Page 56 of Brutal Mate

“We can't just go in there all guns blazing!” Jack warned him, pulling him close. On his other side, Hanson appeared, barring his way.

Kane glared through the trees at the farmhouse just outside of Pine Valley, the place they’d easily tracked Miley's scent to along with the fuckheads who had taken her.

“Why not? I'll tear their goddamn heads off!” Kane snapped. He could hear himself, and even he wanted to slap himself silly for it, but when it came to Miley, he seemed not to have any control anymore.

Ever since he had been inside her—even before then—she was all he could think about. And it was driving him wild. Just having smelled her fear, surrounded by the scent of strange wolves, he wanted to rip off heads and tear out tracheas.

Normally the most level-headed and in control of the group, save for maybe Jack, Kane felt as if he barely recognized himself. It only made him more certain of the truth he had suspected all along. He needed Miley even more than she needed him, even now.

“Calm down, man,” Hanson urged him. “You can't do anything for her if you go and get yourself killed.”

“If we don't get in there right now, who knows what they'll do to her?” Kane protested. He fought against them still until he felt more hands on him.

Soon, Jack and Hanson were joined by Zander, Eddie and Will. The whole gang was there, holding him back, and still he fought on until, finally, Zander slapped him clean across the face.

The sound rang through the trees, and everyone paused, eyes wide and listening.

“Shit! Fuck! I'm sorry,” Kane said, Zander's slap having knocked him out of his bullheadedness.

He pulled back, running his fingers through his hair, pacing up and down on silent yet anxious feet.

It had taken him ten minutes to run back to the manor and barely any time at all to fill Jack in on what he had found—Miley gone and the scents of strange wolves on their territory. It had taken only twice that long to pick up their scent again, and another half an hour to follow it to the farmhouse.

But Kane knew as well as the others did that every minute down was one more minute for a situation to turn from a rescue mission into a recovery mission. And there was no way Kane was carrying Miley out of that farmhouse in a body bag.

Yet, every time he closed his eyes, that's all he could see.

What if she dies in transition and I'm not there for her? What if she attacks them and they kill her? What if…what if…what if…

So many scenarios ticked through Kane's mind that he could barely think straight.

“We need to split up and figure out exactly what we’re dealing with,” Jack said, glancing at Zander. “I'll take Hanson and Kane to check out that barn over there. You, Eddie and Will go scout out the other side of the house and see what the situation is.”

Zander gave a grunt of acknowledgement and silently gestured Will and Eddie to follow him.

Only Will paused to look at Kane and ask, “You good, man?”

Kane knew what he was asking. Was he going to lose his shit again?

Kane looked him in the eye and forced a nod, his jaw clenched. It took everything he had in him to keep himself under control.

He could sense Miley. He wasn't entirely sure exactly where she was, but he knew she was there, and he knew damn well she wasn't in that barn.

“We'll meet back here,” Jack said, and the two groups split, acting like the well-oiled machine they had become over the years through their black ops missions.

Kane tried his hardest to put himself into work mode, imagining Miley was just another civilian they had been tasked with helping.

And it worked, to a point. Yet he knew at the slightest sign she was in serious danger, he wouldn't be able to stop from shifting. He could sense his wolf clawing at his insides.

She's strong, he reminded himself over and over. She survived her father for nineteen years, she can survive this.

***

By the time they returned to their meeting spot, Kane was struggling more than ever to keep himself under control.

“The barn is full of humans,” Jack explained to Zander and the others.

A knowing look passed between the men. This wasn't the first time they had encountered this kind of situation.

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