My pack.
Mine.
I hoped my other mate had been successful on his mission, too, because I didn’t think I could wait much longer to make good on my promises this time.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Brandt and I roped another beta into contacting the little creep who was dealing scent blockers and various other substances to the area. After lulling the guy into a false sense of security by having our beta meet and buy a stash from him, we tracked him from the air to his current hideout. Located in the opposite direction from his last place, it was just as isolated and rundown, and likely filled with the same amount of illegal crap which Sage was accused of manufacturing and dealing. I thought that he probably had a few of these places scattered around the area, and once he was taken care of, I would make it my mission to locate and destroy any others I could.
As it was, it took all the willpower I possessed not to burn the place to the ground, but I knew we needed the evidence. Reluctantly returning home to report our findings to Eric, I resolved to fly back over and keep track of the real criminal overnight if we couldn’t convince the others to act immediately.
When we landed in the fields behind Beckett and Oliver’s house, I found the clothes I had discarded earlier and dressed quickly, aware of Brandt doingthe same.
“I want to go after him tonight,” I said, turning to face him as he tugged his shirt over his head. “Please tell me you’re with me on this.”
We had come to an understanding, I thought, bonding over our mutual desire to find justice for whoever had framed Sage. I had even caught him smirking at my snark on a couple of occasions during the day, which was…weird. Good, but weird.
Thankfully, Brandt nodded. “Sage is not spending another night behind bars if I can help it.” He looked up at the farmhouse where the Alpha lived and steeled his jaw. “Let us get your mate back.”
I matched him stride for stride as we marched determinedly through the lush green grass, though I stepped aside and let him enter the house first through the back door, which took us through the kitchen and dining area.
Oliver was standing at the large timber table, sliding plates of sandwiches and vegetable sticks in front of the twins. He gave us a small smile as we entered, asking, “How did it go?”
“We found him,” I answered simply, then craned my neck towards the hallway. “Is Serge…?”
“They got back about fifteen minutes ago,” Ollie confirmed. “Everyone’s in the war room waiting for you.”
I offered him a tight, but grateful smile, adrenaline coursing through my veins. My heart seemed to be hammering hard for no ascertainable reason, aside from how close I felt to getting my mate back.
“Thank you,” I said, then hurried out of the kitchen without any further discussion.
I heard Brandt murmuring a few more words behind me, but I needed to see Sergio. I needed to hear how Sage was, whetherhe had managed to talk to him, and all the other information that might help me to decide whether or not the humans should suffer, regardless of what the Alpha said.
Sergio stood up as I opened the door, spreading his arms wide without my having to say anything. As I stepped into his embrace and rested my head on his shoulder, some of the tension holding his body rigid seemed to ease a little alongside mine, and I realized he needed to reconnect just as badly as I did.
“He’s alright,” my alpha spoke quietly into my ear before I could ask. “Exhausted, but unharmed.”
Even though the lawyer had said as much, it felt much more convincing hearing it from my alpha. I sagged a bit more in his hold. “Thank the gods.”
“I…” Serge’s throat worked beside my head, and I turned a little to try and peer up at him. “I told him about the baby. I’m sorry if that was something you wanted to do together, but I…I needed to convince him not to lose hope.”
I couldn’t be upset with him over that, especially not given the circumstances. “I would have done the same thing,” I assured him, squeezing him a little tighter. “Was he...” Happy? I stopped myself from asking the asinine question. It was impossible for Sage to be truly happy until he was free. “How did he take it?”
Segio’s chest bounced with a short, breathy laugh. “He didn’t believe me at first. And then I think he was worried that you and I might not be happy about it, but I did my best to assure him that we are…or, at least, that we will be when we have him home safely again.” His Adam’s apple bobbed again, and his lips grazed the shell of my ear, the whiskers of his beard tickling my skin as he barely whispered, “He made me promise to knot him properly once we get him free.”
It was all I could do not to groan at the mental image. The idea of seeingmySage knotted for the very first time byouralpha…oh, gods, it was an inappropriate time to get slick.
“We’re getting him back,” my words were a growled-out promise fueled by my ongoing anger and now a surge of desperate —if out of place— arousal as well, “tonight.”
“Beck’s already put the kibosh on tearin’ the building down,” Rex’s perpetually amused voice drawled from across the table, “so unless you and Brandt have a better plan than that…”
“We do, actually,” Brandt informed him, taking a seat beside the one I was standing behind. He sighed with relief as his body sagged against the high leather back, and in that moment I realized that he’d only given birth six or seven weeks earlier. He rubbed at his chest with a grimace and looked towards Eric. “I will need to express before we go anywhere.” Whipping his phone from his pocket, he started tapping at the screen. “I’ll ask Micah to bring the pump. This is painful.”
Eric nodded sympathetically from his seat next to Beckett. “That’s not exactly a surprise when you feed them so regularly. Your body’s kept up with the supply, but you haven’t used it today.”
Still gently pressing his pec, Brandt hissed. “It feels as though I might just explode.”
“Well,” I tried to guide the conversation back to where it should be without sounding like I didn’t care, “while we wait for your alpha to bring relief, I think we should go over what we found.”
