Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 66609 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66609 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
I grab a pair of binoculars and check out the side of the mansion Lance is referring to. A door opens and black clad men are pouring out, each armed with tactical gear. Boots, knee pads, helmets and balaclava masks over their faces. And giant guns.
“Fuck.” I swivel and get eyes on Gabriel Dieter again. The business mogul stands beside the pool, water dripping off his muscled chest. He raises a hand and waves right at me.
“Bastard.” I toss the binoculars in the bag. “He knows we’re here. Move out.”
Lance is already on his feet. He has his rifle, I have our bags. We turn and race up the mountain.
The radio squawks. “We’ve been made,” I holler into it.
Three hundred yards below us, men stream in coordinated lines up the mountains towards us.
“Abort mission. Get to high ground,” Rafe orders.
Barking fills the air.
“They got dogs,” Lance announces the obvious, and picks up his pace. We pound over the ice slick rocks, climbing the mountain peak. The air is thin, and my lungs burn, struggling to adapt. My legs scream for more energy while my head gets light.
“Come on, Deke,” Lance calls. “Race you to the summit.”
I push myself to climb faster. The snarls of the guard’s dogs echo around us. They’re getting closer. I hope our alpha’s planned a surprise exit; otherwise, I don’t know how this ends well.
My boots skid on black ice, and I halt, considering. I should stand my ground, give Lance a chance to escape. This is the way I could go out a hero. No one but my packmates would mourn my death.
And Sadie…
“Deke, what the fuck are you doing?” Lance skids to a halt a few yards ahead. Behind us the shouts and scrape of the militia's boots and barks of the dogs grow closer.
But there’s another sound, this one up ahead. A thuk-thuk-thuk of helicopter blades.
Lance’s face splits into a grin. “Sonofabitch,” he murmurs. “He’s done it again.” We both turn and race up the mountain, headed for the snowy ridge as the bird appears, hovering over the summit.
“Heard you needed a ride,” the pilot shouts over the din of the helicopter blades.
Rafe sticks his head out of the side and throws down a ladder. “Get the hell up here.”
Lance leaps on the ladder and starts climbing. The militia chasing us shouts, and I grab the bottom of the ladder. Any second now, they’ll start shooting. It’s a miracle they haven’t started already. Guess Deiter didn’t think to ready any long range guns.
A few heartbeats later, Rafe and Channing haul me into the chopper, and the pilot spirits us away.
“What the fuck happened?” Rafe asks.
“He had eyes on us,” I tell him. “He knew we were there.”
Rafe curses. “I can’t believe this.”
“Is there a leak on our end?” Lance asks.
“No one knew about this except Colonel Johnson and our team. Deiter knew we were going to be there. Somehow, he knew.” I can hear Rafe’s teeth grinding.
Rafe growls and pulls out his phone. As soon as he's in range, he'll report to Colonel Johnson: Mission Aborted. We failed, but we’ll live to try again another day.
When we’re back at HQ, I pull up my phone and check to see if Sadie's texted me. I don’t even have a picture of her, only her name and number saved in my Contacts folder, but seeing her name makes me scent her candy sweetness.
“Deke’s texting his girlfriend,” Lance singsongs.
I bare my teeth at him, and he chuckles and elbows Channing. “I’ll bet you twenty bucks says he has her under him by full moon.”
I don’t think, I don’t pause. Red washes over my vision, and the next thing I know, I’m on top of Lance. He’s on the floor, and I’m pounding him with my fists.
“What the fuck,” Channing shouts and tackles me, dragging me off of Lance. Lance’s pretty face is bruised and bleeding, but the fucker is laughing hysterically. I push Channing away and retreat to the corner, trying to get my wolf under control.
“Settle down,” Rafe orders as if we’re kids roughhousing on a playground instead of three fully grown werewolves trying to kill each other.
“Well, you can’t say this wasn’t fun,” Lance grins at me, his teeth streaked red. He’s as crazy as I am, he just hides it better.
“Plane’s almost here. Get cleaned up, so we can go,” Rafe orders.
“Any other missions?” Channing asks Rafe.
“Nope. Next few weeks are quiet. Two security gigs and some surveillance. Oh,” Rafe shoots a glance in my direction, “and visiting Sadie Diaz’s kindergarten class.”
My heart thumps when I hear her name. My wolf gets agitated in a new way. A far more frisky way.
Once I’m on the plane and strapped in, I reach into my pocket and find my phone. I swipe my thumb across the surface, touching it like a talisman.