Page 59 of Fate Awakened

Presley’s jaw falls open, and her attention flips to Dante before continuing.

“You can’t honestly tell me we’re allowing Cain to kill him. Exile sure, he betrayed us all, but it’s Hudson,” she pleads with Dante looking to Jake for support, but not finding any.

“It’s his right, Pres. Hudson knew the consequences of his actions when he took her. Kidnapping her was a direct attack against Cain. He’s allowed retribution. Period.”

Pres turns her attention back to me, and I stare her down, having regained complete control over my wolf.

“I thought we weren’t the bad guys. I thought we weren’t just murderers.” Her stare is accusatory, and part of me wishes I could reassure her, but Hudson took my Mate. He’ll pay for that decision with his life. I will not have her live in a world where anyone is a threat to her. She’ll be safe. I’ll make her safe.

“Enough, we can deal with him later. For now, Jake, make sure you, Erik, and the teams run their wolves. Everyone needs to be in control tonight. Pres have all the gear charged and ready for disbursement by nineteen thirty, then join Mason for a run. Cain, you will shift with me. I don’t trust your wolf to stay away from her, and I’m the only one who you can’t best. Questions?” he asks, standing from the chair.

Jake and Pres shake their heads, and Dante walks past me, heading out the door. I follow, knowing that this run will be both necessary and challenging. My wolf wants nothing more than to take control and go to her. The primal need to save her is woven into my very being. Logically, I know we have to wait, but the beast within me operates on an entirely different hierarchy of needs, and our Mate is at the very base level.

The hotel we chose backs up to the Tahoe National Forest, so Dante and I jog about a mile in before stopping to catch our breath and undress to shift. I pull off my t-shirt and toss it behind a large tree before bending to untie my shoes. Once they’re both off, I glance at Dante, realizing he hasn’t started to undress but is, instead, staring at me as if he wants to say something but is debating it.

“Okay, out with it,” I say before pulling my socks off.

“I don’t know if you should be there tonight,” he states, reading my reaction. “Your wolf is the wildcard. You can’t shift in front of her without risking her life,” he starts, eyeing my reaction steadily.

“I won’t do anything that could harm her,” I state, throwing more confidence into my words than I feel, knowing my wolf had already made decisions I couldn’t control when I interrogated Kole.

“I didn’t tell you all of Ghost’s message,” Dante says, waiting for my full attention.

“He said if the trade doesn’t happen before her Unawakened status is revealed, people will die. Our people. Maybe her.”

“He said she dies?” I quickly respond, as fear fills my insides, knowing Ghost's ability is never wrong.

“No, you know he can’t say that. He said lives will be lost. No specifics, or it changes the path,” he pauses, letting that sink in. “I worry bringing you is a mistake. If they find out she’s Unawakened or your Mate, we will have to fight our way out. I don’t want to lose anyone tonight,” he finishes, his tone somber.

“I can’t stay back,” I say honestly, knowing my wolf would fight for control and probably win if I tried to walk away from this exchange.

“I know, but I knew you’d want to understand the stakes. I hope it's enough to get us out of there without incident,” Dante says, pulling his shirt off, readying himself for our run.

I can’t lose her.

With a final pull of my shorts, I allow my wolf to take over and embrace the change. I lean into the hope that this run will allow me to have the control I need to get her back, to have her by my side.

***

Dante’s able to command my wolf to release control. It takes a few minutes, but he finally relents, and I change back into my clothes. The sun falls slowly out of the sky, and the cold winter air feels good on my lungs.

We walk back to the hotel in silence. The enormity of the trade tonight weighing heavily on us both. The last rays of sunlight bathe the area in a warm glow. Long shadows stretch into the trees as we maneuver over the undergrowth. The return takes less than ten minutes, and we find the teams gearing up outside. Pres is working through sound checks on our blue and red team members. The black team will go in with only mics as they’re coming shifted, and earpieces are a bitch to get out after shifting forms.

I scan each team member, ensuring they’re ready for this while memorizing their faces. Anyone could be lost tonight; if that happens, it's because of me. My Mate. My responsibility.

After changing into my black fatigues for tonight and getting my gear from Pres, I guide Keith to Jay’s van and remove his blindfold.

“Jay, Keith. Keith, Jay. Now that you’re acquainted," I point my thumb to Jay, who turns and gives him a wave. “Jay will be making sure you don’t do anything stupid tonight. We’re trading one of their people for Bri. Your role is to monitor the cameras we’ve placed around the site to ensure we don’t have any unexpected guests. Do you think you can handle that?” My tone is neither condescending nor mocking, but rather is simply looking for his response. His role is vital to this rescue.

“Where will you be?” he asks, tilting his head with the question.

“I’ll be making the trade,” I state simply, seeing the jealousy flash in his eyes briefly before he catches himself.

Get used to it. She is Mine.

At that, Pres walks over.

“Everyone is geared. All equipment is working for now. I'll keep the coms going for the entirety of the meeting. They’ll expect us to be wired and armed because they'll be as well. Did Jake give you the evacuation routes from the meet?” she asks me, her voice faltering a bit when she realizes that Keith’s sitting in this van, and she has now revealed herself to him.

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