Page 92 of Bad Wolf's Nanny
Sam was with Eva and Thea, and the other kids in Rick’s safe room with a couple of trusted enforcers watching them. There were protocols for incidents like this. Plans in place. Contingencies that ensured the safety of the weaker members of the pack.
His son might be safe, but Lola wasn’t. And that was a problem.
Dane’s wolf snarled low and constant inside him, a ceaseless growl that rattled his bones. It was taking everything he had not to tear off toward the club, Red Teeth be damned. But he couldn’t. Not until Felix gave the word. Not until they knew what they were walking into.
“Here it is,” Nicolas said, his voice clipped.
The room tensed as the footage from the club played on the screen. At first, everything seemed normal. The camera over the bar caught the women laughing and sipping drinks. Lola was at the edge of the frame; he could just make out her profile, her dark hair twisted up, her hands resting protectively over her belly. She looked…happy. Or at the very least, like she was trying to be.
His throat closed up.
Then, movement.
The front doors crashed open. Figures surged in, at least six, maybe more. Armed, massive, and moving with coordinated brutality. Red Teeth was at the front. Even through the grainy footage, the jagged bone mask he wore gleamed like something out of a nightmare.
Dane’s hands curled into fists at his sides.
The footage had no sound, but it didn’t need it. Chairs scraped, drinks spilled, women screamed. Red Teeth didn’t flinch. He strode to the center of the club and gestured sharply. His alphas fanned out, dragging cables, planting charges. It was methodical. Fast. Controlled.
Dust billowed from the front door as the entrance caved in, shaking the furniture, clouding the screen.
Then static.
The image went white for a moment, then black.
No feed. No signal. No answer.
Felix didn’t move.
Nicolas swore under his breath, stepping back from the console like it had burned him.
“They knew exactly where the cameras were,” Rick said quietly. His voice was devoid of emotion. He wasn’t even blinking. “They had the layout memorized. This was planned.”
Felix’s eyes narrowed.
Dane exhaled hard, teeth gritted so tightly his jaw ached. He could feel the rage rising again, clawing up his spine, screaming for blood. His wolf was too close to the surface, wild and frantic. He thought of Lola, trapped inside. Of her fear. Of her trying to protect their child.
He thought he might lose his tenuous grip on his sanity.
“They’re baiting us,” Nicolas said. He crossed his arms, face stony. “They knew we’d see this. They wanted us to.”
“It’s a challenge, yes,” Rick added, “they want us to storm in blind.”
“Then we fucking go,” Dane growled. His voice was rough, like gravel. “We go now.”
Felix raised a hand, stopping him. “We don’t rush in without a plan. That’s exactly what they want.”
“So what?” Dane demanded, turning on him, “We sit on our hands while they hold them hostage? While he—”
His voice broke. He couldn’t say her name. Not like this. Not when she might already be—
“We go,” Felix said. His tone was calm. Deadly. “But we go smart. We prep, we gather our best, and we hit them hard and fast.”
Rick finally stepped forward, arms folded, eyes like shards of glass. “I’ll alert the American packs. If we don’t return in two hours, Silvermist goes into lockdown. They’ll need to prepare. If we go dark, it’ll destabilize the international balance.”
Nicolas nodded once, “I’ll authorize full use of our security arsenal. We’ve been stockpiling for a reason.”
Dane didn’t know if he could wait even another second. His chest felt tight. His hands were shaking.
