My mate nodded as he squeezed me tight. “OK. Yes, I know, babe. But he’s not going to get away with it. We’re going to stop him and get Anna back. Trust me and the pack. We’ll find her, Cat. I promise.”
“Stop pouting,” the man in the backseat snapped at Ace.
I had to suppress a smile, because my mate was, indeed, pouting.
Ace shot his brother, his actual blood-brother, a withering glare. “I’m not pouting. I’m just not happy with our plan.”
Ace’s younger brother, Cage, rolled his eyes heavenward. “We know. You’ve only told us about it a hundred times already!”
“Let’s see how you feel one day when you have a mate who’s being put in harm’s way, pup. How quickly you’ll be willing to offer her up as bait to a psychopath like Kane.”
Cage snorted. “I don’t want a mate. I prefer my sexual encounters to be numerous and varied, thank you very much.”
I chuckled at the brash, young man. Although a few inches shorter than Ace, he was still big, like all the rest of the pack members. And, like the rest of the pack, he definitely enjoyed his sexual freedom, something I’d experienced firsthand when he’d been hitting on me while monitoring the gate earlier today.
Though the younger man shared the same beautiful grey eyes as his older brother, Cage was fair haired and not as muscular. At only nineteen years old, he hadn’t filled out completely yet and was still more on the gangly side of youth that made him exceptionally lean.
“And don’t think we aren’t going to talk about you coming on to my mate earlier today,” Ace said gruffly then. “You’re getting a thrashing for your disrespect as soon as we get home.”
Frustrated, Cage tossed his hands into the air. “I didn’t know she was your mate until she told me who she was, bro. You can’t blame me for that. I’ve been in an entirely different country for the last month. I’ve kind of been out of the loop about what’s been going on around here.”
“Whose fault is that?” Ace groused, turning down a side road and parking near an overhang of trees that would hide my beater vehicle from view. “You could have called and checked in with the pack at least once when your plane landed in Oslo. Hell, you could have just sent a single word text like ‘here’. But did you? No. Per usual, that’s too much trouble for you, bro.”
“Sorry,Mom. I didn’t realize you were so worried about me. Next time I’m away, I’ll make sure to Facetime you every evening so we can wish each other a good night with sweet dreams.” Cage made a kissy face, replete with noises, to drive home his ridiculous point.
In response, Ace delivered a one finger solute. “Prick! You’re so lucky Domino held me back from beating your ass for the way you disrespected Cat.”
“I would have been even luckier if Blitz hadn’t tattled on me in the first place,” Cage muttered like a moody teenager.
I hid my smile, trying not to enjoy their back-and-forth banter as much as I was. If we weren’t on our way to rescue my best friend from life-threatening danger, I wouldn’t have wanted this family reunion to end at all.
Putting my car in park, Ace turned to me then, his face now deadly serious. “You know you don’t have to do this, Cat. We can find another way.”
There was no other way. We’d all already tried to come up with one and failed. “I want to do this. Anna needs me to do this.”
The truth was, I was scared shitless, but I’d meant what I’d said: Anna needed me. That meant I was going into the lion’s den, scared or not, to retrieve her.
Thankfully, I didn’t have to go in alone. I was taking my pack with me, so to speak. We also had a secret weapon Los Lobos would never expect. A tiny witch named Kierston with a can-do spirit and a kick-ass attitude.
“I’ll be fine. I know the plan. I trust you, Ace. Now I need you to trust me,” I admonished, with more confidence than I actually felt.
Ace frowned but nodded. “We won’t be far. If things go wrong?—”
“I’ll put out the wolf-APB faster than you can blink,” I promised, before leaning in for a good-luck kiss. “Now get out of my car before anyone sees you.”
After Ace had kissed me goodbye, he and his brother had gracefully disappeared into the woods. The plan was for me to drive the rest of the way to the location alone. The men were going to hoof it over on foot to meet up with Kierston, Mad Dog, Domino, Blitz and Gunner. As soon as we found out where Anna was being kept, the cavalry was going to ride in and save the day.
Of course, I’m sure Kane might be anticipating a double-cross. That’s where Kierston came in. The witch had a few powerful tricks up her magical sleeves that were going to help withsubduing the leader of Los Lobos and any other wares that might be with him.
My body started to shake as soon as I pulled up to the address Kane had provided. Gripping the steering wheel so hard my knuckles turned white, I counted to ten, took a deep breath, then unbuckled my seat belt.
It was showtime.
My fingers went to the locket that was hanging around my neck. It was the most important part of our plan. Kierston had spelled the delicate piece of jewelry to act like a tracking device. I just hoped she was every inch the witch the pack believed her to be. I was putting a lot of my faith into a woman I’d only met once before.
There was one major road leading in and out of town from the abandoned gas station I was meeting Kane at. Based on that fact and where the Los Lobos clubhouse was located, Kierston and the Pack were all going to be stationed along that isolated stretch of road, lying in wait for Kane. Once the ware drove by, Kierston was going to spell his vehicle so that the engine stopped.
Of course, Kane would have to get out of the car and check what was wrong. When he did, I’d lock him out of the car and my lover and packmates would come charging out of the woods to subdue him before he could force his way back in. Once they had the shifter in their grasp, they were going toconvincehim to give up Anna’s location if he hadn’t already shared it with me.
