“When we moved on the waystation, my SIA handler told me to leak the info to Logan. I didn’t. I was tired of playing both sides, and just wanted to put an end to it all. I wanted to save some females instead of condemning them.” He sighed deeply. “When we stormed the place, Dan recognized me. I hadn’t seen him in years but he’d been Logan’s best friend since they were pups. He would’ve spilled the beans that I was working with the rogue pack but hadn’t provided the info I should have, a traitor to both the pack and to SASS. That couldn’t get back to Logan, so I shot Dan. I just reacted, not really thinking. I saw all those years of work blowing up, all that info I shared, all those women who suffered, all of it being meaningless. I guess I thought that if word didn’t get back to Logan, maybe I could still end the pack.”
He couldn’t help but emit another huge sigh. “I thought my handler would sort all this out but I guess I’ve been abandoned by the SIA, as I haven’t heard from him. So, here I am, looking like a traitor to all parties involved here, SASS, the rogue pack, and the SIA.”
After a short pause, Hank’s voice sounded. “Who’s your handler?”
Locking eyes with his former commander, Mark saw more interest than condemnation and breathed an inward sigh of relief. Maybe they bought his story after all. “Jeffrey Roche.”
He watched the knowing glance Hank exchanged with the tall shifter that stood beside him. Assuming the man was SIA too, he thought they knew something about Roche that he didn’t. The tall shifter hunched up his shoulders, as if informing Hank he didn’t care if Hank revealed information, for Hank then looked back to Mark.
“Roche was loyal to the rogue pack. He was taken into custody weeks ago.”
Mark shook his head. Well, that certainly explained why he’d been left to rot here.
Director Garrett spoke, drawing everyone’s attention. “None of this changes the fact you shot an unarmed man.”
“I know,” Mark replied, “and I’m prepared to answer to that. Look, Logan knows I’m in SASS but doesn’t know I’m in the SIA. That’s why I killed Dan, so that couldn’t make its way back to Logan. I know I executed a shifter, I went against both SASS protocol and the wishes of my handler, and I’m willing to suffer the ramifications of that. I’ll go to prison, even be executed by the Alliance if that’s the sentence handed to me. I don’t care, I just want to rescue Ashlynn.” Surprised no one rebuked him, he continued, hoping he could plead his case well enough to be included in the rescue mission. “If I’m right about where Logan’s pack is, I want to go in there on my own to take him down. To cut off the head of the snake, and defeat the pack that way, without further bloodshed.” He looked to each shifter in the room in turn. “I know I can do it.”
Garrett looked to Hank who in turn looked to the tall shifter. “Levi?”
“I think it’s a good idea. He’s Witt’s brother and the only one here with a rapport with him. It’s possible he can get close enough to kill Witt and end this. We all know the body count will rise if we go in there with guns blazing.”
“I agree,” Hank said and turned back to Garrett.
“I agree as well,” the director chimed in.
“I don’t,” Ryder snapped. As Mark met the condemning look in the commander’s eyes, he elaborated. “I understand you wanting to silence Dan, but I have a problem with the rest of it. You’re in the SIA, so you must have known Hank was too. When you didn’t hear from your handler, why didn’t you ask to speak with Hank?” Mark withheld his response, and Ryder shook his head. “I want nothing more than to rescue them, but I don’t trust you anymore.”
“I don’t either,” Wayne said, speaking for the first time. “Ryder’s right, you could have contacted Hank. Fuck, for that matter, you could have trusted us. You didn’t. I’m with Ryder on this, I don’t trust you and I don’t want you with us.”
“I’m with you guys,” Ryan added.
With a heavy heart, Mark looked to Scott, certain he’d side with his brother. The big shifter blew out a noisy breath. “I’m on the fence. I don’t trust you either, but if you can get close to that fucker and take him out then I think it’s worth a shot. I just want them back.”
All eyes turned on Jason, the only one yet to offer his opinion. He sighed loudly. “I’m so out of my mind with worry for them, I’m willing to take a chance on Mark. For the record, I don’t trust him, but too much time has gone by and every minute that passes increases the chance of harm to our loved ones. At this point, I’m willing to try anything.”
Mark looked between Wayne and Ryder as he pled his case. “Please, just trust me one last time. As soon as everyone is safe, I’ll willingly go to prison, but I need to fix this. If you really question my loyalty to you over the years, fine, but please trust that I love my mate as much as you do, and I’ll do anything to rescue her.”
Wayne’s head was the first to bob, closely followed by Ryder’s sharp nod. Relief slammed into Mark. Good. He needed out of this place.
***
Barely believing her eyes, Emily emitted a horrified gasp at Naomi’s condition as Fucktard practically threw her into the cell. She took a few stumbling steps and then crumpled to the floor. He left, but not before shooting a nasty remark at Nathan. Emily knelt beside Naomi and placed a trembling hand on her shoulder, one of few places she didn’t see mars. Naomi’s body was covered in blood, bite marks, scratches, and surfacing bruises.
“Naomi! Oh! Are you okay?”
Surprised when Naomi shrugged off her hand, she was thoroughly shocked when her friend met her concerned eyes. Gone was the dull, lifeless look that had inhabited Naomi’s eyes since their capture. Her eyes burned with palpable fury.
“That fucker beat me for the last time,” Naomi snarled. “Em, I know I’ve been out of it but I’m better now. We have to put a stop to him before this happens to you.”
Then she looked to Ashlynn who regarded her from where she was curled on her side, her arms wrapped around her belly. Naomi’s eyes took on a softer look but still held fierce determination. “Ashlynn, I know you’re worried about your pups, but you need to fight back, too. If you die, your babies won’t survive either. All that matters is trying to get out of here and back to our mates. I know they’re looking for us. They’re doing their part. We have to do ours.”
As she slowly got to her feet, her eyes fell on Nathan in the adjacent cell. “Nathan.”
Emily cringed a little with the forcefulness of her tone. Nathan didn’t respond, his back turned to their cell, sitting cross-legged on the floor. Another pang tore through her heart at his broken posture, his head bowed so severely she could barely see it, but Naomi seemed eager to ignore his evident defeated pose.
“I know what it’s like to be scared, Nathan. What he did to you was monstrous, preying on your phobia like that, but you have to suck it up.”
Gasping, Emily stared at Naomi incredulously, hardly believing she was speaking to Nathan like that. She didn’t know how much of Nathan remained in the shell he resembled now, but doubted Naomi antagonizing him would help him. However, there appeared to be no stopping Naomi.
“He needs to be stopped. Look at what he did to you. Ashlynn’s next and then you know he’s going to target Emily. Save your sister, and your mate. Get up. Fight back.”
Tears stung Emily’s eyes as Nathan slowly rose to his feet. He turned just as languidly, his head remaining in its severely bowed position. Then he lifted his head. His eyes were haunted but Emily swore she could see a spark within them, a hint of acceptance, maybe even of anger. Naomi had too, for she continued, her voice stronger than ever.
“We can do this, we can fight back. We have to. We owe it to them to do just as much for ourselves as they’re doing for us. Maybe we can’t escape here but we have to try. Yeah, the consequences will be severe if Bossman’s shifters catch us. I’m not going to lie about that. They could put you back in that box. They could beat or rape the rest of us. But you know what? They’ll do all of that anyway, just for fun.
Just because they can. So we can either sit back and take it or do something to try to get away, to prevent any of that from happening to any of us.”
Nathan dipped his head slightly. It wasn’t much movement but Emily read it as a clear acceptance of Naomi’s suggestion. When Naomi turned to her, she bit her bottom lip nervously.
“I agree with you, I do, but I’m scared. Ashlynn’s so sick and, really, what am I supposed to do to them? I can’t even shift fully.”
Naomi took Emily’s hands in hers and squeezed them encouragingly, apparently undaunted by Emily’s voiced insecurities. “You’ll do whatever it takes. If you can’t shift, then you punch, you kick, you bite. You fly into a rage and do as much damage to them as you can. I know you know how to fight, I taught you.” She smiled then, slightly, and Emily couldn’t help but smile back. Naomi was right, she did know how to fight. It was time to stop allowing her fear of the shifters to rule her.
After delivering another quick squeeze, Naomi let go of her hands. Then her eyes moved to rest on Ashlynn a moment before repeating the sequence with Nathan. The most fiercely determined look Emily had ever seen descended on her next, and Naomi’s accompanying words solidified her resolve.
“We’re going to stop being victims.”
***
As soon as the front door closed, Hannah’s mother spun toward her with a hateful glare upon her face. Hannah had known it was coming. All through her father’s funeral service she’d felt the animosity from her mother, even as she’d been sandwiched between Dustin and Zack. Whenever her mother wasn’t weeping, Hannah had physically felt her wrath, especially the harsh stares she’d unleashed.
“You’re a disgrace to this family,” her mother hissed as she pushed Zack out of her way to stand directly in front of Hannah. “While we laid your father to rest, you allowed SASS to snoop through his home, through his things. His personal things! How could you?”
SASS agents were still in the house, going through everything. They’d expanded their search from her father’s office to the entire house. While conscious to not leave a mess, it was intrusive and it bothered Hannah, too. However, she stuck to her initial decision to help SASS in any way she could. To her, the invasion of the family’s privacy was a small price to pay to get Ashlynn, Nathan, and the others back. Her mother felt differently and only respect kept Hannah from retaliating verbally.
“You’re a disgusting shifter,” her mother spat. She eyed the supportive hand Dustin placed on Hannah’s shoulder and then sneered nastily as her eyes fell upon Hannah again. “Do you not care about anything but your mates now? Yes, Hannah, you’re mated. Big deal. Most of us are. We still have loyalty to our family and our packs though. It’s time you left. I don’t want you in this house a moment longer. Thank the Universe your brothers aren’t like you!”
“Mom,” Keegan said softly, “please calm down. I know you’re upset, we all are, but don’t blame Hannah for everything. She’s only doing what she needs to do.”
Her mother’s hateful glare shot to Keegan, and her eyes narrowed. “Whose side are you on?”
“There aren’t sides here,” Zack said with more restraint than Hannah would have thought possible considering how out of control her mother was. “You’re upset, you’re grieving your mate. We all understand what you’re going through but taking out your frustrations on Hannah isn’t fair. She’s grieving too.”
“Is she?” Her mother turned on her heel to face Zack, and scowled. “It seems to me she’s too busy playing house with you and your brother to be concerned with anything else, including her father’s funeral. Keegan and Taylor planned the service. Where was she? Wrapping her lips around your dick while her brothers did her Alpha duty?”
“That’s enough,” Dustin snapped. “I can only imagine how hard it is to lose a mate, but you’re being purposely cruel and there’s no need for it. Back off.”
“Or what?” her mother challenged. “What will you do? Toss me out of my own home?” She looked back to Hannah. “Is that your new plan? Move your mates in here and kick me and your brothers out? Becoming Alpha has gone to your head. You’ll never be half the Alpha your father was.”
“That’s it!” His face pinched with observable fury, Dustin grasped her hand. “Let’s go. You don’t deserve this, and we need to go before I lose it.”
Hannah thought he might just unload on her mother soon. Sure, her mother would deserve it, but she wouldn’t see it happen. Grief did awful things to shifters and she understood that. She also knew she didn’t have to endure it any longer though, and squeezed Dustin’s hand. She longed to set her mother straight, to tell her she never wanted to be Alpha and wasn’t happy being one now. It would feel great to inform her mother that her father obviously wasn’t a good Alpha. He was the disgrace, not her. It took resolve to keep quiet but she did.
Taking Zack’s hand in her free one, she then followed Dustin out the door, squeezing her mates’ hands, silently thanking them for their support and their restraint when it came to her mother. After they’d crossed the threshold, her mother delivered a parting shot.
“Don’t come back. You and your mangy mates aren’t welcome here.”
The door slammed and Hannah stopped dead in her tracks, in the middle of the staircase, causing Zack to bang into her. At the pull on his hand, Dustin looked back to her with concern.
“Hannah?”
“What am I doing?” she questioned.
As Zack drew up beside her, Dustin cocked his head questioningly. She’d confused them, she knew she had and, at the rise of tears in her eyes, she felt their energy change. During the funeral service, her sorrow had hurt them, and right now her indecisiveness effected them.
“You’re leaving your mother’s house while she’s being hurtful. It’s the right thing to do,” Dustin told her resolutely.
“No, I mean, what am I doing? I can’t be Alpha.”
Her mates exchanged a knowing glance before Zack placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “You are Alpha, Hannah. I know you didn’t want it, but you are your pack’s Alpha. You can do it. Dustin and I already told you we’ll do anything we can to help you.”
“I know but that’s just it. I don’t need help. I need someone else to be Alpha. I’m not equipped for it, and I don’t want the responsibility.” She blew a deep breath through her nostrils. “I’m going to step down. Keegan will be Alpha. He’ll be better at it.”
“He’s, like, what, twenty-four?” Zack asked.
His tone made it sound like an accusation, and she frowned. “So? He’s capable, you know, and smart. Same as Taylor, and Taylor will help him.”
Zack held up his hands. “I didn’t mean to imply he wasn’t capable, only that he’s young. Besides, you’re firstborn. It’s your birthright to be Alpha.”
“I don’t want it!” she shrieked, far louder than she’d intended.
Zack stepped back, now two steps above her. His face was stony. She wasn’t sure if he was pissed at her outburst or merely thrown off by it and didn’t care. This was bullshit. Being Alpha was horrible, and her own mother was mad at her because of it. How the hell had her father done it for so long? At the feel of Dustin’s hand on the small of her back, she turned to him.
“It’s okay,” he said gently, “you’re overwhelmed right now. It’s too much to have thrust on you all at once. Just breathe. We’ll help you figure out what to do, and we’ll support any decision you make.” His sightline shot to his brother. “Right, Zack?” he questioned harshly.
It was clear he disapproved of Zack’s insistence on her remaining Alpha due to birthright. While greatly comforted that Dustin understood her feelings on the matter, she wouldn’t see him argue with Zack over it. Their bond was one of the most beautiful she’d ever witnessed and she refused to come between them. There were enough wounded feelings and battered relationships in her family. She wouldn’t be the cause of any in theirs.
She forced a small smile for Dustin. “Thank you.” Holding the
smile, she glanced at Zack. “You, too.” Then she sighed deeply as her eyes moved back to Dustin, still feeling more connected to him. At the intense devotion in his eyes, tears stung hers. “I just want to go back to the B&B. I need to be with you two and away from here.”
Wordlessly, Dustin slipped an arm around her shoulders and then guided her to the car, Zack trailing slightly behind them. She wasn’t surprised when Dustin then slid into the backseat with her while Zack drove. As she laid her head on Dustin’s shoulder, she vowed to bottle up her insecurities before they caused a rift between her mates. It wasn’t healthy for her to do so, and it wouldn’t help solve her problems, but her mates’ happiness meant more to her than her own.
***
Grateful that Ryan was driving, Scott sighed loudly and heard the dismayed click of his father’s tongue. He was conversing with his father on the phone, and the Alpha was furious over Scott’s announcement that he and Ryan were on their way to rescue Emily, Nathan, and Ashlynn.
“I understand your concerns, but Ryan and I have to do this. We have to do everything we can to get them back.”
“But to put yourselves in such danger isn’t necessary,” his father countered. “SASS is trained for such things, you two aren’t. Please, just let Ryder, Wayne, and Jason handle this. Come home. Your mother had been through enough. Don’t put this worry on her.”
Closing his eyes against his father’s emotional blackmail, he rubbed his forehead with his free hand. Bringing Mom into this was unfair. He knew how devastated his mother was as he’d had a similar conversation with her before he and Ryan left for Saskatoon. There hadn’t been any danger to that trip and yet she’d begged them not to go. Worrying her was cruel, both he and Ryan knew it, but they had to do this. Ryan was as sick as he was of sitting around waiting for word. Now that they knew where the pack was holding their mate, brother, and sister, they had to be involved. His heart ached relentlessly since their kidnapping. He’d give his life just to see Emily’s face again, so shouldn’t he do everything he could to facilitate her rescue?
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