Page 42 of Billionaire Wolf Needs a Pilot
One of Logan’s men set up an impromptu command center with thermal imaging equipment and communications.Red heat signatures bloomed across the screen.There were at least twelve bodies moving across the other end of the open-pit mine.How many men were underground was unknown.
“More than we thought,” I muttered as I recalculated our approach.
“They’re concentrated around the main drainage juncture,” Felicity pointed to the cluster of signatures.“If they’re planning to release toxins, that’s where they’d do it to maximize spread through the groundwater system.”
We quickly established our plan.Logan and I would enter through the main shaft, using our enhanced senses to navigate the labyrinth of tunnels.Sheriff Reyes and his deputies would secure the perimeter of the pit to prevent escape.Felicity would coordinate from our mobile command center with one of Logan’s security specialists.
I pulled her aside for a moment alone before we moved out.The bond between us flared to life as I pressed my forehead against hers.
“If anything happens to me—” I began.
She silenced me with a fierce kiss, her fingers digging into my shoulders.“Nothing will.You’re going to end this bitch, and then we’re going home.”Her blue eyes blazed with certainty.“Together.”
I nodded once, unable to form words around the tightness in my chest.My wolf howled within me, already battling the instinct to stay and protect her versus hunting down the threat to our territory.
As we descended, the mine swallowed Logan and me in its dark jaws.The stale air grew thick with the scent of damp earth.Our shifter instincts guided us through the tunnels, both of us moving with preternatural silence.Emergency lights cast eerie shadows against rough rock walls that had witnessed generations of my family’s ambition.
Further in, we discovered equipment that made my blood run cold.Machinery retrofitted to deliberately channel pollutants into the groundwater.I recognized components that were not ours, stamped with the distinctive Alpha Fang logo.
“She’s been planning this for years,” I growled.“Using my father’s greed as cover for her own scheme.”
Logan nodded grimly.“Victoria always plays the long game.”
The explosion came without warning.A deafening boom followed by the mountain itself seeming to shudder.Rocks and debris crashed down around us.A thick cloud of dust filled the air, choking us.I was thrown against the tunnel wall, momentarily stunned as a section of the ceiling collapsed.
When the dust settled, a pile of rubble separated me from Logan.Through a small gap, I could see him on the other side, bloodied but alive.
“I’ll find another way around!”he shouted, his voice muffled by the barrier.“They’re trying to separate us!”
A noise echoed through the tunnel.Someone else was here.I whipped around, every sense on high alert as I scanned the shadows.
Victoria emerged from the darkness like a nightmare in human form.Her once-elegant appearance had deteriorated.Formerly immaculate designer clothes were now stained and torn, her black and silver hair formed a wild nest around a gaunt face twisted with madness.Behind her stood four men, muscle-bound enforcers with cold eyes and weapons drawn.
“The mighty Roberts heir returns at last,” she taunted.“Too late to save your father’s legacy, or your precious town.”
I kept my stance loose, ready to move.The edge of my vision tracked each enforcer’s position while I kept my focus on Victoria.“It’s over.Sheriff Reyes has the exits covered.”
She laughed again, the hysteria in her voice barely contained.“You think I care about escape?Oh, Tanner.Always so disappointingly linear in your thinking.Just like your father.”
My wolf bristled at the mention of my father, a growl building in my chest that I barely suppressed.
“This was never about the mine,” Victoria continued, gesturing expansively.“It was about erasing you.The Roberts name.Everything your family built.”Her eyes gleamed with fevered triumph.“In one hour, enough poison will flood into Angel Spring’s water table to make it uninhabitable for centuries.Those mutts in the woods, my nephew, all of them will be dead soon.Meanwhile, I’ll be long gone, and with proof that allows me to seize control of all Roberts Mining assets.”
A sudden jolt of panic shot through me.Not my own, but Felicity’s, transmitted through our bond.She’d picked up movement near the command center.Someone was closing in on her position.
Run, I urged silently, the bond between us flooded with my desperation.Hide.
I needed to buy time for Logan to break through and for Felicity to reach safety.I had to stall.“So that’s what this has always been about?Money?Power?How pathetic and predictable.”
Victoria’s face contorted with rage.“You abandoned everything your father built, prancing around nightclubs like a bitch in heat!I was the one who stood beside him, guided him, made this company what it is!”
“You used him,” I corrected, slowly shifting my weight to prepare for attack.
The radio at my hip crackled to life with Felicity’s voice: “Tanner, they’ve breached the perimeter!”Her warning cut off abruptly, replaced by sounds of struggle.
My control snapped.My wolf burst out with fury, claws lengthening, fangs descending as I fought to maintain human form.
She backed away, signaling to her enforcers with a sharp gesture.“Kill him.”
