“Yes.”I try to smile, hoping it will make him stop looking so confused, then I look to Logan.“Weapons and stuff is all taken care of.Gear was the last hurdle.”
“Even though you’repregnant?”Oscar’s vanilla pheromones start swirling around him in distress.
“Yeah.Did you think Erika stayed at home for nine months every time she got pregnant?She didn’t stop working just because she was pregnant.”My words might have come out a little harsher than I mean them to, and Oscar steps back, surprised.Whoops.“Mathew and I are both going in.We’re not so far along that it’s much of an issue.”
“Is it safe?”That seems to be a genuine question.
“It’s never safe.Pregnant or not.But my mates are going in, they need all the help they can get, so I don’t see a reason to stay back just because I’m pregnant.”
My mates need me and they’re more important than anything else in the world, so I’ll do —just about— anything for them.
11
Caleb
We spentthe two hours before dinner in the nest, the whole pack together, making sure to share as much of our pheromones with each other as possible.Then, after dinner, we each took a shower with pheromone masking products to get rid of as many of our pheromones as possible.No good sharing those around when we’re on a mission, that would only make it easier to track us.
Jorge and Luca have already left, together with Erika, Nathan and his pack.They’re meeting up with Xavier and the others, so that they can go over what to expect and how they’re going to do things.It’s easier for them to do that in person.Plus, that way they don’t have to be around the rest of us as we’re all getting ready.
I glance over to Vera, who’s adjusting some straps to make sure that the gear fits properly and won’t slide all over the place.
“Let me help.”I go over to her and try the straps she was pulling on.They’re pretty stiff, which is probably why they aren’t budging.I try to move them with two hands, which finally seems to do the trick, and adjust them so that they’re the right size.“Better?”
“Yes.Thank you.”She beams up at me and wraps her arms around my neck.
I lift her up, keeping her at my side.“You seem excited.”I nuzzle the side of her head.
“I am.This is the first time I get to go on a mission, and I’m really looking forward to it.I just hope I don’t mess up.”
I laugh, nuzzling her again, my brain not really happy that I’m so close to her without being able to catch her pheromones.“I’m sure you’ll do fine, as long as you stick to the plan and don’t go off on your own.And you’ll have Riley with you, so if you don’t feel confident about something, you she can help.”
“Who can help?”Riley comes over, as she checks her weapons, like it’s an instinct, like she doesn’t even have to think about it.
“You’ll be able to help me.”Vera’s voice is light and she smiles broadly at Riley.
“Of course, I will.”Riley reaches out and touches Vera’s cheek.“That’s why we go in teams and not solo.So you’ve always got someone to watch your back.”Then she looks Vera over.“Everything fits?Got all your weapons where you need them?”
“Yep.All packed away.I’m ready to go.”She wriggles out of my arms and goes over to where Mathew is talking with Derrick and some of the others in charge.The moment she appears at his side, his arms go around her and he holds her close.It’s so sweet to watch.
“You also ready to go?”Riley turns to me.
“Yeah.”I pat the knives and guns and other stuff I’ve got strapped to me.“I feel like a walking armoury, but I guess that’s normal.”
“Once you’ve done this a couple of times, you’ll figure out what you really need and which things are optional.”She glances to Vera and Mathew.“I’m almost more nervous about making sure I keep Vera safe than I am about the raid itself.I know that she can handle herself, that I shouldn’t have to really worry.But I still do.”
That makes sense.I feel it too.Not so much to protect Vera, but to keep the whole pack safe.But that’s probably also because Vera and I have gotten ourselves into and out of plenty of iffy situations in the past, so I have first-hand experience of how Vera overcomes stressful situations.Riley has seen her do her thing when we got attacked at the restaurant, the night we met her, but not after that.
“Were you as worried when you went on that mission with Mathew?”Because, if I’m honest, knowing I’m teamed up with Mathew and knowing I’ll do anything to protect him, even at the cost of my life, thatismaking me a little nervous.
“A little, yes.But back then, we had a much better idea of what we’d encounter.This time, there are a lot of unknown factors.”
We don’t know exactly how many kids there are in the building right now.We don’t know how many other people there will be.We have a pretty good idea of their security numbers, but that’s about it.When it comes to unknown factors, that’s quite a lot.
Not that it’s going to stop us.We’ve got plans on plans on plans, all of them with multiple backup plans depending on what situation we’ll encounter at the brothel.
We all know what we need to do, now we simply have to do it.
The streetsand alleys we pass through are dark and full of even deeper shadows.The city is asleep.It’s almost four in the morning, the time when the brothel should be the most vulnerable.
