Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
SASHA
The car is suffocating, tension hanging thick in the air like a wet blanket I can’t shake off. I can still feel Flynn’s eyes on me, even though we left him back in that hellhole. My chest tightens, and for a moment I swear I can feel his desperation clawing at me. It’s like he’s already tethered to me in ways I wasn’t ready to admit.
But now? Oh, I’m ready. I’ve never been more ready for anything in my life—except for Levi marking me.
I stare out the window, hands fisted on my thighs. Levi grips the steering wheel with white-knuckled precision, his jaw tight. Stone is quiet behind us, but I can feel his eyes boring into the back of my head—silent, calculating. It should be unnerving. But right now? I need him. I need both of them. We’re going to burn everything down for Flynn.
Because there’s no question—we’re doing this.
“This changes everything,” I say, my voice cold. The words feel like poison, burning my lips as I speak them.
Levi’s gaze flicks to me, his lips pressing in a tight line. “You don’t have to say it like that. We know it does.”
“No,” I snap. My heart slams in my chest, but I can't hold back. “You think you understand, but you don’t. I need him out of there. Right fucking now.”
Levi’s eyes darken, his alpha demeanor sizzling in his eyes. "And you think I don’t want that? You think I don't feel it too? He's ours, Sasha."
“Ours,” I repeat, the word foreign on my tongue, but it feels right. Too right. Terrifyingly right. "You’ve known he was yours for a bit. I just figured it out. Now, all I can think about is him... stuck. Alone. Vulnerable. You know what they'll do to him if we don't move fast."
Levi exhales sharply. "We’re not leaving him there. But we can’t just storm in without a plan."
“I can get us a plan. I did a few rescue missions while on the force,” Stone adds in.
“We need a plan,” I agree, voice trembling. “But we don’t have time for your fucking police chess games. Every second he’s in there is a second too long.”
“She’s right,” Levi says flatly.
“You’re not helping,” Stone growls.
"I’m not trying to help," Levi replies. "I’m stating facts. Flynn is in danger, and we all know what the Carlisle Pack is capable of. Waiting isn’t an option."
The name of that pack makes my stomach churn, and bile rises in my throat. I’ve seen their kind before. Cruel, possessive, utterly devoid of humanity. I know what they’ll do or already are doing to Flynn.
My nails dig into my palms. “A pack just like them took Nadia, and she tried to kill herself,” I murmur. “After what they did to her, I’m not going to sit back and let that happen to Flynn. To our omega.”
Stone gasps and I look at him in the rearview, his eyes wide with shock. “Nadia—what?”
I inhale deeply, forcing the words out despite the burning in my chest. "She doesn’t talk about it. She has her pack and did therapy, not to mention she wants to stay strong for Wulfe. I was there when she was recovering. I held her while she cried. I listened to her tell me over and over how she didn’t want to die, but she wasn’t going to stay with Pack Messenger.”
“Wait.” Stone’s voice is full of questions. “I know that name. They disappeared and their house burned down. The force assumed they burned in the house and their bodies weren’t recovered. That’s not what happened, is it?”
The car falls into a heavy silence. I can almost feel Stone’s eyes burning into the back of my neck, his mind churning with the pieces of this twisted puzzle.
“They’re gone. Got what they deserved,” I tell him. The details and who did what aren’t his business and I won’t tell the secrets of the Skarlanthan Pack… my bestie’s pack. "I can’t let that happen to Flynn," I continue, my voice cracking. "I won’t. He’s mine. Ours. And if that means we burn that fucking pack to the ground, so be it."
Levi exhales slowly. "We’ll get him out," he says softly, but with conviction. "But we do this right. We do it together."
“Together,” Stone echoes from behind me, his voice smooth, but there's something almost... dangerous in it.
The car hums beneath me as we head back to the house. Flynn’s face is burned into my mind, and the rage simmering in my chest feels like it could ignite at any moment.
The men holding him aren’t men. They’re prey. Weak, vile, pathetic excuses for alphas who think their money and connections make them untouchable. I’ll show them what untouchable really looks like.
“Levi, call your brother,” I murmur, my voice cutting through the tense silence.
His grip on the wheel tightens, but he doesn’t argue. He pulls his phone from the dashboard cradle and tosses it into my lap. “Call Nadia. She’ll do it.”
I snatch it up, my fingers shaking—not with fear, but with fury. Nadia’s been through hell, and I’d burn the whole damn world to keep her from going back. But she’ll understand why this has to happen. She’ll help.
I find her name and hit call, the ringing only fueling my impatience. When her voice finally comes through, calm and steady, it’s like a bucket of ice water over my rage.
“Levi? What’s going on?”
I close my eyes, forcing myself to speak instead of scream. “Nadia, it’s Sasha. I need you to have Dexter find everything he can on the Carlisle Pack. Names, numbers, habits, everything.”
There’s a pause, and I can practically hear her thoughts racing. “Sasha... What’s happened?”
“Flynn,” I say, my voice as sharp as the blade I keep strapped to my thigh. “He’s there. I saw him. He’s my Kismet.”
Her gasp is soft, but it’s followed by a string of curses that make me smirk despite myself.
“You’re sure it’s him?”
“Do I sound unsure?” I bite out.
“Okay, okay,” she says quickly. “I’ll get you what you need. But Sasha... This isn’t going to be clean. You know that, right? It’ll be like… before.”
I laugh, low and cold. “Clean’s never been my style, Nadia. You know that better than anyone.”
She doesn’t respond right away, but when she does, her voice is firm. “You’ll have it by tonight. Be careful.”
“Careful?” I echo, a bitter smile tugging at my lips. “I don’t think that’s in the cards.”
I end the call before she can say anything else and toss the phone back onto the dashboard.
Levi cuts the engine as we pull into the driveway. I storm into the house, tearing off my jacket and throwing it onto the couch.
The house is eerily quiet, but the weight of what we’re about to do presses down on us like a physical force.
“You’re wound tight,” Stone says, leaning against the doorframe.
I whirl on him. “Don’t. Just don’t.”
His brows lift, but he doesn’t back down. “Don’t what? Point out that suddenly, since he’s your Kismet too, you’re two seconds away from snapping?”
“Snapping?” I laugh. “Stone, I’ve been snapping since the moment you met me. Do you wanna know what’s keeping me from driving back there and tearing those bastards apart with my bare hands? Because it sure as hell isn’t patience.”
“What is it, Brat?” Levi interrupts the conversation.
“You,” I snarl. “And this damn pack.”
“And what?” Stone asks. “You don’t think I get it? You think I don’t feel the same?”
The ding of my phone interrupts our heated moment, letting me know I have an email.
I got Dexter to work extra hard on this. Wulfe was napping and my jaw is sore. You’re welcome ;)
I roll my eyes and tap on the attachment.
"Ronnie, Andrew, and Bart Carlisle," I say out loud. "All mid-forties," I murmur.
Levi crosses the room and leans over to look at my screen, my eyes narrowing as I see the data filling the page. "And uglier than sin," he mutters, grimacing at the photos and details.
Stone joins us and snorts softly, though there’s no humor in it. "That’s putting it mildly."
“They look like cockroaches,” I mutter. “Ugly, disgusting, slimy cockroaches.”
Levi glances at me, his expression cautious. “Focus, Sasha. We need a plan.”
I stab a finger at Ronnie’s photo. “This one goes first. He’s the head, and he put his fucking hands on me. Let’s see how he likes being on the receiving end of that.”
“Neutralizing him will make the rest easier,” Stone agrees.
“Neutralizing?” I echo. “You mean kill him, Alpha. Let’s not pretty it up.”
Stone’s jaw tenses and I don’t miss how he tries to slyly adjust himself. “Kill him. Whatever. But we do this smart.”