12. Twelve

I could hear the conversation, but I knew I couldn’t step in. It would damage Sloane more if I did.

Her emotions swirled around me, a mix of frustration, anger, and sadness.

Alpha Charles was a fool. My dad would be there in a few days, and he would obliterate him from the face of the earth along with everyone in his pack. It wasn’t just women he cared about. It was submission. You either joined him or you died.

Sloane had argued valiantly. It wasn’t her fault he was a fool. No one could fix that.

Alpha Charles walked away, flicking his finger so his enforcers fell in line behind him.

I hurried to my mate.

Her chest heaved with each breath she drew, and a rosy red colored her cheeks.

I cupped her face. “Are you all right, sweetheart?”

Her gaze flicked to me. Her face fell, a few tears slipping out of her eyes and trickling down her cheeks. “We needed him to join us.”

I could hear the panic in her voice and a hint of defeat. It broke my heart.

I pulled her into a hug, cradling her against me. I wished I could ease her worries. It felt like she carried the weight of the world right now.

“No, we don’t,” I said. “We are strong enough without him. The last thing we need is a fool like him in our ranks.”

Brandon put his hand on his sister’s back. “Lincoln’s right. He’s an idiot. I’m sad to say the rest of his pack is going to pay the price.”

She pulled away and looked down at the ground as she drew in a shaky breath. “Maybe there was something more I should’ve said. I could’ve been more convincing.”

I gripped her shoulders. “Look at me.”

She blinked a few times before her eyes met mine.

I gave her a small shake. “Don’t blame yourself. His mind was already made up long before you even made the call yesterday. He thinks he can hide. He’s going to find out the hard way that he can’t.”

She sniffled and dragged her palm across her face, swiping away her tears. “I failed, Lincoln.”

I put an arm around her shoulder and drew her toward me as I guided her back towards the cars. “You didn’t fail, sweetheart. You just can’t fix stupid.”

Ian cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, Sloane. I didn’t think he would be so blind. Or that Alpha Dane might have already talked to him.” His focus stayed on the park, watching for movement. “I didn’t think he would work with Alpha Dane.”

The other enforcers fell in line with us. Sloane had brought up a good point when she’d asked if Alpha Charles was working with my father. Why had he called us out here? With everything going on, I wasn’t buying his getting to know the fellow alphas crap.

There was no sign of my father or his men. But I knew my dad, and if he knew we were here, then he wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to take me and Sloane out. I’d feel better once we got back on the road.

I guided Sloane to the car and opened the passenger door for her, helping her inside before shutting it. I climbed in the back as Brandon started the engine.

She sank down in her seat until I could barely see the top of her head. Ian climbed into the back on the driver’s side. Brandon put us in reverse and backed out of the parking spot. The other enforcers followed right behind us as we made our way through the winding roads of the park and back onto the main road.

Brandon tapped his palm on the steering wheel. “That didn’t go well.”

Sloane shifted in her seat and crossed her arms over her chest. “It did not.”

Ian put his head on the window. “We don’t need him. We need men who are going to fight.”

I nodded and leaned forward to reach over the seat and massage Sloane’s shoulders. “Ian is right. We’ll just double our efforts. There are still people trickling in from what I put on the website. We can do another shout-out asking for help. This affects everyone, even if my father hasn’t made his way to their region yet.”

Sloane dropped her chin to her chest and covered her face. “But what if he’s right? I’m just a young girl who doesn’t know what I’m doing. How do I keep others from feeling that way, too? Only a few of the alphas are close to my age. Most of them were close to my dad’s age.”

I opened my mouth to say something, but it was Brandon who spoke up first.

“You’re stronger than you know,” he said.

She looked at her brother. “Thanks.”

He chuckled. “I’m not just saying it because I’m your brother. I mean it. You have sacrificed more than most these past few weeks and come out stronger than ever. People’s biggest mistake is going to be underestimating you.”

I rubbed her neck harder. “He’s right, sweetheart. I think we need to remind everyone about what you have done for the betterment of the pack.”

She made a pfft sound. “I can’t just spout off how wonderful I am. That’s not going to fix anything or build support.”

Ian combed a hand through his hair. “Maybe not you, but I bet Willa would. She was a prisoner, too. She saw how horrible it was, and you rescued her. Not to mention all your other ideas. Willa could remind them of everything you have done. Sure, you’re friends with her, but everyone knows what we went through, too.”

Sloane lifted her head and sat up straight. “Willa has been through it all with me.” She tilted her head to the side. “They were my plans, weren’t they? This is a loss, but we can come back from it.”

Ian turned back to the center of the car and leaned forward. “We can. And we will.”

I found a particularly nasty knot in her shoulder blade. It kept pushing away from me when I pressed against it. I kneaded it, trying to work out the kink.

“We have a few hours’ drive,” I said. “We can come up with a game plan.”

Sloane slid her hands up and down her thighs and rocked her head back and forth. “We have to keep rebuilding. I think everyone should learn to fight, women and even the children. If we are attacked again, Alpha Dane’s not going to care who you are or how old you are.”

Ian looked down at his lap with a haunted expression. “He killed two children in my pack. He didn’t think twice.”

My stomach twisted. How had my father gone from being a good man to one who murdered children and tortured women and men? My family had completely dissolved. Sawyer and I were the only sane ones left.

Sloane looked over her shoulder and spoke to Ian. “We’re going to make sure that he doesn’t hurt any other youngsters. I promise.”

Ian gave her a nod. “I know.”

I rested my hands on her shoulders and put my chin on the back of the headrest. “We need to think of how to address the other alphas. You’ve done well so far with your speeches. They’re inspiring. But the pack is going to need a win.”

She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “There is always the wolfsbane. And if we know that Alpha Dane is going to be gone, we should attack his pack again. There are still prisoners there.”

Brandon drummed his fingers on the steering wheel in time to the beat of the song on the radio. “Attack while he’s gone? I thought we wanted to take him out.”

Sloane nodded. “When he goes, at least half the pack goes with him. We don’t have the numbers to take on the full force of his pack. But I think we could successfully lead a strike when half of them are gone. We could even rescue more women. I know we had to leave some behind last time. If we come back a second time, they might be more likely to join us.”

Ian’s brows dipped into a scowl. “You didn’t see some of them last time. Not all of them wanted to leave.”

I balled my fists. “My father rules with fear. That’s why they stayed. They were afraid they would get caught, and there would be repercussions. Sloane is right. A return trip shows we have good resources and that our pack is strong.”

She threaded her fingers through her hair. “We will need to connect with Sawyer and find out when exactly they’ll be gone. If we plan it right, we’ll be able to get in and out, then far enough away that they can’t catch us.”

She twisted in her seat. “Do you think there are any men there who would turn against your father?”

I fell back against the seat and closed my eyes as I rubbed my temples. “Sawyer would be the one who you would have to ask. But he might not even know the answer, either. He doesn’t get down to the houses in the back where those people would likely be. I’m afraid I didn’t spend much time out of my room when I was there unless I had to.”

Ian reached over and put his hand on my shoulder. “No one can blame you for that.”

Brandon darted his gaze to the rearview mirror and frowned. “Do you know when you’ll be talking to Sawyer again?”

I wished I did. My dad has been doing an exceptional job of keeping him extra busy.

Sloane cleared her throat. “It’s hard to say, unfortunately.”

If my dad knew about my connection to Sawyer, I’d think he was separating us on purpose. Our bond was something that we had always been careful to keep a secret. And if it was something he knew about, he would’ve punished Sawyer long ago for being on our side.

Ian let his head fall back and stared up at the gray ceiling. “I can’t imagine it’s easy for him having to be stuck there.”

I sighed. I felt the weight of Sawyer’s worries every single day. He was afraid this morning. It’d been exceptionally bad. But he hadn’t reached out to us for help, and we could feel him, so we knew he was alive. But it meant Father was up to something.

Brandon shifted in his seat and peered into the rearview mirror again. “I can’t imagine what that must be like for him. It would have to be awful. I don’t think I could do that.”

Sloane mumbled something under her breath that I couldn’t understand before her voice grew louder. “And dangerous. I wish he would’ve just stayed here the other night.”

I reached around the seat and took the hand she offered to me. “He’ll join us as soon as he can. You know that.”

She nodded and then turned her head so she looked out the window.

Brandon glanced over his shoulder and out the back window. I tried to follow his line of sight. That was the third time in the past few minutes he’d looked.

“Everything okay?” I asked.

Brandon frowned, his gaze shifting to the road again. “I’m not sure. We made a few turns, but that black car back there keeps following us. At least, I think it is. I might be paranoid.”

I let go of Sloane and twisted in the seat. The enforcer’s vehicle was right behind us. But a few cars back behind them was a standard issue black two-door Mustang, the kind of car that my dad bought for all of his people. My heart plummeted into my stomach. What were the odds?

Sloane turned, gripping the back of the headrest. “Do you think Alpha Charles really did sell us out?”

Ian’s brow creased with worry as he looked behind us. “I know what he said, and I know he was a jerk at the meeting, but he wouldn’t do that.”

Sloane shook her head. “Are you sure?”

Ian grimaced and shook his head. “I wouldn’t think so. He was good friends with my dad. He knew Willa and I were there. I don’t think he would do that, but maybe that’s why he thinks he will be safe from Alpha Dane’s wrath.”

Sloane covered her face with her hands. “Desperation makes people do stupid things sometimes.”

I twisted farther so I sat on my knees and could stare out the back window. The Mustang weaved in and out of cars. The traffic had picked up, and they did their best to stay one or two cars behind us.

I slid back into my seat. “We have to be sure they’re following us and it’s not just some random jerk. Brandon, make the next right and then make a left and then a right again first chance you get.”

Sloane patted her brother’s arm. “Do what he says.”

She lifted her butt off the seat and dug her cell phone out of her back pocket. “I need to text Chance and the others to let them know what’s happening.”

I glimpsed over my shoulder again. “Good idea. Have them follow us.”

Sloane tapped on her phone so hard that I could hear her fingertips clicking against the screen. “Done.” Her phone dinged immediately with a new notification. “They noticed them too.”

Brandon slouched down in the seat. “Great, so it’s not just us.”

Sloane put a hand on her brother’s shoulder. “Good job catching that, Brandon. You did good.”

He’d caught that without anyone’s help, which was impressive. There was more to him than he let on, and Sloane was right. His talents had been underutilized.

Despite the situation, her brother gave her a bright smile. “Thanks.”

Brandon jerked the car to the right as he made a hard turn. I cursed under my breath as my head whacked the passenger-side window. I didn’t say anything because it was good thinking to turn so fast without warning.

Sloane spun, ducking her head so she could see out the back. “Did we lose them?”

I held my breath as I turned around, searching. Chance’s vehicle drove behind us, but the Mustang had missed the quick turn.

But we were so intent on looking behind us that we didn’t see the car coming directly for us until it was too late.

“Sloane!” Brandon shouted and yanked her back into her seat.

Her shriek pierced the air seconds before metal crunched and tires squealed.

I flinched and cursed out loud.

I braced myself, gripping the seat in front of me. The cars collided with a deafening pop.

The force propelled me forward, and I couldn’t stop myself.