His jaw saws side to side. “I don’t love this location. Very remote. See the hills on every side?” He points to some squiggles on the terrain map that show higher elevations. “The lab is supposedly tucked down in the middle. We get there and we’re easy targets if they’ve got even a single sniper hidden in the surrounding trees.”
Nerves start to buzz beneath my skin, but instead of anxiety, I get a rush of anticipatory euphoria as I grin over at the other alpha. My heartbeat speeds, and the thrill I normally only get from battle or riding my bike or fucking my mate crests inside my veins.
“Well, today just got more interesting,” I say.
His lips purse. “I don’t like it.”
Luka never likes it these days. Bringing Brylee with us makes him stress harder, plan twice as much. He wants to cocoon our mate in bubble wrap.
But he knows that she won’t allow it.
And I know she’s got what it takes.
My sweet omega pushes open a set of double doors ahead of us, smashing them apart before calling out over her shoulder,“We’ve got a half-hour drive this time. Make sure we have some smoke bombs and lots of flashlights.”
Colter runs over to a supply cabinet in the corner of our current outpost and fills a bag with the items she requested.
Meanwhile, Kylian struts over, hands in his pockets. He looks casual, but as he stands beside me, I can tell there’s something slightly off with his scent. He’s actually nervous.
“This better be it,” he mutters under his breath.
I nod, knowing precisely what he means without him having to say it aloud.
The hunt for the scientist that the queen kidnapped has been fucking hell. The woman knew how to cover her tracks, and apparently, quite literally, trusted no one with information. We’ve been sent on at least half a dozen snipe hunts trying to unearth the lab for Project Harpax and find the scientist who can unravel that fucking nightmare.
If today’s mission doesn’t go well…
The princes are running out of time.
Doctor Tamara is barely managing their symptoms. All infected alphas, including the royals, have been moved to our outpost, far from the city and any population centers.
Those alphas are bombs ticking down.
The ride isn’t long, but once we exit the city, it’s all dirt roads that send up clouds of dust, announcing our presence as if we were blasting our music. At least it’s nearing sunset, so we’ll have the cover of dusk soon.
My head stays on a swivel as we get closer to our destination, a hand on my rifle. Colter maneuvers the jeep off the road and around some bushes, so at least the vehicle isn’t a blazing eyesore from the road, in case someone’s looking.
Hopefully no one’s looking.
But a prickle on the back of my neck and a hook in my gut both tell me that’s wishful thinking.
We climb out, and I lift my weapon immediately, scanning our perimeter before I let the guys open the back doors so Brylee can exit.
“Clear,” I call, scouting forward into the trees.
They all clamber out and get the gear from the back.
After scaling the nearest tree, I lean against the trunk and do another scan. I can see the building nestled in the valley. A double-wide meant to deceive innocent passersby into believing there’s absolutely nothing remarkable about this place. A trailer with peeling brown paint that will make people avert their eyes from poverty.
The tromp down the hill is slow and arduous but uneventful.
“Stop here.” My little mate has her devious face on, an expression I don’t even know she’s consciously making, but it’s one that I know means she’s about to pull the rug out from under us.
She turns to Colter, who’s shucking most of the gear so that Kylian and I can patrol ahead and Luka can use infrared goggles to search the area for traces of heat.
“Can I get those smoke bombs and flashlights, please?” she asks, polite and sweet as can be.
Colter hands over the flashlights, and Brylee takes them, kneeling on the ground. She pulls a tube and a compact from her pocket, quickly twists up a lipstick, and scribbles the red wax onto the lens. She picks up another and does the same. Then she opens the compact, revealing an orangish base color.
