Page 112 of All In

“He just only did it when he thought no one was watching,” Gunner says. “Plus, Karma is third generation bred for companionship. She’ll bond with Laken, and that’ll be her person. She won’t want to let her out of her sight. It’ll also help your omega not to feel so isolated.”

All of that seems logical to me, but I’m also pretty sure they’re unaware Laken is pregnant. It’s a really cute dog, though. I mean, she’s got floppy ears and an adorable little puppy face.

“You might want to give the gift and run.” I chuckle, slapping Maverick on the shoulder. “But goddamn, she’s cute.”

“She really is,” Gunner agrees. “But two is plenty for us. Although, Kane mentioned he’d snatch her up for Annika if Laken isn’t interested.”

“Nah, let’s see how it plays out first,” I say, a little disappointed at even the thought of her going to someone else.

I fucking love dogs.

Nova and Haze are so well-behaved that you hardly notice them unless you’re tripping over their massive bodies when you’re not paying attention.

“Okay, wish me luck. I’m going down to the basement to demand Ranger add me on to the keypad to unlock the pack bedroom,” I say, rolling my shoulders back.

Gunner snorts. “Good fucking luck with that.”

Yeah, I probably am going to need it.

I figure it’s a good idea to bring refreshments when forcing my way into Ranger’s torture dungeon…

Basement.

It’s just a basement.

I mean, basements are creepy in horror movies, but I’m a badass.

It’s not cool that I should have to wait for Ranger to give me access, just so I can get back into the room with Laken. He can take a five-minute break from whatever he’s doing and accompany me to key the lock to my fingerprint.

The first set of doors pulls open when I yank the handle, but I’m guessing that’s because Ranger and Locke are down there.

The stairs are weirdly intimidating. They’re narrow, and the lighting isn’t especially bright.

Who the hell is excited about the prospect of shoving a prisoner in their basement?

Just put a bullet in their brain and move on.

I hit the double doors at the end of the stairwell and have to give myself another mental pep talk once I’m on the other side.

This place is like a labyrinth when the secret passageways are open. I know the basics of where I’m headed, but it’s still ridiculously hard to force one foot in front of the other.

Normal people don’t have fucking torture dungeons, but this is my new normal, so I better just nut up and deal with it.

I tuck the bottles of water under my arm and snatch the last door handle.

My instincts can sense the level of pure wrongness coming from inside because it’s nearly impossible to make myself tug the door the rest of the way open and step inside.

The muffled screaming makes my asshole pucker.

Good god.

Someone is in agony.

Ranger sits in a folding chair with his back to me.

Will kneels on a drain in the middle of the floor, and his arms are stretched behind him with the ropes connected to a beam on the ceiling.

Ranger holds the end of the ropes with small handles attached. They seem to be connected to a pulley system on the roof beam.

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