Page 147

Archer

The pack house is so fucked.

The sound of sirens cuts through the eery silence of the night. Took them long enough. The alarm going off should’ve called them right away.

“Do you think we’ve taken care of most of the mercenaries?” Chase asks me, running a hand through his hair.

“I fucking hope so,” I grunt, making my way downstairs.

“There you guys are,” Kane grunts from the kitchen sink as he furiously scrubs at his hands.

“Holy shit man, what happened to you?” Chase asks. “You’re fucking covered in blood.”

“I know,” Kane answers, his voice tight. “I lost my shit. There’re seven dead bodies upstairs in my room that’re going to need to be identified with dental records.”

“Where’s Madden? And Luna?” I ask.

“I covered for Madden so he could get Luna to the garage and out of here,” Kane answers, his jaw clenched tight. “Luna got shot.”

“Holy shit, is she okay?” Chase asks.

“It was a flesh wound. Straight through her arm.But still?—”

“Not your fault, man,” I grunt, sensing that Kane isn’t doing well. He’s still scrubbing at his hands even though they’re the only clean part of his body. “You had seven guys after you both.”

He just grunts in response.

I pull out my phone from my back pocket and dial Madden’s number. It rings, but it goes to voicemail. A twisted feeling of dread sits low in my gut.

“He’s not answering,” I curse.

Chase pulls out his own phone and starts checking the camera feeds. We all watch as Chase’s red sports car peels down the driveway, followed by two blacked out SUVs.

“Fuck,” Chase mutters under his breath. “This was a fucking huge operation. Whoever bought these fuckers had a lot of money to burn.”

My knuckles go white around my phone. “Kane, you deal with the police. Give them a full report. Tell them I left a couple alive in my room for interrogation to try and figure out what the fuck happened. Chase, try and track where Madden and Luna are since they’re in your car.” I clench my jaw. “I’m going to call my fucking father.”

There’s no way my father’s announcement of Luna’s placement with our pack isn’t related to this attack. Our reputation is well known.

They used explosives. Explosives in very strategic locations. Which means whoever ordered this is at least familiar with our style of security systems.

Whoever ordered this was a Northsider. A very well-connected, rich Northsider.

My dad picks up on the fourth ring. “What’s going on?” His voice is groggy as if he just woke up.

“The pack house was attacked. By a whole team of mercs. What the fuck did you say in your announcement today?” I growl.

“You’re joking,” My dad says, his tone instantly growing serious.

“Half of the house is crumbling apart because they used explosives.” I scrub a hand down my face, the exhaustion of tonight’s events setting into every bone of my body. “I think the person who organized this was someone high up. Someone important. There’s no way someone without power and a shit ton of money didn’t organize this.”

“I’m inclined to agree with you, if they seriously went after you and your pack with explosives and a whole team of paid mercenaries.”

“You mentioned a while back there were higher powers interested in Luna. People who were pushing for her to go through the selection process. Who were they?”

“There were a few members of the council and some of the packs that spent time with her at the ball. It wasn’t just one person.”

“Send me the list, then.”