Chapter 11 Caleb
Caleb
We spent the two hours before dinner in the nest, the whole pack together, making sure to share as much of our pheromones with each other as possible.
Then, after dinner, we each took a shower with pheromone masking products to get rid of as many of our pheromones as possible.
No good sharing those around when we’re on a mission, that would only make it easier to track us.
Jorge and Luca have already left, together with Erika, Nathan and his pack.
They’re meeting up with Xavier and the others, so that they can go over what to expect and how they’re going to do things.
It’s easier for them to do that in person.
Plus, that way they don’t have to be around the rest of us as we’re all getting ready.
I glance over to Vera, who’s adjusting some straps to make sure that the gear fits properly and won’t slide all over the place.
“Let me help.” I go over to her and try the straps she was pulling on. They’re pretty stiff, which is probably why they aren’t budging. I try to move them with two hands, which finally seems to do the trick, and adjust them so that they’re the right size. “Better?”
“Yes. Thank you.” She beams up at me and wraps her arms around my neck.
I lift her up, keeping her at my side. “You seem excited.” I nuzzle the side of her head.
“I am. This is the first time I get to go on a mission, and I’m really looking forward to it. I just hope I don’t mess up.”
I laugh, nuzzling her again, my brain not really happy that I’m so close to her without being able to catch her pheromones.
“I’m sure you’ll do fine, as long as you stick to the plan and don’t go off on your own.
And you’ll have Riley with you, so if you don’t feel confident about something, you she can help. ”
“Who can help?” Riley comes over, as she checks her weapons, like it’s an instinct, like she doesn’t even have to think about it.
“You’ll be able to help me.” Vera’s voice is light and she smiles broadly at Riley.
“Of course, I will.” Riley reaches out and touches Vera’s cheek. “That’s why we go in teams and not solo. So you’ve always got someone to watch your back.” Then she looks Vera over. “Everything fits? Got all your weapons where you need them?”
“Yep. All packed away. I’m ready to go.” She wriggles out of my arms and goes over to where Mathew is talking with Derrick and some of the others in charge. The moment she appears at his side, his arms go around her and he holds her close. It’s so sweet to watch.
“You also ready to go?” Riley turns to me.
“Yeah.” I pat the knives and guns and other stuff I’ve got strapped to me. “I feel like a walking armoury, but I guess that’s normal.”
“Once you’ve done this a couple of times, you’ll figure out what you really need and which things are optional.
” She glances to Vera and Mathew. “I’m almost more nervous about making sure I keep Vera safe than I am about the raid itself.
I know that she can handle herself, that I shouldn’t have to really worry. But I still do.”
That makes sense. I feel it too. Not so much to protect Vera, but to keep the whole pack safe.
But that’s probably also because Vera and I have gotten ourselves into and out of plenty of iffy situations in the past, so I have first-hand experience of how Vera overcomes stressful situations.
Riley has seen her do her thing when we got attacked at the restaurant, the night we met her, but not after that.
“Were you as worried when you went on that mission with Mathew?” Because, if I’m honest, knowing I’m teamed up with Mathew and knowing I’ll do anything to protect him, even at the cost of my life, that is making me a little nervous.
“A little, yes. But back then, we had a much better idea of what we’d encounter. This time, there are a lot of unknown factors.”
We don’t know exactly how many kids there are in the building right now. We don’t know how many other people there will be. We have a pretty good idea of their security numbers, but that’s about it. When it comes to unknown factors, that’s quite a lot.
Not that it’s going to stop us. We’ve got plans on plans on plans, all of them with multiple backup plans depending on what situation we’ll encounter at the brothel.
We all know what we need to do, now we simply have to do it.
The streets and alleys we pass through are dark and full of even deeper shadows. The city is asleep. It’s almost four in the morning, the time when the brothel should be the most vulnerable.
We parked the vans a couple of streets over, so they hopefully won’t notice that we’re here until we’re on their doorstep.
Walking the short distance to the brothel helps to ease some of the stress and tension. Only some, by far not all.
When we turn a corner, I notice Jorge, Luca and Xavier and his pack, waiting, standing close together.
As soon as we’re near them, Vera leaves my side, rushing over to them and she hugs Jorge and Luca tightly.
“Everything okay?” I keep my voice quiet as we wait a few moments. They’ll come with us the last part of the way, so we can protect them and so they’ll be closer to the building, which will make it easier for them to get the kids away.
“Yeah.” Jorge looks us all over, his eyes ending on Mathew, before he frowns. “You?”
“Everything is going according to plan.” Mathew steps closer to him, but doesn’t touch him.
We just got doused in pheromone masking spray, so we’d be scentless for the raid, but with Vera hugging Jorge and Luca, she’s got their pheromones all over her now. Which means she’s got to do it all over again.
Not that I don’t understand her impulse. It’s hard to not touch your mates, hold them, make sure they’re okay, in stressful situations like this.
“We’ve got to get moving.” Mathew holds out a can of spray to Vera, who grumblingly uses it on herself. “We can talk while we walk.”
“Erika and the others?” I walk beside Luca, whose eyes keep shooting all over the place, like he expect people to jump out from every shadow. If I can distract him even a little, that should make things easier on him.
“They left only a few minutes before you arrived, to make sure everyone is where they’re supposed to be.”
The plan is to create a kind of relay system.
Luca and the others are the first part, they’ll wait for the kids in the alley next to the building.
Xavier and his pack will guide the kids from Luca to Erika’s group, keeping them protected.
Then Erika and the others will split the kids up into smaller groups and will be divided among the people who’ll keep them safe and hopefully help them find more permanent new places to stay.
This way, we keep the most vital information, people’s exact locations and such, confined to as few people as possible, only need-to-know and nobody else. That will help keep both us and the kids safer.
“Did you get any new information about potential numbers?”
Luca was in the brothel until about two months ago, so he has some idea of how many people should be inside. But since none of us have been inside since then, we don’t know the exact current numbers.
Luca shakes his head. “Two of the lookouts filmed the people in the front room earlier, and everyone I expected was there. Nobody new, nobody left. But that’s just the people who work in the front room.
That doesn’t give any idea about who they’ve got in the back.
There could be ten new people in the back, or maybe half the kids who were there two months ago are now gone. I have no idea.”
“Still useful information to have, even if it doesn’t provide us with anything new.
” I want to reach out, put my hand on his shoulder.
He looks miserable, and I know it’s not going to get better any time soon.
“Information that confirms what we already know is still important.” I try to sound positive, but I know how it sucks when you desperately want new information but the only thing you’re getting is confirmation of what you already know.
Sure, it is useful to know that it’s still right, but also makes you feel like you’re not making any progress.
“You can wait in the alley, out of sight of the brothel, if that makes you feel safer.” I don’t want to put him through more than he really needs. The guy is broken enough as it is.
He shakes his head, resolute. “I want to see that place taken down. I want to see it ripped apart. Burned to the ground, metaphorically, if not literally.”
I glance to the front of our group, where Mathew is talking to Vera and Jorge, his body stiff, his face unreadable.
I’m pretty sure that Mathew feels exactly the same, that he needs to take that place down, no matter what it takes. And we’re going to help them with that.
That’s what a pack is for. That’s what family is for. To take down your enemies and burn them to the ground.
And, tonight, we’re going to do exactly that.