I leaped up and placed my hands over my ears. “I don’t want to hear this, Flint.” Losing my pack and my family but gaining a mate. No one should have to make that choice.

“Give me twenty-four hours and I’ll get him out, and… and…” Beyond that, I didn’t have a plan.

“Ranger!” Flint’s voice was in the dangerous decibel level. “That won’t work.”

“Please, Flint. Think of the torture you put yourself through when you were going to kill Tony, your mate.”

My Alpha’s chin fell forward on his chest, and he fisted his hands.

“Ranger, this?—”

“Itisthe same. You were faced with losing your mate and living life alone.”

Flint walked to the window. He sighed. “I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?”

“No. Besides, he might be doing us a favor, exposing what Dane is doing to us,” I yelled over my shoulder as I tore out the door.

I’d changed my clothes and was in the car—not my sports car but a company car, a four-wheel drive, that Matt wouldn’t recognize—and on the road in less than five minutes, the windscreen wipers swiping back and forth as the rain pelted down. The tracker on Matt’s car was useless if he was still at work, so I headed to The Obsidian Circle’s headquarters. I slowed before reaching the building, and coming toward me was a black beast of a car. It swung into the underground parking, and I caught a glimpse of Matt at the wheel.

I parked down the street, wondering how I’d get in. But as I sat in the car, biting my nails, Matt emerged from the building, holding that same broken umbrella above his head, and headed toward a food truck. His hair was different; it had light streaks, and he was wearing an earring.

Taking a chance he wouldn’t call Dane when I confronted him, I sidled up to him as he ordered a burrito.

“Sounds good. I’ll have one of those too.”

He jerked away, but I took his arm. “Fancy meeting you here.” I didn’t use his name because people were always listening. I paid for the food and hustled him around the corner away from prying eyes and ears.

“Leave me alone.” He struggled, but he was no match for my strength.

“Matt!”

“Fuck.”

His scent was interfering with my thought processes. Though other parts of me were working as expected.

He screwed up his face, and his shaking hands clenched his burrito. “You’re the La Luna Noir boss.”

“That’s my brother, Flint.”

“What do you want with me?” He glanced over his shoulder, back the way we’d come. “My employer is a scary guy. He’ll kick your ass.”

I laughed at the idea of Dane beating me in a fight. “I’m not interested in him. Just you.”

“I’m a nobody. Please let me go.” He was close to tears. “I have to get back.”

“Stop what you’re doing and walk away from this job. You’re in danger working for Dane.”

“I wasn’t, but you using my real freaking name and kidnapping me isn’t helping.”

“Kidnapping?” I scoffed. “You’re confusing me with my brother when he kidnapped his mate.”

His eyes bulged, and he took deep breaths. “If you’re trying to sell me on something, it’s not working.”

“I like you.”

“That’s what the mate reference is? You and your family kidnap people because you have no friends? Loser.” He emphasized it by making the L sign with his thumb and index finger on his forehead.

“I have friends.”