Page 79

COLE

I tapped the steering wheel with my fingers to keep the nervous energy flooding through me at bay.

Thankfully, it hadn’t taken complete hold of me.

My mind was still clear and focused. Prepared.

I knew we were about to dive into an extremely dangerous situation, but I was ready for it. Anything for my son.

“How do you feel about this?” Langston asked as I pulled onto a dirt road.

“Like shit, to be honest,” I muttered. “The last thing I want to do is hurt my brother, but it’s like I told Farrah. Ashton is the most important thing here. I’ll walk into the deepest pits of hell for him, and if I have to hurt my brother to get him home safe, then…”

I trailed off. Did I really have that in me? Yes, I did.

“Well, so be it,” I finished.

“Fair enough,” Langston said.

Now that I’d come to grips with the weird jealousy that had consumed me when I’d first met him, I actually liked Langston.

He reminded me a bit of Trent, which was probably due to their shared experience in the military.

He was calm, confident, and from what I’d seen, very competent.

Avery had been right to call him. I could admit that now.

At the end of the dirt road, a group of seven men waited for us. The volunteers from my pack. They all looked ready, but I could see some trepidation and fear in a few eyes as I parked the truck and got out.

“Is Porter in place?” I asked as Langston climbed out from the passenger seat.

He glanced at his phone, then nodded. “Says he’ll be at the secondary meeting spot in three minutes.”

“Great.” I strode toward the group. “Afternoon, everyone.”

I was met with a few nods, grunts, and muttered words of welcome.

Placing my hands on my hips, I glanced around at them. “I can’t thank you all enough. You weren’t forced to be here, and you still volunteered. That shows me the type of men you all are. Your bravery will be remembered, I promise you that. Also, the Garrett family will be forever indebted to you.”

The men, obviously unused to such praise from an alpha, looked a bit uncomfortable. One man, David Wallace, stepped forward.

“We appreciate that, Cole. No thanks needed. All we want to do is rain hell down on this son of a bitch.”

The others smiled, murmuring words of agreement.

“Good,” I said, gesturing at Langston. “Wanna go over the plan once more?”

Langston nodded and stepped forward. “First things first. This is only our initial meeting place. Porter is set up at the secondary spot. It’s an old, abandoned gas station right on the border of the Harbor Mills pack lands.

It’s the closest spot to North Crest we could find that was secluded.

He’s got some weaponry—courtesy of some willing pack members—that we’ll use when we infiltrate.

Once we meet up with him and get outfitted, we shift and make our way into North Crest.”

“And we’re going after this Dallas guy?” one of the men asked. “The one that’s, uh, Cole and Farrah’s half-brother?”

Langston nodded. “Our intel is that Kyle’s men are helping him run some sort of racketeering scam.

Today is allegedly the day they come to collect their taxes .

From what we understand, Dallas is more than likely one of the men assigned to this duty.

We want to lay in wait, hidden around the town, until we spot him.

That’s when we move. Ideally? It’s quick and clean, and we extract Dallas to the secondary location before returning to Harbor Mills.

If things don’t go well…” Langston glanced at me first before returning his attention to the others.

“Things will get rough. Kyle and his men have already proven they’re capable of murder.

I don’t think I have to tell you what else they might be capable of.

I truly hope we don’t need the weapons, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Watch your asses, don’t do anything unless directed by Cole or me, and speak up if you see something that looks sketchy. Any questions?”

There were none, and a few minutes later, nine wolves sprinted through the woods near the highway.

Being in my wolf form helped ease some of the tension that had built inside me.

The problem was, my wolf was much more animalistic.

An instinctual rage surged through me, thrumming like a plucked bowstring.

My wolf wanted blood, and he was aching to tear his teeth into the flesh of the men who’d stolen our son.

That anger threatened to drown out the human part of my mind, but I managed to hold tight even as images of gnashing teeth and screaming men filled my head.

Porter greeted us ten minutes later, handing out rifles and handguns the pack had donated.

“Porter, take your team and set up around the town. We’ll give you a ten-minute head start before we move out,” Langston said.

“On it,” Porter said, slinging his rifle over his shoulder. “Let’s go!” he shouted to the others and led his team into the forest, leaving Langston and me alone.

“Ready?” Langston asked. “It’s just gonna be you for a while.”

“I’ll be fine,” I said. “Text me when you get sight of Kyle’s goons.”

“See you soon,” he called as I shifted and took off toward North Crest.

Arriving at the edge of town, I shifted back and walked in, calm as you please, doing my best to look as natural as possible.

As far as anyone could tell, I was nothing more than a visitor.

Yet, even though no one on the streets was giving me a second glance, I could see that tension had taken hold of the whole town.

Strolling down the sidewalk, I noticed men and women hurrying to and fro, eyes down, steps fast, fearful expressions on their faces. If that old woman had been telling us the truth, then tax day was even more terrifying for the residents of North Crest than we’d thought.

My phone buzzed.

Langston: How’s it look in there?

I glanced around again.

Cole: Everyone looks scared shitless.

Continuing down the street, I made for the nearest restaurant, hoping to gather some intel and find a good spot to scope out the rest of town. Langston replied a few moments later.

Langston: From the time stamps on videos Zayde found, it looks like we’re about forty-five minutes from when Kyle’s team usually comes through to collect. You should start seeing them soon. Everyone’s in place. We even have a few inside the city limits watching for them.

Stepping into the restaurant, a server greeted me with the most forced smile I’d ever seen in my life and pointed toward the dining area. “Have a seat anywhere you’d like. We’ll bring you a menu.”

“Thanks,” I muttered, and headed toward a window table while sending Langston one more message.

Cole: I’m in the diner on Market Street, overlooking the main business area. Gonna see if I can get anything out of the workers here while I wait .

Langston: Got it. I’m at the grocery store down the street.

My table was toward the back, a booth that gave me a good view of the door and the street outside, but it was tucked away enough that I wouldn’t be easily seen unless someone was looking for me.

A moment after I seated myself, the mousy server hurried over and placed a laminated menu on the table before me.

“Here you go.”

She didn’t meet my eyes and kept throwing glances out the windows toward the sidewalk outside. She was a human, and I could literally smell the fear on her—my enhanced senses told me all I needed to know. Everyone in this town was terrified. Tax day was not a pleasant affair.

“Thank you,” I said warmly as I took the menu.

“Uh, can I get you a drink? Coffee or something?” she asked hesitantly.

Did she think I was one of Kyle’s guys? Was that why she was so nervous? Our plan was to get info, and the best way to do that, to my mind, was to be kind and warm. Build rapport.

“That would be amazing,” I said, smiling up at her. “Cream and sugar. Lots of sugar. I have a bit of a sweet tooth. My name’s Cole, by the way.”

Her eyes flicked up from her notepad, a hesitant smile forming on her lips. “Coffee, cream, and extra sugar. You got it.”

She returned a few minutes later with my coffee and accouterments, placing them in front of me. “There you go,” she said, more natural and less jittery.

“Amazing.” I smiled as I poured cream into my mug.

“Did you want to order lunch or anything?” she asked, tugging her notepad back out of her apron.

A quick glance at my watch showed we were running low on time. I’d need to hurry things along a bit more than I wanted.

“Miss, can I ask you a quick question?”

She raised an eyebrow. “Uh, is it about the special? I really wouldn’t recommend it. Between you and me, the fish is close to going over?—”

“No, not about food. About Kyle Alexander.”

The notepad nearly slipped from her fingers. She managed to keep hold of it, but barely. She took a hesitant step back, a look of fear washing across her face.

“Are you one of his?—”

“No,” I said softly but firmly. “Absolutely not. You couldn’t pay me enough to work for that prick.”

She flinched and glanced around, as though someone would hear me talk ill of Kyle and she’d somehow get in trouble for it.

I was the only customer, and the only other people who seemed to be in the building were a couple of cooks.

I could hear them talking in the kitchen, their conversation muffled by the swinging door that separated it from the dining area.

“You don’t have to be afraid of me,” I added. “I’m not here to do anything bad. Not to you.”

“We can’t talk about this,” she hissed, taking another step back.

I didn’t want to do it, but I had to keep her calm. I reached out lightning-fast and grabbed her wrist, digging my fingers in firmly but not painfully. She froze again, eyes widening. I glanced down at her name tag, hoping to make a connection.