Saved By The Alpha
Chapter 12

When we returned to the safe house, Remus and Nic were already waiting for us there. The room was buzzing with energy, but the run we’d gone on had worn Bella out entirely. I had to carry her upstairs, her eyes barely opening. There was still a little smile on her face, though, so I knew the entire adventure had been worthwhile.

It was easy to get her down for a nap. No sooner had I gotten Bella tucked into the sheets and made sure she had her stuffed toy with her did her eyes close completely. Soon she was out like a light. I was free to trot back downstairs, having to pace myself so I didn’t look too much like an eager pup.

The men were sitting around the kitchen table holding cups of coffee. When I sat, Remus nodded to the tray in the middle. “That one’s for you,” he said. “I wasn’t sure how you took it, so the cream and sugar are to the side.”

“Thanks,” I replied, reaching for it absently. I wasn’t that interested in coffee right now, but the smell was familiar. Calming, even. “So, what’s going on?”

Nic raised an eyebrow at me, and for a moment, I thought he was going to play games and pretend he didn’t know what was going on. Thankfully, Remus didn’t seem interested. “Agent Foxrun called me early this morning,” he said.

I sat up a little straighter, forgetting all about the sugar packet I was about to pour into the cup. “She did?” I asked, glancing around as I tried to read everyone’s faces. I hadn’t expected much else after the fate of the last two suspects. “What did she say?”

“She’s still been working on some of the other leads,” Remus clarified. “Foxrun believes she’s been able to locate Dr. Brenner’s last known address.”

I blinked. “His address? He doesn’t live at the facility?”

Remus shrugged. “Apparently not.”

I reflected back on my time spent there. I hadn’t really been able to look around, but everything had seemed very sterile. Once I’d gotten outside, what was above ground seemed very industrial (at least from the outside) and not very big. I supposed that if you were trying to hide a secret facility, having a house on top wasn’t the way to do it. Putting a boring industrial complex there was a better disguise.

“And he’s here in Austin?”

Remus’ expression became pinched. “He’s in one of the communities just outside the city,” he explained. “The house is officially owned by someone named Cassandra Nocht, but Agent Foxrun was able to determine through the bills of sale that this is one of the false identities the project uses to obtain properties.”

I frowned. “If it belongs to the project, how can we be sure it’s Dr. Brenner staying there?” After so many false leads and dead ends, I didn’t want to get my hopes up for this. For all I knew, it could be another abandoned building — or worse, another trap.

“We can’t,” Remus admitted. “I don’t think we should break into the property, but it would be good if we could get some eyes on whoever is staying there. Even if it’s not Dr. Brenner himself, they could still lead us back to the facility.”

“That’s true.” I nodded, rubbing my chin as I rolled it over. It didn’t have to be the doctor — though that would be ideal — as long as they knew where the facility was. This was a good start. “I’m going this time.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Eli asked, setting his coffee down.

I frowned. “I have been on the sidelines for ages. This is my job, Eli.” And I felt like I’d been handing it off to anyone and everyone. I knew, logically, that this was Remus’ pack and territory, and it would be exceedingly hard to work on a case this big without alerting the local alpha — much less be successful without his help — but it had gone far, far beyond that.

Eli frowned back. “Yeah, but…” He trailed off.

My frown deepened. “But what?”

“I mean, we just shifted. And it hasn’t been that long since your surgery, so.” He shrugged, starting to look a bit uncomfortable.

I bristled, fighting the urge to flash my teeth and growl. “I’m a grown woman, Eli,” I snapped, not entirely able to keep my irritation in check. “I can manage my own body. If I only worked when I was feeling physically 100%, I’d almost never be working.”

He grimaced and looked away, and I had to ignore the surge of smugness. I knew he was just worried, but honestly, it wasn’t his business. Still, I took a deep breath.

“Look, I’m sure that was scary to witness,” I said, my expression softening. If you hadn’t had any experience with that sort of thing, it was probably quite alarming — and why would Eli have any experience with that? Most shifters healed — or they died. There wasn’t much in between. “But I am doing much better now. That shift went really well for me. Trust me when I tell you I can do this.”

“Okay,” Eli sighed, rubbing his face. He looked toward the stairs. “What about Bella?”

I glanced over at Remus. “She likes Luna — would she be able to come over?”

“I’ll ask,” he rumbled. “Fiona would need to come and watch the boys — or I suppose she could bring the boys here too.”

“It wouldn’t be bad for Bella to get to play with some other children,” I said.

Remus nodded and pulled out his phone, typing out a quick text. While he did, Nic spoke up. “If you and Eli would like to take the first shift, Remus and I can relieve you. I think it would be best if we rotate. Then the watch party will be as alert as possible.”

I wanted to argue, but he made a good point. “Okay,” I said. It also meant Luna wouldn’t have to watch Bella for however long it would take for our new subject to move, twenty-four hours or more. I was pretty sure she’d agree, but it wasn’t fair to ask her to stay over that long, especially with her own children elsewhere. “Let’s get set up.”

I’d wait just long enough for Bella to wake up so I could explain, and then I wanted to get back in the game.

I wasn’t surprisedthat we ended up in a pretty ritzy-looking suburb. Dr. Brenner didn’t strike me as the type to give up creature comforts. He was technically ‘in hiding’, but the man had such an air of invincibility when we were in the facility…

I had to stop thinking about it before I got too angry. I couldn’t let my emotions get in the way here.

The houses in this neighborhood were relatively spaced apart, allowing us a good bit of privacy. When we finally drove by the number Agent Foxrun had indicated, it appeared to be settled into the forest. That would be good cover, but…

“We need to replace somewhere to hide the truck,” Eli grumbled, rolling down the road. He had borrowed Clay’s pickup, while Clay would stay behind to keep monitoring the safe house. Jaxon took his own car to be within range if we needed immediate backup.

I searched the map on my phone. “There’s a public park about a mile from here. We could leave your car there and shift to run through the woods.”

Eli frowned. “But what if they leave? We won’t be able to tail them, especially if they drive into the city.”

He had a good point. We could probably stay hidden in the underbrush if they just drove down these roads, but if they headed into Austin, we’d be out of luck. At best, someone would call animal control about two loose dogs chasing a car. At worst, someone would recognize us as wolves, and that would bring up a whole score of other problems.

“Let me call Remus,” Eli said. “He must have at least one packmate closer than that.”

As luck would have it,Remus did know a Silver Streak member close by. The López family lived on the other side of the street, two houses down. We couldn’t get a visual from their property with the trees in the way, but it gave us somewhere to park the car and walk through the woods.

“You know,” Eli said as we walked through the forest, following the directions Remus’ packmate had offered us to avoid attracting any additional attention, “I am sorry our stay in London was so…chaotic. I wanted you to meet my pack, but not on those terms.” His face twisted into a sour expression.

I snorted softly. “It’d be pretty weird if you wanted me to meet your pack on the sort of terms that involved familial politics and a potential takeover,” I teased, trying not to let the mood get too dark.

Eli rolled his eyes. “I guess,” he replied, giving me a wry look. “Seriously, though. London is a great city when you get to see it. You barely got to leave the estate.”

I shrugged, ducking beneath a branch as we walked. “Eli, it’s fine,” I insisted. “We were there for pack matters, not a vacation. If it wasn’t urgent, we wouldn’t have left Austin.” Not with everything going on there. “I wasn’t expecting a grand tour or anything. Besides, for the most part, your packmates were pretty nice.”

He sighed, falling quiet for a few moments as we maneuvered around a small brook. “I know,” he finally said. “I know.” He rubbed his face. “But not everyone was. I really am sorry my mother tried to insert herself. It’s none of her damn business.”

Ah, yes. Viola. Even the mere moments I’d spent with her made it blazingly obvious why Eli hadn’t mentioned much of Viola at all before we’d gone overseas. I shrugged.

“She’s a grown woman. You don’t control her.” It wasn’t his fault. It had been uncomfortable as hell, and I’d been angry with him at the time for practically abandoning me at the party. But with a bit of distance, I’d been able to recognize Eli had very little control over the whole situation. He certainly had no control over his mother’s actions. She’d decided to make an absolute witch of herself, and that was Viola’s choice.

“Still…”

I sighed, stopping so I could turn and look Eli in the eye. “Do you believe the same things she does?” I asked, hands on my h!ps. “That a good mate belongs back at home, cooking and cleaning and…I don’t know. Organizing lavish parties or whatever?”

Viola hardly struck me as a woman who cooked, truth be told, but she wouldn’t be the first rich bitch with double standards. Being wealthy seemed to be a good exemption for most menial tasks, at least for those with the money.

Eli’s expression darkened. “She didn’t do any of those things,” he replied quickly. “Except maybe the party thing, but that was for her. That has nothing to do with being a good mate.”

“She certainly thought so,” I replied. Viola’s description of white wolves suddenly came back to mind. “She’s right about one thing, though.”

I hated to admit it but sitting at the dinner party and staring at all of those pieces of silverware… had made some things blatantly clear to me.

“You and I are from entirely different worlds. I’m never going to be… I don’t know. I’ll always be Iris. I’ll never be a city wolf.”

“So?” Eli scowled. “I like Iris. If I liked city wolves, I’d have stayed in the damn city. I like you the way you are.” He narrowed his eyes for a moment, the corner of his mouth ticking upwards. “Even when you’re arguing with me.”

My traitorous heart flipped in my ch3st. Eli’s gravity was pulling me in. I knew the longer I spent with him, the harder it was going to be for me to move on. If he was the sun, then I was a comet being pulled in. My track was going to be forever altered, and I didn’t know how I felt about that, not really.

But I wasn’t fighting it anymore, and that was new.

Eli shrugged, starting to walk again. I followed after him. “I don’t want someone who just says yes or keeps the house and ignores whatever else is going on in my life or my pack’s collective life. I want a partner.” He glanced over his shoulder at me. “Besides. For what it’s worth, I like Iris as Iris.”

I smiled at him without really thinking about it. “I do, too,” I agreed, winking. I was about to say something else when I heard something snap up ahead.

We both froze. I pressed behind a tree while Eli crouched toward the ground. I crept toward him, taking cover nearby, and I squinted toward the house. “There’s someone else there,” I whispered, brows knitting together.

Who beat us to the punch? And why?

Eli said nothing, but he went rigid as he stared at the person up ahead. After a few silent moments, I nudged his shoulder. “What is it?”

He l!cked his l!ps. “That’s Maverick,” he whispered back, expression inscrutable. He didn’t look away.

I blinked. “Maverick? Your friend?” I leaned forward, trying to get a better look at the person. “Why is he here?”

“I don’t know,” Eli admitted, l!cking his h!ps. “He’d gone quiet after infiltrating the Raven Brothers, but…I don’t know. I assumed he wasn’t in a position where it was safe to get in touch.”

“What’s he doing here, then?”

“I…” He shook his head. “I don’t know. I know he was trying to work his way up to get more information, but as far as I knew, there weren’t a lot of paths for that. You’re supposed to rack up ‘kills’, and…” He trailed off, wrinkling his nose.

I didn’t ask him to elaborate, turning my gaze back toward Maverick. He’d disappeared into a shadow. The sun was almost below the horizon now, and the forest was growing steadily darker. “How would he know where Dr. Brenner lives?” I asked, frowning. “It seems weird for him to be given that information if he just joined the organization a few weeks ago. There’s no way he’s joined the ‘elite alphas’ yet.” A pit was forming in my belly — it had seemed this information was too good to be true, and Maverick’s presence here just felt like it was confirming my fear.

“I agree,” Eli said softly, turning toward me. “But he’s very skilled at what he does. I wouldn’t be surprised if he uncovered this information through…other means.”

Maverick seemed to finish his circuit around the woods, moving toward the front door of the lavish log cabin. He knocked on the door, and it opened a few moments later. I couldn’t see who was inside. Whoever it was, they exchanged a few words. Maverick looked completely relaxed. The knot in my gut continued to tighten.

“What’s going on?” I hissed.

“I can’t hear,” Eli replied, leaning forward. “Maverick can play a role, though, I’m sure…” He trailed off, his face going a bit whiter. As I turned, I realized the man had rolled up his sleeve, showing off a dark mark to the man inside the door. A moment later, he’d handed a manila folder to Maverick. He took the file and tucked it under his arm, turning toward the driveway and disappearing out of sight as the door shut behind him.

I couldn’t see what was on his wrist, but I didn’t need to. There was only one mark that could have been there: the Raven Brothers’ tattoo.

Maverick, what have you done?