Saved By The Alpha
Chapter 17

I was loathe to leave Maverick locked up and tied to a chair like some petty criminal, but I couldn’t argue with how Remus decided to hold captives in his own territory. Hopefully, I would be able to convince my half-brother to release him soon.

As soon as we were down the hall, I spoke up. “We should have him lead us to this exchange point,” I said. “The sooner we can get our hands on Dr. Brenner, the better it will be for everybody.”

“I’m not sure how comfortable I am with that,” my father said, his brows furrowed. “Just because Maverick gave us information doesn’t mean it’s correct — and it doesn’t mean he won’t tip off the Raven Brothers, either. He could still turn on us.” His gaze shifted to me, his frown deepening. “Especially if they are specifically targeting you now, Eli.”

I scowled. “He won’t flip on us,” I said, shaking my head. “If he were going to let them capture me, he would have already done it. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place, and I don’t know how much longer I could have fended off that many men without help.” I shrugged. “And he killed them. That’s pretty damning.”

Iris pressed her l!ps together. “Do we need Maverick himself to access areas or just his key card? Actually, for that matter, will we need Dr. Brenner or just his key card?”

I didn’t have an answer to that — we’d have to clarify with Maverick later. I shrugged. It seemed beside the point to me. “One more body is going to help us,” I argued, “especially someone well-trained who knows how the Raven Brothers operate. We won’t be taken by surprise, and if they do confront us, we’ll be on more even footing.”

Remus shook his head. “I’m on the fence,” he stated bluntly, looking back in the other direction. “Maverick has been forthcoming without any need to coerce him at all, but Nic isn’t wrong. He could change his mind and flip on us.” He looked back at me. “I know he might care about you, Eli, but the rest of us are likely incidental to him. If Interpol decides any of us are disposable, what would Maverick do? Given the weight of this entire thing, who’s to say he wouldn’t side with them?”

I shook my head, growling. “Maverick isn’t that kind of person. It wouldn’t matter that he didn’t know you personally. He’s just — that’s not who he is.” I refused to believe he’d change that much, even for an international agency — even to stop Project Night Moon. What was the point of stopping them if you had to kill dozens and dozens of innocent people and wolves along the way?

Iris made a soft noise and looked at me. “Eli, we just don’t know how being undercover has affected him.”

I raised a brow. “Have you been undercover?”

She shrugged. “Not in a situation as intense as this, no — but I have worked undercover before for a client. The longer you’re undercover, the more you start to…become one with your character. I was never undercover for more than two weeks, but he said he’s been at this for eighteen months. We have no idea, not really, of what he’s had to do and how that’s affected him.”

She paused for a moment frowning. “Honestly, he might not even know. I mean, think about it — you said he was a lone alpha, right? But all wolves want to be part of a pack, and what is the Raven Brothers if not a group for outcast alphas?”

I frowned, wanting to argue — but that was one of the most compelling arguments anyone had made so far. Maverick had been banished from Longbow — he could never go back. He could never go back to his birth pack, either, and once he was discharged from the army…that was a lot of families, found and otherwise, to leave behind. I hated that he had been put in that sort of position to start, but…

“His wolf still knows me. He’s loyal to me — our friendship. He isn’t going to betray me or any of you,” I said, standing firm in my assessment.

Iris pressed her l!ps together and gave a small nod. “I trust your judgment,” she said after a moment. “And as soon as someone realizes the wolves sent to capture you and Remus are dead, and Maverick’s gone, he’s going to be in a world of trouble.”

I nodded. “Exactly. He’s practically blown his cover already.”

Remus g*****d and rubbed his face, walking away from us for a moment. “I really don’t like this,” he said again, shaking his head. “I really don’t. But I don’t see a better way, either.”

My father sighed. He’d been very quiet the whole time, staring down the hallway as if he could see Maverick through the walls and the doors. “Neither do I,” he said. “I still don’t think this is safe.”

“Fine,” Remus finally said, choosing to look at the wall. Either he hadn’t heard our father, or he was ignoring him. “Fine. We’ll bring Maverick along.” He turned to look at me. “But if he double-crosses us, Eli, I can’t hold back for the sake of an old friendship. I can’t let him put my entire pack at risk.”

I opened my mouth and closed it again. Working my jaw, I nodded. “Fine,” I agreed. I knew it wouldn’t be a problem, but even I could sense arguing further wasn’t going to help. I was, after all, getting my way.

My father growled, his gaze flickering from me to Remus and back again. I could tell he didn’t like the plan, but for once, it wasn’t his pack. It wasn’t his territory. Maverick was no longer his pack-mate, and he wasn’t his prisoner either. This was entirely Remus’ call, and he had to respect that.

“If he hurts Eli—”

“He won’t,” I snapped, resisting the urge to bare my teeth. Of all the times for him to finally get protective… Where was this instinct when I was a kid?

“Well, if that’s decided, I’m coming too,” Iris said, nodding.

“That’s a bad idea,” I said, frowning at her. “If things go badly, we shouldn’t all be in the same place.”

Iris shook her head. “Then you stay behind,” she replied, staring at me defiantly. “But I’m going. I witnessed Dr. Brenner torture Cyn Smith to death, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it. Hell, he might have done the same to me if he had found me a more interesting ‘specimen’.” She bared her teeth, and my wolf growled alongside her, enraged on her behalf. “I’m going, Eli. It’s his turn to feel just how it is, being the hunted instead of the hunter.”

I paused for a moment, studying her expression. “Okay,” I nodded. “We’ll have to let Luna and Fiona know, though.”

“Of course,” she replied.

“I can call Gage and Brock to act as lookouts,” my father suggested.

My mood immediately crashed back down. “Absolutely not,” I growled, giving him a dark look. “We can’t trust them as far as we can throw them — remember they tried to remove you like, I don’t know, a week ago?”

He sighed. “I know you’re upset with them, but—”

“But nothing,” I retorted. “I can’t believe you were just whinging about whether or not Maverick will betray us, but you’re fine with them? They’ve shown you who they are, Dad. Believe them.”

“I’m going to have to side with Eli on this one,” Remus said, walking back over to us. “I wasn’t there, but if they tried to replace you as alpha, we can’t trust them. If you’re worried about extra guards, we can ask Eli’s men, or I can have Bane send over some of his best.”

“Perfect,” I said, watching my father out of the corner of my eye. He still looked like he wanted to argue, but again, he held his tongue. There was something satisfying about watching him not be the top dog. I admit, part of me did think it would be good for Gage and Brock to see exactly how formidable Remus was — maybe they’d stop trying to drag him through the mud. But what if that tossed gasoline on the fire? Seeing him at his most formidable might cause them to double down on their ridiculous argument that Remus wanted to take over Longbow.

“I’ll send their contact information so you and Iris can coordinate your position, Eli,” he said, already pulling out his phone. “I’ll go with Maverick and Bane.”

I frowned, about to argue that Remus didn’t need to babysit Maverick but decided against it after a moment. Remus hadn’t even wanted to include him — I shouldn’t push my luck any further than that. “Bane and the others will meet us there?” I asked instead.

“Yes,” Remus said, already walking back down the hall to release Maverick. “The time it will take us to get back to Austin will be more than enough for Bane to gather the numbers we want.”

“Good,” I said, following him down the hall. Maverick might have to work with Remus, but at least I’d be there for his release. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

Baneand the others had already arrived at the abandoned warehouse by the time we rolled up. Clay and Jaxon greeted me first. They had scouted the area while Bane made sure we all remained hidden. Maverick knew Dr. Brenner’s general schedule — no one was allowed to know the exact times except the doctor himself — and we were cutting it close. If Dr. Brenner was going to be on the early side of his timetable, then we had to hurry in order to get into the tunnel before he did.

If we didn’t ambush him, our chances of success would drop significantly.

“I’ll cut the security feeds,” Iris murmured, pulling up the hood of her black sweatshirt.

I would have asked if she knew how, but then she was the one who introduced me to the concept of “B&E”. I turned to Clay and Jaxon as they approached. “Anything of note?”

Clay shook his head. “It looked exactly the way Maverick described,” he confirmed. “No scent newer than six hours. Didn’t see anyone in the immediate area, either.”

“Good,” I said, nodding. “Once Iris is done eliminating the cameras, I want you two to watch the doors. Bane and his men will be posted throughout the perimeter to try to keep anyone from getting too close, but you two will be the last line of defense, okay?”

“You got it, boss,” Jaxon said, nodding firmly.

I clapped a hand over his shoulder. “Good. Now, stay out of sight until you hear from us.”

The pair didn’t need any further instructions. With one last nod, both of my guards turned and dipped back into the surrounding woods, disappearing into the shadows like they’d never been there at all.

Once Iris was done, she, my father, Bane, and I all let ourselves into the warehouse with a card we’d lifted from one of the dead Brothers. Remus and Maverick had split up from the rest of the group and returned to Dr. Brenner’s cabin to ensure the man had actually left through the tunnel. They were to alert us if he left any differently or if anything strange was happening at the cabin.

There wasn’t much to be seen within the warehouse itself. It was fairly large, but the inside was almost empty. There weren’t even abandoned storage lockers or old machinery left behind by a previous owner. We turned the place inside out within five minutes and gained nothing but a few new layers of dust.

“Iris and I will go down into the tunnel,” I decided, nodding toward the cleverly hidden hatch. If I didn’t know what to look for, I might not have even noticed, but Maverick had gone through all of the warehouse’s secrets with us.

I glanced over at my dad. “You and Bane stay here. Clay and Jaxon are watching the door. If anyone gets past us and tries to make a break for it out of the tunnel, you two need to catch them.”

“Understood,” Bane rumbled, nodding. He folded his arms and took a step back, leaning against the wall.

“Be safe,” my father said instead, opening the trap door for us.

I went down first, blinking into the darkness before I offered Iris a hand. Silence echoed all around us. We walked carefully and quietly. In a tunnel like this, any noise would be amplified. It was a good thing Dr. Brenner wasn’t a wolf himself, or we might not be able to surprise him at all.

Even then, we had to hope he didn’t have any guards with him today, and if he did, that they weren’t on the top of their game. After all, why would they expect anyone to be hiding in their secret underground railway?

We’d been walking for several minutes when I held up a hand. Iris stopped behind me, tipping her head in question. We didn’t speak — voices would carry even farther than the sound of our steps. I pointed in the direction we were walking before cupping a hand around one ear. She leaned forward, not even breathing for a moment. Her eyes widened when she heard it, too: there was someone else in the corridor.

Iris sniffed once and bared her teeth. That was all the confirmation I needed. Dispensing with silence, I opted for speed instead, rushing the rest of the way down the tunnel. “You’re coming with us,” I growled, lunging forward to grab Dr. Brenner’s wrists.

The man froze in his tracks. To my great irritation, he didn’t even look that scared, simply stunned that anyone else would be here. He straightened a little, hitting his head on the top of the tunnel. That seemed to worry him more than anything else.

As I wrapped my fingers around his clammy skin, he didn’t protest, blinking at me a few times as though he couldn’t imagine someone coming out of the dark to take him hostage. Dr. Brenner tipped his head as if I were a particularly interesting specimen and not a threat. My b***d boiled.

“What are you doing?” Dr. Brenner asked. “Ah, I see. You’re with her.”

It was like he didn’t even recognize me, even though he’d given the instructions for my kidnapping less than a day ago. I couldn’t help but snarl, hearing Iris’ low rumble as she came up behind me. “How does it feel to have the shoe on the other foot?” she hissed — eyes gleaming in the dark.

Dr. Brenner sniffed. There wasn’t an ounce of fear or adrenaline coming from him, and that alone was infuriating. “I thought you were cleverer than this, Subject 296,” he sighed, his eyes falling to Iris. He looked disappointed, as if he expected more from her. As if he had the right to. I resisted the urge to pummel him right then and there. “Just as well, though. Now I will have you both for the lab, and I really can’t be upset with that.”

“You’re never stepping foot in that lab again,” Iris hissed.

“You’re done,” I added, giving him a little tug and making him stumble.

The man paused for a moment, but the crack in his armor disappeared almost as quickly as it had surfaced. “Hardly. You really think I travel alone?” He glanced over his shoulder as if waiting for someone. “You two are complete fools.”

Once he had stopped talking, I realized there were footsteps farther down the tunnel. F**k. Maverick had said he always had armed guards. Why didn’t we arm ourselves?

I glanced around quickly, looking for anything I could use to our advantage when a familiar form burst forth from the shadows.

“They aren’t the foolish ones,” Maverick snarled. In one quick motion, he laid Dr. Brenner out flat. The man didn’t even have time to flinch.

In one breath, Brenner was smiling at me like the cat who’d gotten both the canary and the cream. In the next, he was on the ground, unconscious as his head lolled to the side.

Moments later, Remus appeared behind Maverick, looking a bit more frazzled than my friend. “Well, that’s one way to handle things,” he huffed, glaring at the back of Maverick’s head.

Iris snorted. “I thought Dr. Brenner was supposed to lead us to the blueprints,” she said, staring at Maverick.

He had already crouched down next to the doctor’s prone form, frisking him expediently. A moment later, he pulled out the man’s ID tag, as well as his wallet. “This is all we need,” he said, pocketing both items. “I know where his office is. Any important documents will be in there — that will include the blueprints. We don’t need to tote him around and risk him alerting the others.” He stood. “I’ll head there right now before anyone realizes what’s happened. The clock is ticking.”

I frowned, quickly doing the math. “Fine,” I said. “We’ll get Dr. Brenner out of here and somewhere secure.” I paused, grabbing Maverick’s arm before he could head back in the direction he came. “Be safe, Maverick.”

We’d only just reconnected. I didn’t want to lose my friend all over again. Once had been hard enough.

“The same goes for you,” he said, flashing me a little smile before breaking free and disappearing back into the shadows.

“C’mon,” Iris urged me. “We need to get out of here, and I need to get the cameras back on. If someone notices they’re all down, this place is going to get swarmed.”

“Good call,” I agreed, bending down to hoist the doctor up and over my shoulder. “Let’s go.”