Prologue
Declan
“There you go, girl.” The rat chitters at me as I fasten the sparkly pink collar back around her neck. Her reproachful look makes me chuckle. I had no idea what a little personality she would have when I acquired her for this mission. “I know you want to get back to her, but the whole point of you being there is to keep an ear on things. You can’t do that if your collar is broken.”
I remotely activate the microphone that’s embedded in the sparkles, then tap it once, listening for feedback through the headphones plugged into my computer. The microphone only picks up the slightest noise, and I nod in approval. “Testing, testing.” My voice comes out crystal clear through my headphones, and I tap the collar again. Only a slight pickup.
Perfect.
I don’t know what happened, but the microphone completely failed a few days ago, and I didn’t notice right away because the Moretti family was pitching a fit about a territory overlap in our…business ventures.
Driving to New Jersey was not something I had been planning on doing, but if Antonio Moretti thought he could get away with threatening my pack brothers because he didn’t like something I did…well that’s unacceptable. I may not be a heartless monster like my father was, but I’m not a pushover.
Not by a long shot.
When I got back from my trip, no audio had been recorded for the last day and a half. So, I sent out a radio frequency that the rat, or as Jo calls her, Turnip, has been trained to recognize as a recall order. Then I grabbed her from just outside the fence surrounding the hell-hole Jo’s in.
My eyes dart to my computer screen, where I have the video feed for the facility pulled up. It had been almost too easy to hack into their system. I didn’t even need Aidan to get me in.
Five minutes ago, she was in the courtyard with everyone else, sitting down to watch a movie with her two guys. The pyro and the Russian. Thank fuck Thornfield sprung for the hi-definition cameras. The pyro, Hayden Pierce, is flicking that annoying lighter open and closed, and the Russian, Kole Vasiliev, is watching the movie with surprising intensity.
But no Jo.
My heart races as I scan the rest of the squares, checking for her. Finally, I spot Jo inside the facility, walking out of a restroom, and she immediately gets combative with an orderly.
As long as it’s not that one with the shaved head and snake tattoos on his skull, she should be okay. Ever since her first day, when I saw him follow her out of her examination room and press his damn cock against her, he’s been on my shit list. From that point on, I’ve had Aidan look into everyone Jo exchanges more than a few words with. All I have to do is send him a screenshot of their face, and he sends me a file filled with more information than I could ever dream of.
Arthur Banesworth, alpha, age thirty-six. In and out of prison from ages eighteen to twenty-five before Brooks took him on as a “special project”.
I almost lost my shit when I saw him pull Jo into a closet on her way to her therapy appointment earlier this week. Nolan had to talk me out of storming the fucking asylum right then and there, reminding me how much work Jo has put into this mission, as well as how much I’ve put into making sure she can handle herself.
Five minutes later, she walked out with red marks on her neck, and then not one minute later, the asshole orderly came out behind her, looking smug as fuck.
If she doesn’t kill him when this is done, I will.
Him, along with Lars Devereaux.
“Stay away from Lars, girl,” I absentmindedly tell Turnip as I think of the dirt Aidan found on the asshole. Turnip wouldn’t be safe around him. She lets out an offended squeak, as if to ask how dare I think she would ever willingly go near that piece of shit. But…maybe I’ve just been listening to Jo’s conversations with the rat too frequently.
The orderly that Jo is currently letting have a piece of her mind has his arms crossed, but there’s no missing the genuine concern in Samuel Wright’s eyes.
Samuel Wright, alpha, age thirty-three. Military veteran, ex-special ops, current mercenary contractor. He’s not keeping whatever he’s doing here on the books though, which makes me think he’s doing it as a favor to his best friend.
Doctor West Monroe, beta, also age thirty-three. Son to the very good friend of Isaac Thornfield, Christopher Monroe. He and Sam have known each other since primary school, and even though theyhad grown apart over the years, the two reconnected a year ago when Sam took a job at Thornfield.
It’s obvious they’re both gone for my little sister. Especially when Sam grabs her by the arm and leads her around a corner, putting her right in a blind spot for the cameras.
See, in this situation, I could tell exactly how hard he was grabbing her. If she didn’t want to be pulled, she would have put him on his ass.
Sighing, I run a hand through my hair and wait for Jo to come out of the other side of the blind spot. I hope they aren’t stupid enough to get caught doing anything out in the open like that, blindspot or not.
Honestly, I’m surprised I’m not more pissed at the development of Jo apparently finding her pack while on an undercover mission. But…none of these guys arebad.
Well, Nikolai Vasiliev, known as Kole to Jo, used to be his father’s attack dog, but I know what he did to get sent to where he is. He may not be a good man, but he’s a good alpha, and I can tell just by the way he looks at Jo that he worships the ground she walks on.
She stabbed him, for fuck’s sake, and the next day he’s giving her the shirt off his back when that bitch Paige stole her clothes out of the shower. I had to call Rory’s sister for that one, a female beta who works on our firearms technology with Aidan, since the last thing I needed was to see my sister naked.
Then there’s Hayden Pierce, alpha, age twenty-five. Son of New York state Senator, Richard Pierce. Official diagnosis—pyromania. Burned down his family home four years ago after a string of smaller offenses, prompting his father to commit him. The patient file has him on record, saying that the moment he agrees to marry the girl his father wants him to, he’ll welcome him home with open arms.
