Page 41 of How to Rescue Your Surprise Baby

“And food.” Crush began opening pizza boxes. “It’s getting cold.”

They crowded around the dining table. Estie had shifted back into a human baby during the commotion, and Mav hadn’t evengotten to enjoy holding her, when his thoughts were going in a million directions all at once.

“I’ll take her back.” Telos was suddenly in front of Mav, his strong arms sliding between Mav and Estie. He was pressed close, his gaze fixed on his daughter, but there was a pink tint to his cheeks that hadn’t been there before.

“That looks good on you,” Mav blurted.

Telos froze, his forearm snug against Mav’s chest. “What?”

Mav wet his lips, nervous. He hadn’t done this with another alpha before.

But Telos looked so vulnerable right now, especially when Mav could almost taste his embarrassment.

So he raised his hand to Telos’ face, and carefully touched his knuckle to Telos’ cheek. “You’re blushing.”

Telos’ eyes widened. He clapped his hand over his other cheek and hauled Estie out of Mav’s arms—only to freeze when he found Hilly-Billy with his phone up, recording them.

“For posterity,” Hilly-Billy said, backing away. “There’s a lot riding on this.”

“Minion,” Telos growled.

Mav caught his arm. “The debrief.”

“Thank you,” Duke said, now with three slices of pizza on his plate. He gestured for them to sit around the table.

“I’m going to shred you,” Telos hissed at his brother.

“You can shred me tomorrow,” Hilly-Billy whispered back.

Telos sat down heavily next to Mav, his eyes flashing. “I hate everything.”

“Not Estie, though.” Mav gave Estie a finger to hold; she closed her small fist around it eagerly. That soothed the emptiness in his arms, just slightly.

Telos scowled. But he rearranged Estie in his lap without breaking her hold on Mav, pulling over a few sheets of paper and a pen.

“They’re being held at a fairly large compound,” Telos said, sketching some buildings and adding rooms inside the largest one. “Concrete perimeter walls with barbed wire on top, and electricity running through them. The night guards work in pairs and should be easily taken down.

“I didn’t have time to scout out all the rooms, but I know they have a few cells filled with prisoners, all clustered in the middle of this building. No windows in the holding rooms. Walls and floors are concrete. Steel doors, one guard with a ring of keys. Here’s the rough layout. Guards patrol these areas: here, here, and here. Exits are here. No cameras inside the main building.”

Telos hadn’t spent that long in the compound; Mav had followed him from a distance, watching his coordinates constantly.

For him to get this much intel in such a short time... Mav’s instincts approved.

“That’s good,” Mav said.

Telos’ eyebrows jumped. Then he stared suspiciously at Mav. “I haven’t told you the bad news yet. They’re transporting the victims in two days, to another location. I left my tracker with Pinks’ friends. We need to strike before they move.”

“Or we could strikewhilethey move,” Raptor said. “They’d be less prepared.”

“The victims might get caught in the crossfire,” Duke pointed out. “I’m not sure I want to risk that.”

“There’ll be more witnesses, too,” Crush said. “You scaly types won’t want to shift in front of traffic. Who knows how many of them will jump out and start to target you?”

Duke nodded. “Plan A is to infiltrate the base. Here’s what we’ll do.”

Mav was soakingup his team’s confidence about their plans, when everyone began heading for bed.

“Breakfast at seven tomorrow,” Duke said.

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