“We leave early.” He downs his whiskey in one swallow. “And you’re staying behind. I need you to be on it, no fuck ups. No disappearing off to visit Marcus or Ben. You keep your ass right here until this is over.”
My heart-rate picks up. “Why me?”
“Someone needs to watch the prisoner, and I know what’s about to go down won’t be to your… taste.” His grin is all teeth and no humor. “Can’t have our little wolf getting lonely while I’m gone, can we?”
The surge of protectiveness that rises in me is unexpected and dangerous. I flatten my expression into one of boredom, careful not to show any hint of weakness to my father. “Sure. Whatever. But you better pay me overtime if I’m stuck here 24-7.”
He smirks and drops the glass into the sink behind the bar before turning back to face me.
“Don’t get attached, or stupid,” Leon warns, eyes narrowing. “That bitch is just a means to an end. Once we’ve sent our message at the conference, she’ll have to go. Just like her sister.”
The threat is apparent. Carla will be eliminated. My bear roars inside me, rage bubbling dangerously close to the surface.
“Got it,” I grit out through clenched teeth.
Leon studies me for a moment longer, then nods, satisfied with whatever he sees, or thinks he sees. As he walks away to rejoin his trusted lieutenants, hard men, far beyond redemption who relish the vicious tasks my father entrusts to them, I grip the bar edge so hard, the wood creaks.
It’s suddenly clear what has to happen.
First, I need to contact Beau. I need a vehicle waiting on the old logging road. Then, I need to get her out.
My bear rumbles in approval, and for once, we’re in complete agreement.
A mixture of fear and excitement bubbles up inside me as I make the decision, adrenaline pumping through my veins at the prospect of the dangerous road that lies ahead.
But I’m ready. This is the right thing to do, I’m certain of it.
Carla will not die in that basement. Not while I’m still breathing.
And if protecting her means betraying my father and possibly my clan?
So be it.
CHAPTER 4
BILLY
Dawn hasn’t even broken when they start loading up the trucks. Leon barks orders while Dave hustles weapons into duffel bags. They’re not even trying to be subtle anymore. The attack on the Alpha Conference will be a declaration of war, not just a show of force.
There’ll be no going back to running the bar and trying to avoid my father’s more elaborate, and illegal, money-making enterprises after this.
Marcus is right. He’s escalating. Whatever he’s up to, this looks big. And I want no part of it.
I keep my head down, passing out coffee, playing the dutiful son while my insides twist with anticipation. Only three men will stay behind to guard the compound. One of them, Pete, is sympathetic to me. He’s another bear forced to stay here by the cold, hard reality of his situation, not through any love for my father. The other two are loyal to the bone.
“Remember,” Leon says, gripping my shoulder hard enough to bruise. “Stay right fucking here. If I tell you to bring her to me, you do, but other than that, she stays in that basement, no matter what.”
I nod, the picture of obedience. “I know. We’ve been over this already.”
“Watch yourself, son,” Leon adds, his voice dropping. He gives me a sharp look but doesn’t react to my insolence as he usually would, more concerned with getting on the road as soon as he can.
My bear snarls, his anger at Carla’s situation growing stronger by the hour, but I keep my face blank. Just a few more minutes until they’re gone.
The convoy pulls out in a line of black trucks heading for the mountain pass that will take them to the conference grounds.
I stand in the yard, waving until they disappear around the bend. Then slowly, with a tip of my head toward Pete who’s on patrol, I stroll back inside the bar like I haven’t got a care in the world. Like this is any other day, and not the day that I screw my father over and leave my clan, and everything I’ve ever known, behind.
For what’s right. For her.
