“Aidan!” Declan barks away from the phone. “I need two things: For you to remove a listing for a hit on Jo and her pack on the dark web, and I need to find out who accessed the safe house locations in our database.”
Aidan mumbles something back to him, but his attention is back on us. “All our locations have been compromised. You can’t go to any of the Gallagher safe houses.”
“Then where the fuck are we supposed to go?” Sam snaps.
“You’re from the outside, man. You don’t have anyone who could help?”
Sam frowns. “I could call my dad…”
My head is shaking before he finishes his sentence. “No. Absolutely not. We are not takin’ the only decent father in our group and puttin’ him in danger.”
“We…we could contact my brothers.” Kole’s voice, uncertain for the first time since I’ve known him, speaks up from the back. I glance back, my heart warming at the comforting arm he has around Hayden’s shoulders. “We came to an…understanding the last time we spoke. Well, shortly before I was sold to Thornfield.”
“...What kind of understanding?” West asks curiously.
Kole looks between all of us, his expression pensive. “My half-brothers, from a ‘moral’ standpoint, are marginally better than Mikhail Vasiliev. They want out of the skin trade, and to focus on the voluntary sex-work part of business. The day before I got on my father’s bad side, my brothers came to me, wanting to strike a deal. They requested my help in killing my father, and in return, when they take over, they would let me out.”
“Out?” Hayden frowns, looking confused.
“Out of the life.” Dec sighs. “Out of the mafia, free to do whatever you want, right?”
“I mean, I don’t see a downside to this.” I shrug, looking at my guys. “I know I’m probably biased, since I don’t regret killin’ my own daddy, but…you get free, your piece of shit daddy is gone, no more sellin’ omegas like cattle…this seems like a win-win-win.”
“She’s not wrong, Kole.” Sam looks at Kole through the rearview mirror. “Do you think they’d help?”
“It is worth a try, I think.” He nods once.
“Okay, call me back when you guys know. If it helps, tell them I’ll owe them a favor.” Declan sounds a bit more settled. “I’m going to go harass Aidan until I know who I can string up by the toes and peel the skin from their dick with a dull kitchen knife.”
“You’re so sweet, Declan.” I grin, even as I watch Hayden’s face go green.
“Nobody messes with my baby sister, Jo. You know that.” Then he hangs up, and I hand the phone to Kole.
“We need somewhere to lay low.” My voice is gentle. “If they’re decent guys, they’ll help.”
“That is what I am not sure of,” Kole mutters before taking the phone and dialing a memorized number. Brief silence. “Ilya, Luka.” He speaks a string of words in Russian. “Nikolai.”
My brows shoot up. He said three names, but I thought he only had two brothers.
“We need to know what’s going on,” Sam hisses, and Kole holds up one finger.
Kole lets out another string of Russian, then grunts, putting the phone on speaker. “Ilya. Luka. You are on speaker phone in the car with my pack.”
“How did you get sold to an asylum, and end up with a pack, huh, Nikolai?” The voice on the other line is a deep timber, similar to Kole’s, but the Russian accent is barely there. I suppose that’s what happens when your formative years are spent in the States.
And…did he just call him Nikolai?
Kole…Nikolai. I suppose that makes sense.
“It is a long story, Luka.” Kole sighs, running a hand over his face. “We have found ourselves in the middle of a plot by Beta Supremacists. You remember Declan Gallagher?”
A second voice, nearly identical to the first, speaks. “Yes, he is where we got inspiration for our…patricide plot.”
“I am scent-matched to his younger sister. You will know her as Josephine Harding, but she will soon be re-introduced to the world as Jo Gallagher.”
“Ah yes,” one of them purrs. “The Destroyer of Alphas. A fitting choice for you, brother.”
My jaw drops, and I hop in my seat as I point at the phone. “See? See? I told you! I told you that’s what they call me!”
