Chapter twenty-three
Mike’s heart seized in his chest as Roman grabbed his son.
The urge to lift his weapon and start shooting was damn near impossible to resist. The only thing that stayed his hand was the knowledge that he might hit his son as well as Roman.
Something told Mike the man wouldn’t hesitate to use Kal as a human shield, especially since he was fast enough to move Kal into the path of any bullet that came their way.
Even over the gunfire coming from all around the property, Mike could hear his son’s heart thumping out of control. The thought of how terrified Kal must be was tearing him apart. That’s when he realized it was doing the same thing to Lark—and that she was close to shifting.
“I took all of the flash drives from your desk before the cops raided the place that day,” Mike shouted, walking forward as he held up the envelope.
He needed to get control of this situation before Lark did something that would get her killed.
He caught her eye and shook his head slightly before focusing on Roman again.
“I had no idea what I was taking. I thought it was the normal weekly instructions I usually picked up.”
“Let me guess. You just so happened to forget about them for a decade?” Roman sneered. “You honestly expect me to believe that?”
Mike closed the distance until he was within a dozen yards of his family and the man threatening them.
From the corner of his eye, he could see the other supernaturals and Wayne’s crew moving closer as well.
“It’s embarrassing to admit, but I stuffed them under the seat of my SUV and forgot all about them until a few minutes ago. ”
Roman glanced at Wayne, like he was looking for verification, all but confirming Wayne had been the one who told Roman about Mike having the flash drive. Mike had already known that, of course, but it still sucked to know a man he’d considered a friend had betrayed him.
“So, how long has Wayne been working for you?” Mike asked, taking slow steps forward now, knowing he needed to drag this out until his pack mates got there.
“Was it something recent, or has he been answering to you since the beginning? Is he the reason you were able to avoid getting arrested ten years ago?”
Roman didn’t answer right away, instead glancing suspiciously around, as if he was somehow aware Mike was deliberately delaying. What he saw—or didn’t see—must have satisfied him because he turned his attention to Mike again.
“I only tracked Wayne down after Ortega failed to provide any information on my flash drive. Wayne was the next person on my list. It turns out I should have started with him. He was quite talkative.”
Wayne smirked at Mike, but didn’t say anything.
It took everything in Mike not to let his inner wolf out to rip off the jerk’s face.
But movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention, and he glanced ever so slightly that way to see Chapman moving along the edges of the wood line, his gaze locked on the envelope in Mike’s hand.
“Wayne’s the one who told you I took the flash drives that day, right?” Mike said, turning his attention back on Roman. Somehow, he had to get the upper hand, and Chapman being here just might help him do that. “That’s why you’ve been after me all this time?”
“It is,” Roman said with a laugh. “Your friend spilled all your secrets before I even had a chance to rip off the first fingernail. He’s the one who told me you had a fiancée back when you were in my organization.
It took a while to track her down, but it was worth it when I learned you had a kid, too. ”
Mike’s fangs practically exploded from his gums, anger surging through him. The urge to launch himself at Wayne was hard to resist, but he forced the rage aside. He couldn’t lose control of the situation. His family’s life depended on his remaining calm.
“Wayne set up the ambush at that warehouse, you know,” Roman added conversationally. “He even ensured the right doors were welded closed, so we’d have privacy to talk. I didn’t even have to tell him to do that part. He just took the initiative.”
“I’m sure he did,” Mike muttered, thinking he might have stumbled on a way to turn this situation to his advantage.
If he could just push the right buttons.
“Wayne always seems to know what to do to come out on top. That’s probably why he took the initiative to spill all your secrets about the flash drive to Chapman and Sentinel.
Just in case the wind ended up blowing in that direction. ”
Roman stiffened, his gaze going to Wayne, expression cold. Even the other three supernaturals had completely taken their attention off Mike, too. Over in the wood line, Chapman slid deeper into the trees, like he realized this would definitely not be a good time to get noticed.
“Well, if that annoys you, then you won’t be happy to know Wayne arranged to have Sentinel show up at the old paint factory where you’ve been hiding,” Mike added.
“In fact, Chapman found that journal of yours. You know, the one with the wallet addresses for your crypto accounts? Hope that wasn’t something you needed. ”
One moment, Roman was standing there, one hand on Kal’s shoulder. The next, he was charging at Wayne like an Olympic sprinter. A heartbeat later, one of Roman’s supernaturals followed.
Wayne and his buddies lifted their weapons and began firing on full automatic.
Mike didn’t wait to see who won that fight.
Not when he had a clear path to Lark and Kal.
But he’d barely taken a step in their direction when Roman’s other two supernaturals moved toward him, wickedly curved claws extending from their fingers, the shimmer of what sure looked like scales showing up here and there on their skin.
What the hell?
Shoving the envelope of flash drives in his cargo pocket, Mike raised his weapon, taking aim at the fast-moving creatures.
Before he could pull the trigger, a gray wolf, lean and powerful, darted in front of him, charging at the supernaturals.
Lark had shifted and was now facing off against them, lips pulled back from long, gleaming fangs as she leaped at the closest man, latching onto his arm, twisting and yanking savagely.
Mike wanted to help Lark, but couldn’t, because the other supernatural turned toward Kal, murder on his face. Mike pointed his carbine in that direction and squeezed the trigger, emptying the entire magazine into the genetically modified man.
The guy stumbled and fell to the ground, only to immediately climb back to his feet. Mike could have reloaded, tried to aim for a more vulnerable part of the body, but he feared the results would be the same. He couldn’t take the chance.
Kal needed him.
Now.
Praying this wasn’t the worst decision of his life, Mike dropped his weapon and tactical vest, then ripped off his shirt, loosened his belt, and kicked off his boots and uniform pants before falling to his knees and shifting faster than he ever had in life.
Shifting into his wolf form wasn’t so much a matter of making it happen as it was letting it happen. His inner wolf was always right there, on the edge of awareness.
Waiting.
But assuming that form was more about accepting the fact that he really was the wolf. The process of shifting meant opening yourself up to the animal inside and letting it take over. On the downside, it also meant his wolf decided how fast the change would happen—or if it happened at all.
Not exactly what Mike needed at the moment, when his family’s lives were in the balance.
Mike forced himself to relax as he reached out for his wolf while still trying to convey the urgency of the situation. He wasn’t sure the emotional need made it through the connection, but it was all he could do.
Then, all at once, his body reshaped into a completely new form. He ground his jaw against the pain. Apparently, his inner wolf was fine with speeding things up, as long as Mike didn’t mind feeling like a Mack truck was driving over him at a hundred miles an hour.
Fifteen seconds later, Mike was completely in his wolf form and heading to intercept the supernatural reaching for Kal, slamming his fur-covered shoulder into the man’s chest, sending them both to the ground in a tangle of limbs.
Mike let out a sharp yip he hoped Kal would recognize as a demand for him to run. But before he could see if his son understood, Roman’s minion was taking a swing at him with those wicked claws.
Mike dodged to the side, but not before the man’s claws sliced into the muscles along his flank. A hundred feet away, Roman and the third supernatural were fighting with Wayne and his men. Roman looked furious, but surprisingly, Wayne seemed to be holding his own.
That one second of distraction earned Mike another slice across the ribs, but he ignored the pain and snapped his head around to clamp his teeth on the guy’s forearm.
Then he sank his fangs into the scale-covered flesh until they met bone.
The man screamed, even as he began to stab the claws of his free hand into Mike’s exposed side over and over.
Even though Mike was forced to release the man’s arm, he still knew he’d caused some serious damage.
He crouched down low and bunched his muscles, preparing to launch himself at the man again, but movement to the side caught his attention, and he glanced that way to see Lark under duress from the other supernatural.
She was backing up step-by-step as the man swiped at her with claws that would open her up down to the bone if they connected.
Lark was fast and agile, but it would only take one strike.
Mike started that way, only for the man he was fighting to slip in close and slam into his side, knocking him off course and away from Lark. Mike darted to the right, attempting to get around the supernatural and reach Lark, but the guy was just as fast as he was.