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Leo tucked her hair back and ghosted his fingertips along her forehead and down her cheek, back and forth, petting her until she melted. Thane laid down near her head, propping himself up on an elbow and playing with the ends of her hair, while Eli took a spot at her feet. Tangling himself with the others, he maneuvered himself until he rested his head on her legs.
I took a seat near Thane, staying close, though the Alpha in me wanted to fix the problem that sent her seeking the comfort of a nest in the first place.
It wasn’t long before Demi fell into a deep sleep and I could breathe marginally easier.
“We need to get her home to Vermont. I know she likes it here, and it’s safe, but it’s not enough for her,” Leo said in hushed tones. “She needs her actual nest.”
“Agreed. But first, we need to decide what to do about Pack Silver.”
“Fuckers will not lay a finger on her while I’m still breathing.” Hades’ timbre was deep and growly, and he propped his head on his hand, gazing down at our sleeping mate.
“I’m ready to bury them all,” Eli declared matter-of-factly, but there was a hardness in his eyes that spoke to just how upset he was by what transpired at the OMA office.
I didn’t think we had the full story. “What aren’t you telling us?”
Eli swallowed a rare growl. Out of all of us, he’d always been the most composed. I could count the number of times he lost his cool on one hand, but he was dangerously close to the edge as he recounted Demi’s appointment with the doctor.
A deep, angry burr of sound tore from my chest as he relayed what he suspected she’d been through during past exams.
Fuck!I was going to lose it.
Silence stretched in the room as we all ruminated over what we’d already known. Our woman was a survivor. I despised every single person who’d ever hurt her and mentally added Doctor Jenkins to the list of perpetrators.
“I want to put them in the ground as much as the rest of you. But we need to be smart about how we move forward. If we take the proof we’ve amassed directly to Anton and try to blackmail him to stay away from Demi, what guarantee do we have that he won’t retaliate and try to get his hands on both our mate and the evidence? It’s what I’d do if I were him. I wouldn’t leave incriminating footage in someone else’s hands,” I reasoned. “We’ve all met him. We all know what he’s like. Anton values power above all else. The moment we become a threat to everything he’s built, he’ll feel cornered and lash out.”
“And since he’s not an idiot, much as I wish otherwise, he’ll make a calculated move,” Leo murmured, keeping his voice quiet enough not to wake Demi.
“You want to go to the FBI with what we have?” Hades sounded incredulous.
“Hades,” I warned, disliking the edge of disrespect he balanced on.
“Fuck. Sorry,” he grumbled. “I just hate the idea of leaving her vulnerable and trusting others to handle such a fucking important situation. I’ve never killed a man before. I’m not a murderer, but I wouldn’t hesitate to take out her old pack if it meant she’d be safe once and for all.”
“And if the police caught you, she’d never forgive herself. Despite how we feel, murder is still against the law.”
Thane tore his attention from Demi long enough to nod in my direction. “You know Knox would agree with you, Jamison. So that’s two votes for utilizing the FBI. I’ll vote the same. Leo?”
Guilt crept over his features. “The last thing any of us need is to borrow more trouble. In my mind, there’s only one viable option. I’m sorry Hades. I know you feel differently, but you’re practically my brother, and I can’t let you, or anyone else in our pack, make a decision that could tear us apart. What happens if you got caught and went to jail? Demi wouldn’t survive that. We need to go to the FBI.”
No matter what Hades, Eli, or Demi voted, we already had our majority.
Eli released a pent-up, stress-filled breath. “For what it’s worth, I think we need to see what the FBI can accomplish. Anton deserves to be taken down. I want that bastard to lose everything he’s built. But if that doesn’t work, I have no problem contacting Pack Jacobs. If they don’t do the dirty work themselves, I’m sure they know someone who could take care of our Pack Silver problem.”
Hades was silent for a long moment. “They get three days,” he conceded, “and that’s honestly more than I’d like. Three days, and if Anton and the other rat bastards aren’t in fucking handcuffs, we make the call.”
I shoved a hand through my black hair and nodded. “Fair enough. I’ll reach out to Lawson and arrange a meeting with his contact at the FBI. I want this handled as soon as possible.”
“We’ve got her,” Thane murmured, knowing what I needed to hear in order to leave her behind. I didn’t want her out of my sight, but as the head of our pack, handling these things fell under my jurisdiction.
Bending over her, I brushed my lips lightly over her forehead and then stood and forced myself from the room before I changed my mind.
Cell already in hand, I dialed Knox first as I headed for my home office and opened the safe that contained one copy of the evidence I’d made. I had that shit backed up to the nth degree—physical copies, digital copies, all of it.
“We haven’t fucking found him,” he answered on the first ring. “I don’t think we got shit locked down fast enough.”
My jaw ticked, and I pinched the bridge of my nose, warding off the headache building. “We’ve decided to go to the FBI. Take these fuckers down once and for all.”
“As soon as I’m done here, I’ll head straight back. You calling Lawson to set a meet?”
