Page 33 of Destined Mate

The living room was chaos.

Jerome’s eyes widened at the mess. Huge industrial lights were piled around the room with black cables coiling like restless snakes underfoot. Two large generators sat in the corner, red canisters of gasoline lined up beside them. There were monitors and foldable tables.

He saw Albert arguing with someone over a satellite dish in a jumble of shipping materials. “None of you idiots touch this. I swear, if I catch anyone near the dish, I will hang you with these cables.”

Jerome shook his head. “Quite the production.”

Clyde glared in his direction before turning back to the tangle of gear.

“Is this all going?” Jerome asked, picking up a long cord and inspecting it.

Clyde grabbed it out of his hands and tossed it over his shoulder. “Where the hell is Albert?”

Jerome shrugged and glanced toward the door where a pack member struggled to carry out a stack of lighting rigs.

“Can’t believe he’s making us set up in that damn stone circle,” Clyde muttered under his breath. “Could’ve just done it here.”

“It’ll be perfect,” Jerome said, feeling giddy despite himself.

Clyde growled, then pushed past him to follow the others hauling equipment out of the house. Outside, Jerome stood for a moment watching them load up trucks with the equipment—cameras, tripods, enough extension cords to stretch across several state lines.

“Any new ones?” Henry whispered as he passed by Jerome, carrying something.

“No,” Jerome whispered back. No, there hadn’t been any new visions.

Henry smiled slightly as he caught up with everyone struggling to pack things into vehicles.

Albert came out of nowhere and shoved Jerome forward. “You got something to smile about?”

“I’ll be doing plenty of smiling tonight.”

“You’ve cracked, haven’t you? Poor, stupid omega.” Albert grunted as he propelled Jerome toward his truck.

Jerome remained silent as he got into the front seat. Thankfully, Elmer was in another truck, sparing Jerome from having to ride with him.

Albert slammed the door behind him, stomped around to the driver’s side, and got inside. “I don’t care what alpha says—you screw this up and there won’t be anything left for me to bury.”

The engine roared to life as Albert turned the key, leading their convoy away from the house and into the woods. It was fully dark, and a chill ran down Jerome’s spine as they neared the stone circle. It was ominous even more than usual tonight—as if it were holding its breath for him.

Jerome’s hands shook uncontrollably as the truck came to a stop. His heart pounded as he glanced around. The landscape was eerily quiet, a stark contrast to the turmoil in Jerome’s mind.

“Keep your ass in the truck,” Albert snapped, turning to glare at him as he rolled the windows down and killed the engine. “Do not run. You know what’ll happen if you do.”

“I know. I won’t run.”

Albert squinted at him. “You do know that no one is coming to save you, right? This is happening.”

“I know.”

“No one even knows we took over, and the ones who show up tomorrow will most likely leave when they see that we’re established here. But it’ll be too late for you. As soon as your buyer transfers the money, Clyde will leave with you later tonight so we can put you on a private plane for transfer.”

Jerome stared at Albert.

“Nothing to say?”

“You’re going to die screaming,” Jerome said slowly. “Just wanted to let you know.”

Albert’s hand whipped out, striking Jerome across the mouth. “I hope your new owner fucks your ass raw daily.”

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