Page 102 of Chosen Destiny

“The one and only.” Samuel rolled his eyes.

When Dina dropped her hands from my shoulder, Bodey cleared his throat. “Reggie informed us that more wolves arrived, coming in from behind them. Her guards must reside in another place close by, so we need to hurry.”

I didn’t want to force anyone who was injured to fight. “If anyone wants to head back or hide and heal, that’s an option too. Everyone here has already done more than enough.”

“We aren’t pussies.” Jack patted his chest. “There’s no way I’m not kicking more Southwest wolf ass.”

“Man, calling people pussies is sexist. Those things give birth to babies, which is the opposite of being weak or scared.” Lucas puffed out his chest. “The right saying is we aren’t chickens.”

Miles shook his head. “Now is not the time for this.”

I had to agree. “If everyone is good moving forward, let’s go.” I waved my left hand, then put all my weapons back in their places and cradled my right hand. The agony had improved marginally, but the pain was still damn near debilitating.

Bodey moved beside me, the area around his eyes strained. The two of us marched forward, the others following close behind.

I tapped into my wolf to heighten my senses. I heard scurrying not too far ahead, along with the sound of doors shutting. We were close to the mansion.

Finally.

I dreaded the next part. We didn’t know the layout of her house, which meant we were going in blind. The drones hadn’t been able to get close enough to get an idea of the setup inside without alerting Kel’s guards.

The nine of us moved efficiently. To Dina’s credit, she kept up.

The woods opened up, revealing a small garden.

Bodey stopped, lifting his hand, and pointed to the left, where the mansion peeked through the thinning trees.Let’s head straight there.

Dina shook her head and pointed at the garden. She murmured, barely louder than a breath, “That’s all herbs, so it likely belongs to the coven. I can see an aloe plant, which would help your wounds. I’ll get some while you all scope out the house.”

The garden was fifty feet away, but there was no one close by. All sounds of movement indicated that people were outside the house or heading toward the wolves we’d left behind.

Why weren’t any wolves looking for us here?

“Hurry,” Bodey muttered.We need to watch for a minute to see if we can figure out who’s here.

I moved to the edge of the tree line and hunkered down behind some brush. Queen Kel’s mansion was huge and gorgeous, fronted by a rolling green lawn and a pond with stones around it. The pale-yellow house was two stories high, with a deck that spanned the entire top floor and stairs that led to a cement pathway to the pond. What was most interesting was that there was an attached garage as well as another garage separated from the house.

Every light was on, and several men ran past the top-level windows toward the left side of the house, right above the attached garage.

That had to be where the queen’s bedroom was.

Six people stood in front of the house, confirming the counts from Russell and his men.

The backup guards are arriving,Bodey linked with the royal advisors and me as he squatted next to me, his arm brushing mine.

The contact was exactly what I needed. The jolt of our connection eased some of the pain and anxiety swirling within me.

That’s good.Miles crouched beside me.As long as we move before more wolves get here.

How are things going back there?Miles linked with Bodey, me, and his men, who were in the woods with the other sixty wolves.

Some wolves have split off and are heading your way,a woman replied, confirming what we already knew.

Kel would make sure she was heavily guarded.

“What’s the plan?” King Sutton muttered as the others came and sat behind us.

I hated that we couldn’t pack link. We had to ensure we were all in agreement. “We pick off the guards one by one.” I removed the firearm from my side. “We’re hidden. They aren’t. We stay here and fire until we’re forced to come out.”

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