Page 91 of Rogue Wolf

She closed her eyes and forced herself to try and calm. That’s what they were there to prevent, Kodiak’s demise. Tamaska rubbed a hand on her stomach as if that could help ease the pain inside. She opened her eyes. Even though she hadn’t been to the gym lately, everything that had happened, all the fighting that had unfolded proved to be the best work out.

If she survived and even if she got to fulfill her legacy, she’d devote time for combat training and learn some krav maga, anything that could enhance her strength and skill.

Of course thinking about it didn’t do anything but distract. But that was good. Because too many memories flooded her mind as she looked down the street and caught a glimpse of the nightclub.

Inside that place she’d seen her first vampires drinking blood from humans. Outside the club had been her first time seeing a wolf, and she’d been scared out of her mind. Although she’d hung onto it for all those years, her fear of dogs had lessened the more time she spent with Kodiak.

It still flared up sometimes, especially when she saw the old scars on her arms. Yet, there she was with a pack of dogs. She couldn’t deny that her fear still existed, as it simmered under the surface, but she had it under control.

And she’d come so far in such a short time.

She inhaled slowly, eyes fixed on the front door. Oh, she might feel the lick of dehabilitating fear. Of what she’d find, of what the vampires might do to her. But nothing on the planet could stop her going in. Nothing.

He would do the same for me.

And if he did, she would be furious, just as he would be with her.

She knew it, felt it, accepted it. That unwavering knowledge.

It wasn’t that she couldn’t live without Kodiak, but she couldn’t live with herself if she didn’t try to free him. And she’d much rather a world with him. She’d rather that than anything, even if he banished her, she could move on knowing somewhere her Kodiak still lived and breathed.

She needed to get him out. She—

“We’ve got your back, remember,” Onai said, interrupting the thoughts swamping her.

“They’ll know you’re here. Maybe you should park another block away?” said Tamaska. She leaned forward in her seat to look through the windscreen.

Channing said this was the perfect spot, but now she wasn’t sure. She was minutes away from going in, minutes from midnight and nothing could go wrong. Nothing.

“The vampires surely know we wouldn’t let you come here alone,” said Ash. “They risked coming to our place. They need you to walk in on your own. For whatever reason, but they’ll expect us to be around.”

“And that’s going to be a problem,” said Tamaska. “Right?”

“They won’t know how we’ll come in, though,” said Channing. “It’s going to be fine.”

Tamaska wasn’t convinced, but it wasn’t like they had any better options. They couldn’t just leave Kodiak to his fate among the vampires.

“They won’t know where we are, Tamaska. We’ve all masked our scent and dropped off pack members around the nightclub. They’ll stand ready to launch the attack. I figure they’ll decide there’s only one or two of us here. They’re arrogant, they don’t think we can plan. Besides, those bloodsuckers will be so distracted by you, they won’t realize we’re all here until it’s too late,” said Onai.

That was the best plan they could come up with in so short a time. Still, that knowledge didn’t calm Tamaska’s nerves as she sat in the van, waiting for the clock to tick closer to midnight.

“I should go in now. They said I have until midnight, not turn up on the dot.”

Onai sighed. “Ash thinks they need you at midnight, right?”

“It’s what makes sense. They could have said eight or ten or even one a.m. but midnight’s always significant in paranormal worlds. They need you at midnight. So we wait until as close as we can. It’ll push them to further distraction,” Ash said.

“We hope.” Tamaska twisted her hands together.

“We’re here with you. Stick to the plan. Tell them you’ll do nothing until they’ll free Kodiak. If they couldn’t touch you but tried to lure you into touching them it might mean something, so don’t touch them until Kodiak’s out the door. Then, we’ll take care of the rest,” said Onai.

Tamaska nodded, her stomach rippling with nerves. Shit, she hoped with everything she was they were right.

“I’ve disconnected their security,” said Ash. “We’re good to go.”

“Perfect timing,” said Onai.

The clock on the dashboard ticked. It was one minute to midnight.

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