CHAPTER TWELVE
ARCHER
Having Harper under our roof is the best decision we’ve made.
I hate the way I behaved when I first saw her.
My anger was on full display. My wounded heart lashed out at her for tearing our pack apart.
Now that she’s in our home, I can’t stay away from her.
I had to rub my scent on her. Had to feel her lips on mine.
The kiss felt better than I dreamed. I’ll work to show Harper how much she means to me and our pack. She is our fated mate.
I’d had a busy day. After Thatcher dropped Harper off at the house he told me about her new friend Chavelle. And that they were meeting near the medical building at ten p.m. I did a little digging into Chavelle. She’s the police chief’s daughter. But she doesn’t appear to be a threat to Harper.
The meeting with my dad unfolded exactly as I expected. He seemed unfazed by Harper’s return. But when I told him she was living in the legacy house, his hand clenched tightly around his fountain pen until his knuckles blanched. Fury simmered beneath his calm exterior.
“I thought your pack was searching for a new omega,” he said sharply.
I slouched in the leather chair opposite his desk and shrugged.
Our green eyes locked in a tense stare. “Right now, we’re focused on the pledges,” I replied coolly.
The guys and I had only mentioned a mate in the cave and during our meeting at the legacy house. Obviously, my dad has a wolf spying on us.
Let him keep his lackeys lurking in the shadows. Harper and our pack are none of his concern.
“Keep your options open,” he warned. “Remember, you’re a legacy wolf. Your future in the society is important. You need a strong omega by your side, son.”
Rage burned hot through my veins. He was suggesting our omega wasn’t strong enough. But she can hunt. I know she’s strong—her father made sure she could defend herself, and so did me and the guys.
I wanted to punch a hole in my father’s throat. He’d betrayed me for the legacies.
As I approach the medical building, I check my surroundings. I notice a small group of people standing in the shadows.
“I see most of the gangs here,” I say stepping in front of Harper.
“Hey, Archer.” Thatcher slaps my back.
Harper glares at Thatcher. “Why did you tell Archer about the meeting?”
“He’s our pack leader,” Thatcher says it like it’s a no brainer.
“What’s up everyone?” Sawyer says as he approaches.
Harper stands with her arms crossing her chest, glaring at Thatcher, again.
“Chavelle, I’m Sawyer. Harper’s mate.” He offers his hand to her.
She smiles, shaking it. “Nice to meet you.”
Heavy hands land on my shoulders from behind. “Hey brother.”
Harper’s scent is faint on him. But my alpha heighten senses can tell he did a shitty job when he showered. The fucker used lavender soap so it would partially hide her scent from others but not from his pack. Asshole.
Dustin moves over to Harper’s friend with an outstretched hand.
“Chavelle, I’m Dustin. Harper’s ex-boyfriend.”
She places her small hand in his. “Nice to meet you, Dustin.” Chavelle grins.
Stepping back his eyes move to Harper. “I’m working on trying to be her mate.”
She brushes a hand over her caramel face clearly blushing under his intense gaze.
I grip Dustin’s neck. “All right lover boy, we need to get going.”
I peek at the chief’s daughter. “Chavelle, lead the way.”
Harper walks with her friend ignoring me and the guys.
I glance at Thatcher. His eyes are glued to Harper and his jaw twitches. He’s doing his best to contain himself. Sawyer too even though he was the first to catch our mates scent.
“Are you all right, Thatcher?” I ask.
He slides a hand through his golden strands under the navy hoodie. “She smells so fucking good. And I was a fucking asshole to her because I felt she needed to pay for tearing us apart. I love her.”
I curl an arm around his neck. “I was an asshole to her, too. We both need to show her how much we love her.”
“Yeah,” he agrees.
Chavelle unlocks the back door of the medical building. “We’re going to the lowest level. Don’t be alarmed by Dr. Frank. He holds a nighttime anatomy class.” She shrugs.
“Sounds like some Halloween shit,” Sawyer chuckles.
We all agree as we move inside toward another door. After Chavelle unlocks it, we descend the stares.
“Chavelle, how do you have a key to this building?” She peeks back at me.
“I have a little pull with building maintenance since my dad is the chief of police and I’m helping on this case. I want you to know if you kill me. My father will come for you all.”
I raise my hands in mock surrender. “Hopefully, you’ll soon see you’re safe with us,” I tell her. “We want to clear the legacies and find who’s behind this.”
“They better not be involved in this,” Harper snarls.
She’s so cute when she’s angry. I’m trying not to pull her in close and rub my scent on her.
We arrive at the final level and step into complete darkness. Chavelle flicks on her phone’s flashlight, revealing a tunnel ahead. I spot two candles nestled in metal holders on the wall. Dustin pulls them free, and I fish my lighter from my pocket to ignite the wicks.
I hand one candle over to Sawyer. “You and Thatcher, cover our backs,” I command.
“Got it,” Sawyer replies.
“Harper and Chavelle, Dustin and I will take the lead.”
The girls fall in behind us.
“Chavelle, how did you find out about this—”
I stop short, noticing three tunnels: one straight ahead, and two branching left and right.
“The tunnels,” she answers for me.
“Right.”
“This is where we party sometimes,” she explains.
I file away a mental note to come back with the guys and explore the other passages.
As we move deeper, voices drift through the air.
“I don’t want to do this anymore,” a woman pleads.
“Fucking bitch,” growls a deep, distorted voice.
I break into a jog toward the sounds, drawing my Glock from its waist holster. Dustin pulls out his weapon beside me.
We emerge into a wide open space. A man wearing a legacy wolf mask and a crimson robe bolt into the tunnel on our left.
“I got him,” Dustin says.
Thatcher takes off after Dustin.
“Dustin, Thatcher, no!” Harper shouts.
Is she alive? She lies on the dirt floor, her scantily clad body encircled by flickering candles. What the hell was he doing? Was he really sacrificing her? I step into the ring, kneeling beside her, and press two fingers to her neck. There’s a pulse.
“Is she okay?” Chavelle asks.
“I think so, maybe he drugged her,” I murmur.
“We may have stopped him from killing his next victim.”
Heavy footsteps sound in the distance.
“We tried to catch him,” Dustin says with Thatcher on his heels.
“He’s more familiar with the tunnels than we are,” I say. “I’m surprised they don’t connect to ours.”
“You have tunnels?” Harper asks.
“Yes, we’re a secret society. We need somewhere private to discuss business,” I tell her.
The woman’s eyes flutter open. “Where’s George?”
“The wolf who ran off?” I asks.
“Yeah, we were playing a game.” She rubs at her neck. “He got too rough.”
“Is he your boyfriend?”
She sits up. “No.” Her face reddens as she takes in all the people standing around her.
I help her to her feet and out the circle.
“I told a friend of mine I needed to make some extra money to help pay my tuition. She told me about a posting on Quick Jobs. She said you’ll make good money. I responded to the post. And here I am. Everything was going fine, until he started choking me.”
My brows raise. “We may have saved your life.”
Her skin turns eerily pale. “I think you did.”
***
Before looking around we introduced ourselves to the woman.
Her name is Kila. She sits off to the side huddled in her coat waiting for us to finish looking around, so we can all leave together.
The rest of us scour the tunnel for any clues.
We find another wolf mask, red robe, a knife, and gloves buried in the ground behind a large stone.
We have to find this guy before he kills another omega. I won’t let him get near my omega.