Page 22 of Found (Mate Rejected #8)

22

MACK

S omeone is running the tips of their fingers down the length of my spine.

The touch is light. Female.

Woken by the feminine touch, I’m smiling into my pillow when the memories of Aerin’s tear-stained face as she slid behind the wheel of my car jackhammer into the forefront of my head.

Aerin left .

And this is not a dream.

So who the hell is touching me?

The hand moves lower and I twist around, up out of bed in one fluid motion.

It’s the middle of the night, and even though I left the drapes covered, the moonlight spilling into the room is more than enough illumination to see what I thought I would.

A strange woman in my bed.

“Who are you?” I demand.

The blonde woman sitting up in my bed, clutching the sheets to her chest, is beautiful. But she is not Aerin, and no one is more beautiful than my mate.

“Lisa. Franklin said…”

Her voice trails off as I stalk to the doorway, flick on the light and wrench the door open, holding it. “Get out.”

I should have known Franklin would have something to do with this.

Lisa stares at me with big green eyes. “But I…”

She drops her head, covering her face as she sniffs.

I look at her, then at the open door.

I sigh, letting the door close as I walk over to my dresser and toss her the shirt I was wearing before. “Here. I’ll turn my back so you can put that on.”

She stares at me through watery eyes. “You don’t want to see?”

“No,” I tell her firmly. “I have a mate. I definitely do not want to see.”

And I turn my back, crossing my arms as I wait for her to cover up. Nudity isn’t a big deal to most shifters. Or ordinarily, it wouldn’t be. But in this case, the more clothes she is wearing, the better.

A few seconds later, she clears her throat. “I’m finished.”

I turn around.

She’s still sitting in bed, though no longer holding the sheets up to her chest. Seeing her in my shirt is not a comfortable experience. I’m used to seeing Aerin wearing one of my shirts. Not another woman who clearly was sent here on some mission to seduce me.

“Why are you here?” I ask, though I think I can guess.

“Franklin sent me,” she says. “He said you’d settle in here faster with some help.”

Why does everything that man do make me want to choke the air from his lungs?

“I see.”

She gives me a wary look. “But he was wrong. Wasn’t he?”

“He might have had a slightly higher chance of success if he didn’t try to send a woman to my room on the same day I said goodbye to my pregnant mate.”

She winces, and at least has the decency to look embarrassed. “I, uh, I didn’t know.”

“But you were at the meeting in the dining room,” I tell her. I hadn’t seen all the women, but I’d glimpsed a few near the back.

She shakes her head. “No. He said I didn’t have to go. That I should prepare for tonight.”

So much for Franklin being keen to hand me control of the pack. He wants to keep at least some control for himself.

I study her for several seconds, and the longer I do, the more nervous she gets.

“Are you going to kill me?”

This might be the opportunity I was hoping for. I’d thought tomorrow morning would be the perfect time to rescue the omegas. It’s why I’d gone to bed so early, skipping out on a meal when my stomach was rumbling.

But I have someone here who knows the Raleigh home inside out. And someone who might help me do what I came here to do.

“No. You’re going to help me free the kidnapped omegas.”

She looks even more scared than when she thought I was going to kill her. “I’m going to do what?”

I walk over to the balcony window and draw the curtains aside. “You heard me. Come on.”

Reluctantly, she climbs out of bed. “But Franklin said you stayed to be our Alpha.”

I twist the door open and stick my head out, peering one way, then the next to confirm the coast is clear. “Wrong. I stayed to protect my mate and help the kidnapped omegas. You can leave if you want, but I guarantee that once the rest of the packs realize their omegas are here, the Raleighs will be little more than ash and bones.”

The scent of her fear fills the room. “Franklin will kill me if he learns I helped you.”

I turn to look at her.

She’s standing beside the bed.

“No, he won’t because you are going with them.”

She picks nervously at her fingers, glancing between me and the bedroom door.

“Or you can leave,” I say calmly. “Because no one deserves to be stolen from their pack the way they have been.”

I climb over the waist-length balcony railing and out into the backyard, trying not to think about Aerin tumbling over it in her condition.

I’m turning left, remembering that the omegas’ room was that way when Lisa whispers. “It’s this way.”

I twist to face her, frowning. “But their room is this way.”

I’m almost certain of it.

“That’s not where they sleep.”

Ah. No wonder Franklin didn’t mind showing me their room.

It’s the middle of the night and, other than the moonlight illuminating the backyard, it’s silent. All the rooms we pass are dark. Everyone is sleeping.

I briefly hope we don’t run into any patrols, but even if we do, I know I won’t have another chance like tonight.

My pack—and my dad—won’t sit on their hands for long.

Aerin is safe, and she’ll have shared more information about the property than they had before. So they will be looking to attack as soon as possible. If I can get the omegas out of the building and away before that attack happens, then maybe the Raleighs won’t notice the omegas are missing until it’s too late to go after them.

Lisa is quiet as we creep around the outside of the building.

I know I’m taking a risk in not just trusting her, but involving her, but I’m desperate.

If I’m wrong and she stabs me in the back, then I’ll deal with the consequences. But this feels like an opportunity I’d have regretted not taking.

She stops at one of the dark balcony windows and points at it. “There.”

“Are you sure?” I ask.

She nods. “Definitely. I’ve brought them food before. This is it.”

As I climb over the balcony railing, I hope I won’t scare the women so badly they scream and give away what I’m up to.

I twist the handle open, the mechanism crunching under my hand as the lock breaks.

And I slide the door open, nudging the drapes aside as I stick my head in.

This room is a mirror of the last, except the bunk beds are on the opposite side of the room. There are no tables for playing cards in this room, and there are no staring omegas. Just sleeping ones in the bunk beds.

I lean back outside and meet Lisa’s gaze. “Wait here,” I whisper. “I won’t be long. If you see anything, cough quietly.”

She nods and crosses her arms, facing the forest in the distance, and likely keeping her eyes open for any Raleighs out on patrol tonight.

I enter the omega’s room, moving quietly and quickly.

I go to the first bunk bed, crouch beside it, and rest my hand over the omega’s mouth.

Her eyes fly open in alarm.

I hold one finger to my lips and lean in close, whispering. “I’m getting you out of here. Scream and we’ve blown our one chance. Can you wake the others and pass the message on?”

After a long suspicious look that soon fades, she nods.

Slowly, I pull my hand from her mouth, bracing myself for her scream. When she doesn’t scream, I move on to another bed to wake the next sleeping omega while she does the same.

Between us, it doesn’t take long, not more than five minutes.

No one makes a single sound as we climb out through the balcony window to the backyard.

As the omegas stand shivering slightly in the brisk night, I turn to Lisa. “Are you ready?”

She looks nervous, but she nods.

The omegas are quiet, wary, but look at me, ready for my next instructions.

“I’m going to shift,” I tell them. “Follow me and I’ll get you as far away from the house as I can. If we see any trouble, fall back and let me deal with it until I give the sign we continue, okay?”

They nod.

I step out of my pants, drop into a crouch, and reach for my wolf.

He bursts free eagerly.

After one brief glance at the women behind me, I lead them away from the sleeping house and into the dark forest, hoping we don’t run into a patrol, but ready to fight to the death to get them free.