5. Four

Four

Lincoln

We had to be faster. The plan that Sloane had to sneak onto the property and make it to the main pack house without being detected required speed and stealth. She was fast, but even I didn't think she would be quick enough. Not to go undetected.

She leapt over a log and landed in a squat before hopping up and turning to watch as I raced, or rather stumbled across the finish line. I'd always thought I was in great shape until I'd started racing her.

I doubled over, putting my hands on my knees while gulping in deep breaths.

Sloane put her hand on my back, rubbing. "You should stand up and put your arms behind your head, take deep breaths. In through your nose and out through your mouth."

I huffed out a strangled laugh that only made me more winded. But I did as she said. I laced my fingers at the back of my neck and inhaled, letting it out slowly.

She looked at her watch and groaned, shaking her head.

I craned my head, trying to see the watch face. "What was your time?"

Her shoulders slumped as she exhaled loudly. "Four minutes."

I was right it wasn't good enough. The idea was to come up along the back of the property around the rock faces, because it was less guarded. If we couldn't get it fast enough on flat ground, there was no way we would get there on uneven terrain.

She wiped a hand over her brow. "I'm beginning to think we're going to need to come up with a new plan. If I can't do it in four minutes..." She puffed out her cheeks and let out a long breath. "I'll never do it in three and I'm the fastest person. I still need to shave a whole minute off."

I let my arms fall to my side and rolled my shoulders back, stretching. "And I was a good twenty or so seconds behind you." We didn't have months to train. We had a week, maybe two. And if Sloane and I couldn't do it, enough enforcers couldn't either.

She lifted her leg up and grabbed the toe, stretching it behind her. "Maybe...maybe we just don't care that he knows that we're there. I know we lose the element of surprise but we don't have enough time for everyone to get there in three minutes. I'm not even sure if it's possible."

I wasn't sure if it was either. "Sawyer will be there with his people. I think the gunshots are the best idea. It will let everyone know what is happening."

"No." She shook her head adamantly as she held up a hand.

She grasped my hands and then slid her fingers up my arms until she pulled me into a hug. "I shouldn't have suggested that. I'm not going to do anything that's going to upset you. I know you don't like guns. I should've never even thought of it. It was inconsiderate of me."

I closed my eyes. Everything about them set my nerves on edge and made my skin crawl. But at the end of the day, I was pretty sure that I could handle the crackle of gunfire and not lose my cool. My dad on the other hand, I wasn't so sure of, especially since he wouldn't have any warning it was happening.

I pulled back and cupped her cheeks. "We have to do what we have to do, even if it's something I don't like. My dad has to be stopped before he's allowed to grow more powerful."

Her bottom lip trembled. "I don't want to do anything that's going to hurt you, Lincoln."

I smiled as warmth flooded my chest. My sweet Sloane. She was so considerate. "You know I love you, right?"

She beamed. "And I love you." She gripped my biceps harder and gave me a little shake. "Which is why I don't think we should do this."

I closed my eyes and rested my forehead against hers. "I get it, and I love that you're trying to protect me. But if we don't stop my dad soon, I'm afraid that it's going to get worse for us, and one of us might not make it."

I shuddered at the thought. Losing my mom and Hannah had been unbearable. I couldn't fathom losing Sawyer or Sloane.

Sawyer's risks were increasing every second that he stayed there. I knew what he was doing, and I trusted his judgment, but he was taking a gigantic chance.

Sloane met my gaze. "You are right. The longer Alpha Dane stays in power, the greater chance that one of us won't make it, and I don't want to lose either of you."

My heart thumped, and the hair on the back of my neck prickled. "Then it's decided. We use the hunting rifles to sound the alarm."

She gave me a tender kiss. "Are you sure? Are you going to be okay with this?" Her brows creased with concern.

I forced a smile. "I've been around Sheriff Adam a few times now when he had his gun. I've been fine with that."

It was the truth. I hadn't even really thought much of it right then, either.

Sloane frowned and mashed her lips together. "That's not the same thing, Lincoln. Sheriff Adam is an officer of the law and not some crazy person. And I don't think it's the same thing seeing it and hearing it."

I grumbled under my breath. "Maybe. Maybe not. I don't know, but I did see Sheriff Adam's handgun, and it didn't frighten me."

I hadn't even really thought about it until just now, honestly.

Sloane nodded. "Okay then. We go back to the original plan and use gunfire as a signal. It will definitely give us multiple elements of surprise."

She wasn't wrong about that. My dad didn't let anyone near our land, least of all hunters. "That it will."

She skimmed her fingers up and then laced her hands behind the back of my head. "The longer the war keeps going, the more unnerved I feel. I can't stop this feeling that something bad‘s going to happen. That another shoe is going to drop and derail us."

I pulled her against me, holding her close. "It could just be our bond with Sawyer. He likes to put on a good show of being strong, but I know he's worried. It could just be that bleeding over to us."

Sawyer's apprehension seemed to grow by the minute. I hated it, and I knew exactly what Sloane was talking about. There was a gnawing pit in my stomach full of worry and fear.

She squeezed me tighter. "If he's that concerned, then maybe we need to move up our timeline so we can get him out of there sooner."

I weighed our options. She wasn't wrong about all that. "We have to wait for those men to get here from Pennsylvania, and we should try to see if we can pull in more enforcers before we do anything. The stronger we are the better. We only get one shot at this."

And we had to make it count.

Her breath warmed my neck as she let out a heavy sigh. "I know, which means we can't afford to lose. I'll talk to Leo Denning and see if there's any other alphas that we can reach out to. We should pull resources with the website too. You heard Alpha Isaac earlier. Other alphas are talking on the site. They might be ready to make a stand with us if we reach out. I can also continue to pull my dad‘s resources."

I kissed the inside of her neck and breathed her in again. "All great ideas."

She moaned and nuzzled against me. My cock stirred, and I growled. "We are supposed to be training, sweetheart."

She hummed and kissed up the column of my neck and then nibbled on my earlobe. "It's not even daylight yet. Nobody's up, and we just ran a mile in four minutes. I think we deserve a couple of minutes to let loose."

She dropped her hand down, slipping it between the elastic of my shorts so she could grab my rear.

I grunted. "I suppose this could be considered a work out as well."

She winked at me as she massaged my ass. "Anything that gets our blood pumping like this should be considered training."

I skimmed my hands down her back until I reached the hem of the sexy little blue tank top she was wearing. I pulled back and yanked it up and over her head so she was only wearing her sports bra.

Her chest heaved. I watched the swell of her breasts rise and fall with each breath she drew.

I wagged my brows. "I don't think I can argue with that."

She bit her bottom lip as she grinned. "Good." She gave me a gentle shove back, making me stumble.

The back of my legs hit the log, and I sat on it. Sloane straddled me, her lips finding mine in a searing kiss. My hands went to her hips as she ground against me.

My length hardened to the point of pain and I growled, needing to relieve some of the friction.

There were just too many clothes between us. I found the edge of her sports bra and rolled it up. Why the hell did they make these things so tight? She had to pull back and wiggle out of the thing before her luscious breasts were finally free.

I leaned forward and sucked one nipple into my mouth, licking. She moaned and arched into me. Her fingers threaded in my hair, massaging my scalp.

I finished kissing the one breast and then moved to the other, swirling my tongue around the nipple. She ground and rocked against me. My cock was rock hard, and I needed to be inside of her like five minutes ago.

I let go of her breast with a pop, gripped her by the ass, and stood up before gently setting her on her feet. She didn't need any prompting. She kicked off her shoes and shimmied out of her shorts and panties as I dispatched of my own clothes.

I put my hands on her hips as I sat back down on the log and then pulled her to me. Her delicate hand wrapped around my cock, pumping a few times before she straddled me and guided it inside.

Sloane slid down slowly, taking every inch until she I was buried inside her. I let my head fall back and closed my eyes as her walls stretched around my cock.

She rocked slowly, keeping me deep inside. The feel of my mate's core around me would never get old.

I opened my eyes and peppered the column of her shoulder, working my way up. I kissed her ear, blowing against it gently before brushing my lips against her jawline, and then finally capturing her mouth.

Our tongues swirled together in a perfect battle for dominance.

I slipped one hand between us and rolled her nipple between my thumb and fore finger until it turned into a tight bud.

She rolled her hips against me harder, faster, until she was lifting herself up and then slamming herself back down.

I nipped at her lip. "Are you going to come on my cock, sweetheart?"

She made a noise in the back of her throat and increased her rhythm.

I was teetering on the edge, so close to my own release, but there was no way I was finishing before she did. I tweaked her breast at the same time she slammed down. I rolled my hips, hitting her from a different angle. She cried out and arched further into me

I did it again. "Do you like that, sweetheart?"

She mumbled something I couldn't understand.

I rolled her nipple. "What's that?"

She was breathless. "Don't stop. Please."

I rolled my hips harder. She screamed as she came, her inner walls clamped down on my length, spurring my own release. I pumped into her a few more times, slowly, enjoying every second I had with her until we were both spent.

She rested her head on my shoulder and clung to me as I ran my hands up and down her bare back.

She shivered, and I held her tighter. "Are you cold?"

Now that we were just sitting and all the excitement was over, the chill of the morning fall air was seeping in.

She rubbed her breasts against me as she tried to get closer. "Maybe a little."

I gripped her by the bottom and stood up, gently setting her on her feet. "Let's get you dressed and back to the house so you can get a nice hot shower."

Her eyes lit up. "Maybe you can warm me up in there, too."

I nipped at her lips. "I like the sound of that."

She trembled in my arms. I took a step back and grabbed her clothes, handing them to her. "Get dressed so we can get headed back."

She took them and started tugging them back on. I scooped up my clothes.

My phone slipped out of my pocket and landed with a thud on the ground. I fumbled to pick it up and noticed the notifications on it.

My pulse spiked as I swiped it open. "No," I whispered as I read the messages.

Sloane peered over my shoulder. "Lincoln, what's wrong?"

I skimmed over the text as I read the email. This couldn't be happening. How? I swallowed hard and showed her my phone as my hand shook. "It's a notification from my web host. The DarkSide website has been taken down."

We'd lost our way of reaching out to other packs for help.