Page 90 of Wulf's Pack
Her eyes fill with tears, and she starts to sniffle. “With Dad and Uncle Mike dead, it’s just my aunt, my mom, my best friend’s mom, and the eight of us kids. My brother Daniel is the oldest. He’s twenty-six, and my cousin Reese is the youngest. She’s two.”
She swipes at her wet eyes. “If Daniel is still alive, it’s because he didn’t fight in order to protect everyone else.Ifhe’s still alive.” She hiccups. “There’s no way to know. My connection with my luna is still there, but it’s faint, and she’s not responding.”
She starts sobbing in earnest. Pain streaks across Brett’s face, and he gets out of his chair. He crosses the room and sits down beside her. She curls into his chest as she falls apart.
Easton and I share a look. Death is too good for Victor and his wolves, but we’re going to kill him anyway. “Why in the world would Victor go after these people?” Easton asks. “They aren’t a strong pack that he could take over and use to his advantage. He doesn’t know them. He had no reason to hurt them.”
“He probably wanted the compound,” Brett says over the top of Ashlyn’s head. His arms are wrapped tight around the girl.
“Compound?” Easton asks.
“Mike and Thomas have spent the last five years safeguarding their property. They were worried about their old pack coming after them. There are three houses, a central rec room, and a small security building where you can monitor all the security cameras that are set up all over the property. It also has an armory full of weapons meant to take down all kinds of underworlders and several holding cells. Each building is fortified with steel doors and bulletproof windows, and the entire perimeter is warded with both sorcerer and fae magic. It’s a fortress.”
“Well, shit,” Easton blurts.
I lean forward, resting my elbows on my knees and holding my throbbing head in my hands. Could my luck be any worse? “As if taking down twenty-five strong alphas isn’t going to be hard enough for us? How the hell are we supposed to get into a place like that?”
Ashlyn peeks her head out of Brett’s chest. “There’s a tunnel,” she croaks. “It leads from a hidden door in the floor of the kids’ playhouse near the lake to a small cottage just outside the property. Uncle Mike bought the cottage using a different name, so they shouldn’t know about it. I can get us past the locks and wards, but it’s a long walk from the playhouse to the security building, and there are cameras everywhere.”
Hope blooms in my chest. With a secret entrance like that, we can sneak in, keeping the element of surprise, and hopefully take them out quickly. I look at Easton and see excitement shining in his eyes. He’s thinking along the same lines as me. “That’s the advantage we need,” he says.
I nod. “We can do this.”
I jump to my feet, feeling suddenly restless and start pacing the length of the living room. I meet Easton’s gaze with wild eyes. My brain is spinning, and my wolf is getting revved up. He’s ready for blood, and I’m right there with him. I open the link to the entire pack.We’ve located Skylar. Ben, Isabella, come to the auto repair shop two blocks east of Main on Genesee. Bree, get everyone who is willing to fight. We’re ending this tonight.
Chapter
Twenty-Nine
While we’re waiting for the rest of the pack to get here, I send Ben and Isabella to scout out the compound. Having their eyes in the sky will be a blessing. They can keep an eye on things, and from the air the wolves won’t pick up their scent or recognize them as shifters. And Victor has no reason to suspect them. He doesn’t know I have a pair of hawks in my pack. While they’re scoping the place out, Ashlyn draws up a crude map of the compound and she, Brett, Easton, and I strategize as much as possible without having knowledge of who is being kept where.
Every minute that passes has my anxiety levels rising. I’m a mix of nerves and anticipation. This night will be bloody, and my pack is definitely the underdogs. I have confidence we can pull this off, but at what cost? I’m worried about my mate. I’m worried about my pack. I’m worried about the women and children that are being held captive, if they haven’t already been killed. I don’t know enough about Victor to judge whether he would keep prisoners or just slaughter everyone. Either way, it’s a horrible situation, and I’m willingly leading my pack into it.
After the longest hour and a half of my life, the pack arrives, and Ben and Isabella return with information. We can’t all fit in Brett’s small apartment, so we gather in a park across the street. Night has fallen, and it’s full dark. Hopefully that makes it easier to sneak up on them.
We gather under a large ramada. Everyone takes a seat at the various picnic tables, and suddenly all attention is on me. The weight of responsibility strikes me again, but I try to push back any fear and doubts. This pack needs me to be strong and confident. I need to be smart. We can’t win against Victor’s pack based solely on strength. We’re going to have to outsmart them, and the better prepared we are, the better our chances of a successful outcome.
I do a quick headcount. There are nineteen of us, including Brett and Ashlyn. Two of them are new faces, a male and female. Considering the way the woman is clutched to Jack’s side and the young man is standing next to them, I figure this is Sophia’s mom and brother. “Who’ve we got here?”
Jack pulls his shoulders back and sits up straight. He squeezes the woman at his size. “This is my mate, Pam, and my son, Caleb.”
Pam gives me a small smile. “I know we’re not pack yet, but we couldn’t leave our family to fight without our help.”
I don’t blame them one bit, and I’m happy to have them. We need all the help we can get. “Glad to have you with us.”
I scan the faces. Almost everyone is here. “Audrey?” I ask. “Is she okay?”
Elise speaks up. “She’s doing okay. Still a little weak and pretty traumatized, but she’s tough. She took Abby and went to stay with Rebecca and her youngest son at the Island Lake pack. Alpha Fuller has agreed to take them in as pack if…”
Her voice trails off, and the mood grows somber. The tension rises, and fear starts to permeate the air. Dennis is the first tobreak the silence. “Even Abby?” he asks Sophia, voice filled with worry.
Elise gives him a small nod. “He’s aware of Abby’s sorcerer side, but says all children need a pack. He claims he owes Alpha Winters and is happy to help his allies. He assured me Abby would be welcomed and well taken care of.”
Dennis’s shoulders sag, and the breath wooshes out of him in relief.
Elise continues with her report. “Alpha Fuller said that should the worst happen, any member of this pack who survives the battle will have a place with him, if they so choose. Ben, Isabella, and Bree included, but he couldn’t guarantee the pack would be very happy with the idea or welcoming of other shifters in their ranks.”
I take a breath. It’s nice to have a contingency plan, but it bothers me that we need one. “Hopefully, it won’t come to that.”
