Page 50 of Vicious Wolf Mate

“Albuquerque,” I repeat, she nods. “Okay, okay…”

I turn to look back at Jax and Gnash, I don’t even have to say anything. They nod and are ready to go. It’s good to have both of them by my side again.

I look at Drario, who is standing off to the side - he refuses to make eye contact. I’m afraid any chance at peace between our clans just disappeared forever. But there are bigger problems at the moment.

My attention returns to Mckenna. “Albuquerque is not too far of a drive, if we leave now, hopefully this can all be over by tomorrow.”

Mckenna gives me a look of disbelief. “Are you kidding? Do you have any idea how dangerous this is going to be?”

It’s nice to see how worried she is. Yes, we got a few cuts and bruises on our way out, but we survived. Honestly, most of my injuries right now came from my fight with Drario. But Jax, Gnash, and I are Big Sky Clan. When we work together, we can tackle anything that comes our way.

“We’ve survived so far just fine,” I argue. “We all just broke out of a highly armed and guarded facility-”

“Because they underestimated you. Believe me, that won’t happen again.”

“Mckenna, this is not our first fight. Big Sky Clan has gone up against a lot of assholes that thought they could-”

“They know what all of you look like now. Add on top of that all the bodies we just left behind. They have an army’s worth of men on high alert right now, ready to use you as target practice the first chance they get. You’ve been lucky, but that luck will run out Mace.”

I guess she is right, we can’t be pushing our luck too much, not with something so important on the line. Mckenna is continuously proving how smart she is, without her we might have just run right towards our deaths without another thought. Where would we be if we never took her in the first place?

A new plan starts to form in my head. “Yes, Mckenna, you’re right, unfortunately they do know what we look like, which rules out a lot of potential plans. But… They also know whatyoulook like, which I think we can use.”

“Excuse me?” she protests. “What’re you talking about?”

“We can use your relationship to your father to get you on the inside.”

“He’ll just have me killed, Mace.”

“If he wanted you dead, he would’ve done that already. Instead, he wanted you alive. That was clear from the moment Dave captured us.”

“He wanted meforcefully matedto Dave.”

“Yes, but he wanted you alive.”

Mckenna thinks for a moment before looking back at me. “What’re you thinking?”

“Well, we have you walk right up to the front doors of the main building. You pretend to surrender and claim that we kidnapped you and forced you to help us. Tell them you managed to escape during the chaos of us fighting Dave. Then ask for their protection.”

She nods. “Yeah, yeah, that should work. My father’s pride will probably blind him. He’ll be so excited to see me crawling back to him that he won’t even consider that I might have ulterior motives.”

“Once you’re inside, you figure out some way to get us in too. Now, we won’t know what might be waiting for you on the inside, but I’m sure you can handle it.”

She smiles up at me, committed to the plan. I feel a pit start to form in my stomach. Is this the wrong idea?

Mckenna is a strong and capable woman. That much is clear. But should we really be sending her straight into the belly of the beast? She herself was just saying our luck may soon run out.

Though it’s not like we really have any other choice. I know that and she knows that. We don’t have the time to sit around and wait for a better plan to present itself.

We have to act now. If what Gnash overheard is true, and her father and Insignys get their way, it could mean the end of everything. It won’t just be the Big Sky Clan in trouble. It won’t even mean just shifters and other supernatural beings in trouble. Everyone across the world will be in grave danger.

With so much on the line, this is the best plan we could hope for. We need to do it. We need to get inside Insignys and figure out exactly what they’re up to.

36

MCKENNA

“Albuquerque should be that way,” Mace says after consulting a compass. The five of us start walking. Mace leading the way with me by his side, Jax and Gnash behind us, and Drario trailing behind.

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