I square my shoulders and stride back into Ryan’s office as if nothing happened, ignoring the burn of Luca’s presence trailing close behind me.
Caleb is leaning over the desk, pointing at the map. Ryan and Jackson are standing on the other side of the desk.
“We do this quietly, and we do it cleanly. They see us coming, and who knows what they could do. From my contact, there are thirty-six omegas in that building,” Caleb says.
Thirty-six. My stomach sinks.
But then I notice it: the flicker in his gaze toward Jackson. Barely a second, but I catch it. Something is going on. Something he’s not telling us.
Caleb arrived on the scene and rescued Emily from a rapist piece of shit, and we have all trusted him ever since. But for the first time, I don’t.
“What aren’t you telling us?” I ask.
Caleb's dark eyes slowly lift to mine, and his mouth turns down. His jaw ticks and his shoulders raise in tension; his body language screams that something is going on. But even if it didn’t, we’re shifters; we don’t need to notice visually to tell when something is going on. It’s in how he smells. The way his leathery pine scent takes on a bitter edge.
“Caleb?” Ryan asks, frowning.
“It’s nothing,” Caleb says too quickly, even as the bitterness of his scent intensifies to the point, I can practically taste it. “It’s not about the mission.”
“Then what is it? Is it about Katie?” I ask. My chest tightens, and I feel as though I already know the answer. Caleb's throat bobs as he swallows and draws to a stand at his full height of 6’5”. He faces Jackson beside me, and his eyes betray a deep agony and guilt. Emotion slams into me as I connect the dots. “Is she… is she dead?”
Is that why he isn’t telling us? Because he thinks we won’t participate in the rescue mission if we don’t have someone we care about to save? Like we need a personal stake in the race? I guess I couldn’t blame him for that. None of the males in this room besides him have put others in danger to save someone without a personal connection. Didn’t Luca just say he doesn’t give a fuck about the omegas? But Katie wasn’t the only omega to disappear from Lunar Eclipse that night.
My eyes bounce between Jackson and Caleb as the silence stretches painfully and the tension in the air ratchets up. Luca steps behind me, and his arms wrap around me. I shrug my shoulders tomove him off me, but he stands firm, and I’m too wrapped up in what’s happening to care.
“Katie…” Caleb starts, his voice cracking as pain bleeds through his expression. “She’s not dead. She… she’s my contact.”
All the air in my lungs comes rushing out. Relief collides with shock and hits me so hard my knees nearly give out. Luca holds me tighter, and I let him. Let myself lean on him for a moment while I try to pull myself back together.
“Why the fuck didn’t you tell me?” Jackson snarls, his voice barely above a whisper but dripping with anger all the same. “How the fuck would you feel if someone knew Camille was alive and didn’t tell you?”
“I know exactly how that feels!” Caleb yells with a snarl of his own. The truth pours out of him like it’s been burning a hole inside his chest. “Katie wouldn’t tell me whether Camille is in there or not. I could have gotten them out, but Katie is the one who stopped me! She said either they all get out, or no one does.”
He paces back and forth, taking deep breaths, trying to push his wolf back down. Trying—and judging by the yellow color of his irises and the thick black fur that still coats his arms—and failing to rein it in.
“I was staking out the location where they had the event. I saw a guy about to go in—human—tall, Black guy with a build similar to mine. It was like fate put him on my path. So, I grabbed him. After questioning him, I took his clothes and went inside in his place. I pretended I was one of their… customers to gain access, and that’s where I met Katie. She told me when and where we need toattack. And then I left alone because I could have only gotten a couple of them out, and she wouldn’t let me do anything that would separate them.”
None of us asks Caleb what he meant by ‘customers’ because partly, we can guess, and partly no one wants to speak the words. Jackson crumples into a chair, staring blankly ahead. All the fight drains from him in an instant. He looks hollow. Broken. His face is ashen, and his wolf has gone quiet.
My heart stutters in my chest, aching for him. Goddess, if I knew Ryan was in a situation like this… it would kill me. Knowing she’s been out there all this time.
I shoot Emily a mindlink, asking her to come over here as soon as possible. She’ll be able to feel the motions through the bond but Emily wouldn’t barge into the alpha office uninvited and Jackson needs his mate right now. I can’t imagine what he’s going through in this moment. Not only has his sister been alive all this time, but she’s also been in hell. And he had no idea. He would have done everything to save her if he had known.
I shrug out of Luca’s arms and walk to Jackson, dropping to my knees in front of him. “We’ll get her back; we’ll get them all back.”
Jackson doesn’t reply; he simply nods and stares past my shoulder. Like I’m not even here. I stand and lean forward to embrace him in a hug, hearing Luca snarl behind me. A ridiculous display of possession, but it works to snap Jackson out of his stupor.
“Seriously, Luca?” Jackson asks. “I’m mated, and Sofia is basically a sister to me.”
“I still don’t see why you would need to hug her,” Luca mutters, low and lethal. I can’t help grinning at how ridiculous he is behaving.
“I hugged him, actually.”
“Can we focus, please?” Ryan asks, his tone weary. This must be horrendous for him, too. We don’t know for sure, but it would make sense if his mate is in there. And that means she could be being tortured or raped, too.
“Right. Rescue mission,” I say, wanting to get back to what matters most: getting them out. Caleb has gotten his wolf back under control, and Jackson is mentally back in the room.
We discuss tactical plans, and I let the planning go ahead as if I won’t be there on the night. I will obviously. But Luca doesn’t need to be aware of that. I may not be able to back down from a challenge, but I sure as shit know how to protect my peace at the same time.
