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Chapter Thirteen

Tegan

“You want to break into the offices?” He’d mentioned it before, but I never thought we’d actually do it. I should’ve known by now this bear would stop at nothing to get the job done.

Barrett shrugged. He looked so sexy lying on the bed, shirtless, with his hands behind his head. “Think of it as hacking.”

“There’s no way we can pull this off. There are people there all the time. Security. I found out the hard way. There’s no telling what they’ll do if they catch us.” My heart was pounding. Barret’s suggestion was risky, best case scenario. Worst case, deadly.

But we had to do something. Gideon would keep wiping digital evidence clean. And there was no guarantee that they weren’t watching us.

I trusted Barrett. I’d hired him out of pure desperation, but this man that made me feel safe. Like he actually cared.

“If we pull it off, it doesn’t matter what we do. We’ll have the evidence we need to shut down his operation and make sure no more packs lose their land. Which is exactly what you told me your goal was.”

I nodded while I mulled the scenario over in my head. “It’s dangerous. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Barrett rolled onto his side and propped his head up with his hand. His hair was mussed from almost sex, and that was when I noticed the scar on his chest. It looked like a claw mark that started on his pec, so close to his heart, and moved in the direction of his belly button. “Getting you away from that wedding was dangerous. Cameras everywhere. Gideon’s whole crew in attendance.”

“How did you come up with that plan?”

“Instinct,” he said without hesitation. “I was hoping I’d be able to get you alone before the ceremony, but I was too late. And when I saw you…”

“What happened when you saw me?” He’d come into the tent, like he was lost, all dressed up and adorable, but he’d disappeared quickly when Larrie and some of the crew had entered.

“I knew right away you weren’t going to be any other client.”

Which was exactly why I was worried about this new mission. He’d risked his life to save me once, and I didn’t doubt his ability to do his job. I’d like to say I wouldn’t have called him if I did, but he was my only way out, and at the time, he’d only been a name on a business card. He was so much more than that to me now. “Gideon will be expecting you this time.”

“Then we’ll have to do something he doesn’t expect.”

“Like what?”

Barrett crawled to the head of the bead. He was rumbling, like he seemed to any time he got close to me. I wondered what he looked like in his bear form. He was stronger than a human man, and his sexual prowess? Off the charts. Not that we had a chance to finish, but my first time with a shifter was more than I imagined.

His face was so close to mine. “Don’t you ever trust your instincts?”

“Is that how you run your company? Purely on instinct?”

Darkness flashed in his eyes, and before I had a chance to apologize for yet another faux pas, he said, “No, but plans fail, no matter how well-crafted they are. The job still needs to get done. That’s when I listen to my bear. He knows things I don’t. He’s thinking two steps ahead. Reading the situation in a way I wouldn’t be able to if I was just human. He hasn’t failed me yet.”

Our lips met in a kiss. “I don’t want to be the one to break his streak.”

Barrett drew away from me, and the rumble stopped. “Is there anything you haven’t told me about Gideon? Because if we do this, I need to know absolutely everything.”

I swallowed hard. “There was a pack we worked with a lot. In Washington state. Gideon made an offer for the land. The alpha refused. It wasn’t the first time, and usually, that meant we packed up and worked with another group. It was easy enough to get new customers—we posted online at travel sites, and tourists weren’t looking for much info past what worked for their vacation. But this time, we stayed.”

Barrett raised a brow. “Did he make another offer?”

“Not right away. He started pulling his shenanigans, as we called it in the office. He’d have actors go in and start fights with the local pack during the tour to make things more exciting. But this alpha had never signed off on that, and he wanted us gone. We kept coming, and the fights were real. The last time, Gideon shifted and took on that alpha. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you who won.”

“He was a strong alpha. It was a shock when he passed,” Barrett said, shaking his head.

“What? You know about this? I thought this was top secret. We got out of there fast, but?—”

“Gideon still bought the land,” Barrett finished for me. “That was the tipoff that something had gone very wrong, and that’s when local packs started talking about their experience with Silverclaw and Wild Adventures. But we’d had no idea that Gideon himself had played such a hand in his death.”

“It was horrible.” Emotion stung my eyes at the memory. “I was the tour guide that day, and at first, I thought it was business as usual, that the alpha had changed his mind, but then I realized something was way off. I didn’t know what to do, Barrett. I wanted to stop him, but he was an animal possessed. And the way those people were cheering him on…”

“Shh.” Barrett took me into his arms, holding me like he had in the helicopter. Like nothing could hurt me. “You didn’t know what Gideon was capable of. But he knew that you’d have the power to take him down. And if we can prove that he did this, we’ve finally got him where we want him.”

“What do we do? Call the pack, get them to make statements?” If it was as easy as going on camera and telling all, I could do that. I’d had six weeks of training in pouring my heart out to an audience.

Barrett shook his head. “There will be evidence in the office. We’ll get it, and we’ll bring Silverclaw to his knees.”

A thump on the door woke us both out of a sound sleep.

“The fuck?” Barrett rumbled, reaching for something beside the bed before he untangled himself from the sheets. We’d lost most of our clothes, but we hadn’t done anything but cuddle and kiss before passing out.

He looked out the window and groaned.

“Who’s out there?” I asked, pulling the sheet over me.

Barrett was bent over, pulling pants over his boxer briefs. “Bellamy.”

When Barrett opened the door, his partner smirked at him and nodded to me. Heat rose in my cheeks. Whatever. We were all adults.

“You better put on more than that. We need to go,” Bellamy said.

“Go where? And why?” Barrett asked.

“Gideon’s guys were at the club. They gotta know we’re in the area.”

“Fuck,” Barrett muttered under his breath, grabbing his pants. “Did they see you?”

Bellamy shrugged. “They might have. I go there regularly, so it wouldn’t be a red flag. But if they realized I was the one driving the getaway car, they might start to put two and two together.”

Barrett turned to me. “Get ready to move.”

“Where are we going?”

“To Silverclaw’s headquarters.” Barrett was shoving the few things he bought today into shopping bags.

“Now? It’s gotta be after midnight.”

“Best time to do it. When they least expect it.” He stopped and raked his gaze over me, which made my body warm all over. “Are you coming with us?”

“Could I have a little privacy, please?” I looked at Bellamy.

“Oh, yeah. Sorry for the interruption. I’ll warm up the car,” he grumbled before heading out the door.

“Bellamy,” Barrett called after him. When he didn’t respond, my bear turned to me and rolled his eyes.

Wait. Did I just think of him as my bear?

I didn’t have time to contemplate that right now as I scrambled off the bed and looked for my clothes.

“He’s gonna be a little weird now that he knows we’re together. He thought he had found his mate, and she rejected him. Once we get Silverclaw taken care of, my next order of business is to get that bear laid. Probably why he’s been hanging around the Stepchild.” Barrett chuckled. “Maybe we can sign him up for one of the reality shows you love so much.”

“That would be amazing. Or maybe we can play matchmaker…” My mouth dropped. “Not that I’m making any assumptions.”

For all I knew, I could find myself back on the reality show circuit too.

“I like that you’re making assumptions.” Barrett gave me a smoldering look that said he was my bear, if I was ready to let him claim me. “Now let’s get the fuck out of here.”

In a brand new matching sweatsuit with the things Barrett had bought earlier that day shoved into bags, I climbed into the backseat of the SUV. Barrett’s body was big, warm, and tense next to me as we pulled away from the cabin into the darkness.

I’d spent enough time on the shifter adventure tours to know I was about to meet his bear. He thought he would have to fight. As much as I wanted to see Silverclaw go down, I knew it wouldn’t be that easy.

“It’s a little bittersweet to leave the cabin so soon,” I said, trying to break the tension.

“Oh, yeah?” Barrett’s words were almost pure growl. Definitely on the verge of a shift. “You weren’t so thrilled about it when we got there.”

“I figured you’d eventually let me out of prison, and I was looking forward to exploring Granger Falls. Getting some of those cupcakes.” I shrugged. “And that was before I got to know you.”

Bellamy let out an exasperated groan from the driver’s seat. “You two need to stay focused. There are a lot of guys in town. We weren’t as smooth as we thought getting you out of there. Chances are, one of them traced the flight records on the copter.”

“Have you checked on the pilot?” Barrett asked.

“Yeah, he’s fine.”

Goosebumps blossomed over my skin at the thought Gideon’s guys would hurt the pilot who’d brought us to safety. Or to the illusion of safety, it seemed. The cold hard fact was we wouldn’t have any until we defeated this guy.

“Is it just the two of you who work for this company?” My voice was brittle. Shifter math made it probable that a bear could take down more than one wolf, but I’d worked for Gideon long enough to know that the numbers would be padded in his favor.

“We have other guys.” Barrett’s voice was gruff. He might not want to play too much of his hand, but I needed the peace of mind. “Some are on other assignments. Some are working in the office. Every assignment is different. I do my best to match my team up so they can use their strongest assets.”

“The others are ready, if we need them,” Bellamy said. “We can’t explain all the logistics to you, because it could put you in danger. But you called professionals and we’re prepared to get the job done.”

Barrett’s body vibrated with pure bear energy next to me. Seemed like there was a bit of a rivalry between these two, and the last thing I wanted him to do was to put himself in danger to prove a point. Not that I knew him well enough to assume that’s what he’d do, but I’d put my life in his hands, so I needed some clarification.

“What do I do?” I asked. “I don’t want to hold the two of you back.”

The night was dark. We seemed to be truly in the middle of nowhere, on a windy mountain road that Bellamy was familiar enough with to drive like he was in a race. I could barely see Barrett, even though he was right beside me, and Bellamy’s profile only because it was illuminated by the dashboard lights.

“You won’t. You’ll be our secret weapon because you know exactly where they keep the plans. That kind of knowledge will be invalu?—”

Bellamy slammed on the brakes, stopping Barrett mid-sentence.

“What the fuck is that?” I asked.

There was nothing but glowing gold dots in the blackness.

“Wolves.” Bellamy’s grip tensed on the steering wheel.

Sweat dripped down my spine. The temperature inside the SUV had suddenly gone off the charts. I tried to count how many golden dots there were, but new ones kept appearing.

These wolves had us surrounded.