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“No, thanks.” Shuddering dramatically, I drag a knowing smile from Rex and a weary chuckle from Cooper. “Rex, if you’ve gotten a taste for power, you could volunteer.”
Now it’s his turn to look horrified. “Fuck, no.” Rex scowls and looks between Cooper and me. “They can’t think that if we pay ransom money, that will be the end of it?”
I shrug. It’s the same question I keep asking myself. What is the end game here? Steel and Grey Ridge would never let such an act go unpunished. If they kidnapped his mate and child, Cooper wouldn’t rest until everyone involved was dead.
“You’re assuming you’re dealing with someone rational.” Cooper sighs and scrubs a hand down his face, looking exhausted. “To be honest, it doesn’t really matter. They just have to be stopped.”
Nodding, I slump onto a high stool, struggling to stay on my feet and maintain my cheerful facade. My wolf won’t stop pacing inside my head. He’s wallowing in self-pity while I’m in denial. It’s not exactly a healthy combination.
“What does Lucia say? If she interrogated the pack one by one, she’d find out who is involved pretty quickly.”
Tapping the counter as I choose my words carefully, I stare at the hallway, knowing Cooper’s world is fast asleep in their bed right now and that their safety weighs heavily on us all.
“I’m not sure that’s true. She might be the alpha’s daughter, but she doesn’t have that kind of command over the pack. Which is exactly the problem.” With a reluctant groan, I force my aching body onto my feet. “I haven’t had a chance to discuss any of this yet with her. Which is why I need to go back.”
I wait for the arguments to start, saying we’ll figure it out from here, but when they both stay quiet, I know how worried they are. They don’t have any better ideas.
“Why don’t you stay another night? You’re wrecked and you don’t sound like a man who’s dying to get back to his girlfriend.” Cooper studies me closely and, afraid my best friend might twig what’s going on with me, I make for the door.
“I can’t.” Shaking the hands of the men I consider brothers, I square my shoulders and suck in a deep breath. I can do this. Work out what the next attack is, warn Cooper and Steel, and hopefully take down the plot from the inside before anyone gets hurt.
Then find my errant mate and make her mine permanently.
Downstairs, Nathan and Maya have just arrived back and the packhouse is full of wolves, keen to wish them well. Marked now, their scents have changed slightly, and Nathan is grinning from ear to ear. It’s even harder to see a happily mated and marked pair now after what I’ve just gone through, but I’m not about to rain on Nathan’s parade by sharing my woes.
Maya’s shoulders stiffen as I approach. I don’t blame her for feeling awkward. I saw her at her most vulnerable. Nathan’s smile tightens when he sees me coming for them, worried she’ll get upset when she sees me. Instead of forcing us to endure a stilted conversation, I forego any formality and pick her up, hugging her tight and shaking her from side to side like she’s the little sister I love to annoy.
“I’m so thrilled for you both. He couldn’t have found a better mate. You probably could have done better, but c’est la vie.”
Messing up her hair to reinforce the playful dynamic, I laugh when Nathan scowls at me, pulling her back to his side. Nathan wants me to stay. I know he does, but I just can’t. What I do is promise I’ll return as soon as I can. It’s not what he wants to hear, but thankfully, the presence of the entire pack, all here to welcome Maya to the pack, he’s pulled away into another conversation.
Time to make a quick exit.
Sneaking out the door before anyone else asks me when I’m coming back, I leave my family behind once more. Next time I come back, that’ll be my party, my mate they’re greeting with open arms.
As I settle into the driver's seat of Lucia’s car, I pull out my phone and send Belle a message.
ETHAN: Don’t forget who you belong to. I’m coming for you, Belle.
30
BELLE
“This seems a bit over the top.”
The steel handcuffs, extra strong to hold shifters, bite into my wrists where Marcus has my arms twisted behind my back.
“Can’t be too careful, with you being some kind of dangerous assassin. Plus, you never know who’s watching.” Marcus’s deep brown eyes meet mine in the rearview mirror of his official police vehicle as he drives me out of Grey Ridge and away from my mate. Or should I say my former mate? Without him accepting the rejection, I’m not sure what we are.
“Hardly. I think that unassuming undercover operative would be a better description.” I wiggle my thumb and find that if I dislocated it, I could get these off.
When I look back up to the mirror, Marcus is watching me closely with a knowing look on his face. “Whatever you say.”
When he gives a mixture of a chuckle and a huff of disbelief, I can’t help smiling. Never did I think I’d voluntarily let myself be restrained and transported by a Lennox, but each day is a school day. Apparently, they’re not all bad. I don’t love these circumstances, but Bodhi and Marcus have thought of everything. Plus, they’re such nice guys, it’s easy to forget they lived most of their lives with this criminal gang.
“Do you think they believed Bodhi’s story?”
Two of Bodhi’s brothers, who also left the clan but have more regular contact with their siblings, said they’d spread the story we concocted: a rejected she-wolf seeking revenge. And she’ll pay handsomely to get it. Exactly the kind of easy work Leon Lennox is known to love, once the price is right.
