie touched his arm. “Alex, you all right?”

Anger washed through him, thick and fast, freeing his muscles. Alex wanted to lunge, bite, maul … someone. His heart pounded so hard in his chest it almost hurt.

A sense of wooziness stole over him, smudging his vision, clouding his mind, and weakening his body. The world just seemed to get hazier and hazier and hazier as his body just kept getting lighter and lighter and lighter.

He tried to talk. Couldn’t. Everything went dark—so fucking dark. And then he snapped out of it, sucking in a harsh breath.

“Alex, what the fuck?” demanded Vinnie.

He didn’t answer. Just kept on gulping in air like a man who’d almost drowned.

“Seriously, what just happened?”

“Something’s wrong with Bree,” said Alex, a knot of dread forming in the pit of his stomach. “I can feel her through the bond, but I’m not getting any emotions from her. I think she’s out cold.” Hoping he was wrong, he whipped his cell out of his pocket with a shaky hand and called her. Nothing. He dialed Greg’s number. Again, nothing. His beast just about lost his mind—roaring, raging, viciously clawing at air.

“Luke, I need you to go check on Bree,” Vinnie said into his own phone. “She’s at the daycare center with Dani.”

“Tell him she’ll be in the break room,” said Alex.

“She’ll be in the break room. Greg’s supposed to be watching her … Good, be fast.” Vinnie rang off. “Luke will call us back.”

“What exactly did you sense from Breasha?” asked Isaak.

“Shock. Anger. Alarm. And then wooziness. Like she’d been drugged.” For the first time in his life, Alex felt fear. Real, honest to God fear. He could taste it on his tongue, thick and metallic. “Paxton might have come back for her.”

“Not necessarily,” said Vinnie.

“It’d be just like him to take her while I’m not with her,” Alex pointed out, his fingers retracting like claws. “He’s an opportunist. You know that.”

Hinges creaked as the barn doors were pushed open by two males who were speaking rapidly. They were too far away for Alex to understand the words.

“There is movement up ahead,” said Dimitri. “I see several cars lined up inside barn. All are empty except for one. A man sits in driver’s seat.”

Even as he again redialed Greg’s number, Alex watched the scene unfold with little interest. He narrowed his eyes as four familiar males strode purposefully toward the idling car. The one in front was speaking into his phone.

“There’s Dale Bray and the men he took with him to the mediation meeting,” said Tate. “Seems like they’re in a rush to be somewhere.”

Vinnie’s cell began to vibrate. The Alpha glanced at the screen. “It’s Luke,” he told Alex. He brushed his thumb across the screen and asked, “Did you find her?”

Alex stilled, watching his Alpha closely; watching as his eyes hardened to stone. His beast froze, beyond panicked. “What is it?” Alex ground out.

Vinnie lowered the phone to his lap. “I need you to stay calm, Alex.”

“What the fuck did he say?”

“Bree’s gone.”

“Gone?” His beast let out a guttural roar that echoed through Alex’s head.

“She and Dani were taken from the center. Greg seems to have been drugged—he’s slumped on the sofa of the reception area looking asleep but he’s unconscious. Luke says the break room reeks of hyena.”

Terror clutched at Alex’s chest even as fury exploded in the pit of his stomach. His gaze snapped to the barn just in time to watch a white Sedan drive out of it. “That fucker.”

Vinnie gripped his arm. “No, Alex—”

“He has her.”

“You can’t run the car down and you know it. Be smart, not hasty. You can’t afford to lose your shit right now. Bree needs you to have a steady head. So shove all that rage aside or you’ll do something stupid and let her down.”

It was one of the hardest things he’d ever done, but Alex took a centering breath and stayed where he was. Because shit if Vinnie wasn’t right.

“Bray probably sent people to take her and now he’s going to meet them at a prearranged location. You want to find Bree? We follow that Sedan, but we do it smartly. Farrell, go,” Vinnie told the enforcer. “Stay out of sight. We’ll follow your hawk as best we can in the SUV, but we’re bound to lose you at some point, no matter how high in the sky and visible to us you are. Once the Sedan stops, call me.”

Farrell promptly shifted, grasped a phone with his talons, and then flew away.

Isaak put a hand on Alex’s shoulder. “Do not worry, nephew. We will find your Breasha. I say we do as dumb Alpha cat says and follow Alpha hyena. Then we can all kill him. Won’t that be fun?”

Bree’s eyes fluttered open. Her brow creased at the dim blur that greeted her. Fuck, she felt like shit. One side of her body was cold, all her muscles felt stiff and sore, and her head pounded like an absolute bitch. So she did not appreciate her inner cat’s loud hisses and snarls right now. And why did her mouth feel so damn sticky and dry? Ugh. Bree went to lick her lips … and tasted cotton.

A gag. She was gagged. Hogtied. Lying on her side on a hard, cold floor. Her heart thumped in her chest, and her stomach rolled.

“Rise and shine,” sang a deep, male voice. A voice she recognized. A voice that was accompanied by a scent she recognized.

Bree blinked several times to clear her vision. And there he was, crouched in front of her, holding a goddamn syringe. Dale fucking Bray.

“Had to give you a shot to wake you,” he said.

Panic whipped through her, making her feel like she couldn’t get enough air—especially with the ropes wrapped so securely around her body.Her heart raced in her chest just as adrenaline raced through her veins.

Her gaze darted around. She was in a van. A van that was probably parked in his underground goddamn tunnels.

“It really is a pleasure having you with us, Miss Dwyer.” Dale exchanged a smile with a broad, giant of a male standing near the open double doors of the van. A male who was also holding a tranquilizer gun.

Fuck, she needed to get free. Get out. No, she needed to rip this fucker to shreds.

“I wouldn’t bother trying to slice through the rope—it’s shifter resistant,” said Dale.

Nonetheless, Bree unsheathed her claws and tried cutting through it, but she might as well have been picking at it with her fingernails for all the good it did. She sheathed her claws and flexed her fingers. Like her toes, they tingled, close to numb with bad circulation.

Hearing a whimper, she stiffened.

“Oh, did I not mention you have company?” Still crouching, Dale moved aside, giving her a perfect view of—Shit. Dani was lying at the other side of the van, gagged and bound and bruised to shit. She’d been beaten badly, but her injuries seemed to be healing.

She looked at Bree, her eyes feverish, her mouth moving like crazy around the gag. But her words were inaudible.

Bree drew in a breath through her nose. The scents of dust, metal, and motor oil struck her senses. She peered out the double doors, expecting to see tunnels. From what she could see, they were in a warehouse of some kind. The walls were corrugated metal, and she spotted some rusted pieces of machinery, industrial shelving, and an assembly line—there were no doubt many more objects, but none were visible to her from that angle.

“I’m going to remove your gag now,” said Dale. “You can scream if you like, but no one will hear you. All that will happen is I’ll have to knock you out cold again just to escape the horrid noise.” He clawed off the gag, grazing her cheek slightly.

Bree flexed her jaw. She didn’t scream. It was bad enough that she was tied up. She’d be even more vulnerable if they put her unconscious again.

Dale’s eyes swept over her face, searching. Bree inwardly snorted. As if she’d expose her emotions to the piece of shit. She wouldn’t give him anything he could use against her.

“Such defiance,” he said. “And no fear.”

She was on pins, but she wasn’t afraid. Her cat wasn’t in the least bit rattled; they both trusted that their mate would come for them.

Bree could feel Alex’s emotions. There was a hint of panic, but mostly anger and determination. No confusion or uncertainty. Alex knew where she was, and he was set on getting to her. In the meantime, well, she needed to keep the hyena distracted.

She licked her dry lips, wishing she could rub at her throbbing temple. “I told you, I don’t know where Paxton is.”

“I believe you did tell me the truth at the meeting. But there have been some strange occurrences since then, haven’t there? My sources tell me he called you. What did he say?”

“Nothing that would tell you where he is, so bringing me here for an interrogation was both pointless and stupid.”

He stood. “I haven’t brought you here purely to question you, Miss Dwyer.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Then what do you want?”

He unbuttoned the cuffs of his shirt. “If you can’t get to a man, you have to make him come to you.”

“You’re hoping to lure him here?”

“If he’s watching you closely, he’ll know you’re missing. He’ll hear that the scent of hyena lingers at the scene.” Dale rolled up his sleeves. “He’ll guess I’ve taken you.”

“And you think he’ll also know to come here?”

“Not to thisexact spot, no. This is a short distance away from my territory. But he’ll try to infiltrate the tunnels, believing you’re being hidden there, where my clan will be waiting for him. I’m sure he’ll remember the location of my territory—then again, it was a long time ago that he snatched my daughter from the barn where I keep my vehicles.”

“You’re going to kill him,” she knew.

“I truly am very glad he spared my daughter’s life. But I can’t be seen to show mercy to someone who abducted my child; I can’t have others thinking they can come after her. I am sorry you got tangled up in all this. The sooner he gets here, the sooner you’ll be freed.”

She sniggered. “You won’t free me, because you know Vinnie will never let go that you kidnapped one of his cats. You’ll kill me and then dispose of me, hoping he’ll never trace any of it back to you. But he will. He won’t kill you, though. Alex will do that. I’m curious … at what point did you think it would be a good plan to kidnap the mate of a wolverine?”

He stilled for a single moment, but then he forced an easy smile. “I initially thought your relationship with him was an act to anger Paxton and flush him out of hiding. It wasn’t until my hyenas brought you here that I realized the wolverine’s scent is embedded in your skin. By that point, there was no going back. I can only move forward with my plan.”

“Well, it’s a shit plan. You were wrong to think I’d make good bait. Paxton won’t sacrifice his life for me.”

“Let us hope you’re wrong, because I’m done waiting for my vengeance. If he doesn’t come here tonight, I’ll be forced to kill you in lieu of him. It’ll send a good message to the outside world— ‘fuck with me, and your mate dies.’ I can live with that.”

“And then Alex will destroy you and everything you hold dear to avenge me. I can live with that.”

He flashed her a mocking smile. “He has no idea where you are.”

“He’ll find me.”

Dale cocked his head. “You truly believe he will come for you, don’t you?”

“I know he will. My guess? He’s already here.”

Dale’s eyes flickered. But then he smirked at his clan mate. “Don’t know about you, but I’m shaking in my shoes here.”

The other hyena returned the smirk, but the tension in the guy’s jaw and muscles said he wasn’t as confident as his Alpha.

Dale sighed. “My dear Miss Dwyer, your pride mates will indeed scent my hyenas in the break room and know that I have you. But as they have no idea where my territory is, they can’t look for you there. They certainly won’t think to look for you here.”

Bree thought about telling him that Alex knew the location of his territory, but Dale might decide to cut his losses and kill her before fleeing. So she instead said, “I guess you decided it was time to stop hiring loners to do your bidding.”

He frowned. “I told you at the mediation, I didn’t send the loners.”

“You also told me you didn’t want to hurt Paxton.”

“I lied about the latter, but not about the first. I truly did receive a call from a male who swore black and blue that you knew where Paxton was. I had no part in the plan to sic loners on you, but I very recently learned who did—they contacted me a few days ago, offering to help me get my hands on you. They were good enough to ensure your bodyguard was indisposed while my hyenas took you from the daycare center earlier.”

Pausing, Dale smiled. “Would you like to know their name? I don’t think it will take you by surprise. Then again, maybe it will. It really all depends on how much you’ve already figured out for yourself. Shall I give you a hint?”