Page 4 of Rejected Wolf Mate

Thea put her hand on my shoulder. “If you need to do this, then go ahead. I’ll be all right for a few days.”

“You sure?”

She nudged me. “Come on, you can’t look after me all the time. I’ll survive for a bit. Then, when you get back, we can throw a two-person party to celebrate you getting out of there.”

I gave a grin and wrapped her in a hug. “Don’t worry,” I said. “I’ll be home before you know it.”

Chapter 2 - Rand

I knew before Jameson said anything that we were about to get roped into another assignment. Based on the atmosphere in the room, I wasn’t the only one whose alarm bells were screaming. Every single Silver Wolf sat to attention, looking at Jameson and Malcolm standing at the front of the room. The tension was so thick, you could have cut it with a knife.

“We’ve got a job,” Jameson said.

“We guessed,” I retorted.

“One of these days, we’ll actually get to stay retired,” Mark said.

“I think we can agree at this point, that’s statistically unlikely,” Tannen said. “Still, it’s fun to dream.”

“This one’s serious,” Jameson said.

“I think we all figured as much,” I said. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t have dragged us into it.”

“It’s more than serious,” Malcolm interjected from where he sat, leaning forward in his chair. “The heads of the council reached out to me directly.”

I raised an eyebrow. “They’re that worried?”

“Apparently.”

Silence lingered after the blunt declaration, all of us processing what that meant.

“So what’s the job exactly?” I asked.

“There’s a new crime lord beginning to make waves,” Jameson said. “They call him the Gray Wolf. He wasn’t anything to worry about a couple years ago, but over the last few months, he’s suddenly started escalating everything. Biggest heists, more targeted attacks, that sort of thing.”

“Why now?”

“A little while ago, his group pulled a job in Aspen,” Jameson said. “They were stealing some military-grade gear. One of theirs died. We IDed the body and went to their house. The entire place was filled with anti-council propaganda and contraband.”

“But nothing to point us to the Gray Wolf?” I asked.

“Nope. The guy’s good at covering his tracks, apparently.”

Tannen scratched his chin, frowning as he stared off to the side. “What kind of gear were they trying to grab?” he asked.

“Tactical gear like vests and things like that,” Jameson said. “Also, some classified tech.”

At the word ‘tech,’ Tannen perked up. “What kind of classified tech?” he asked, not bothering to hide his interest.

“Funny enough, the council didn’t go into details on that bit,” Jameson said with a wry smile. “It’s almost as though they want to keep it classified.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Tannen grumbled.

“Anyway,” Mark said, coughing loudly. “What is it they want us to do exactly? Find out as much as we can about the Gray Wolf and take him out before he has the chance to do something too serious?”

“That’s it in a nutshell,” Jameson confirmed.

“Well.” Klyte clapped his hands. “The sooner we get working, the sooner we can get back to retirement. We have any information on him?”

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