“All I want is for you to be safe, sweet-tart,” Marcus says to me. “Even if it means missing out on this mission. I know you think you need to do this, but you don’t.”
I glare up at my newest mate. “I’m going, and that’s final.My father will escape if we don’t go after him, ifIdon’t go after him. And he can’t. He has to be punished for everything he’s done. I owe it to all those trapped omegas. I must atone for what my father has done to them and those he slaughtered.”
“Kit-kat, it’s not on you that they’ve been hurt or killed. There was nothing you could have done,” Simon reasons.
“But there’s something I can do now,” I say firmly. “I have my affinity, and I can fight. What have I been doing all this training for if not this?”
“We’ll be with you every step of the way, princess,” Luca says from my side, earning him a scowl from Marcus.
“I wish we had one of the tactical teams backing us up,” Ian says with a sigh, “but I know they’re needed freeing the hostages and the omegas. We can take down five Soldiers—I have no doubts about that—but your father is… wily. Slippery. He’s unpredictable.”
But he isn’t. Not to me, at least. I know what my father wants more than anything right now. I know he’ll try to come for me, to take me hostage, but I also have full faith in my pack, and in myself. My father has forced images into my mind before, engaging in a kind of mental warfare I wasn’t prepared for, but I know how to block him out now. And I know how to take him down, if not by spells, then with the agonizing power of my affinity. I won’t kill him; death is too good for a man like my father, but I will reveal all that he’s done. I will condemn him with all my strength and then watch his world crumble. The Prince won’t be happy when my father doesn’t deliver my affinity to him, and he won’t have the company he spent his life building to crawl back to. The board will strip him of his power immediately. He’ll have nothing.
We do try to rest in my nest, but we’re all too anxious to get any real sleep. I cuddle up with Marcus after our littlespat, and he nuzzles me. His fear for me flashes through our bond, and I return his nuzzle, trying to comfort him, but there will be no true comfort until this night is through, and the fight is over.
When Luca approaches, Marcus lets out a low growl, slinging his arm around my hip possessively. My bad boy alpha raises his hands in surrender and backs away.
“Sorry,” Marcus rumbles.
“I get it, man. New mating bonds are intense.” Luca crouches down in front of me and strokes my hair away from my face. “I just wanted to say you’re so damn brave, princess. It’s an honor to be your mate.” He presses a kiss to my cheek and then retreats, leaving me in Marcus’ arms.
“He’s right,” Marcus says in a low tone. “I just wish you didn’t have to be brave.”
“I know,” I murmur. “But I do. We all do. There’s a terrible future awaiting us if we don’t.”
He nods against my shoulder and breathes in my scent, holding me tighter, our argument all but forgotten. “I love you, Juniper. So much it scares me.”
“I love you, too, Marcus. So much it’s a constant comfort to me. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
I rest in his arms until Cassian makes us a light dinner. After helping clean up, I curl up with Cassian on the couch, snuggling into his side. The same apprehension that’s become so familiar thrums through our bond as Simon takes our alpha’s other side. He curls around him, gently running his fingers through Cassian’s dark, messy curls.
“Cass, I’ll understand if you want to go with the tactical team and the resistance to free your parents,” I tell him. “They’ll need you by their side when this is all said and done.”
“Then that’s when I’ll be by their side. Until I know you’re safe and the mission is complete, I need to be with you. I need to protect you. Call it instinct, call it love, but I can’t beparted from you when you’re in danger. It would be agony. You’re mine, and I belong at your side, Junes. Today and for the rest of my days.”
My heart skips a beat, and I press an ardent kiss to his lips. “I love you, Cassian.”
I just hope we’ll have a lot more days to come.
“As Cora didwhen she infiltrated the consortium to gather intel, we’ll go in through this secret tunnel, marked on the map here,” Graeme says, gesturing to the map Simon, Cora and I created with his scribe. “We’ll wait until everyone has made it through the tunnel to engage. It will be cramped and congested, but it will give us the element of surprise.”
The lodge is packed once again as we make our final preparations, filled with resistance members and the freed omegas who have volunteered to fight. A feeling of hope suffuses the room, but there’s restless anticipation, too. I feel it in my own body, like I’m a live wire, ready to spark.
“Ian will accompany Tac Team Alpha to dismantle the wards protecting the consortium, as he’s done before,” Graeme continues. “Alpha Team will be responsible for breaking down any initial resistance we encounter. Following the tactical team will be half of the resistance fighters. We’ll be followed by the omegas, Juniper and her pack, the rest of the resistance, and finally Tac Team Bravo to cover our rear. As far as we know, the Soldiers of Saint Aldous have yet to discover this tunnel, but if we do encounter them there, shields up, everyone. Allow Alpha Team to take care of it. Hexes will be flying, so protect yourselves. We’ll have the advantage of numbers in the tunnel, but it’ll be a tight squeeze with so many people.”
I have full faith in the two tactical teams, who stand at theback of the room, their arms crossed over their hard bodies. These alphas have fought and trained for missions just like this. They’re among the most elite fighters in the world, and my mate was able to mobilize them for us. I send a nudge of pride down my bond with Cassian, and he turns to me, brow furrowed. I grasp his hand and squeeze it, bumping my shoulder into his arm.
“Once inside, Alpha Team and the resistance will go to free the hostages, here. We estimate there are around three hundred hostages, split up across twelve classrooms. Two Soldiers guard each room on a regular rotation. The hostages will likely be weak and many injured. Guide them directly to the tunnel for their escape. Alpha Team, split up and accompany them through the tunnel, half at the front and half at the rear. Once free from the tunnel, we’ll reconvene here, about three quarters of a mile from the consortium. Be prepared to guard the hostages at our rendezvous point.”
I shift from foot to foot and chew the inside of my lower lip. I know that moving that number of people will be challenging, especially with some potentially unable to walk the distance to the rendezvous point, but I also know that I can’t spare it another thought. I need to be locked in on my mission.
Graeme taps another part of the map with his scribe, tracing it along a hallway. “Bravo Team and the omegas will go for the test subjects, located in the consortium’s medical school, here.”
“Some may be collared,” I chime in. “They may not be able to come of their own free will. We’ve planned for this contingency.”
“Are you sure thirty-odd omegas and a tac team can handle the test subjects?” one of the new resistance members asks.
Graeme shoots him a rueful smile. “They’re stronger than they look, and more determined than you can imagine.”
