Page 98 of Pack Choice

“Why?” Silver considers me and I maintain a straight face, forcing the muscle in my pec not to twitch. “You’re one of the best we have, Ford. I wouldn’t trust this to anyone else.” He leans forward, forearms resting on the desk. “You know how precious she is to my pack, to my family.”

“I do, Sir,” I say, knowing she’s also precious to me too. Half the problem.

“And she clearly trusts you.”

“You think so?” I can’t help but ask.

“You have no idea the trouble she’s caused for some of her other chaperones. You seem to have her under control. Not an easy task,” Silver adds with a mutter.

The corner of my mouth twitches. It’s what I like about the girl. I like her attempts to run circles around me.

“So keep your mind focussed on the job and don’t let me down.” He opens a file on the desk. “We’ve been trying to trace that truck. It was found burned out on the edge of town on Saturday night. No DNA, no fingerprints.”

“The plates?”

“Never had any to begin with. I believe it was a deliberate attempt to harm the omega.” Silver meets my eyes.

“Why?” I ask.

Silver hesitates. “I don’t need to tell you that this information is strictly classified. Not to be shared with the omega.” I nod. “We believe it is the pack you were tracking in South America. The remains of the Snakebite gang.”

I was sent on an assignment with five of Silver’s men to track that pack down. We were never told the reasons why. Just that the Stormgate pack were keen to locate them. We failed. They were elusive. Always one step ahead. Whenever we thought we had a lead, that we thought we were in hot pursuit, the pack would vanish into thin air.

“What’s their vendetta against Molly?” I say, my body stiffening. We were given all the lowdown on this pack. They used to run a notorious crime syndicate in the city. Ruthless, cruel and powerful.

“A couple of years ago,” Silver says, his eyes trained on me, “the Snakebites kidnapped Bea.”

“Bea?” I say, frowning. The Stormgate pack omega. Molly’s sister-in-law.

“She was a late-blooming omega. They believed they could use her hormones to help create pills that would turn betas into omegas.”

I look back at my boss in disgust and I can see the pain swimming through his eyes.

“We rescued her, we got her back – unharmed,” he adds. “But the head of the Snakebite gang — Micko Sondrio – was killed in the process.”

“I see.” I sit up a little straighter. “Their gang’s been busted. Most of the members are in prison.”

“Except the remaining pack leaders and their omega,” Silver says. “The ones you were tracking.”

“You think they’re back?”

“Yes, I think they’re back. I think they are back and looking for vengeance.” He hesitates. Then lifts the flap of the folder sitting on the desk in front of me. I glance down at the contents. Scraps of paper. Untidy handwriting scribbled across them. “We’ve been receiving these notes. We think they are from the Snakebite’s omega. A Dr. Hannah.”

“What do they say?”

“I think you can guess.”

I can, but I pull the folder towards me and read them anyway.

An eye for an eye. A life for a life.

Revenge will taste so sweet.

I will never forget.

“But why Molly? I assume she wasn’t the one who killed Micko Sondrio.” Although with Molly you can never be sure.

“No, that was Nate.” He flexes his hand, his eyes misting as if he is reliving the moment. Then he shakes his head. “They know they can’t get to Bea. We have her heavily guarded around the clock and what with the pregnancy, she rarely leaves our sight right now. And as for the rest of the pack …”