Hayden’s head pops through the neck of a thick wool sweater. “We were looking for the facility where they’re holding the shifters. I didn’t expect we’d find the honey trap. Dealing with her is an entirely different mission.”
I stare at the boots, debating if I should shift to my wolf form and take off. Going against orders, not having backup on an op… that’s not me either. And yet I can’t get Angelina’s image out of my head, especially the moment her lips trembled and opened, as if she wanted to say more but couldn’t. “We need to save her.”
“Not sure what we’ll do about the woman. That’s Damien’s call.”
“She has a name. Angelina.”
“Testy, testy,” Frank clicks his tongue. “All over a traitor.”
“If I recall, you blood-bonded a murderer, and Callen’s mated to a white wolf. Fuck, Haydenisa white wolf. If ever there was a traitor?—”
Frank slams me into a tree. “You’re still hurting, and I get that, but I’m only gonna say this once. Hayden’s proved his loyalty to this pack time and time again. He’s pack, as much as you. Get your shit together.”
“He shouldn’t have had to prove anything,” I agree. “He was a victim. Just like that woman back there.”
Hayden walks away, as if we’re not talking about him, and heads straight to his very pregnant mate. Her long dark hair falls forward as he lifts her, swings her around, then gently sets her down again and curves his hand over her swollen belly. It’s the only time I see Hayden smile. When he’s with her.
Callen clamps a hand down on my shoulder. “Debriefing’s in an hour. Argue about it then.”
They don’t need me for the debriefing. There’s nothing I could add, especially since Damien will make his decisions without any input from me. I should head to my cabin, where I won’t have to deal with him or anyone. Except then there’ll be no one to stand up for Angelina.
“I’ll be there.”
Kate jumps into Callen’s embrace. There’s something about her that makes me smile. Maybe it’s how she’s one of the few who doesn’t listen to orders around here. Maybe that’s the white wolf in her.
My eyes dart from Callen and Kate, past the shifters setting bins of decorations beneath the huge tree at the other end of the compound, to Hayden talking with Damien. The alpha and his second are staring at me.
“You don’t fault Kate for her Novak heritage, then why fault Hayden?” Frank asks.
He doesn’t get it. None of them do. I haven’t been myself for quite some time. “Kate wasn’t responsible for what happened to Marla.”
“Neither was Hayden.”
“He was there.”
“A lot of us were.”
“He was in charge.”
“Marla shouldn’t have been there.”
I slam the boots I’m holding into Frank’s chest. “But she was.” I shift, surrendering full control to my wolf.
The wind rips through my fur as my paws strike the cold, wet earth. Letting my wolf race from camp and through the woods with total recklessness is utterly freeing. Until a larger wolf slams into me and pins me.
Blue eyes glare at me, but there’s no display of teeth or even a growl.
I shift to human form and shove at Damien’s wolf. “Get off!”
Damien shifts as he backs off me. “What am I going to do about you, Garrett? You’re talking back to Hayden, provoking Frank… fuck, even Callen, who has to be the easiest going shifter I know.”
“He’s your fucking enforcer.”
“Would you rather I assign someone who’s unstable to the position?”
“I don’t fucking care what you do, Damien. I’m going back for Angelina.”
“The traitor Hayden told me about?”
