Solan drove, and Kaeli was in the back seat speaking quietly with Dove, one of the female security members.Leo was in the passenger seat, gripping the dashboard.Adam, from the back seat, cleared his throat and said, “Leo, we’ll find her.”
“It was bad enough when I thought it might just be Foley.Using her for bait or something.But Hawthorne?She could—” his voice cut off with an emotional snarl.
Solan glanced in the rearview at Kaeli.Her eyes were amber, her sage-and-honey scent hot and heavy in the cab of the truck as she wielded her magic tracking spell and told him which way to go.
Shit, he was falling hard for her.Sweet, protective badass female.
“Up here,” she said.“On the right, go slow, she’s close.”Her voice was low with a musical quality, ethereal and spooky at the same time.
Warehouses, abandoned after the company that built them went out of business years ago, sat like empty sentinels against the river.Solan stopped on the roadside near the entrance to the lot.Chains had closed the lot off to visitors, but they were broken now.
Everyone got out.Behind him, the other vehicles emptied as pack members and Mira’s dads—Auren and Rami—prepared to fight.The air smelled of stagnant water and old oil, and beneath it all, Solan could pick up the scent of humans.
A lot of them.
Foley was known to draw mercs to him with big payouts, and if he and Hawthorne were working together again, who the hell knew how many dangerous psychos were in there.
Solan grabbed Kaeli’s hand.“Glue,” he reminded her.
Her eyes darkened, the amber glowing with red undertones.“Glue.”
With quick direction from Adam, their group spread out.Solan and Kaeli stayed with Adam, Leo, Rami, and Auren, heading toward the warehouse, where a vehicle was visible from just behind it.
“Any idea how many are in there?”Rami asked in a low voice.
“Sorry, no,” Kaeli said.
“I’ll kill every damn last one who touched Mira,” Leo said with a snarl, his voice more growl than words.“Whoever’s in there, we’ll handle them.”
“Hell yes,” Auren said.
As they approached the warehouse, the front door burst open, and their surprise attack was not at all a surprise to the hate-filled humans.
“Go!”Adam shouted, giving Leo a shove.“Get your girl.”
“I’m with him,” Rami said, darting away to follow Leo around to the back of the warehouse.
Solan gave Kaeli’s hand a squeeze.“Stay close.”
“I know,” she said.She lifted her chin, her eyes shining with determination.“I’m not going anywhere without you.”
“That’s my girl.”
They met the attackers head-on.He, Adam, and Auren fought the humans who swung knives and bats at them.Solan let out his claws, swiping and defending himself and Kaeli.As they fought, a male strode out of the warehouse, a tranq rifle in his hands.Solan recognized him as Victor Hawthorne.
“You shouldn’t have come,” he taunted.“I’ll take the non-wolves for trophies, too.I’m sure you’ll fetch just as high a price as the bitch in the warehouse.”
Auren let out a furious roar from his lion and launched himself forward, narrowly missing a tranq dart.
“I’ve got this,” Kaeli said.A flaming ball shot past Solan as he grappled with a human, and it exploded in the chest of the male trying to take Solan’s head off.
The male shrieked, and Solan took the opportunity to put him down, knocking him unconscious with a swift blow and turning to fight another male.Kaeli wielded her fire magic like a pro, helping the pack and making headway toward Hawthorne, who was reloading his rifle.
He ducked as a fireball nearly hit him in the head, then lifted the rifle toward Kaeli.
“No!”Solan roared.He grabbed and swung her behind him, the tranq slicing through his shoulder but not embedding in his skin.
His whole arm went numb, and a metallic taste filled his mouth.
