Page 30 of Never Tamed (Bad Wolves #3)

Ren

M orning falls over the camp with an eerie stillness and a gray sky like a wall blocking us from the sun.

The pit in my stomach deepens and in the darkness there, something very close to anxiety skitters its nails. My insides don’t belong to me anymore.

Preparation is key. We can’t fuck this up.

Why does it feel like the end of the world?

A map of the city’s sewer system is spread across Torin’s desk, weighted down by empty mugs and a leaf blower’s outdated instruction manual that we found amongst the shelves. Even with most of the Steel Claws contacts compromised, Torin’s money still talks, and he was able to get the map easily.

Between him and Noble’s connections within the security sector, we’re on the right track. Unfortunately, the bitter taste on the tip of my tongue stays, no matter how many times I try to swallow it down.

Torin stands behind the map, silent and coiled tight as a wire. Noble leans against the wall, casually flipping a hunting knife in the air and catching it by the handle every time. Mathis is opposite of Torin as his fingers trace the spidery veins of tunnels snaking beneath the city.

And Dax… He paces in short lines across the cabin like a caged animal, his heavy steps scuffing the old wood.

The five of us have this handled. I cross my arms over my chest to keep from shaking, the energy trapped inside with no place to go.

We know Andras is down there in the sewers, hiding like the rat he is, surrounded by his Blood Moons. It’s time to smoke him out.

For some reason, hope is slipping through my fingers, slippery, exhausting to keep.

“He won’t stay holed up forever,” Torin says. “He’ll be regrouping and building up for another strike. We need to cut him off before he gets the chance.”

“Easier said than done,” Noble mutters. “The tunnels are a maze. We flush him out one side, he’ll bolt to another.”

He flips the knife again and the blade gleams dully in the lanternlight. I know he’s a wolf and has sharper reflexes than a normal person, but I’d be lying if I said that him flinging the knife in the air and catching it wasn’t making my chest hurt.

I chew on the inside of my cheek. He’s not wrong. The sewers sprawl beneath the entire city, twisting with multiple exits. We only saw a small portion of them when we took the warehouse. What other surprises will Andras have waiting for us?

Dax stops his pacing and growls. “We use Red’s super sniffer to peg his location, and attack him first. Ambush the bastard for once. He won’t expect it.”

Mathis looks over his shoulder at his beta. “He won’t expect it because he knows we are weaker. He’s right, too. Going underground with guns blazing would be suicide. He knows those tunnels better than we do.”

Torin nods. “We have a better chance with Andras topside. We’ll have to drag him out somehow.”

Dax’s growl escalates in annoyance. He resumes his pacing with only a quick leer at me when our gazes snag.

“Some problems can’t be solved by just murdering them,” Noble adds in. “If that’s what you’re thinking.”

Dax’s gaze slides his way. “It’s always worked fine for me.”

I stand from the chair by the door with my foot tapping. The energy is there circling and nipping at me. Fed up with being an onlooker in his conversation, I walk over to the desk and slap my hand down where Mathis’s fingers had been.

“What if,” I propose, “we do both.”

Mathis glances at me. His jaw is clenched and decorated in a layer of dark stubble. “Both?”

I nod. “Yeah, what if we bring him out of the sewer and get the jump on him at the same time?”

“You make it sound so easy, baby,” Noble says with a chuckle. “How would we even do that?”

I pause and wrack my brain for the answer. It’s right there, the same as hope, close enough for me to touch but I lose the plot every time. Andras will stay trapped in his tunnels and lurking in the dark unless we make it too uncomfortable for him to be there.

We have to make the tunnels uninhabitable. All of them.

Or, we have to cause such a distraction he has no choice but to come running to investigate. And Andras himself, not just his little beta bitches.

How do we smoke Andras out? How do we…

The lightbulb moment finally lands and I gasp. Well, with actual smoke, of course. Duh . It was right there in front of me the whole time.

“Andras set your homes on fire. I think it’s time we return the favor.” My grin stretches, wicked, satiated.

Dax laughs. “Now you’re speaking my language, Red!”

“We get some of those whiskey barrels from the brewery,” I say. “Light a match…” I trail off and use my hands to indicate the big boom.

Those things will catch immediately. They’re practically lighter fluid as it is.

Torin straightens, his lips pursed. “More than that. We need something big that can separate Andras from his pack. Most of them, at least.”

“Yeah, get him more on our level.” Mathis nods. “It’s the only way we’re going to actually make a difference.”

“An explosion?” Dax’s eyes light up.

Oh, yeah. This is exactly the kind of thing he wants, and the energy in the room slowly shifts. The desperation, the anticipation, is still there, adding a thickness to the air that clogs my lungs. But now it’s tempered with something else.

Excitement .

“Some teens found a stash of fireworks in one of the sheds. They were a little wet from a roof leak, but they might still work.” Mathis taps his chin. “They’ll certainly make an impression.

“Yesssss.” Dax is practically salivating.

His fangs jut out over his lips and his beard bristles, wild, like his eyes.

“That might work.” A tight smile breaks through Torin’s hardened facade.

“That might actually work. We use Ren’s nose to get as close to the Blood Moon’s main headquarters as possible.

At the same time, we have our men spread out through the city and set fires to the sewer exits.

Create an inferno that cuts off escape routes. It will funnel them directly to us.”

“Create Hell under Rochester’s streets,” Mathis adds.

Rochester has already been a hotbed of demonic activity, in one way or another. The streets aren’t safe from human predators and adding wolves to the mix ups the ante. At least we’ll settle one piece of the equation.

I bob my head. “Exactly. Then, we drop the whiskey fuel and light the fireworks in the center. Anyone who survives will be forced out to the exits. Either they’ll hit the dead ends or they’ll escape from the exits we want them to. That’s when we pounce.”

We take care of everything at once.

Noble finally stops throwing the knife. “You’re forgetting what I said before. There’s no way we can cover every sewer’s exit. How do we make sure Andras goes out the right one?”

Torin deflates a little. “Right.”

“Easy. We give him something to chase,” I say. “Something he really wants. Me.”

The plan unfolds beautifully in my head. Until every head snaps toward me.

“Absolutely not,” Mathis says immediately.

Torin’s eyes go wide. “You want to be used as bait? You’re out of your fucking mind.”

They beat against my mental walls I’ve kept in check, so I didn’t drag them down with my nerves. But now they demand entry and I’ve got to hold strong.

“I won’t be alone,” I insist. “Noble can be with me. But we’ll lead Andras out of the tunnels to a place where we have the upper hand. We can lead him right into a trap.”

And when the iron teeth clamp around him, he’ll have to get through me to escape. Or gnaw off his leg. That would actually do me a favor, and I’d love to see him hobbled.

There’s a moment of stillness and exchanged uneasy looks between the men. Yeah, I didn’t expect them to go for this right away. In fact, Mathis and Torin actually considering my plan feels unexpected.

I figured they’d put their respective paws down immediately.

“Fine. But only if Noble goes,” Mathis replies finally, even though he looks the weariest to agree. “You need someone to watch your ass if things go sideways.”

Noble pushes off the wall and slides the knife into the hem of his pants. “It would be smarter for you not to reveal your powers until we get Andras in place. We need that element of surprise on our side.”

“Right.” I nod. “I can do that.”

A small sound cuts through the sudden silence, the soft whimper of a baby.

On instant alert, we all turn as Flora steps through the screen door with her son cradled in her arms. Her hair is tied back and several strands have escaped, curling damply against her temples.

The baby clutches at her dress with tiny fists, blinking sleepily, his round face pressed against her collarbone.

Her gaze darts over the desk, the map. Over us. Her eyes narrow. “You’re planning something.”

“Flora,” I start, but she strides forward, her chin high despite the shadows under her eyes.

The kidnapping has made her look older and fiercer all at once. She’s still the same sunny girl who cooked for us in Torin’s posh penthouse, but there are added layers to her now.

“I want to help,” she says.

Torin huffs a laugh. “An omega?”

“Yeah, an omega, ” she snaps, glaring. “This omega. No one comes between me and my children. No one. I have a bone to pick with Andras, and I want to see him bleeding.”

Torin clears his throat and goes back to looking at the map. Or at least, pretending to look at it. He knows not to antagonize Flora by now.

“Don’t tell me I can’t fight. I was there. I survived him. I know what he’s capable of, and I won’t sit by while the rest of you risk everything to finish it.” She clutches her baby closer. “I won’t let what he did to me happen to anyone else.”

My chest aches. I understand her reasons, but she’s still recovering from childbirth. She shouldn’t even be on her feet at this point. She needs rest.

Before I can say anything, Mathis speaks; his voice is raw, sharp. “No.”

Flora blinks at him, startled by the vehemence. “Excuse me?”

Mathis takes a step toward her, and for a moment I don’t see the alpha of the Grey Valley pack but the man I got a glimpse of when she was gone—broken, untapped, haunted. He had a lot of things to work through in her absence and he’s not recovered either. Not from all of them.

“You don’t get to risk yourself again. Do you understand me? You don’t.” His throat works as he swallows hard. “I thought you were dead. I thought he’d killed you, and it almost—” He cuts himself off, fists clenching at his sides. “The answer is no.”

The baby stirs, making a soft fussing sound. Flora rocks him gently, but her eyes shine, torn between fury and sorrow.

“Mathis…” she whispers. “Please.”

He shakes his head. “No. Not this time. Not ever again. You have a family. Your children, that little boy—” His voice breaks as he points to the bundle in her arms. “He needs you here, alive. We all do.”

The silence goes thick and I clear my throat.

Flora’s jaw tightens. She looks at me, searching for backup or for some sliver of support. And gods, I want to give it. She’s strong and brave. She has every right to this fight.

But then I see Mathis’s face, the way his shoulders tremble though he stands tall. I had felt the guilt, the bone-shaking grief he had inside me.

To him, Flora isn’t just pack. She’s family and one of the few he has left.

I exhale slowly. “He’s right. It’s safer if you stay behind.”

Flora flinches, as if I’ve struck her. “Ren…”

“We need you here, Flora,” I say gently.

“Watching over the camp. Watching over him.” I nod to her son.

“You’ve already survived the worst of Andras.

That alone makes you braver than most of us.

But this—this fight—we can’t risk losing you again.

Not when you’ve just come back to us. Not when your family needs you. ”

Please forgive me for this .

She won’t hear my silent plea but I hope the sentiment somehow reaches her. If the circumstances were different, if the danger wasn’t so close, then maybe I’d give in. Maybe.

Lips pressing together, her eyes drop to the baby, who has drifted back into sleep against her chest. Then, she squares her shoulders and takes a deep breath.

“Fine,” she says. “But don’t any of you even think about dying.” Her gaze lands on Torin. “Even you.”

He chuckles. “Understood.”

I place my hand gently over Flora’s arm and squeeze it once. “Don’t worry. We’ll come back.”

She wraps her arm around my neck, and since she’s much shorter than me, pulls me down for a hug. I squeeze my eyes shut and breathe in her scent. It’s homey and soothes all my fears.

“Kick Andras’s ass,” she whispers with her lips pressed against my ear. “For me. Gut that son of a bitch.”

I stifle my own laughter. “I promise.”

And as I watch her leave the cabin, baby in her arms, I know it’s a promise I’ll definitely be keeping.