Page 116 of Contested Crown

Cade was already nodding. “So, if we want to take down his base of power, we need to start with either money or the most powerful crew he has.” Cade ran his eyes over the rough map. “JD and his group?”

It was the smart move, even though it made me uncomfortable. JD was powerful, and he ran one of Declan’s more important establishments, meaning the people that worked under him were powerful too. Still, my distaste for him made me grimace.

Cade read my expression. “No JD, not until you’re sure of the strength of your pack.”

The casual way he said it made a thrill run up my spine. When we had met, he had all the power. He had had a mage house at his back, the strength of a mage prince. I had nothing but my skin and wits.

But if I had a pack, maybe then I would be worthy of him. Maybe then we could finally be equals.

“Let’s start with the drugs,” I said finally. “If we take those distribution lines down, then we’re stopping whatever Leon has planned. We also can see the product up close and personal.”

“Okay.” Cade looked down at the map. “Show me where.”

* * *

Our first hit was one of the stash houses. Declan had several, spread out throughout his territory. The same way he liked to keep clubs and establishments separate from the drugs, he liked to keep the drugs dispersed enough that hitting one wouldn’t guarantee the others went down. But I knew the flow of the operation, how he worked. I knew, because I had set it up. I had been there on the ground floor when Declan went from small time to big time and then became the only game in town.

The most important of Declan’s establishments was the spot where everything came through. Drugs would come in from the bay, arrive at a small ground-floor apartment, and then be dispersed to different stash houses in the city. By the same token, money was collected and brought to the same apartment every day, only to be immediately counted and taken to Declan.

If we took down that apartment first, everything else fell to chaos.

Staring at the building, I was aware of Cade’s magic flowing over my skin, imbuing me with strength and power, more than I had ever felt in my entire life.

“Are you ready?” I asked.

Cade looked at me, his eyes tracing over my face.

“You’re mine. Do you understand? That means you can’t die here.” He waited for me to nod.

“You said that in the past.” I let a smirk curve my lips. “Does that mean we’re going steady?”

“It means we’re both going to survive this because I don’t give you permission to die here.” Cade’s words were fierce, a command, and I found myself answering them, a slow curl of pleasure unfurling in my stomach.

“Yes, sir,” I said, the words heavier, thick with want that I couldn’t quite name.

Cade nodded, then raised his hands, gesturing in a spinning motion, and the world around us vanished, consumed by the dark lines of his magic.

We appeared inside the apartment, the teleportation spell bringing us into the center of the room.

There was a moment of complete stillness, and I took count of everyone there. Two heavyset guards, their muscle thick, their eyes sharp. One accountant, his job to make sure that money in matched drugs out. Two chemists who cut everything the right way so that no one got dead when Declan got rich. Three wolves, rounded out our Christmas carol. They were half of the drug-running team at the southernmost tip of Declan’s operation.

I shifted, moving so quickly that no one had time to react. I took down both of the heavyset guards first, slamming one’s head against a table filled with bags of powder. The other had time to pull a gun before I closed my teeth around his wrist and bit down hard. He fell, screaming, clutching at his bloody arm, the hand twisted at an odd angle. The chemists dropped down under their table, too scared to do anything. The accountant pulled a gun, but I bounded in front of him, growling right in his face, and then Cade slid behind him, magic pulling his arms back and then out, the gun clattering from his hands.

That left the three wolves, all shifted, surrounding me.

I knew I was bigger with Cade’s magic. The power that flowed through me made every step heavy, my head a good two feet taller than it had been before Cade gifted me his power.

The wolves surrounded me. I growled, and the first one lunged forward, but I took him down hard, my teeth closing over his neck. I didn’t break the skin, instead pulling him with me, dragging him down. The other two wolves backed off, one whining, already putting his head down, ready to submit. The third one would be the dangerous one. He was watching me carefully, just enough humanity left in him that he was trying to make the smart move.

Magic slammed into him, pushing him into the wall hard enough that I heard a bone crack. Cade’s thorny bramble closed around his limbs, binding them together.

He cried out, pain warbling in his voice.

I shifted back into my human form, looking down at the three wolves.

“Yield. Submit to me, your alpha.” I pressed power into the words, remembering how good it had felt when Tyson and the pups had submitted.

After a moment of hesitation, the second wolf went down, tilting his head to expose his neck. The first wolf I had taken down was already submitting, his eyes lowered and neck exposed.