Page 100 of Their Mate

Bishop just shook his head. “A liability neutralized.”

I scowled, rubbing my sore cheek that felt like I’d sat on a hedgehog. “Aye, laugh it up. I can see it now. You’ll be old and gray, and you’ll look back on this moment, and you’ll say to yourselves, ‘Ah, remember the time we laughed at the dart in Jamie’s arse?’”

Griff wheezed, wiping at his eyes. “Best day of my life.”

I jabbed a finger at him. “Keep it up, and it’ll also be thelast.”

Eamon piped up from the rear, voice perfectly calm with no trace of irony. “Medically speaking, the dart site will be tender for several days. Sitting, climbing, possibly even walking may cause discomfort.” He paused. “You may want to sleep on your stomach.”

Griff struggled to contain himself at that one, gasping and snorting as he leaned against the wall like he couldn’t breathe.

The lass leading us didn’t even turn around, just muttered, “Quiet down. You sound like children fighting over sweet rolls.”

“Sweet rolls don’t usually come with tranquilizer darts,” I grumbled.

Griff was still chuckling, his shoulders shaking. “A dart in the arse, Jamie. You’ll never live this down. Never. You’ll be ninety, sitting down by the fire, and I’ll still be reminding you.”

“Aye, if you live that long,” I muttered, giving him a side-eye.

Nox slid one of his knives back into its sheath with a smirk. “Could’ve been worse. She could’ve darted you in thefront.”

We kept moving.

We walked single file, the Jane Doe up front with Bishop. Nox striding behind them, Griff hulking a step behind me, and Eamon trailing silent with his medic’s bag bumping his hip. My nostrils flared with every breath. The air down here was stale with disinfectant, gun oil, and damp stone… but threaded through all of it was my Sera.

“Left,” Bishop whispered, pausing at a junction.

We crouched down, hugging the wall of a maintenance tunnel. A patrol clattered by down an intersecting hallway, visors down, rifles slung ready, boots striking loudly against the floor. Watch soldiers. They passed without looking our way.

Nox’s knife twitched once in his hand. “Could’ve taken them,” he murmured.

“And left a trail of corpses announcing we’re here,” the lass replied without turning. Her voice was like ice in the shadows. “No.”

We slunk on. My nose told me we were getting closer, and with every turn of the corridor the scent of her burned brighter.

By the time we reached the reinforced blast door, I didn’t need the map. Iknewshe was in there.My hands tightened on the grip of my rifle. “She’s here,” I whispered, too low for the sound to carry.

The lass glanced back once, pale eyes narrowing at me, checking my state of mind. I didn’t look away.

Nox crouched by the control panel, prying open the faceplate. His hands were quick. Sparks spat, the lock whined, and with a hiss of hydraulics the door juddered open.

The chamber stank of damp and despair.

They were all there.

My pack.

Logan was shackled tightly to the wall, his shoulders arched back, his dark hair matted, and his eyes still steady despite it all. Similarly bound, Aidan’s green gaze burned bright, his wolf close enough to the surface to flash in the soft light. Edward sat like a soldier enduring another war, every muscle taut, jaw clenched, steel cuffs tight around his wrists. Declan was chained at wrist and ankle, and his chest heaved, every breath a growl, his eyes feral gold.

Sera was strapped to a steel X-frame, hair spilling over one shoulder, her blue eyes wide, the heat of her scent thick and potent in the air. My chest tightened, my wolf rattling its cage all over again.

To make things worse, all five of them were naked.

“Jamie?” Her voice cracked, relief and warning all tangled together into one.

I moved to go to her immediately, but the unnamed boss-lady’s hand shot out, palm flat against my chest, stopping me dead.

“Eamon.” She jerked her chin.