“No, I don’t. But it’s the only way.”
He faces forward again, discussion over. I always hated.
Let the enemy get comfortable, lower their guard.I never fully understood how I’d use that piece of advice Garrett gave me, until now.
I slouch in the seat and close my eyes, make it look like I’m drifting off. Ronin and Lars discuss which route to use, whether they should have killed Pryce. They don’t know him, don’t care to know him, but they’re worried he’ll report my disappearance. These males who talk about killing another shifter so easily aren’t the shifters I grew up with. Or maybe they are, but we’ve all changed to survive.
I’m no longer the supply master who takes orders from her alpha without question. The shifter who believed there are no choices in pack life, only a role to play.
Ronin will have to do more than kidnap to make me disappear from Garrett’s life. I scan the car and shifters inside. It’s another cage.
One I can escape.
I shift, and before either male can realize what I’m doing I leap through the open window… into oncoming traffic.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
GARRETT
Five white wolves surround us the moment we cross into Novak territory. Barely a mile in. I remain in wolf form while Hayden shifts.
“You don’t have permission to be here,” the largest of the border guards says to Hayden.
“Either bring Drake here or let me pass.”
“Having trouble following simple instructions, Hayden? Your mate’s heavy with a kitten, and you’ve forgotten how to think like a wolf. Predictable.”
To my utter surprise, Hayden doesn’t move a muscle. Back home, he’d shred anyone who even looked at Mila with disrespect. Only when I shift to human form, does he stretch his arm out, fist closed, signaling me to hold my position.
“I see why you left your birth pack.” I don’t bother lowering my voice. “Nothing but animals here.”
The guard shifts and charges—not at me, but at Hayden—only to be sideswiped mid-lunge by a larger wolf.
“I said hold your position. That includes your mouth,”Hayden snaps at me, unconcerned by the white wolf that’s shifting to human form after slicing down the center of the guard’s chest.
“Hayden, we agreed you wouldn’t enter without permission. Fortunately, I’m in a good mood. For now.” Drake. Hayden’s brother and this pack’s alpha. His expression sours. “Leave.”
“Were any of your males in Devil’s Peak today?” Hayden presses as if the pack’s alpha didn’t just threaten him. “Two shifters kidnapped one of our females.”
“Do you think I’d condone such behavior?” Drake doesn’t bother hiding his smirk.
Hayden lifts a brow.
Fuck this. I step forward. “Do you have her?” I demand.
Hayden grabs me by the shirt and glares at me with those sharp green eyes, silencing me without words, before turning back to the alpha. “What will it cost me, Drake?”
“Intel isn’t cheap.”
“Name your price.”
“I don’t want money. I need a shifter who can infiltrate a human facility. Covertly.”
Fuck, the alpha knows exactly who I am.
“I’ll do it.”
“Not your decision,” Hayden says over his shoulder to me. His gaze remains locked on Drake. “Only if the intel pays off.”
