Tears spill onto my cheeks as my eyes grow heavy again.I try to clear my head, but I can’t.
Just before I pass out, I make a wish that someone will find me and save me.
THREE
Abe
The worst partis the waiting.
Always has been.
War zones.Ops gone bad.Stakeouts in deserts, cities, and jungles.You’d think I’d be used to it by now, but waiting when your mate is locked in a house full of zealots who think kidnapping is holy work?
That’s a different kind of hell.
Christian and I head straight back to the Midnight Haven cabin after we leave the woods.The sun is barely breaching the horizon when we get there, painting the sky in faint streaks of pink.The cabin is quiet, but lights flick on inside as soon as we climb the porch steps.Within minutes, the place fills up as everyone comes in after their patrol shift ends.Jameson, Cooper, Russo, Julian.Familiar faces.Family, even if it took me a while to get used to and accept that word.
Christian gets right to it as soon as we sit at the table to debrief.
“We found her,” he says, voice firm but tight.“Roxie.Fern’s friend.”
“My mate,” I add.
The word burns through me, echoing, anchoring, consuming.
Mine.
I lean against the wall near the window, arms crossed over my chest, because I don’t trust myself to sit.I’m too amped up right now.
My wolf is pacing inside me, too big to be contained by muscle and bone, claws raking lines of agitation through my insides.Get her.Now.We need to go now.
I grit my teeth.We can’t rush this.We need a plan to get her out safely.
“Where?”Jameson asks, instantly alert.
I know the last few weeks have been hell for his mate and also for him.
“The cult has her,” I say, voicing our worst fear.
We’ve been searching for Roxie for so long with no sign.We knew she didn’t just disappear and that the cult or Fern’s dad must have had something to do with it, but with no leads, we were starting to lose hope.
“North boundary,” I continue.“Old farmhouse near the grove.Three men brought her in around five this morning.”
Russo curses.Julian mutters something under his breath about idiots.Cooper’s jaw clenches.
“We can’t move on them during daylight,” Christian says as he spreads a map over the table, weighing down the corners with coffee mugs.“Too many eyes.Too exposed.”
“We can’t wait anymore,” I growl, pushing away from the wall.“We go tonight.”
He meets my gaze calmly.“We will.Don’t worry, Abe.We’ll get your girl out safely.”
Relief doesn’t come.Not yet.Not when she’s still there.
“We do this clean.Quiet,” Russo says.“No casualties unless unavoidable.We’re ghosts.”
“We don’t go in as wolves tonight,” Christian agrees.“Not unless we have to shift.”
That makes sense.We’ll freak out my mate if we show up as wolves.