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Porter jogged toward us, shifting into his human form as the enemy fled into the forest. “Thanks.” He bent and rested his hands on his knees, panting. “I don’t think we could have held them off much longer without you two. Where the fuck did they come from?”

Langston and I shifted back. “Dallas told us Kyle’s got some woman working for him. We didn’t even think to look for a female. She saw what was going down and informed Kyle. He sent backup to take us on.”

“Shit,” he cursed, and looked around. “I don’t see your brother. Did he get away?”

“We had to cut him loose,” Langston said. “Would have been like bringing another enemy to the battle.”

“Should we follow?” Porter asked, gesturing toward the final stragglers retreating.

“No point,” I said. I pointed at the remaining captive my men were dragging away. “We’ve got one prisoner. Plus, I wouldn’t put it past Kyle to have more men in the woods to ambush us if we tried to take them from the rear. It’s what I’d do. We call this a win and get the hell out.”

“I’ll take him,” Langston said as my men toward us, the unconscious prisoner sagging between them.

“This guy was alone at the south end of town,” Porter explained. “I knocked him out while he was trying to shake down some poor old lady in a bakery.”

Reaching forward, I grabbed a handful of the guy’s hair and tugged his head up. His mouth sagged open, and his half-lidded eyes showed he was still totally out of it. Langston grabbed the man’s arm and leg and hoisted him onto his shoulders with surprising ease.

“Let’s go,” he said, heading into the forest.

“Follow Langston,” I called to the others, hands around my mouth to create a bullhorn effect.

They did as I asked, and Porter and I took the rear to watch for anyone from Kyle’s crew who might try to jump us. Once we were a safe distance from North Crest, I pulled my phone out to call Avery.

“Cole?” she said, nearly shouting.

“Yeah, it’s me,” I said.

“Oh, thank God. We were worried.”

“We’re all fine. Didn’t manage to get Dallas, but we have one of Kyle’s men.”

“Good,” she mumbled, and I heard the tremor in her voice.

“What’s wrong? You don’t sound okay.”

“Kyle called me.”

I froze. Porter nearly slipped as he stopped in his tracks.

“Did Zayde manage to trace his location?” I asked.

“No. Some… ugh, some woman managed to stop what he was doing. She locked us out of the security cams, too. We couldn’t see anything. We tried calling you, but you didn’t answer. We were worried that… well, you know.”

Her voice was thick—she’d either been crying or was on the verge of it. My heart ached, and I choked back a curse as I started walking again.

“I’m fine, I promise. I guess this bastard is smarter than we gave him credit for.”

“I’m worried about Ashton,” she sobbed. “What if he hurts him because we did this? What if?—”

“Ashton will be fine,” I said, trying my best to reassure her. “Kyle can’t risk hurting him until he has what he wants. We’ll get him back. I still believe that, Avery, and you need to believe it, too.”

“Do you really believe that?”

“I’d bet my life on it.”

B y the time we arrived back at the alpha house, I was drained and exhausted.

The fighting hadn’t been that brutal, but it was the emotional toll that had worn me down.

Seeing how far Dallas had fallen sucked what little hope I’d had for him away.

That and failing at our main mission had left little emotion to help buoy me.

By not getting Dallas back here, I’d failed Ashton and Avery.

That would eat at me for a long time, no matter how this all turned out.

But when the front door burst open and Avery came sprinting out, I managed to find a reservoir of energy.

She looked so distraught, her eyes red and bloodshot from crying.

Even then, she looked like the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen in my life.

She crashed into me, clutching me tight and bunching the fabric of my shirt in her fists.

“It’s okay,” I murmured, stroking her hair. “We’re fine. We’re fine.”

Pulling away, she studied me, her hands running over me, checking for wounds or cuts. “Are you sure?”

“These guys were no match for your mate here,” Porter said, emerging from the forest beside us. “Alpha boy here whipped some ass.” He slapped my shoulder as he walked past.

“I wouldn’t say that,” I said. “I held my own.”

Avery’s eyes widened in shock. “There was a fight?”

“It wasn’t bad.” I didn’t go into detail. I could still hear the snarling, yapping, and howling of the battle, could see the teeth, claws, and blood. No reason to worry her with something that had already happened.

“What’s this?” she gasped, brushing a finger across my neck.

I touched the spot and winced. “One of them nipped me, that’s all. It’s already healing. It’ll be gone by dinner. It’s okay, seriously.”

She crossed her arms and chewed at her lower lip nervously. “I still don’t like the idea of you getting hurt. A few inches over, and he could have ripped your throat out.”

“Never would have happened,” Langston said with a grunt as he walked up, carrying the prisoner. “Cole knows his shit. I wasn’t worried about him for even a second.”

“Who the hell is that?” Avery asked, gaping at the unconscious man on Langston’s back.

With a sigh of relief, Langston dropped the guy on the ground.

“That,” he said, nudging the body with his toe, “is where we get our intel.”

“Are you okay?” Avery asked, eyeing Langston, who nodded.

A day or two ago, her worry for him would have had my jealousy flaring. Now, I realized she was only making sure her friend was safe and unharmed. Strange how much easier it was to deal with emotions when I didn’t allow myself to dive down ridiculous rabbit holes.

“What’s the plan now?” Avery asked, turning her attention back to me.

“Hang on a second,” I said. “I need to let the guys know they can head back home to rest and recover.”

“I got it,” Trent said as he came out of the house. “You and your girl talk, I’ll tell everyone to head home.”

The seven volunteers all sat or knelt nearby. Stormy, Farrah, and Zayde handed them all bottles of water.

“Cole?” one of the volunteers said, drawing my attention.

“Yes?” I asked.

“I know things didn’t go how you wanted, and we’re sorry for that. I wish we could’ve done more for you.”

Avery stiffened, but I held her close, squeezing her arm reassuringly. I’m sure she thought I was lying about the fight and that things had been much more dangerous and bloody than I or Langston said.

“It’s fine,” I said. “We all did our best. We got ourselves a P.O.W., and we’ll go from there. You guys kicked ass. I couldn’t think of anyone I’d rather go to battle with. Thank you. For now, you need to go get some rest. This isn’t the end.”

“We’ll be waiting on your call,” the man said.

As one, all the volunteers bowed their heads in deference to me. I blinked, surprised at the formal way they treated me. Like a real alpha. Shock coursed through me.

“All right,” Trent said. “Head home. Get some food, get some rest. If you have ladies waiting for you, get some nice, hot… er—” Trent glanced at Stormy and Avery awkwardly. “Hot baths . Yeah. Baths.”

On the ground at my feet, the hostage let out a low, muffled groan of pain.

“Shit,” Langston cursed. “He’s waking up. Get his ass over there,” he said, pointing at Trent’s truck.

We grabbed his arms and dragged him to the truck, where we tossed him in the back seat. I flicked the childproof lock, then slammed the door shut. The guy’s eyelids fluttered, but the left didn’t quite open all the way, the lid glued partly shut by dried blood.

“What the fuck,” he moaned, and slowly pushed himself up to a sitting position.

The window was down a crack. Langston reached forward and snapped his fingers in front of the glass to get his attention.

“Hey. Wake up. Look at me,” Langston said.

The man put a hand to his head and winced. Realization washed across his face, and the look of pain vanished, panic taking its place.

“What the fuck? Where am I?” he shouted.

Ignoring him, Langston said, “If you try to shift, you won’t get far, got it? You got a whole pack who’ll run you down. You know as well as I do what wolves do with cornered prey, right?”

The man nodded hesitantly. “Got it.”

“Is this guy going to give us the same info Dallas would have?” Avery asked.

Wrapping an arm around her shoulder, I said, “Hopefully. Things didn’t go as planned, but this is better than nothing. Hopefully, he can tell us something we don’t already know.”

Avery leaned into me. “I’m just glad you’re okay. I wouldn’t care if you came back with nothing as long as you’re safe. When Kyle called, I was afraid he’d say you were hurt or dead or something.”

Turning to her, I tilted her chin up and kissed her. “It’s over now,” I whispered.

A flood of emotion washed over my wolf and me. Hearing her say she was worried about me did something strange to me. It made it feel like things were getting back on track between us. Even if life was still a minefield, at least we had each other.

Langston cleared his throat. “Sorry to interrupt, but we need to figure out what’s next.”

I nodded, sliding my hand into Avery’s. “Right. Let’s go inside.”

Langston beckoned Porter over and gestured to the prisoner. “Can you watch this piece of shit while we all talk?”

“No problem,” Porter said. “Making plans gets boring. You kids have fun now.”

“Hey!” The prisoner banged his hand on the glass. “It’s hot in here. Can I get some water or something?”

“Drink your piss if you’re thirsty,” Porter said, slapping his hand on the roof of the truck.

I followed Langston and the others back to the house. As I walked, Avery squeezed my hand. Regardless of how badly things had gone today, my mate was at my side. We would get through this. We would save our son.

And we’d do it together.