"No. We have a different problem," Cole said.
"Then what is it about?" Dawson asked.
"You have one of my people."
Dawson scoffed. "I do not! I don't make a habit of stealing from other packs, unlike some people."
Cole didn't let it drop. "A pack of wolves stole one of my betas off the street this afternoon. I have intelligence that places them inside your territory right now."
Dawson sighed. "I don't patrol every inch of my territory every second. If some foolish interlopers are causing trouble, they will be dealt with."
"So you're sure it isn't you?" Cole's knuckles whitened around the steering wheel. "You're saying you don't have my beta."
Dawson paused a moment, and then he put them on fucking hold. Elevator music started to play. The tinny, cheerful melody was so absurd that, for a moment, Reece could only stare at the dashboard speaker in disbelief.
Reece couldn't stop the incredulous sound that escaped the back of his throat. "You've got to be fucking kidding me," he said. "Who is this guy? The credit card company?"
Cole glared at him but couldn't say anything before Dawson came back.
"I don't have your beta," Dawson confirmed.
"Then consider this a courtesy," Cole said. "I'm getting him. I'm going into your territory to do it. If anyone stands in my way, I'm going to kill them."
"If you kill anybody, I will be forced to retaliate," Dawson said. "So you had better be careful. But I don't care what happens to interlopers. That would be none of my business." The line went dead.
"Do you think he's telling the truth?" Reece asked. "Do you think it really isn't him?"
Cole sighed, rubbing a hand across his face. "I don't know. Dawson's an asshole, but he's not insane. He doesn't gain anything from taking Nico or the witch."
"What did Dawson mean by his offer?"
Cole kept his eyes fixed on the road ahead. "Don't worry about it."
Yeah, that was exactly what Reece wanted to hear and would assure him that nothing hinky was going on.
But they were already in the city. The witches were pulling into the parking lot of a warehouse about a block away from where they thought Nico was being held.
The eight of them gathered around the front of Cole's truck. Reece was surprised when Delainey was the one speaking for the witches. He thought that Briana was in charge, but he wasn't about to question it and show his ignorance.
He knew witches had a slightly more complicated leadership structure than wolves.
"We have to do a full-frontal assault," Reece said. "We just go in directly and find wherever they're keeping Nico and get him out of there."
He expected pushback. Witches were tricky creatures and liked to do everything sideways. But Delainey nodded, her dark curls bouncing with the movement.
"Yes. We go right in, find where they're keepingElise," she emphasized the witch's name, "and we knock down anyone in our path who tries to stop us."
"We need to try and not kill anyone," Cole warned.
Delainey glared at him, magic crackling faintly at her fingertips like static electricity. Reece kept his own expression blank but secretly hated the fact that he agreed with the witch. It was very strange and wrong, and he did his best to put it out of his mind.
"We need to be in two teams," Cole said. "Two witches and two wolves on each. Delainey, Reece, Aya, Javi, you're together. Hugh, Serena, and Briana, you are with me."
The witches didn't argue.
"We'll take the front." Reece rolled his shoulders back, feeling his wolf press, eager and violent, against the inside of his skin. He wanted to go through that door and cause as much mayhem and bloodshed as he could.
Nico pissed him off sometimes, but that didn't mean that somebody else got to hold him captive or threaten him. That was Reece's privilege as his fellow beta.
