I nodded, but let Brandt take the lead in talking to the attorney. “Please,” he answered firmly.
On the other end of the line, Warwick Barnes cleared his throat. “I met with Sage earlier today. Physically, he’s all right, though he’s exhausted and understandably stressed.”
I growled while Sergio’s hand tightened on mine.
The lawyer kept speaking.
“I’ve reviewed his case and, after some discussion, I have recommended that we try for a plea deal—”
“Absolutely not!” I was up and out of my seat, leaning over the table and glowering at the speaker as if I could intimidate the waste-of-space on the other end of the call through the power of thought alone. “He’s innocent!”
“Dexter,” Eric was trying to pull me backwards, but the simmering anger from earlier had boiled over into a blinding rage.
I brushed off his hand, turning back to the speaker. “Now, you listen to me, you overpriced furball. You can do your damned job instead of taking the shortest and easiest way out. Sage deserves better than this. Better thanyou, clearly.” I glared across the table at Brandt, whose expression seemed to mirror the murderous urges I was feeling. “Find another lawyer, Brandt, orIwill.”
I righted myself and then turned on my heel, incensed beyond belief. I didn’t spare anyone in the room a backwards glance as I stormed out, slamming the door in my wake.
A plea deal? A fucking plea deal? I had half a mind to take to the sky and raze that lawyer’s offices to the ground.
“Dexter, sweetheart, wait,” Sergio pleaded just as I made my way through the front door and out onto the front lawn. “We’re with you on this.”
“We?” I asked, turning around to face him, only to find Brandt hot on his heels. They wore matching thunderous expressions, their lips pressed into thin lines as they nodded.
“I was not as blunt, but I informed Barnes that I agreed with you and requested that he revisit his plans,” Brandt explained. “I walked away before I could do something stupid, like tear Beckett’s meeting room apart.”
Serge nodded again. “I’m not waiting around to see if that lawyer can do it, though. I’m taking action myself.”
My hopes lifted a touch. “Do we finally get to tear the building down and rescue Sage ourselves?”
“As a last resort,” Brandt answered seriously, making me blink back in shock. His lips quirked and he shrugged. “My loyalty to my brother extends beyond my loyalty to the pack or shifterkind in general. If starting a war with the humans is what it takes…”
“We’re not starting a war with the humans,” Beckett’s voice cut in, sounding exasperated but also mildly amused. We turned as a group to watch as he jogged down the front steps from the porch, Rex, Eric, and Jamie on his heels. “Thanks for leaving us to deal with the rest of that call, Bran.”
“If we’re not going to fly to Sage’s rescue, what are we doing, then?” I demanded to know, not leaving any room for them tobanter. This was not the time for that. Irritation itched under my skin. “Like Serge, I’m done sitting around and waiting to resolve this legally when it is clear that the humans’ system is anything but fair.”
Beckett turned his attention to my alpha, his expression becoming serious again. “What are you suggesting, then?”
Serge straightened his back and jutted his chin up defiantly. “I am going to see my mate.”
“And I,” Brandt cut in, craning his neck to glare in the direction of the town proper, “am going to track down the person truly responsible for Sage’s incarceration and make them see the error in their ways.”
I shuddered at the danger in those words, made all the more terrifying when I knew how placid and kind he generally was.
“I’m going with you,” I said, and I think I surprised everyone by directing the words at Brandt and not Sergio.
While I felt a pang of longing to see Sage in person, to find reassurance that he was okay, I knew I would be more useful if I helped Brandt in his search. Besides, I was still burning up with rage and a thirst for vengeance. Going with Brandt would probably satisfy those urges more, while seeing my mate in a cage would only exacerbate them.
The big, bulky, dark-haired man seemed to understand and, despite our differences, he nodded. “Good.”
“Where did you get the damn scent blockers?” I seethed as I shoved one of the pack’s betas up against a wall. He let out a grunt of surprise, his eyes widening with surprise and a hint of fear.
I’d recognized him as one of the men who had attended the same party Sage and I had. The style and color of his peroxide blond hair was distinctive, even if he had worn a mask and concealed his scent. When I had seen him leaving the diner on Main Street, I had pounced, dragging him around the corner of the building before he could blink.
Now, he stared at Brandt for help, then whined as my companion growled menacingly, “Answer him.”
“S-some guy. ’Bout t-two hours’ drive south-west of here. Th-there’s a house in the middle of nowhere,” the beta stammered, his eyes darting between me and Brandt. “I already told Sage all this.”
Brandt growled again. I matched the sound deep in my throat and it took all my willpower not to shake the man I was accosting for information. While he had given Sage the information, it was not his fault that Sage had gone investigating on his own. I couldn’t blame him, as badly as I needed someone to take the feeling of hopeless frustration out on.
