Page 175 of Carmichael's Omega

Three taps let me know that the Beta's tech guy has the signal. Now, we're linked to the Cartel's radio wavelength.

It's quiet on the walkie-talkie and even quieter in the desert. The more wary prey knows to hide tonight. Too bad for the humans that they didn't know to hide, too.

Another cough from the radio. Three taps followed quickly by three more. Rique and Holt have taken out the guards on the hills.

We can move more swiftly now. By the time the Beta's males re-join us, they've repositioned their weapons and are no longer dripping water.

"Four teams ready?" the Beta asks us. He gets his affirmatives; then we separate out again. His wolves stay on feet. The LoboGris are on paws. Each team has a mixture of both wolf and man, LoboGris and ClearHowl.

The ClearHowl male on my team holds up his hand and taps his ear. He listens to the private signal coming from Leilani and motions to us to get down.

"One spell. Town. Five minutes," he mutters in a near-soundless whisper that is succinct and doesn't carry beyond our ears.

We wait until the Beta's team gives us the all-clear. Only a minute from the town, the Cartel's walkie-talkie crackles to life. We all pause. Frustration scores me, makes my alpha curl his lip at his yet unseen enemies. We are so close.

Rapid Spanish can be heard from the radio. "Tadeo, verificar."It clicks again, and we hear nothing in response. The request is repeated, and I shift back to feet and pick up the radio.

"Si," I let the radio crackle, "bueno."

I hear nothing else from the walkie. We all wait for an alarm to be raised for another question to crackle over the radio. Silence is the only response I get. "Let's go," I say grimly.

The four teams pour into the small town through back alleys and shadowy streets. According to the bitch's info, the head of the cartel, her mate Benito, is inside a warehouse on the outskirts of town.

She's lying, of course. The tracking device inside of Dylan lets us know that he's in a brothel located in the town center. The bitch let it slip that Benito has a fondness for Dylan. A brothel with sex slaves is much more palatable to a sick fuck like Benito than a dirty, hot warehouse filled with drugs. Benito is nothing if not a purepinche cabrón.

My team is going to the brothel. My alpha-wolf is embarrassingly giddy. If we don't take out Benito, then at least we get Dylan as a consolation prize.

The Beta's team is going to the warehouse. Assuming it's a trap, he wanted his best snipers and fighters on that team. If I liked him, I would be pissed at missing the opportunity to watch them fight. The other two teams are parsed out through the town, ready to hit any scouts or stragglers that come their way.

All three of the other teams are in place before mine manages to work its way deep into the town. When we finally see it, excitement lights up. My alpha-wolf is pacing, snarling, a barely leashed predator. I push him back but can't stop the claws from pushing and glinting through my fingertips. We both want blood.

The brothel is a three-story rectangular building made of yellow adobe. Every window is lit up, and noise spills from open shutters and doorways into the streets beyond. In contrast, the rest of the road is comparatively quiet and dark except for a smallpulqueriaand a couple of private homes. We are careful not to be seen, sticking to the shadows and avoiding the light from the buildings.

Something is going on at this brothel. Something more than pussy, ass, and drugs.

I slide back into paws, slinking toward a side door in a small, dark alley. When I get closer, I can see armed men standing on the rooftop. Another paces in a nearby garden. Inside the brothel, I see a shotgun barrel, then the silhouette of a man, pass behind curtains sheer from the light pouring through them. I assume that there are others in the recesses of the building. If they aren't actively guarding the place now, then their guns aren't far from hand.

I huddle low in the dark, waiting, listening, observing their movements, their numbers. There are too many to take down quickly. We don't have a good layout of the building. We'll be entering blind. A disadvantage that the Beta and I discussed before coming here.Don't engage until the distraction is lit.

When I hear shouting, I grow tense, ready. A Red-orange light glows in the distance. Men run from the brothel, carrying their heavy automatic weapons with them.

It takes all my force of will to stop my wolf from leaping at the two men who run out of the alley. I force my legs to carry me to the door instead, swinging wide open and now unguarded.

I slink inside, watchful for more Cartel members. The inside of the small kitchen is empty.Perfecto. I continue, on paws, until I am near the front door. It's now opened, with a man holding a rifle staring out of the crack.

I shift back to feet, just a breath away from his back. He feels it. Maybe it's the energy of the shift, the sudden drag on the back of his neck, the eyes glaring at the pulse leaping in the side of his throat. Who knows what he senses, but he stiffens and turns.

I rip his throat out with my claws on my left hand, catching his rifle with my right.

I open the door, and a moment later, Jose and Elias rush through the door, still on paws.

Again, we wait. There are at least two staircases in this building, and the rooms and hallways are like a rabbit's warren. We need a distraction.

Devel lights up as the fire is lit all around him. Just his silhouette at first, then, as the flames crawl up to the night sky, higher and higher, he is highlighted in stark relief. Orange light playing over his scars and tattoos make him look demonic. He tosses his head back and screams.

When the first bullets are fired toward him, he's already gone back to the shadows. More shells rain down at the flames, at the disappearing act.

A dark shape appears and is cut down in a hail of bullets. One of the cartel. A scream pierces the air, then quickly cuts off. More shouts and a few feminine screams come from upstairs as the brothel becomes more aware of what is happening outside.

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