Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
Iclear my throat, sliding my mittened hand within Caleb’s.
He turns, offering me a reassuring smile. His office looms above us, the building more intimidating today than it has ever been before. I’m being cautious, perhaps to a fault, but I really don’t want to end up in another cell.
Once was enough for me.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” I ask. “HPAW knows where you work.”
Caleb pauses, bringing us to a halt. “My office is safe,” he promises.
“HPAW had access to us because we were on the outskirts of the city. We were secluded, and that made us vulnerable.” He gives my hand a tight squeeze.
“They won’t attack us here. This area is too densely populated.
They’d never make it this far into the city. ”
I mindlessly nod, continuing to stare up at the building. The alphas are waiting for us inside, as are Adam, Logan, and Sash.
“Tell me about the alphas,” I plead. I’m procrastinating.
If Caleb recognizes my fear, he doesn’t acknowledge it.
“Only Maverick and Everett are here today,” Caleb explains. “King can’t make it. His second- and third-in-command were killed during HPAW’s attack, and he doesn’t feel comfortable leaving his pack.”
This is the first I’m hearing of this. A small part of me feels guilty, but I’m not trying to dwell on that. I didn’t know I was chipped, and I don’t want to keep beating myself up over it. It’s not healthy, and it’s not a sustainable mindset.
“Maverick is the alpha of the Lockstone pack,” Caleb continues. “You met him briefly at the last meeting. He’s big, and he’s recognizable because he always wears shirts two sizes too small. We went to university together. He’s a good man.”
“Was he getting blowjobs, too? With Adam?”
Caleb snorts. “No, he was not. Maverick is quiet, and his pack tends to stick to themselves. They’ve been having border issues with HPAW for several months now. Remember when I sent Logan to help? It was a while ago.”
I nod, faintly remembering when Caleb sent Logan away. Logan didn’t seem pleased, but he wasn’t gone for long.
“Then there’s Everett,” Caleb continues. “He’s the alpha of the Allard pack. He needed help with polar bears, remember? He also refuses to find his mate. He’s the reason we usually meet in secluded places, which we won’t be doing again.”
“It wasn’t his fault,” I say, already sensing Caleb’s anger. We shouldn’t point fingers at one another. HPAW is the one to blame.
Caleb shoots me a sideways glance, then continues. “The old pack alpha retired last year, and Everett’s transition hasn’t been easy. He’s polarizing. Some people love him, but most hate him. You’ll recognize him by his dark marking. He makes no attempts to hide it.”
“Is that why people don’t like him?”
“Yes.”
I hum, mindlessly touching my own hand. It took years to darken my mark.
Why is Everett so against finding his mate?
I had good reason to hate Caleb. I was abused and brainwashed.
Everett knows how special the bond is, though.
I can’t fathom choosing to reject it. I feel bad for whoever he ends up with.
He’s going to regret it.
“Are you ready to go inside?” Caleb asks.
I draw in a shaky breath, continuing to stare up at the building. Caleb wouldn’t bring me here if it were unsafe. His office is in the heart of the city. HPAW would never make it here in one piece.
I walk forward, feeling Caleb follow me into the building. His receptionist, Rosy, is sitting at the front desk. She jumps up, shoving a long strand of her dark hair out of her face before rushing forward to take my coat.
Everybody has been kind to me since returning. Their hatred was ebbing before I was taken, but it seems my kidnapping accelerated things. It’s probably out of pity, but I don’t care. I’ll take what I can get.
“Welcome back, Alphas,” Rosy says. She turns to Caleb. “Everybody is upstairs.”
My footfalls are heavy as I head toward the large conference room on the second floor. It’s beside Caleb’s office. He’s taken plenty of meetings in there, but I’ve never been inside.
Logan and Adam are the first to catch my eye as I step into the room.
They’re sitting at a large table, their backs bent as they work on their respective computers.
I was under the impression that Adam wasn’t interested in pack business, but he’s had a change of heart.
Being kidnapped and tortured is sure to do that to a person.
The two other alphas are sitting at the opposite end of the table. Thanks to Caleb, I recognize them immediately. Maverick is on the far left, his shirt stretched tightly over his shoulders. Everett is beside him, his near-black marking shining as he taps away at his phone.
Both look up as Caleb and I step into the room.
Maverick is the first to acknowledge us. The corner of his lip twitches upward into a smirk, and he greets Caleb with a dip of his chin.
“Alpha,” he says. I hold my breath when he turns toward me. “I’m glad to see you alive…” He pauses, taking a moment to think over his next words before continuing. “Have you taken the Knox name?”
“Yes,” Caleb answers for me, his chin held high. “She has.”
Have I? I don’t recall this particular conversation. Humans have traditions regarding taking a last name. Proposal. Marriage. An absurd number of legal documents. We’ve done none of those things.
My cheeks warm at the thought of sharing Caleb’s last name, of what it represents.
Maverick hums. “Evelyn Knox. It has a nice ring to it.” He shoots me a smile. “I’m glad to see you alive, Alpha Knox.”
Will it not be confusing for Caleb and me to have the same title? I take a second to think it over. Probably not. This is a shifter tradition, one they’ve been following for generations. I’m sure they’ve worked out the kinks.
Caleb takes my hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze, then pulls me farther into the room.
“Take a seat,” he encourages me. Then he plants his hands on the table, facing the others. “We have much to discuss.”
I lean over the back of Logan’s chair, then jab my finger into his computer screen. He has each HPAW location pulled up, and he’s trying to map out the interiors. I point to the one farthest South. Florida.
“Are you sure this is where they’re keeping them?” I ask.
Caleb comes up behind me, resting his chin on my shoulder. “Yes. We have intel on every facility but this one, and Daniel was confident this is where HPAW’s breeding program is being orchestrated.”
Everett leans back in his chair, his feet propped up on the table. “And why are we trusting Daniel?”
Sash sighs. “Because we have no other options.”
Everett shakes his head. “Encouraging.”
He doesn’t trust Daniel, and he doesn’t seem particularly motivated to remove the marked women from HPAW’s Florida facility. It’s a quiet move, one that involves sneaking a unit of shifters deep into American soil.
It’s a full day’s drive from the southern border to Florida, then a full day’s drive back. The shifters will need to be discreet, or at least attempt to be. There’ll be no hiding once we infiltrate the facility, but the goal is to get there undetected.
If HPAW realizes we know about the breeding program and are on our way to collect the women, I fear what they’ll do.
Would they kill the women out of spite? If they can’t have them, nobody can.
It’s a horrific mentality, but the American government lacks integrity.
They’ll do whatever they can to hurt the shifters—even if that means murdering innocent humans.
They sure had no problem forcibly breeding them.
Everett doesn’t care to waste the time and resources on this. He’d rather attack the borders, storm into the human lands, and wreak havoc until the American government has no choice but to concede to the shifters. He wants a war.
“Even if we manage to remove the humans from the facility,” Everett starts, “there’s no hope of returning with them.
What are you going to do? Drive them back?
” Everett laughs. It’s a sharp, harsh sound.
“The Americans will drop a fucking missile on your head before you even get close to the border. There’s no chance. ”
Adam is resting his face on the table, his arms wrapped around his head. He snaps his fingers and points in Everett’s general direction, silently agreeing with the other alpha.
“I don’t think they will,” Maverick says, chiming in.
“HPAW is keeping the breeding program under lock and key—for obvious reasons. They don’t want the public to know about their dirty little experiments, and they’ll do whatever they can to not draw attention to them.
If we successfully remove the humans from the facility, I’m inclined to believe they won’t try very hard to stop us from returning to the shifter lands. ”
Caleb licks his lips. “They’ll be desperate for us to return unnoticed.”
“But you don’t know that.” Everett raises his voice. “This could very well be a suicide mission, and it’s not worth the risk. We don’t even know if there are marked humans within that facility, and the only man with details on it is dead.”
His dark gaze cuts toward me as he acknowledges Daniel’s death. I feel a sharp pang of something that feels an awful lot like regret, but I refuse to dwell on it. Daniel is dead. I killed him, and there’s nothing I can do about that.
I didn’t know he was helping the shifters. I thought he’d killed Caleb.
I was protecting my mate.
“Do you have helicopters?” I ask Caleb. “Jets, maybe? Anything faster and safer than driving across America? What about boats?”
Maverick snorts. “I’m not fucking around with America’s navy, and no, we don’t have air travel.” He gestures toward the sky. “Shifters don’t fly. Ground travel is our only option.”
I frown, sinking into my seat. “This is bullshit.”
Adam lifts his head just long enough to snap his fingers and point in my direction.
“I agree with her.” It’s the first thing he’s said in well over an hour.
“We should… What’s that expression our one statistics professor used to say?
Risk it for the biscuit. Let’s do that. We may return with an entire fleet of American soldiers on our asses, or be blown up along the way, but it’s worth trying. ”
Maverick scoffs. “Let them try.” He glances at his hands, evaluating them. “I’ll rip them apart with my bare fucking hands.”
“All of this hinges on us reaching the Florida facility undetected,” Caleb says, ignoring Maverick. “We’ll deploy two units. One will cause trouble at the border, distracting the Americans, while the other travels to Florida.”
Everett sucks on his top teeth. “That’s not enough. We should burn down their headquarters. Send a clearer message that we’re done being targeted.”
Caleb shakes his head. “No. We prioritize the humans. Your angry rampage can, and will, wait.”
Everett is seething. His nose scrunches as his gaze flickers around the room, darting between each person present. “I’m not going to—”
Maverick interrupts. “You are. There are marked humans in that building. Marked. And there are probably children involved.” He cocks his head to the side.
“How many men has your pack lost to HPAW over the years? What are the odds their sperm was used? What are the odds that one of those women is mated to one of your pack members?”
Maverick shoots Everett’s black marking a pointed look.
“Just because you don’t care to find your mate,” he continues, “doesn’t mean your pack members don’t care to find theirs. If you act out and HPAW harms those humans, your pack will never forgive you.”
Everett sinks down in his seat, glowering.
Maverick rises. “I need a day to prepare and brief my men. I assume you want them fanned out along the border?” At Caleb’s nod, he continues. “Great. Let me know when and where they need to be.”
He leaves without another word, effectively ending the meeting. I don’t really blame him. He, Caleb, and Everett have been talking in circles for hours, and it’s exhausting.
Everett remains where he is. He and Caleb are locked in some sort of staring contest, one reeking of aggression. Who’s going to win? My money is on Caleb. He’s the alpha of the largest pack for a reason.
Several seconds pass before Everett looks away, his gaze darting to the side.
“Fine,” he spits. “We do it your way, as always.”
His chair clatters as he stands, his movements swift and full of poorly concealed anger. When he leaves, he slams the conference room door shut behind him. Drama queen.