Saved By The Alpha
Chapter 21

It took two days to set all our plans into place and get everyone where they needed to be, but we did it. Reinforcements were brought in. Remus had staged Dr. Hayes and as many assistants as he could rally inside a safe house. We got volunteers to drive the vehicles that would be used to transport any captives, as well as additional guards to protect them. Bella was back with Luna and Fiona. Iris was all set up to be the eyes of our operation while we were on the inside, and Agent Foxrun was on standby.

The only thing left to do was infiltrate the damn place.

Maverick and I waited side-by-side. We’d been watching our entrance for the last thirty minutes, making sure everything was just as we expected it. I shifted for what must have been the eighth time, eager to get things going. My friend tipped his head in my direction, the corner of his mouth ticking upwards.

“I thought you’d done a stakeout before,” he murmured quietly, a hint of mirth in his voice.

I snorted softly, giving him a sideways look. “I have,” I replied, trying not to sound too wry. “Just a few times.” And almost always with Iris. All of them were on this case. Initially, they had been boring, but at first, I was trying not to let Iris get the better of me. Once I got to know her, well…I wanted to know more.

Without her, I realized just how tedious a stakeout could be.

Maverick seemed to sense what I was feeling, the corner of his mouth ticking up another few centimeters. “Just a little bit longer,” he said, his gaze flickering back to the building looming in front of us. “We want this to go off without a hitch.”

“I know,” I said, annoyed he felt the need to remind me — and even more annoyed that I was impatient enough to make it noticeable. I took a deep breath. “Sorry. I know, Maverick. We need this to go as planned.”

Maverick nodded. “I’m sorry I lied to you in the beginning, Eli. As you know — there’s a lot on the line. And with Interpol involved…” He trailed off and sighed. “I wanted to touch base with my handler and make sure I had all my facts straight.”

“It’s okay.” I didn’t have to think about it. Now that we had some distance from the initial reveal, it was okay. If the positions were somehow reversed, I’d have been quite careful with the information, too. The last time we had met, I’d never even considered a serious relationship, and even at that age, I was certain I’d never want to take a mate.

Why would Maverick have assumed Iris was someone different?

“Hmmm.” Maverick hummed, rubbing his chin. “I’m not sure it’s okay, exactly, but…” He trailed off.

I sighed. “Fine. I mean, I understand why you did it, and I probably would have done the same thing,” I said, raising a brow. “I know lying isn’t your thing. I know things changed for you when you joined the military. Things are different. We hadn’t seen each other in — f**k, far too long. I get it.”

“They are. And it has been,” he agreed. After a moment, he tipped his head back toward me. “And thank you. I don’t think you know how much that means.”

“I—” I stopped myself. I thought I did, but maybe I don’t. The closest thing I’ve ever seen to the armed services was a weekend fitness bootcamp I did when I lost a stupid bet to Myles, and I can’t imagine that really compares.

“You were always there for me when we were younger, Mav. It’s my turn to be there for you.” For once, I was actually in a position to help my friend. “After we get through this, if you want to stay in Texas — I can help with that. Remus is my half-brother. I know we can work something out.” I pressed my l!ps together. “Or if you want to go back to the UK, I can help you with that too.” I wasn’t as close to the other pack alphas as my father was, but I had connections, and for Maverick, I would make it work.

Maverick’s expression darkened. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. There are no guarantees here. Not all of us may get out of this.” His expression only got darker. “I have a responsibility to those wolves inside.”

“We all do,” I said, frowning. “We all do, Maverick.”

He tipped his head. “I’m not trying to get taken out any time soon,” he said, shaking his head before looking back at me. “I’m not. I promise. You know what they say — hope for the best, prepare for the worst, and all that. Besides.” He reached out and squeezed my shoulder. “It’s just as you said to Iris. If something happened to you in there, what would I tell Bella?”

I frowned. “You heard all of that?”

“Of course I did.” He snorted. “We could have been across the house, and I still would have heard you.” He tapped an ear. “Shifter. Alpha. Trained intelligence gatherer. Duh.”

I sighed and rolled my eyes. “Yeah, yeah, whatever.”

“You’re avoiding what I said.”

I sighed again, looking back at him — I did not appreciate having my own words turned against me, even if they had some truth to them. Or perhaps, especially because they had some truth to them. “She’s closer to Iris than she is to me.”

Maverick rolled his eyes. “I know you don’t think that — and if you do, you’re doing that little girl a disservice,” he said. “And I would have to report back to Iris, too.” When I opened my mouth, he held up a hand. “Eli. You don’t have to say anything.”

“I don’t want you to sacrifice yourself,” I huffed.

“I won’t,” Maverick said, nodding. “Like I said — I have plans for the future. I’m not interested in kicking the can just yet. Time is precious. We all have to make the most of what we have — and that means you, too.” He winked at me.

“Hm.” I frowned and eyed him again, not entirely convinced. However, our window for conversation was closing. My earpiece crackled to life.

“Everything’s in position, boys,” Iris’ tinny voice said. “We’ll enact radio silence after you go in. Signal us as soon as you’re out so we can get the rescue teams going. Good luck and good hunting.”

The radio died off again,and I opted to remove my earpiece, stuffing it into my pocket. Maverick did the same, and we began to slink toward the facility, picking across a carefully-decided-upon path. Then we approached the generator. Maverick cupped his hands together and gave me a boost up into the air vent before hustling to grab the edge. He pulled himself up behind me, giving a thumbs up once he was securely inside.

As we went around the first corner, it felt like all the breath had been knocked out of me. Darkness swallowed us, daylight no longer reaching the vent. Maverick almost knocked himself into me as I came to a sudden halt. He was careful not to make a noise, but I couldn’t help imagining his questioning gaze. I swallowed hard, trying to force the lump in my throat back into my chest. I couldn’t sit here and spiral into panic.

This is not the root cellar,I told myself, repeating it like a mantra. I peeled my hands away from the cold metal of the vent and forced myself to keep moving. This is not the root cellar. We aren’t trapped. We’re freeing someone. We aren’t trapped. We’re freeing someone.

It took forever and somehow also passed in a blink of an eye. We found the location Maverick had suggested to drop down from. We quickly pried up the grate, carefully returning it before dropping into the room below ourselves. I thought I was quiet, but Maverick moved like a ghost. If I hadn’t known he was right behind me, I wouldn’t have noticed him at all.

He took the lead, guiding us quickly through the shadows. I wondered for the briefest of moments if Remus and my father were working as well as Maverick and me — if they worked as seamlessly. The thought was forgotten as soon as it bubbled up. We’d reached a T intersection.

“Victor should be that way,” Maverick murmured, pointing to the right. “He’s almost religious about his workout regime. He’ll be in the guards’ gym at this hour.”

“And he’ll be alone?”

“Should be.” Maverick nodded toward the corridor. “As I said, he’s pretty religious about it. You’d have to be stupid or a masochist to interrupt him.” The corner of his mouth twitched, and he looked to the left. “I’ll go look for Simon. He’s usually on patrol.”

I paused for just a moment. “What about whoever he’s patrolling with?”

Maverick smirked. “Eli, please. They think I’m one of them. You really think I can’t get the drop on a regular guard before they realize what’s going on? It will be one on one before anyone’s the wiser.”

I snorted. “Fine.” I turned toward the gym. “Good luck and good hunting,” I told him, echoing Iris’ sign-off. It resonated nicely.

Maverick’s footstepsfaded down the hallway until I was entirely alone. I took a deep breath, briefly pausing outside the gym’s door. There was no window, so I couldn’t check the room before entering, but I wasn’t surprised. This facility was basically a prison where information would be at a premium. I would have to rely on Maverick’s intelligence — but I believed him. I trusted his skills, and I trusted that Victor Whithall would be alone.

I grabbed the handle. Thankfully, the gym was one of the rooms that didn’t require a key card. Instead, there was a glowing keypad. I punched in the access code Maverick had given me, and the door clicked, allowing me to press the handle down. I stepped in quickly, not wanting to give V any more time than necessary.

He was already sitting up, equipment placed back, as the alpha looked around to see who dared interrupt his solace. His dark eyes widened a fraction when he sighted me, the corner of his mouth lifting up into a grin. “Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in,” he drawled, reaching for a towel to lazily wipe at his face. “You’ve saved me the effort of hunting you down like a dog, Eli Archer. That was nice of you. Guess you can always count on the Brits for good manners, huh?”

My anger spiked. I thought I couldn’t dislike the man more than I already did, but I clearly underestimated his ability to be an enraging piece of garbage. My wolf surged to the surface.

Victor clearly sensed it. “What, you want to fight? You aren’t going to win,” he said, getting to his feet. He clicked his tongue against his teeth. “But don’t worry, kiddo. I won’t kill you. You’re too valuable for that. You’ll make an excellent addition to our arsenal.”

I snarled. “I’ll never work for you,” I hissed.

He laughed. “Oh, you think I wanted to recruit you?” He gave me a pitying look. “Oh no, you’re the ideal for Dr. Brenner’s experiments. You’ll be a perfect weapon.”

“You aren’t a weapon,” I snapped. “You’re just another tool for the humans like Dr. Brenner to use.” That was the last thing I was able to say before my wolf took over. I didn’t stop him. We would be faster on four feet, and hopefully, I’d get to Victor before he had the opportunity to shift, too. I surged forward like the incoming tide, lunging for the man’s wrist.

He jerked back, and I caught only fabric, but he didn’t get far. The piece of equipment was still right behind him, and Victor had to twist awkwardly to avoid falling. The bench was right at knee level, and I lunged again, trying to force him against it and use gravity to my advantage. Unfortunately, Victor seemed to realize that’s what I had planned. He danced to the side before I could make contact and laughed.

“You don’t have much practice in combat, do you? Don’t worry. That won’t matter once Dr. Brenner’s fixed you,” he taunted.

As I wheeled around and lunged for him again, the man grabbed another piece of workout equipment from the wall. It looked like a rope. Stepping forward as I moved, he attempted to lasso the jump rope around my neck. I flattened my ears as I twisted. The press against my throat was intense, but this wasn’t the first time someone had tried to choke me out. I knew what that felt like. I knew what it felt like as oxygen became harder and harder to suck in as the edges of consciousness began to collapse.

I never thought Brock’s abuse would be of any use later in life, but here we were. I didn’t panic in the chokehold — I didn’t even struggle to suck in more air. I pressed farther forward, clearly surprising Victor. He had clearly expected me to try and jerk back.

This time, he wasn’t quick enough to get away. I raked my claws down his middle. All he was wearing was a simple tank and shorts, and he certainly wasn’t in a guard’s usual protective gear. All he thought he was doing in the gym was working out.

Your mistake.

Victor hissed and stumbled back, b***d blooming across his blue shirt as the pressure on my windpipe released at once. I wasn’t sure if I was heightened by the sudden influx of oxygen or the adrenaline rush from setting my enemy on the back foot, but I lunged again, this time grabbing the man by the ankle. Bone crunched as I tugged with all my might, throwing him down with a heavy thud. I shook my head as the taste of copper filled my mouth, but I didn’t stop. Victor might have wanted to take me alive, but I wasn’t going to stop until he was dead.

“F*****g mongrel!” the man spat, kicking me directly in the snout with his other foot. Pain blossomed through me, and my vision swam. A yelp didn’t escape, not quite, but I still let him go. It felt like all my teeth were rattling in my jaw.

As Victor pushed himself back, he grabbed the nearest object from the rack against the wall. I didn’t pay much attention — it wasn’t a weapon, after all. Perhaps I should have. He hurled it at me a moment later, and a dumbbell slammed into my left forelimb.

This time, I did scream, the sickening thud almost causing me to black out as my rush died into a stumble. I could barely put any weight on it, and it felt like if I did, I’d make the injury ten times worse.

Victor was struggling back to his feet.

I can’t let him get away. I can’t let him call for help, or the jig will be up.

I surged forward, powering through the screaming pain. This time, I rocked all my weight onto my haunches before springing up, throwing my full heft into the man’s middle. He hadn’t gotten all the way up yet, and the momentum sent us both toppling to the ground. Victor screamed — anguish or anger, I couldn’t tell — and grabbed for something at his side.

I found my feet and snapped my jaw, teeth making contact with his neck moments later. Victor screamed again, and a blaze of sharp pain in my side almost made me let go. A knife. He has a knife.

But I didn’t let go. I wouldn’t. I couldn’t.

This piece of sh!t had tried to force Iris to become his mate by biting her.

Now you’ll die by my fangs, traitorous scum. What goes around comes around.

I hadno idea how long I’d been there when I heard footsteps approach. Victor had long since gone limp underneath me. The flow of b***d from his wound had slowed as well. But I refused to let go, and even if I wanted to, my leg had long since given up. All of my weight now rested on top of the other alpha.

“Eli!”

I breathed a sigh of relief at Maverick’s voice. He’s okay. That’s one down. Remus and Nic were still in question, but I could only focus on one thing at a time.

The man crouched down next to me, reaching with careful fingers. My ears flicked back, and my nose wrinkled. Even that motion sent a shock wave of pain through me.

“It’s okay,” my friend said, shushing me quietly. “I’m just going to look for a pulse, okay?”

When I didn’t move, he touched his fingertips to Victor’s skin, checking a few points before drawing away. “He’s gone, Eli. You can let go.”

The confirmation was all I needed. I finally drew back, my jaw aching as I unhinged myself. B***d dripped from my muzzle, and I knew all of it wasn’t Victor’s. My nose and jaw were both throbbing. If his kick hadn’t broken something, he’d at least misaligned it.

When I didn’t make any further movements, Maverick got a little closer, tracing his fingers over my fur. He hissed as he found the knife. “F*****g hell, Eli,” he whispered, grimacing. “You’re lucky his aim was sh!t. He could have punctured a lung.”

I assumed that meant the man hadn’t hit anything vital, but that didn’t make me feel any better at that moment. I flattened my ears again.

“I’m going to take this out and apply pressure. It’s going to hurt like hell, but it’s clean. It should heal up pretty easily with a shift, okay?”

Without a better option, I nodded. Even with Maverick’s warning, a snarl ripped through me with the removal of the blade. My eyes stung. My tail thrashed. He applied pressure, and the burning sting gave way to an intense agony instead. Despite myself, I gr0aned.

“I know,” Maverick said quietly. “I know. But you need to stay like this for a bit. The healing is better when you’re in wolf form first.”

I knew that, but I didn’t have the energy to be irritated. I didn’t even have the strength to get off the corpse I had fallen over. We stayed like that for several minutes before the wound began to clot. Maverick carefully lifted me off the fallen alpha’s body, gently setting me down. I whimpered as my leg was jostled, but the blinding pain had retreated back into the “searing” category. At least I no longer felt like I might pass out every time I moved.

More footsteps approached, quickening as they got closer. “Eli! Sh!t, Eli, Eli.” My father’s horror was obvious, even if I couldn’t see his face. He was on his knees next to Maverick within moments. I could see a bruise forming on his face, and I smelled b***d, but if he was injured otherwise, I couldn’t see it.

He cupped his hands under my muzzle and lifted my chin, his dark eyes glimmering with an emotion so intense that I almost found myself shrinking under it. I wanted to reassure the man, but all I could do was gently thump my tail against the floor. Nic smoothed his hand over my skull. “F**k,” he said, sounding as if he’d taken a punch to the gut. “You weren’t responding on the earbuds. I thought— I thought—” He cut himself off, shaking his head. “Never mind what I thought. I love you, my boy. Don’t you dare scare me like that again,” he whispered fiercely, pulling me a bit closer.

The movement pulled a gr0an free, and my father apologized, releasing me at once.

Maverick placed a careful hand on my father’s shoulder. “He’s going to be all right,” he said, quiet and reassuring. “It looks worse than it is. He needs to rest for a bit. Once he gets some strength back, he’ll be able to shift, and he’ll be doing a lot better.”

I sighed impatiently. I didn’t want to rest, not with captives still in the building. There was so much work left to be done.

I tried to get my legs underneath me, and my father carefully placed a hand on my shoulders. It was gentle but firm, not allowing me to rise any farther. “Stay,” he said, his voice still deep and gravelly. “Just rest, Eli. The rest of the plan is already in motion, don’t you worry. Remus’ men are already helping clear the captives out. Just rest.”

I sighed again, exhaustion already taking back over. Just once, I thought. Just this once, I’ll take a rest.