Page 6 of Freed

He steps forward, grabbing the tops of my arms as he stares at me with the same brown eyes I see every day in the mirror.

“Listen to me, Chase. We know she will come back. She probably already has. Philip is going to bring something to make the others feel better, then we’re going to follow the tracker to where they have her. We’re going to kill every motherfucker in that place, then we’re going to bring her home. Then you and I are going to cement the bond with her.”

My claws lengthen at just the mere thought of ripping into those sons of bitches.

Hunter nods. “That’s right. You’ll get a chance to avenge her. We all will.”

“Even you?” I ask, knowing he doesn’t fight unless necessary.

“You may even need to hold me back this time,” he says with the barest hint of a smirk. But it’s not happiness poking through; it’s vengeance.

The sound of a car engine has both our heads turning to the front window.

“They’re here,” we say in unison. We both run to the front door and jog out as two cars pull up.

In the first one is Philip, and I’m extremely grateful when he wastes no time, jogging up to meet us at the front door.

“I’ve got the potion to help them,” he says, patting his bag.

“Follow me,” Hunter says, leading him inside as I head to the driveway to meet our other guests.

Finn gets out of the driver’s seat as he tells me, “I brought some backup.”

I’m surprised to see Cody step out of the passenger side. I’m even more surprised by the two lion shifters who step out of the back seats.

“This isn’t the facility,” one of the new men says. They’re both large guys, bigger than me and almost as big as Bain. The one who spoke has a mess of wild white-blond hair. “You said I get to help kill bad guys,” he whines as he looks at the other man. The second guy has dirty blond hair thrown up in a messy bun. They both have trimmed beards and share facial features and body shape, but that’s where the similarities end.

The white-haired one looks like he’s bursting with energy, his eyes flying around everyone with keen excitement, while the other one has a similar stoic disposition to Bain.

“Finn already told you we have to meet up with the others first,” the stoic one tells him.

Cody makes his way over to me and I greet him. “Cody, thanks for coming,” I say, offering my hand as he comes to greet me behind where our SUV is parked.

“Finn told me what’s going on. I’ve been itching to take down one of those facilities ever since he told me about the one he was in.”

“Chase, this is my pack mate, Alaric,” Finn introduces, gesturing to the stoic one. “And that’s his cousin, Casper.”

“Pack mate?” I ask, nodding my greeting to Alaric.

“We share a mate.”

“That seems to be a common theme here,” I say, my eyes moving to Cody.

He throws up his hands. “Don’t look at me. I’m single and happy to keep it that way.”

Yeah right. I knew that was just a cover. He pretty much said as much when we saw him at the bar.

“I’m single too,” Casper says, rocking back on his heels as his gaze moves around the front of my home. “But hopefully I’ll find my mate soon.” Then his head whips to me as he asks, “You don’t know any unmated shifters by chance?”

“Uh…”

“She doesn’t even have to be a shifter!” he says quickly, his eyes wide like he said something wrong. “Whoever she is, just tell her I’ll be the most perfect mate ever!”

Finn groans, and I glance at him in confusion as he rubs his hand down his face. “Casper, stop asking everyone you meet if they know anyone.”

“Why? How else will I find a mate?” Casper asks as if it’s completely logical to set him up with a woman when we’re about to go rescue mine.

“Casper?” Alaric says, still looking at me and not his cousin.