Page 131 of Knot my Alphas

I glance at Julian before looking at the phone in Raiden’s palm.

“Iris is okay,” Raiden says breathlessly. “Julian and I are with her right now.”

“Thank fuck,” he says, letting his breath out in a rush.

“She knocked him out,” Julian says, grinning with pride. “The asshole’s all bloody in the face.”

“Good job, Wildcat,” Damon’s voice sounds from the phone.

“You’re with Caleb too?” I ask.

He lets out a sigh. “Yeah. There’s been a bit of situation down here...”

“Lock Callahan in the bathroom and come down here,” Caleb says in a commanding tone. “Even better if Raiden stays back and guards the door. We can’t afford to let him escape.”

“Is something wrong?” Julian asks.

“You and Iris need to come down to the entrance hall,” Caleb says in a grim tone. “Raiden should stay back and guard Callahan.”

The call gets switched off.

“What’s going on?” I ask, looking between Raiden and Julian.

“No idea, but you guys should get going,” says Raiden as he gestures toward the door. “Come on.”

Grabbing my shoes, I put them on before following Raiden and Julian out of the bathroom.

Raiden locks the door and stands to his full height. Dressed in his military uniform, he looks dangerously imposing.

“Don’t take your eyes off her,” Raiden says in a grim tone. “Iris is the target. We know Callahan has come prepared to steal her away but we can’t let that happen.”

“Don’t worry,” says Julian. “I won’t mess up this time.”

Raiden gestures for us to get going.

Grabbing my hand, Julian pulls me alongside him. We hurry down the hallway and down the staircase to reach the entrance hall.

The mellow sound of people conversing has turned into a loud buzz, like that of a thousand angry bees. The palpable tension seems to leech out through the open doors, telling me something is wrong even before we’re there.

“Do you hear that?” Julian whispers.

“Yeah. Let’s find out what’s going on.”

Entering the vast room, we find everyone staring at a large screen. It’d been installed to display a slideshow of Solveig Pack’s military competence but something very different was being played on it right now.

At first glance, it looks like a movie but the shaky, sometimes hazy quality of the video tells me it’s being filmed in real-time.

More than a dozen armed men are standing around a vast room that looks like a middle school gym. More than a hundred children of varying ages are seated in the center of the basketball court. There are a couple of older men and women who’re dotted among them but their hands are handcuffed behind them.

“It’s a hostage situation,” Julian whispers in my ear.

My head whips toward him.

Julian nods at the shocked look on my face.

The name “Black Widow” is on every lip. The faces of other military leaders are drawn and grim. Every young soldier in the room looks anxious.

Caleb and Damon rush toward us.

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