Page 61 of Alpha Bond

Shit.

Sierra’s eyes fly wide. “What…? Jagger?” She stares at me in dazed confusion, and I’m not sure if it’s because of the disruption or because she can’t figure out why I’m here.

I lean down and brush my lips over hers. “Sleep, beautiful. I’ll take care of this.”

I’ll take care of everything. Forever.

She gives a sleepy smile, and her lashes flutter shut again. Reluctantly, I untangle myself from her and slide out of the bed. Reaching for my discarded shorts, I pull them on and leave the room.

“What do you want?” I hiss through the front door. “My mate is sleeping.” I love the way that sounds.

“It’s Rack. He’s on the move.”

I snap to attention. “Wait here.” I sprint back to the bedroom, retrieving my clothes. Pulling my pants on and dragging my shirt over my head, I have my boots in one hand as I meet Casey in the hallway.

“Bad day to be sleeping in late, dude.” Casey raises an eyebrow. Her nostrils flare, and she inhales. Both brows shoot up. I didn’t get a chance to shower, and I know I’m coated in Sierra’s scent.

“Cut the shit, Casey. What’s going on?” I shove my feet into my boots, setting one foot at a time onto a nearby bench to lace them up as I look over my shoulder at her.

“One of the patrols we sent out picked up tracks. Close.” Her mouth tightens into a grim line. “He’s moving faster than we thought.”

“Fuck.” I straighten. After we’d left Titer yesterday, we’d taken matters into our own hands. Between the three of us, we’d organized the troops into teams and sent them out on scouting missions. The bulk of them had been dispatched to the area surrounding the industrial complex we’d seen, but I had others covering the rest of our territory. I don’t want to take chances. But it’s spread us thin here at the base. We’d be hard-pressed to hold off a home ground attack right now.

Goddamn fool, Law!

If I want to think of myself as leadership material, I can’t afford to make rookie mistakes. I need to outmaneuver the enemy. I can’t underestimate him.

“You’re beating yourself up because you sent most of our teams out and left hardly anyone here.” Casey reads my mind. “Don’t. You did the right thing. We can call in some of the nearby forces if anything goes pear-shaped at home. I don’t think that’s going to happen. I think he’s testing the waters before he launches any kind of attack.”

Listening to her, it occurs to me that leadership is a team game. Titer handled all the decision-making on his own. That left us weak when he took a downward turn. Steel Lakes needs a strong leader group instead of just one man at the helm. And I think that Casey’s assumptions are probably on the money.

“You’re right. Thank you.” We’re on our way to Callum’s office. When we arrive, Gage Heller is standing in front of his desk.

“Law,” he says brusquely, dipping his head in greeting.

I return the gesture and then focus on Callum. “Casey says that Rack’s been active.”

“Yes. Gage was just giving me a report.”

I look at the tall male. “Your team made the discovery?”

“We did.” He faces me. “We picked up traces two hours in from the eastern border.”

“Wolf or human?”

“Wolf.”

“Shit.” They’re brazen. Most shifters don’t travel in packs, and certainly not during the day. There’s too much chance of being spotted. “Did you get numbers?”

“About twenty strong.” He folds his arms over his chest. It’s the only indication of any tension between us. Which is good. We don’t have time to deal with personal issues. Especially over a woman. Although to be fair, he wasn’t one of Sierra’s most persistent pursuers.

“Any idea of what they were up to?”

“Can’t say. Could be a scouting party. Getting a lay of the land. But…” He shrugs. We both know it’s unlikely. Rack’s base is too well established. He already knows this territory.

“They’re looking for our weaknesses. Planning an attack.” I’m sure of it.

“I agree,” Heller says. “I’ve been in comms with some of our other patrols, and they reported similar activity. Large groups circling Steel Lakes.”

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