Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
Peyton
The rest of the journey to Bod? proved uneventful. At the hotel, Peyton ate a quick dinner with the others before heading to his room to collapse, now beyond exhausted both physically and mentally. He desperately needed rest ahead of this next phase of their operation.
But first, he needed to talk to Gillian.
Unfortunately, she still wouldn’t respond to his texts or calls, so after several attempts he called Ken.
“Hold on,” Ken said. Peyton heard sounds like he was moving somewhere quieter. “Hey.”
“Is she there? Can you put me on the phone with her?”
Ken’s sigh told Peyton more than any words.
“She’s not here. She went over to Asia’s.
Her orders to me were, and I quote, ‘If that rat bastard asshole husband of mine calls and tries to get you to hand me your phone, tell him he’ll be castrated upon his return after I yeet your phone into the sun.
’” Ken hesitated. “Frankly, I’m not sure Dewi could protect me from her wrath, and you know Dewi terrifies everyone, including me sometimes.
But I’ll try passing the phone to Dewi to give to her, if you want.
As long as you promise to buy me a new one. ”
Peyton flopped back on his bed. “No, don’t do that. I don’t need her pissed off at you and Dewi, too. Is Gillian okay? How’s the baby?”
“She’s really pissed off. Gillian, I mean. The baby’s doing fine.” He hesitated. “Look, I know you’re older than me, and have been married a lot longer than I have, but I honestly feel if you two didn’t have a mate bond that you’d come home to find an empty house and divorce papers on the table.”
“Probably.” Peyton stared up at the ceiling. “And I’d deserve it.”
“I hope this trip is worth it. I mean, if you text her pictures of Faegan’s head, that would probably calm her down and go a long way toward making the suck-up job upon your return a lot easier. But if this is yet another snipe hunt…” Ken didn’t finish.
He didn’t have to.
Peyton sighed. “Yeah, I know.” Which, honestly, was a fear of Peyton’s. That this would turn out to be yet another dead-end, and they’d leave empty-handed. At least the guy from Oslo felt confident about his source’s info—Peyton had used his Prime upon meeting him—so he tried to remain hopeful.
“Any updates?” Ken asked.
“We’re meeting with the contact late tomorrow morning. He works on a fishing boat and couldn’t swap his shift. He won’t be back until then.”
After covering additional points with Ken, Peyton ended the call and lay there, staring up at the ceiling.
Part of him wanted to walk away from being Pack Alpha. Take Gillian and Adair and go be a husband and dad and put all this bullshit behind him. Beg Duncan or Badger to take over.
And he knew he couldn’t. Firstly, because he knew Dewi would step in—and Duncan and Badger would let her—and take over as Pack Alpha.
No way in hell would he dump this responsibility on Dewi when she’d already carried far more than her fair share of the load at far too young an age.
Which meant more guilt for him to absorb. Had she not been a Prime, he wouldn’t have done it, either. But he couldn’t have lived with himself if he’d been forced into a violent confrontation with her because she couldn’t control herself and challenged him for control of the pack back then.
Secondly, Gillian wouldn’t let him, because Dewi being Head Enforcer was as vital to their pack’s survival as Peyton was as Pack Alpha.
Trent could temporarily step in for her, if needed, but that meant a huge reshuffling of responsibilities that would, eventually, circle back around to Dewi taking over as Pack Alpha while someone else, like Beck or Badger or Duncan, stepped into the Head Enforcer position.
This was the gig, and the only shoulders it could fall on right now were his. He couldn’t just up and walk away from it, no matter how badly he wished he could.
He’d secretly and desperately hoped one of Trent’s sons would have turned out to be a Prime Alpha so he could start grooming them for the role, but so far, no joy there, either. Because then someone in the family from the next generation could become the Pack Alpha besides Dewi.
Anyone in the family besides Dewi.
Mom and Dad, I hope you’re not upset with me. I did the best I could.
Peyton slept fitfully that night, horrific dreams and memories blending in a hellish puree of grotesque outcomes for his family and their pack at large.
He’d already eaten breakfast and was sitting in the hotel’s restaurant looking through emails an hour before dawn when Trevor emerged from his room and grimly joined him.
“Morning,” Peyton said, barely glancing up at him.
“It is, isn’t it?” Trevor managed with a wry smile.
“Morning, I mean.” He ordered coffee and breakfast from the server.
Once they were alone again, Trevor leaned in and dropped his voice, getting Peyton’s full attention.
“Hopefully it’s the last morning we ever need to worry about this evil fucking twat. ”
Peyton lifted his full coffee mug, his fourth of the morning, in a salute. “Amen. I wish we didn’t have to wait to go after him.”
“As do I.
Wilford joined them minutes later, tablet in hand and looking exhausted. After giving his order to the server, he activated the tablet. “I received a text about twenty minutes ago from my contact. He’ll be arriving later than he’d planned. Sometime this afternoon.”
“Oh fuck me.” Peyton struggled to rein in his irritation. “Seriously?”
“I know, I know. He’s not the captain of the vessel. No one on board knows about shifters, and he can’t exactly tell the captain he must return home to hunt one.”
“He could’ve told them it’s a family emergency or something.”
“Yes, but he’s a mere child, relatively speaking, and not a shifter himself. I can’t fault him for not thinking faster, especially in this situation. Anyway, that gives us more time to work out the details of apprehending Faegan.”
Peyton sat back. “Fuck this shit. I’m going in after we finish here.
You all meet the contact, get the guns, and follow me, but I want to take him down now.
If it is him, and if he’s still there. If it’s not him, it means we can go home tonight.
” Although it meant his return home would likely result in him spending the next year sleeping on the sofa.
If he was lucky and Gillian didn’t change the locks on him.
“Are you sure it’s wise to go in alone?” Trevor asked.
“I’ll shift. And I’m a Prime. I don’t have the range on my powers that my grandfather or Badger do, but as you all know, I’m strong.”
“What about the terrain?” Wilford asked. “It is rather treacherous.”
“Dude, I grew up and live in fricking Idaho. I’m used to running up and down mountain slopes and through heavy woods. Of anyone on this mission, I’m likely the most qualified to deal with the terrain. Not to mention, I’m a good tracker when shifted. Show me where I’m going and how I get there.”
Wilford zoomed in on a satellite image first. “Here’s us at the hotel, and here’s where you can park closest to the location where he was spotted…”
Ten minutes later, Peyton had the info memorized.
“I’ll rent a car as soon as they open”—he glanced at his watch—“in twenty minutes. Once you get the guns, you all follow me if I haven’t already taken him down and returned.
” He stood, grimly smiling. “Hopefully by the end of today, we’ll all be on the train heading south and getting ourselves drunk in celebration.
Or flying out of here, but he didn’t say that part out loud. If he could execute Faegan today, he’d happily bail and let Trevor and the others finish the mop-up. One of the things he’d checked on was that he could grab a flight to the UK from Bod? this evening without taking the train south first.
“Are you certain you don’t want me to go with you?” Trevor asked. “Or at least take one of the others?”
“No offense, but I move faster alone. Besides, I want you to coordinate with the contact and our people. And I don’t want to have to worry about protecting one of ours if Faegan is armed.”
“All right,” Trevor said, still looking concerned. “If you’re certain.”
“I am. Besides, if he’s moved his campsite, it’ll be easier for me to track him alone and then relay that info back to you.”
Peyton returned to his room and tried once more to call Gillian. He knew she sent it to voicemail because it answered almost immediately.
Sighing, Peyton waited for the beep. “Baby, I love you, and I’m really sorry.
Our contact here got delayed, but I know where the sighting happened, so I’m going on ahead.
If there was any other option besides me coming here, believe me, I would have chosen that.
But you know we have to end this bullshit with Faegan sooner rather than later.
I miss you and Adair. When I return from this trip, I will gladly take the ass-chewing I deserve, and I promise I will spend the next several years groveling to make this up to you. I love you both so much.”
When he ended the call he stared at his phone for a moment, hoping she’d call him back and yet knowing she wouldn’t.
Not that he blamed her. She’d just given birth to their first child, and here he was, fucking off to the other side of the goddamned planet in search of a fucker who had been eluding them for months instead of doting on her, helping take care of the baby, and enjoying a few days of… just being normal.
Maybe this is the Goddess’ way of punishing me for all the “normal” years I had while Dewi had to become Head Enforcer.
Before he headed out, he stashed his wallet, passport, and his personal phone in his carry-on to leave in his room.
While Norway was generally a safe country, especially in rural areas, he didn’t want to risk them being stolen from his rental.
Especially if Faegan somehow managed to backtrack on him and get there first.
And because of his Prime powers, he wouldn’t need a wallet to get the rental car. Not this time around. The fewer traces of his presence in town, the better.
All he’d take with him this morning would be the cheap burner phone he was using during this trip—a precaution they’d all been taking during their hunts—a pair of shorts and a T-shirt he’d leave in the car in case he had to shift and return without grabbing his discarded clothes, and his hotel room key.
Thirty minutes later, he was behind the wheel of a tiny Renault and speeding away from town. The young woman manning the desk thought she’d just loaned the vehicle to a police officer whose car broke down and needed to attend to a call several hours away.
Peyton wouldn’t feel guilty about that, either. With any luck, he’d return the vehicle that afternoon and walk away satisfied that part of this nightmare was over.
What he didn’t want was his name associated with a vehicle that might be linked to the discovery of a body found in the woods.
Sure, it was a long shot anyone would ever find Faegan’s body—if it was Faegan out there, and if Peyton did in fact locate him—but his father and Badger had drilled into him and Trent that the fewer risks taken and the fewer traces left behind meant fewer worries and work cleaning up the situation on the other side of things.
Especially in today’s age, when a credit card was instantly traceable.
Hell, the hotel didn’t even know any of their legal names. They’d paid cash for the rooms and given false names to the desk clerk, who didn’t even ask for ID, thanks to Peyton’s Prime powers.
It was bad enough that they could be traced to riding the train north, but some risks had to be taken when balanced against the chance of drawing unwanted attention to themselves by being anonymous when they shouldn’t be.
Peyton couldn’t control the Norwegian government or erase their presence from every CCTV camera and passport control station.
But he could cloud their movements in town, to a certain extent.
Trevor would rent the other vehicles under one of his businesses’ names, pretending to be oil company executives in town for a meeting.
Peyton, however, wanted his presence disguised as much as possible. He didn’t know the abilities or reach of the unknown others they were up against, and didn’t want to advertise his movements in case they could tap into any number of systems and see where he currently was.
Another potentially nice run in the woods spoiled by a fucking hunt for fuckheads.
Only this time, Peyton knew there wouldn’t be a pleasant surprise at the end of his journey, like last year with finding Duncan.
There would either be disappointment…or bloody, satisfying vengeance.