Page 20

MACK

T he flight to Finland was a long twenty hours, and mostly quiet except for a bunch of banter. Typical of warriors trying to keep themselves sane.

All of them knew the risk they were taking, despite being vampires. The Russian Bratva had the serum. All of them had been shot with the incapacitating shit in recent months, so knew how fucked they’d be if it happened while out on this mission without back up.

No Moretti soldier’s or medical team would swoop in and save them while completely unconscious.

If they weren’t enslaved, the sun could kill them.

Mack had watched all the male’s saying goodbyes to their mates, the females waving as they drove to the airfield. Mack had almost lost his mind when he’d not been able to reach Ella. But leaving the team had been unacceptable.

Until it wasn’t.

They were on the tarmac loading the plane, and she’d called. At no time, until the words left his lips, did he plan to tell Ella he loved her.

Never.

Jesus. Her silence had been deafening...and understandable.

But Mack had decided he wasn’t leaving this fucking life without her knowing how he felt about her. Had felt about her for almost his whole life.

As long as he could remember.

Going a step further and telling her she was his mate wasn’t possible. There was no time and still a lot to talk about. They’d already made love, and the bond had been triggered. It was why he was so itchy and ready to grab the closest parachute and return home to her.

Kurt was watching him closely.

“Okay there, hybrid?”

“Yup.” His knee bounced up and down.

Kurt watched him a little longer, then glanced away. Clearly thinking he was holding it together. He was.

For now.

They’d chosen Finland for its rugged and lightly patrolled border.

Once on the ground, they would tap into some local smuggler routes to cross into Russia.

It was either that or arrive via the Black Sea, but sourcing low profile vessels such as a yacht or fishing boat would take far more time than they had.

Nikolay would be scrambling to get the serum produced if he hadn’t already done so. As the head of the Bratva, he was a connected and influential human.

They could have taken an underwater approach, but with their weapons it wasn’t an option. Plus, it was much farther to travel across land.

So, Finland it was.

There, they could regroup and then use the smugglers to get them into the republic.

As the largest country on earth— fun fact, it occupies one-tenth of the land on earth —they had to know exactly where they were going.

Fortunately, the team back in the US already knew where Nikolay Mikhailov resided.

With a pregnant wife and having just returned from living in New York, it was safe to say he would be in his home in St. Petersburg.

The wheels hit the tarmac, and Mack was pushed back into his seat as the pilot pressed onto the brakes. In minutes they’d taxied to an old-looking hanger.

One of the pilots opened the door a few minutes later, sticking his head out.

“You have ten minutes to get unloaded and out of here.”

“Let’s go boys!” Ben leaped up and fist-bumped Oliver.

The two were best friends and had worked together for a long time at The Institute. Then Ben had been promoted to an SLC—the first after hundreds of years—which made him the second most experienced Moretti warrior on the team beside Kurt.

The Project Shadow team.

Kurt had been chosen to lead the team in the end, after they’d discussed the pros and cons. When Craig wasn’t out in the field with them, he was often the second, so it made sense. He was a strong leader, and it allowed the three assassins to focus on their job at hand.

Mack knew he was there as extra muscle.

Sliding on their backpacks and strapping on their weapons, as they stood in a semi-circle, Mack watched Kurt run his eyes over all of them.

“Oscar Mike,” he said after a moment, ordering them all to move forward.

The jet began to taxi away as they darted into the shadows. There would be little conversation from here on out.

Once they’d gained adequate cover, they dropped to the ground and regrouped.

“Check devices,” Kurt ordered.

They pulled out their phones to ensure the satellite connection was working. Mack couldn’t help being happy he could still message Ella.

Not exactly its purpose, but still.

Vampires could telecommunicate with one another only if they’d shared blood, but he’d absolutely never done that with Ella. While it wasn’t necessarily an intimate thing, if that vampire was your mate, it triggered the mating bond, and you couldn’t change your mind.

So, he hadn’t.

If it wasn’t for his wolf, and needing to tell her about being a hybrid—oh, and the small fact that he might die in fucking Russia—Mack may have bitten his beautiful mate.

There was a lot to tell her. A lot for her to accept.

And a strong chance she wouldn’t.

“Working,” Oliver announced.

“Same.” Ben slid his phone back in the top pocket of his black fatigues.

“Yup.” He and Logan both nodded.

“Okay.” Kurt spun both ways, taking in the terrain.

It was a mix of thick forest and run-down old buildings that looked deserted, but that was a rookie assumption. One none of them would take.

As if on cue, the sound of voices caught their attention.

“Smugglers.” Oli nodded as he grinned. “Leave them to me.”

“Christ. Go with him, Ben,” Kurt instructed.

“ A -team to the rescue,” the cheeky vampire replied. “Just like the good old days.”

“You mean when I saved your ass all the time?” Oliver snorted, then teleported away.

“That never happened,” Ben muttered, then disappeared.

Kurt, Logan, and Mack stood up and walked slowly along the dusty path, waiting for an update. It only took three or four minutes before a double-cab Toyota Ute in need of a muffler repair pulled up beside them.

“Get in, boys.” Oliver grinned from the driver’s seat.

Ben sat shotgun and in the back were two humans looking stunned—the result of vampire compulsion.

“Let’s head to the Soviet.” Logan clapped his hands, as if this was a road trip to Vegas or something. He shoved the humans over and closed the door.

“Russia, dude. It’s the twenty-thousands,” Mack said, leaping into the back of the Ute in one jump.

“Semantics.”

Kurt shot Mack a grin when he joined him, crash-landing onto the cab. Then whacked the side of the vehicle. “Let’s move out.”

With a skid, the Ute moved forward and their journey to the border continued.

Mack lay his head back, despite all the bouncy-bouncy, and tried to tune out Ben, who was giving directions from Google Maps.

“It says three hours. Route has tolls and crosses a region border. Blah, blah, the border is closed and not open...whatever. We aren’t asking permission.”

Logan got some information out of the smugglers about what to expect from the Russian side. They had one of the biggest armies in the world, and the more knowledge they had before crossing, the better.

It could mean life or death, even to them.

As vampires, they had the ability to circumvent most military environments, but nobody liked a surprise. And given the world was aware they existed now, and their number one enemy lived in the country that they were illegally crossing into, well, information was handy.

Mack pulled out his phone as they drove through the dark and scrolled through his messages with Ella. He couldn’t help his smile at the cute excitement she’d showed when leaving Seattle just days ago.

So much had changed.

He’d been such a dick when she arrived at the castle. God, he hoped he could get home and show her what she meant to him.

Listening to his dad seemed like the right thing to do when he was younger. Mack still couldn’t regret that they weren’t bonded before changing to a hybrid. If it had harmed her in any way, that would have destroyed him.

It still could destroy her.

Ella needed to accept him and his wolf. Not knowing was eating at him, now that he’d finally let his love for her into his heart.

We’ve landed. I miss you.

...

You said you loved me, then disappeared. I’m so mad at you.

Mack smiled.

But you miss me, right?

Ugh, you are so frustrating.

But I’m a good kisser...and you love my cock.

...

Fine, but I am still mad.

When I get home, I’m going to show you all the ways I can make you come.

...

Grinning, he glanced out into the dark night, his vampire sight showing him things humans never could in this light. Yet all he saw was Ella blushing as she fought her arousal while reading his words.

I might want to own all your orgasms from now on, but when you’re in my bed, there’s a vibrator in the bottom drawer. Slide it inside your tight pussy and imagine it’s me tonight.

Mack!

Pinch those pink nipples and record your orgasm, then send it to me so I can listen.

No. Jesus...

He smiled.

Gotta go, baby.

We need to talk when you get back.

We will. I promise.

...

Her last reply had Mack smiling as big as the moon.

I do too. X

It was enough for now. Ella would never say those words unless they were in person. But he was the kind of male who didn’t need to hear them.

He knew. He’d always known.

It was in the way she’d blushed as a teenager, aware of the way he’d bulked up. When she shot him little glances and jumped when he winked back. When she craved his attention while he acted uninterested and stalked away in a huff.

Silly female.

Why did she think he fixed her stupid bike all the time? Not just that, he kept breaking her chain, so he had to keep fixing it. No bike was that useless.

Her dad had caught him one night.

“Alright there, Mack?”

He’d straightened in surprise. Shit. “Hello, Mr. Todd. Just greasing Ella’s chain.”

The male had nodded slowly, glancing around for the grease.

“Worse bike that ever rode the earth.”

“Yes, sir,” Mack had replied, biting the inside of his mouth.

“Well, I’m going back inside the house. You get that chain sorted.”

“I will, sir.”

He walked off, then stopped at the door. “Oh, and Mack?”

He’d waited.

“When you are ready to ask my daughter out, you speak to me first.”

That had silenced him further.

“Goodnight.”

“Hmm mmm. Yup. Okay.”

Mack stared back at the three words on his phone—words that represented three way more powerful ones—and brushed his finger over the screen.

Everyone had known.

And waited.

No one more so than Ella.

He sent a heart emoji back and hoped that he got the chance to return to the United States and show her who he was.

To introduce her to his wolf and make Ella his mate.

Worst-case scenario, if their race was on the fast road to extinction, at least they’d have a few final days together.

Mack was determined to do everything in his power to make sure that didn’t happen. Nikolay was their biggest threat, and in Vincent Moretti’s words, he had to die.

Or like Craig had said, pow pow.