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They’d never posed a threat to the race.

Drugs, trafficking, and weapons were their thing.

Plus, the crime families didn’t know they existed.

Until they goddamn did.

The Moretti’s had been focused on a rogue rebellion run by the Russo family: Roberto, Stefano, Luca, and Marco.

Roberto and his three brothers had been killed for their crimes against the king.

A small number of rebels still remained, which the king allowed.

He might be the head of the monarchy, but he wasn’t a dictator.

Allowing a coup to take over the throne? Not so much.

“My vote is we kill the human hybrid. He’s a victim like the wolves, but from what we know, very unstable,” Ari recommended and glanced at the king.

Vincent nodded.

Callan cursed, but Mack turned and the look they shared told him he knew it was best. Marcus and Charlotte had met the enhanced human out in the field and reported back what they knew about the creature. He was a danger. Likely to both humans and vampires.

There was no future for the hybrid.

“I agree,” Marcus said, confirming his thoughts.

“If he’s there, we’ll find him,” Ben said, and Mack added the assassin to his list of team members.

Who else?

Fuck, at least he was paying attention now.

Don’t think of your pretty mate.

“Meanwhile, we maintain the triple layer protection on the family,” Brayden reminded them, referring to the king and all the royals.

Which also included himself as the prince.

Although, from the mumblings he’d heard from Craig in the time he’d been in the inner circle, Brayden often saw himself as exempt.

He wasn’t.

If Vincent was killed, the queen would follow. Lucca was not old enough to lead—or form a full sentence—so Brayden would become king regent until the little prince was old enough to take over.

Technically.

It had never happened in their history. There had only ever been three kings; Gio—Ari’s brother; Francis, Gio’s son; and now Vincent, his firstborn grandson.

“Let’s do this!” Oliver clapped his hands, grinning. “I am ready to rumble.”

Mack mentally added him to the team.

“Yeah, well, make sure it’s not in the crapper this time.” Tristan kicked his chair.

Moans and grosses filled the air.

Craig laughed, then pushed away from the desk he was leaning on. “Okay boys, wheels up in two hours. Shadow Team, stay around to go over the plan. The rest of you, back to work.”

The room broke up, with warriors heading out to their respective teams and tasks while Ben, Logan, Oliver, Kurt, and Mack moved over to the side of the room and stood over the war table.

Thank fuck, now he knew who he was traveling with.

The table was actually a digital screen which lay flat, and someone had loaded a map of Russia already. Terrain view.

Ari swiped in the corner, and it zoomed in on St. Petersburg.

“Our intel shows that Mikhailov resides here.” He pointed while Craig made gun fingers at it and pow pow noises.

Kurt chuckled silently.

Mack smirked and glanced over at Ben, who was leaning in closely. The guy was a joker, but when he was focused, the SLC and former assassin was all business.

“Who’s leading?” Mack asked.

Brayden rested his hands on his hips and glanced between Ben and Kurt. “I’m on the fence here. Both of you could do the job, but I need your input. Do we need three assassins with their minds on the job or more grunt?”

The two vampires stared at one another for a moment.

“Give us a minute to go over your strategy, then we can make a call,” Ben replied.

Brayden nodded, glancing at Craig, who gave one sharp one in return.

Sixty-something minutes later, after a lot of debate, cursing, tossing around ideas, and rearranging plans, they all took a step back.

Mack blew out a long breath. “There are a lot of loose ends.”

Kurt slapped him on the shoulder. “Welcome to the big boy club, my friend.”

Idiot.

He’d been working with them for months.

“Are we comparing sizes?” He lifted his brow and grinned, while pretending to unzip.

“We can if you—"

“Put them away, you fucking idiots.” Craig shook his head. “Mack, you wouldn’t be going if I didn’t think you were capable. You’re fast, strong, and think on your feet. Paws, whatever. Fuck, don’t shift.”

Logan snorted.

“Yeah, fuck, that won’t be happening.” He’d been one of the first to shift and had excellent control of his wolf. Except when it came to Ella.

At no point while out in the field—even when shot with that fucking serum—had he been prompted to shift. It was like his wolf knew it wouldn’t help and was a survival mechanism.

Playing dead maybe.

“My team speaks Russian, so that will help you get around,” Ari said, referring to Oliver, Ben, and Logan.

“You speak Russian?” Mack asked them.

“Yeah man. Being an assassin is not just about aiming and firing,” Oli replied.

“Shame. I might be looking for a new job soon.” Craig shrugged, then laughed when Brayden glared at him. “It’s a joke.”

Bray took a step back and scowled.

Oh, boy.

“I’m sorry, is the job not exciting enough for you?

Vampire rebels, experimentation on kidnapped vampires, narcissistic rogue human scientist, and now a psychopathic Russian mafia mob boss trying to kill us?

” Brayden crossed his arms. “Let me get you a gym membership...oh wait, you have one of those!”

Craig smirked, thrilled he’d poked the beer.

“We could talk about shares...”

Logan snorted.

“We could talk about your end-of-life plan, too. I know Brianna has thoughts.” Brayden lifted a brow.

“Leave my mate out of this.” The huge vampire grunted.

Mack rubbed his forehead with his finger, trying not to laugh. You could always guarantee a bite from the commander when you brought Brianna into the conversation.

Every time.

“Jesus.” Ari turned the screen off and glanced at them all. “While these two kids continue bickering, let’s head down to the weaponry.”

“What did Bri say?” Craig asked.

“I was fucking joking,” the prince replied from behind them.

“To think they’ve kept our race alive all this time.” Ari shook his head. “That’s the fucking miracle.”

Smiling, Mack pulled out his phone and gave in to the need to message Ella. He was leaving soon and while they were all shit talking, that was nerves.

He typed a message.

I need to see you. X

...

...

...

Fuck.

Why wasn’t she replying?

He couldn’t get on the Moretti jet without seeing Ella and saying goodbye. The reality of just how dangerous Project Shadow was had hit him square in the face as they went to arm up.

Killing Nikolay might make their world safer, or it could have consequences.

What if Ella was caught in a situation like last night with vampire hunters? She didn’t have the ability to protect herself. One bullet could wound her, but she’d heal. But if it struck her heart, she’d die.

If they captured her and exposed her to sunlight, she’d turn to ash.

Fuck.

When they reached the armory, Ella still hadn’t replied.

Goddamn it.

Regrets began to swallow Mack like a dark thundercloud. Last night might be the last time he ever saw her. If he got on that plane without seeing her...

A chill ran down his spine.