Juliet.
Two fucking weeks. Two weeks in the hands of a monster who’d already proved he had no problem hurting her. Who’d use her to gain what he wanted. The absence of her scent, her warmth, the missing tether that linked us together, was a constant, pounding ache. At least now I had proof of life.
My wolf growled, a low, dangerous rumbling in my chest. The man I was, calculated risks and weighed possibilities, and this one had pushed me to a new edge.
“Watch the roads outside of San José. Word is they monitor traffic pretty closely.” Menace’s voice pulled me back to the van, his even gaze reminding me how close we were to taking Harrison down. We’d get the bastard. Get her back. Destroy that lab.
“We’ll be in and out before they know what hit them.” I slammed the van door, moving quickly around to the driver’s side. Streets of Panama flickered by in the rearview mirror as we took off, their glistening shapes an echo of my thoughts. The team’s quiet concentration was a pulse around me, an understanding that drove us all. The knowledge that this was the mission of a lifetime was at the forefront of our minds. It was more than just a job. It was family. It was her.
The lab turned out to be not too far inland, in an obscure province; the perfect place to hide an underground lab. We made it there in under three hours. I parked on a darkened, abandoned street. My mind reeled with everything we’d learned, the words growing harder to swallow with each cool drop of rain that hit my skin as we exited the van. I ran a hand over my face and felt the panic surging beneath my calm exterior. Doc’s eyes were on me when we finally ducked under cover, a heavy pause before he spoke the fear I was trying not to face. “Bronc—you need to be prepared. Juliet may not be the same. It’s been a couple of weeks with a monster. I guarantee she suffered.”
His steady voice was a sharp contrast to the crackle of tension in the air, each word pushing my already-strained nerves closer to a breaking point. I met his gaze, felt the chill of his words settle into the space between us like an unwelcome ghost.
He didn’t let me dodge it. “We both know what he’s capable of.”
My eyes drifted skyward. I hadn’t even realized it was the night of the full moon. For a moment, I was back in our fairytale clearing, watching her first magical shift. My wolf was pacing, enraged and restless, barely leashed by the thin veneer of my control. I wanted to hit something hard, but I knew that wasn’t what Juliet needed. “She’s strong.” I said it as much to myself as to Doc, trying to believe it.
“Just be prepared to help her. Don’t let what you see shake you.”
He didn’t have to say more. He was right, and it hit me like the chilly rain that pelted the streets. I took a long breath, willing myself to focus on what had to be done before we could get her back. Before, I could see how she really was.
It felt like forever since we’d lost her trail, since my wolf and I had split into a hundred agonizing pieces, trying to decide which way to go. Seeing her safe had become an obsession, a singular focus that drove us harder than anything ever had. It wasdangerous, the way I couldn’t think straight when I pictured her in Harrison’s hands.
“What if he knows we’re coming?” Doc’s voice interrupted the whirlwind of my thoughts.
I shook my head, dragging a hand through my damp hair. “It doesn’t matter. We’re ready.”
I wanted it to be true. Wanted to believe that we’d trained for this exact scenario, that the weapons and skills and maps were enough to make sure we’d get in and out, get the job done. But there was no preparing for the way it would feel to find her broken, a shell of the fierce woman she’d been before he took her. I swallowed hard against the ache in my chest.
There was only one way to do this. Straight through.
I glanced at Doc, the clarity of his gaze cutting through my internal storm. “Let’s take out a lab.”
He nodded, his movements as measured as his words. He’d always been the calm in our chaos, the first one I trusted when everything went to hell.
“Arsenal.” My voice was gravel, tight with an urgency I couldn’t shake. “You with me?”
He didn’t hesitate, an unwavering commitment in the look we shared. “All the way.”
The decision was made. I let it fuel me, drive the fear out of my veins and replace it with the fierce determination to get Juliet back, no matter what.
The team met us as we turned back toward the van, their movements crisp and their resolve as unyielding as the concrete jungle surrounding us. Wrecker’s eyes were lit with youthful adrenaline, his enthusiasm a reminder of my own reckless days when the stakes weren’t quite so fucking personal.
As soon as we were close enough, I called a stop, the van’s brakes protesting with a low whine. We spread out, scanning the perimeter, eyes sharp in the darkest night.
A corrugated iron structure marked the entrance, masked by overgrowth and plant life, the faint hum of a generator our first sign of life. Three guards, just as Chen said.
I set up the first recon position with a speed and efficiency that spoke to my desperation to move.
I motioned Doc over, my thoughts already five steps ahead, two beats past control. “I’m not fucking waiting. Let’s go in.”
He was right there with me, trusting my call, always knowing where I’d lead us next.
The hand signals came sharp and final:Go. We swarmed the compound entrance like shadows given teeth. Stealth only lasts until blood hits the air—and it did when Menace slit two throats in one fluid twist of his blade. Bodies dropped into blackberry thickets as Wrecker punched Chen’s codes into the door panel. A breathless pause—then green light flared.So far, so good.
Inside reeked of antiseptic rot and copper—shifter blood.Two more guards lurked beyond the foyer; their radios hissed static as we split into formation. Papa’s silenced pistol thwipped twice—one crumpled mid-sentence. Arsenal snapped another’s spine over his knee like kindling before shoving me toward the east wing:“Go find her.”
Chaos erupted behind me, boots pounding steel floors, gunfire chewing through walls—as I sprinted deeper into hell’s maze
