Page 43 of Alpha Geek

Amelia only noticed the devices subconsciously. The rest of her attention was taken by thoughts of Tripp … Tripp in danger. Tripp breaking up with her to protect her. Tripp telling her to stay away.

Her mate was in danger, and every fiber in her body screamed at her. Every one of her nerve endings were on fire.

When Amelia looked down, she was clutching one of Tripp’s ties. She was holding onto it so tightly that her hands had gone white. The tie was completely twisted in her hands. Her shifter strength had ruined it beyond repair.

“Alright, everyone, listen up.” Nick stood from his chair as more people entered the room. They jostled among one another. But Amelia did not even care.

Not until Nick called her name.

“Amelia.”

She looked up at him. She felt emotionless. His eyes widened. What was he seeing on her face?

“Are you ready?”

She nodded.

Nick turned to everyone in the room. The room was filled with the most elite shifters working for the agency.

They were the best, the strongest, the fastest.

And Nick was there, organizing them into teams. Each team would have a role in the rescue mission.

“That’s not going to work,” Amelia found herself saying. It seemed she had been listening to Nick speak. And her subconscious mind had picked up several flaws in his plan.

The part of her that was one of the best strategists in the agency took over. There was no way she was letting anyone mess up her chance to get her mate back.

So Amelia shoved Tripp’s tie onto the chair beneath her and stood.

She cleared her throat, looking at the faces in the conference room. These weren’t the people she worked with every day.

But it didn’t matter how well she knew them. They all looked at her with sympathy and understanding.

Each one of them knew the fear of losing a mate. It was the most painful thing any shifter could experience.

Amelia had met two shifters whose mates had died. The experience had driven them insane. Both those shifters were mere shells of the people they had once been. It was as though someone had cut their hearts out. It was as though someone had removed a limb or cut out a piece of their lung.

It was difficult to breathe once your mate was gone. You stopped living. All you did was survive from day to day.

Every shifter in that room had the same fear she did. That one day, their mate might be in danger. That one day, their mate might not come back home to them.

The conference room was so quiet that Amelia could hear Nick inhaling and exhaling. She could also hear his heartbeat.

Erratic. Skipping every other beat. Tripping over itself. Her own heart was thudding on time. Exactly as it was supposed to.

Why am I so calm?Amelia thought to herself.Why aren’t I panicking? Why aren’t I passed out with worry?

The thoughts crossed her mind, each in lightning-quick succession.

Because if you panic, you waste time. And wasting time means losing Tripp,a stern voice in her head replied.

“Okay.” Her voice was curt and efficient when she spoke. “This is how we’re going to do things. There are six of you here. Thank you for helping.”

Each one of the shifters nodded at her thanks.

“So we’re eight in total. We will all split up into teams of two, as Nick said. But we aren’t going to just attack Craig. We have to assume he has more guards than we do. We have to assume they’re stronger, and they have weapons.”

Nick nodded along in agreement. He had never been the best strategist. But he was great at business.

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