Aidan was right. I couldn’t bust in there. We had to be methodical. The need to save my wife, my omega, was the only thing more powerful than my instincts.
I was more than her alpha. I was her mate. Her husband.
My devotion to Willow ran deep, deeper than I ever thought possible. Because of that, I would leash my anger, harness it into something powerful. A weapon that I would use to sever the head off the serpent who threatened the woman I loved.
Love.
The clarity of that word curled around my thrumming heart, soothing it with the rightness of the meaning. I loved Willow Finnegan and would cherish and worship her until my dying breath.
My senses sharpened as my nostrils flared. Two of Rossi’s men flanked the entrance to the warehouse, automatic rifles resting in their meaty palms. I recalled the blueprints of the building—the ones I had spent the entire day memorizing.
Besides the main entrance, an old delivery tunnel remained hidden and in disrepair in the back.
“You two,” I said, nodding at the two men behind me. “Go with Aidan and Torin and sneak in through the back tunnels. Dispatch any you come across silently. We need to avoid drawing attention and gun fire. Luke, you come with me. The rest of you wait here until my signal. Luke and I will take care of the guards at the front.”
Aidan moved with the others, quietly maneuvering to the back of the building while Luke and I removed our knives. I shared a look with Luke, and he nodded. With that, we slid along the cold stone walls buried beneath a layer of moss and grime.
The two men guarding the front door murmured, slurring words as they huffed at some obscene joke. If they were drunk, it would be much easier. They hadn’t heard or seen us approach.
“Now,” I whispered, in a harsh breath.
Luke moved with me, dragging his blade across one man’s throat while I did the same with the other.
Blood spilled from them, pooling on the ground in a puddle. Their eyes bulged, their mouths falling open in silent screams as their hands scrambled to cover their fatal wounds. With gurgling breaths, both men collapsed on the ground, dead without a sound.
I let out a whistle, signaling the rest of my men, who joined us. Crimson brushed along my fingers as I wiped the remnants of it off my blade, shucking it towards the ground with a flick.
The metal door groaned as I pushed it open, greeted by muted yellow lights.
Another wave of my omega’s scent stole the air from my lungs as I stepped inside, shocked by how potent it was. Fuck.
A thud echoed behind me, and I snapped my head in its direction. Surprised to see another one of Vittorio’s men falling to the ground at the hand of Eric.
Labyrinthine pathways of steel pillars and pallets snaked through the warehouse. We moved room by room, eliminating the few guards who wandered among the dimly lit corridors.
I still hadn’t seen Torin or the others when a muffled cry carried down a long, dark hallway. The sound set fire to the last vestiges of my control, burning it to ashes. I didn’t stop to think.
I ran.
A series of footsteps followed me, echoing ominously in theshadows. Another mountain of an alpha—almost as tall as me—stood like a sentry before a massive steel door.
Without thinking, I plunged my knife into his throat, slicing a gash across his artery. I wiped the blood from my face, drowning in the intoxicating scent of my omega nearing her heat.
I didn’t bother wasting time looking for a key, instead smashing into the door with my shoulder, ignoring the bite of pain with each thrust. On the third strike, the wood frame splintered, and the door flew open.
I almost fell to my knees at the heady scent, consuming me in the thick cloud of her heat. My alpha roared, demanding I tuck her away safely in her nest and tend to all her needs while filling her over and over until she was sated and my seed took.
A single bare bulb hung from the ceiling, casting a sickly glow across the concrete floor.
In the middle of the room, I saw them.
A contorted grimace twisted on Rossi’s face, creases tight around his mouth. A hand clutched his groin as he knelt on the ground, moaning a pathetic sound.
And standing over him, my beautiful mate.
Her lips trembled with short, stuttered breaths. Beads of sweat glistened on her pinkened skin. The scent of her heat hung heavily in the air, but beneath it, I scented her determination, her defiance. My brave girl.
In her hand, a silver knife glittered, the point of the blade barely pricking the skin of Vittorio’s jaw. A fire blazed in her blue eyes, illuminating them like brilliant sapphires.
