“How many warehouses in vampire territory have we had to raid now? It can’t be a coincidence,” Emmy replied.
“Yeah, I’m pretty fucking over it as well. Keep an eye out for anything we can tie to Kyan or the coven,” Marco said, leaning against the side of a car as he did something on his phone while they waited for their scouts to return and tell them if the building was rigged with explosives.
They weren’t taking any chances this time. Four witches and a wolf were checking each side of the building.
“What’s the plan?” Rafe asked, eyes trained in the direction of the building and nostrils flaring as he drew in deep breaths of the cold night air, trying to catch his mate’s scent on the breeze.
Luca’s voice came through softly from the speaker on Marco’s phone. The hacker was at the pack house with his mate, where he had a better set-up to provide surveillance. “Drive the SUV with the signal blocker straight through the doors and hope it works so they can’t trigger the chips.”
“That’s it? What if it hits my mate?”
“He’ll recover from broken bones. He might not recover from whatever that chip is doing,” Marco said.
A shiver of rage rocked Rafe’s body. The world faded away as the reality he’d been so pointedly ignoring so he could function rocked him to his core. He didn’t even hear his Alpha’s voice as he darted to the SUV with the blocker, flipped the generator switch, and slid behind the wheel. Didn’t hear the curses as his pack scrambled to come in behind him in support. All he could think about was Adri somewhere in that building. Of the filthy technology that had probably violated his mate’s brain. Of what he would do if he lost his mate before they could even bond.
Eyes glowing, fangs lengthening, and claws digging into the leather of the steering wheel, Rafe slammed his foot on theaccelerator so hard the whole car skidded out as he shot forward, and he was forced to wrestle it back into submission. He barely processed the blur of motion as he sped down the street, heading straight for the loading doors Seth had described.
His shoe was still flat to the floor when he made contact. Wood splintered away from him into the dark void ahead as he spun the wheel, pulled the hand brake, and wrenched the car to a stop. His desperation to get to his mate as quickly as possible was almost his undoing—the SUV tilting onto its side and almost overbalancing as his momentum had nowhere to go. He’d be fine if the SUV crashed out, but his medical supplies might not be, and they’d take more time to access. Thankfully, he’d executed it perfectly, the wheels of the vehicle reconnecting with the concrete floor in a dusty thump as the rest of the pack ran in through the hole in the wall he’d just made.
Shoving the door open hard enough to rip it off its hinges, Rafe tore from the vehicle, head turning as he hunted the jungle scent that had been haunting his memories for days.
“Fucking hell, Doc. A little warning would’ve been—” Silas’ words cut off with a curse as a figure slammed into him from behind, tackling him to the ground.
Red eyes flashed in the darkness as Silas twisted to throw the guy clear.
“Fuck. He’s feral! Contain him or kill him, but don’t let him get his fucking teeth in you,” Marco snapped.
A strangled howl broke from Rafe’s throat. There were too many scents in the room. All familiar. Adri and the five missing fighters.
“Who?” Rafe gasped, his throat closing on the words, his wolf still frantically scenting the air to figure out where their mate was.
“Not him,” Silas gritted out, arm muscles bulging as he tackled the shifter in return and fought against the extra strength of his ferality to contain him. Marco sprinted to help him, cursing his second’s impulsive move that put him in harm’s way.
The snap of the poor kid’s neck as Marco joined the fray echoed into an eerie moment of quiet.
“Rafe? You can’t be here! Get out!”
Rafe’s head snapped toward the voice he would know anywhere, even as slurred and drugged out as Adri sounded. Ignoring his mate’s ridiculous instruction, Rafe raced toward his crumpled form chained to the far wall.
“Fuck, kitten. What did they do to you?” Rafe said, dropping to his knees beside his mate and hauling him into his arms. His searching fingers ran across Adri’s scalp, and he froze as he felt the telltale dip where his skull had been breached.
Adri’s groan of pain had him cursing himself for his carelessness. He’d barely opened his mouth to call for help when Marco was there. He’d found a sledgehammer somewhere, wielding it like it was lighter than air as he smashed the chain’s tether from the wall. Scooping his mate and the broken chain up into his arms, Rafe sprinted for the SUV and the makeshift field hospital Emmy had the foresight to set up while everyone else was distracted.
“Adri, where are the rest of them?” Marco asked as Rafe gently placed him on the hastily assembled operating trolley.
“Two of them should be chained nearby. Three turned feral already, pulled their chains from the wall,” Adri said, his fist clinging tight to Rafe’s jacket.
Rafe pressed a kiss to his jaw and then his lips. “I need to get that chip out of you while we still can, kitten.”
His words sparked a new panic in his mate, and Rafe threw himself across Adri’s body before he tumbled to the floor.
“They’ll detonate it! Get away from me!” Adri cried, voice frantic.
“Kitten. Kitten!” Rafe shouted, forcing Adri to look at him. “I’ve got you. Thepack’sgot you. The signal blocker should last long enough to get you and the other two sorted. They won’t be able to do a damn thing.”
Adri froze as he processed Rafe’s words.
“Do the others first,” Adri said.
