Page 31 of Wolf Crowned

Good. It had been a while since we talked about strategy. “Of course. I’ll meet you in your office by eight.”

Dad inclined his head. “I’ll have breakfast served in there and we can make a morning of it. This is the beginning of the end.”

With any luck, I’d have all the information I need to pass along to my mates.

I chuckled as my heart pinched. “I’ll be glad when this is over.”

That was the truth. And it was going to be over. One way or another.

Twelve

Sloane

This was really happening. We were going to attack. It was a matter of when now.

I stared at the map we’d cobbled together with pieces of paper that covered the entire kitchen table. It was a detailed layout of Alpha Dane’s compound.

Lincoln tapped a square that wasn’t quite shaped correctly. “This is the start of the compounds of where the women and men are being held.” He moved his palm in a circle of several squares. “We will need to check all these buildings.”

I chewed on the inside of my lip. Of course it would be in the middle of the entire complex. Way to make it easy on us. Not.

I drummed my fingers on the edge of the table as I stared at the drawing. “It is what it is we can’t control where they’re being held.”

All we could do was make the best of what information we had.

Brandon traced his finger over the spot that signified the main house. “Do you think you could get me a layout of the inside of the house, Lincoln?”

Mom gasped from her spot by the counters and grabbed Willa’s shoulder as she covered her mouth with her hand.

What? I shook my head. “No. Why would you need to go in there?”

That wasn’t part of the plan. We were getting the people out and going after Alpha Dane. That was it. What more did we need?

Brandon sat back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. He shrugged his shoulders and looked down at his lap. “I had an idea. We’ve put these files in the cloud to incriminate him.” He chanced a quick glance up at me before adverting it again. “We could have them directly loaded onto his personal laptop and a real paper trail to boot. We could get the FBI off our trail for good.”

Mark scrubbed a hand over his face. “No, Brandon, absolutely not. That’s too dangerous. You would have to go off by yourself. We don’t know who might be in the house and you’d have no backup.”

Lincoln’s brow furrowed as he stared at the table. “Maybe. Maybe not. Not many people are in the main house anymore. It’s big but my dad’s mistrust is larger.”

I chewed on my thumbnail. Brandon wasn’t wrong, and what he was saying made sense. But Mark was right. Brandon would have no backup if something went wrong. He’d be on his own.

Still.

I massaged my temples. “It’s a win-win. If we fail, the evidence is still there, assuming we can direct the FBI there before it’s discovered, and make his life hell.” I gave my mom and Willa a pointed look. It would be on them to make the call. “If we win, though, we still point the FBI there and get them off our backs for good.”

Mom made a strangled noise in the back of her throat, but mashed her lips together and said nothing.

Brandon swallowed as he glanced at Mom. His face paled and he clasped his hands together in his lap. “I can make it look like he planted everything for us all along and he is the guilty party. I’m worried if we don’t do something we will have to worry about the FBI for a lot longer.”

My brother was a genius.

Lincoln knocked on the table. “It’s a good idea, I don’t like it, but I think he’s right. My father is hell-bent on taking us down anyway he can. It does no good to defeat him if we have the law breathing down our neck.”

We were fighting for our land. For our lives and freedom. I was going to make damn sure Alpha Dane didn’t get the last laugh.

I gave my brother my full attention. “What is that you need?”

Mom made another noise and Willa shushed her, wrapping an arm around her waist and laying her head on my mom’s shoulder.

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