My leg bounced as I monitored the laptops I’d set up on the van’s dashboard. I fiddled with my earpiece and desperately wished I was with my pack. I’d never served in the military like my brothers, and while I was a decent shot, I knew I was most needed on surveillance. Still, it was killing me to sit in this van while my pack prepared to enter the facility without me. I’d felt sick when I realized Lilah and her pack were leading the mission at the Eastern Facility. I had argued with Amirah that I should be allowed to monitor their mission as well, but she had paired me with Poppy’s pack instead. She felt I would be too “emotionally involved” if I monitored my omega and my sister. Knowing that Charlie would be watching over them was the only thing that made me back down in the end.
A thrill went through me as I easily dismantled the communications at the Western and Southern Facilities while Charlie tackled the other two. My computer pinged, signaling that I’d been successful. Now the guards wouldn’t be able to check the video feed from the many security cameras and would find the signals from their phones blocked.
I sat back, waiting for Charlie to finish and feeling a competitive satisfaction that I’d been faster than her.
I heard a yawn through my earpiece.
“Damn, Ben, I could have practically taken a nap with how long that took you,” Charlie said.
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, right. I’m always super quick.”
“Josie’s a lucky girl,” Charlie cackled.
I rolled my eyes with a huff and then heard a male voice in the background—one of her alphas, I was guessing.
“I am taking this seriously,” she whined, her voice muffled. “I can’t help it if he doesn’t have stamina in bed.”
“What the hell,” I spluttered.
Amirah cleared her throat before her commanding voice came through the line. “Is everything set?”
I sat up straighter. “All clear on my end.”
“Same,” Charlie confirmed, her voice serious now.
Each team sounded off, confirming their positions.
I squinted at the grainy video surveillance. Cam was crouched next to Josie in the tree line near the side entrance. It felt like my heart was outside of my body. I just wanted them all back in my arms.
“All teams are a go,” Amirah said, her voice ringing out clearly.
The guards only had a few minutes to be confused about communications being down before they were further disoriented by the gas canisters landing inside the front and back entrances. The gas was harmless but would knock out anyone in the near vicinity. We had considered knocking out the omegas, but Josie had been adamantly against it, saying we wouldn’t traumatize them further by moving them without their consent. Luckily, all the other teams had agreed. It meant the teams had to use the gas sparingly to knock out the guards closest to the entrances before moving in with gas masks to take down the rest.
I shifted my gaze to the interior cameras as the mission unfolded, calling out instructions and warnings as needed. I gritted my teeth and forced myself to shift my gaze between all the monitors when all I wanted was to make sure Josie was safe. She looked even more vulnerable than usual, swamped by the bulletproof vest and following Cam closely through the hallways to get to the cells where the omegas were being kept.
Josie and Cam met up with Theo and Grant outside the hallway leading to the cells. Theo signaled that it was safe to remove the gas masks and handed Josie the keys he’d lifted off the guards. I watched as Josie went through the entrance to the omega cells alone. This was the part of the mission we all hated. We’d argued with her, trying to find any other solution. But in the end, we needed the omegas to cooperate quickly, and it would only slow things down if a group of armed alphas burst into the room and caused a panic.
I checked in with the team at the southern facility. Poppy and two of her alphas, Stone and Maximo, were nearing the omega holding cells while the rest of the team easily took down the guards. Everything was going well until a facility guard who’d been lying on the ground, supposedly unconscious, grabbed Poppy’s leg and pulled her to the ground. I flinched as she slammed against the cement floor. Her alphas jumped into action. Stone picked her off the ground, cradling her in his arms, while Maximo lunged at the guard and started beating him.
“Fuck, Maximo, stop!” Poppy’s voice rang out.
A few tense moments passed as Poppy struggled out of Stone’s hold and launched herself at Maximo. At her touch, he stopped, pulling back from the bruised and bloody guard.
“I’m totally fine. I’m just going to have a bruise,” Poppy said, pressing herself against Maximo, who finally seemed to return to his senses.
Stone leaned in and said something to Poppy that I didn’t catch.
“No, we’re not leaving. We’re almost there. And they say omegas are too emotional,” Poppy said, irritated. But I watched her lean in to kiss each of them, cupping their faces with such tenderness I had to turn back to my omega.
Josie was unlocking the final cells. The omegas slowly gathered around her as she explained everything. I drummed my fingers on the keyboard, willing them to hurry. It was clear, even through the grainy surveillance footage, that they were all terrified. They all wore tiny nightgowns and didn’t have shoes. They must be freezing. I wondered if Josie had been kept like this, and I quickly had to squeeze my eyes shut to stop that train of thought.
Josie gestured for them all to hold hands and they did, forming a long line and following her out of the room. The first omega to emerge cowered at the sight of Theo and Cam, but Josie kept her hand in a firm grip and kept walking.
I switched to the exterior camera and watched the back door swing open, Cam emerging on high alert, pointing his gun into the night before giving Josie the go-ahead. She walked out, the long line of omegas following her. There must be close to thirty—so many more than we expected.
Inside, Grant and River were hauling the incapacitated guards into the cells and locking them in until the Alliance could take care of them.
I continued to monitor the surveillance footage at both facilities, but I finally allowed myself a sigh of relief. I had parked around the side of the facility in a small clearing and was itching to drive around back where the garage was. I told myself it would only be a few more minutes. Poppy’s pack had pulled themselves together and their omega evacuation was underway. There seemed to only be a handful of omegas at their facility.
I sensed my pack’s stress through the bond, and it made my heart rate go up. The omegas were starting to panic at the idea of going in the backs of the vans. Josie was talking sweetly to each of them, keeping a watchful eye over the whole group. She might criticize alphas for being overprotective, but she was just as protective of the people she loved. My chest clenched when I remembered one of those people was me and how lucky I was.
“All clear at the Southern Facility,” Wilder, one of Poppy’s alphas, reported. “We had six omegas here. Doing a final sweep of the facility to ensure no one was left inside.”
“We’re almost done at the Eastern Facil—” I responded.
Something on the monitor caught my eye.
“No, no, no,” I gasped, zooming in on the surveillance footage. A car was approaching, driving down the dirt road towards the front of the facility.
“Cam, we’ve got company,” I said into the earpiece, trying to regulate my breathing and block my frenzied emotions from the bond. I wouldn’t be any use to the team if I panicked.
“Cam?” I growled when I didn’t get an instant response.
“Fuck, who’s here?” he asked as he emerged from the back of one of the vans.
“Don’t know yet, but they’re coming to the front. The building should block the view of the garage, but you have to be silent.”
I held my breath as the car came to a stop by the front door and five alphas stepped out, postures relaxed.
“It’s Jericho and four other alphas,” I hissed. “One of them looks familiar…” I tried to place the smarmy blond alpha in a suit. “It’s that shithead, Pierce. It’s Pack Madden.”
Theo and Cam’s growls came through my earpiece.
“Doesn’t seem like they know we’re here. Get the omegas into the garage as quietly as possible and then take down these fuckers.”
Cam and Theo gestured at everyone and they followed my instructions. I scanned the monitor, trying to catch a glimpse of Josie, but couldn’t see her.
“Where is Josie?” I asked, a surge of my panic leaking through the bond.
There was no response.
“Cam, Theo. Where. Is. Josie?”
“I can’t see her,” Theo hissed.
“Charlie—” I said.
“She’s in the facility, camera nine,” she responded immediately. My mind whirred as I flipped through the various video feeds, finally spotting my omega walking through the hallway.
“I’ve got surveillance covered,” Charlie said. “Go get her.”
I surged out of the van, tearing my gun out of the holster as I made my way around the building to the side entrance. Jagged edges of fear came from all sides of the bond as we hunted down our mate.
