4. CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 4
The first day Cayman had watched from the river’s muddy bottom. It wasn’t until an hour before daylight that he’d swam to a safe position a mile from the encampment where he’d shifted and dressed in the tactical gear that was stored in his bag to check out the entire facility.
He couldn’t explain why his manta ray had been practically vibrating with the need to get in there. At first, he thought his animal was on edge because it understood the danger surrounding them. But everything changed when he’d rounded the side where the gate was. Then he scented it; salt water and snow.
His mate was there.
What he didn’t know was whether or not his mate was a prisoner or one of the sadistic guards. And it pained him to admit it, but he was afraid to find out. Then again, it wouldn’t matter which his mate was, the chances of them having a happily ever after, was slim to…who was he kidding? It was impossible.
Cayman was under no illusion he was on a suicide mission. If his mate was one of the captives, the odds of either making it out of there, was implausible. Both of them getting out? Impossible.
And he seriously didn’t even want to consider what it might mean if his mate worked there. Especially, since he’d witnessed more than once guards mistreating prisoners they’d brought to the place. It was appalling and he wanted nothing more than to break down the gates and kill every one of those fuckers.
On the third day he’d been there, massive trucks arrived filled with what he assumed was uranium ore. Needing as much intel as he could get, he once again shifted to his human form in order to observe.
It didn’t take long to move to the closest spot he could get to without being seen. The trucks had just stopped and the doors of the building where they always took the incoming prisoners to, opened. For the first time in the three days since he’d arrived, the captives were brought out instead of going in.
Instantly, he spotted Rip, Wizard and Lael and breathed a sigh of relief. Not about to give away his position by telling Saber and Yosi, he was glad when he heard Yosi’s voice in his ear. “We just picked up Rip, Wizard and Lael’s locators.”
He tapped on his earpiece to let him know he heard but couldn’t speak at the moment. He was way too close to the fence to risk detection.
Another tap was also given. Even though he knew who’d made it as Cayman was watching him, Yosi said, “That was Rip.”
That’s when the aroma of the salt water and snow hit him. Mate. His gaze zeroed in on a man who was probably about the same height as him, with short dark hair and a lithe build. He couldn’t see his eyes from his position, but damn , he was gorgeous. Like drop dead beautiful and for several long minutes, Cayman couldn’t take his eyes off him, putting him in serious danger of being discovered because he was too distracted to know if anyone was headed his way.
Thankfully, no one was, but he needed to get his fucking head back in the game because there was no way, after seeing his mate, would he allow anything other than success to get his mate out of there. Nothing else was acceptable and Cayman didn’t care what he’d have to do to make that happen.
The question was, how? And it was a very big question.
Security was beyond tight. Well, mostly. The fact was, they had a ton of guards and they were trained well. But, from what he’d observed, their technology wasn’t up to par. It was a weakness he would be able to exploit, but as there was only one of him, and at a minimum of eighty guards watching every corner of the place, getting in to set up a bomb in order to kill them wasn’t exactly a walk in the park. Nor feasible when it meant risking his mate.
He had no idea what the layout was inside those buildings. No matter where he would have placed an explosive it might cause his mate harm. That was something he and his manta ray wouldn’t allow. Ever.
His gaze narrowed when his mate’s shoulders tensed dramatically. Even though it was fairly obvious, to Cayman if not the humans, he was doing everything in his power to will himself not to look in Cayman’s direction. His mate had scented him.
Rip must have told the beautiful man why Cayman was there, because his mate looked right at him and shook his head quickly before taking more ore off one of the trucks. It warmed his heart that his mate was concerned about him. But Cayman wasn’t about to leave him to die in that place.
No. It was time to get them all out.
Cayman just wished he had a better plan than the one he’d come up with, because it would likely get him killed before he could get to his mate. That wouldn’t stop him though. He might not get to meet him, but as long as his mate got out, Cayman would do it.
“They fucking have my mate ,” Cayman growled out the moment the call connected.
He’d run more than three miles, which included going partway up a nearby mountain, because there was no fucking way he was going to be away from his mate longer than necessary. It was bad enough he wouldn’t have eyes on him when he got back. Cayman had waited until the prisoners had gone back inside before taking off in order to call Saber and Yosi.
He hadn’t expected the moment those doors closed, it would have brought him to his knees, but it had. He’d stared at them for another fifteen minutes, willing them to open once more, but they’d stayed stubbornly shut.
“Fuck,” Saber swore knowing that it would mean. “So what crazy plan have you concocted?”
He wasn’t wrong. The moment he’d laid eyes on his mate, Cayman knew there was no way he could blow anything up. He had no clue what the setup was like underground and he wasn’t about to risk his mate’s life over it. Even if he set the bombs to create a diversion only, they still might cause the ground to collapse over the prisoners’ heads. No. He would need to do it on his own.
That meant drastic measures that he had to pray would get him far enough inside to arm Rip and the others. Even if he didn’t make it, once Rip, Wizard and Lael made it above ground, Yosi would be able to contact them. And yes, he was thanking fuck their earpieces hadn’t been found and were still in. But it also warned him once he’d secured outside and entered the building, he would be on his own.
He just wished Rip could have given them information about what was behind those doors. But there was no way for Rip or the others to speak without someone overhearing them. Even if the humans didn’t actually hear the words, they would see his lips moving eventually and be stopped.
That meant Cayman had to go in blind, with no weapons alerting the enemy he was there, yet still kill all the guards. There was only one way to do that. “I’m going to slit all of their throats,” he told the Council Chief and his Alpha.
Both of them swore several times.
“Are you fucking out of your mind?” Saber asked.
At the same time, Yosi said, “You’ll never make it inside. We’ve been watching and they always have a minimum of eighty guards on the roofs and walking the perimeter. And we counted another fifty that came out with them. God only knows how many more were still inside.”
He had been there; he already knew that much. Nor was Saber’s comment helpful even if it was accurate. Of course he was out of his mind.
“He’s my mate and I will do whatever it takes to get him out of there.” His voice had been low and deadly. It might be a suicide mission, but his resolve was absolute. He would get his mate out if he had to take down all of North Korea to do it.
“Now, either help me come up with a plan to kill the guards without any of them noticing – for that matter, also not alerting anyone inside - or get the fuck off the phone so I can return to my mate and get him out of there before he ends up dead.”
Did they really think he didn’t know exactly what he was getting into? That he probably wouldn’t survive. That by going through with his insane plan would mean he never would get the chance to be with his mate?
“Okay,” Saber said. “You’re the one with boots on the ground. Knowing you, you already have an idea on where to start.”
Forcing himself to focus on what has to be done, he got to work.