Page 92 of Mated By the Pack
“More of them!” Jace growls. “Cut left!”
“We’re going to have to fight!” Caleb says. “We’re going deeper into the city, which means there are no tunnels around here!”
“We’ll go to the closest one and get the fuck out of here,” Gideon says, pointing ahead.
But it’s no use. Every street we turn down, we see more of the heavily armed peace officers. Almost like they’re tracking us, but we aren’t leaving any sort of trail. Even worse, they seem to be corralling us.
“Left, and then right,” Gideon says. “If we see more of them, we go through them. No more fucking around.”
“Finally,” Caleb grunts, then turns his attention to Calla. “Don’t get involved. I mean that.”
“If there’s any trouble, you run,” Knox insists.
We cut left, and it opens up into a square. A square filled with the heavily armed men, but I still don’t pick up their scent. We try to cut right, but the way is blocked by more of them. Every direction we attempt, we see others approaching.
“We’re fucking surrounded!” Caleb says. “We have to shift.”
“Calla is our top priority,” Gideon says, even though we already know that. “We protect her at all costs. But don’t call your wolves until they start readying their weapons.”
“As soon as we shift, we clear a hole to the right. Don’t worry about the rest of them. We make a hole, and we find the tunnel,” Knox grinds out.
This is bad.
Reallybad.
CHAPTER 27
Calla
I’ve put my mates in danger.
Again.
They don’t even have to punish me this time. I’ll punish myself. Once we make it out of here. Dragging them into Haven North was foolish. I thought I was doing the right thing, but I was wrong. Now a lot of people are going to die for it, and that blood will be on my hands. I just hope it isn’t one of my mates I’m mourning when we make it to the tunnel.
The peace officers close in and surround us, but they don’t make an aggressive move. There’s something different about them. Identical, almost, down to the shade of their skin. Pale, like they haven’t spent much time in the sun. That’s almost impossible in Haven North. You can get a tan walking to work during the summer months. The fact my mates can’t get their scent is certainly concerning.
“Why aren’t they attacking?” Jace mutters. “Fuck it, let’s just shift and clear a hole.”
“These aren’t ordinary men, brother,” Gideon cautions. “Something is off.”
There’s commotion behind us and the peace officers part. A man with shaggy brown hair and sharp features walks between them. It takes me a moment to recognize him without his white coat. All of my mates tense up.
“Dr. Thomas?” I ask.
“Dad…” Gideon mutters, his eyes getting wide. “What? How is this possible?”
“Wait, what?” I spin toward Gideon in confusion. “Dr. Thomas is… Your dad?”
The rest of my mates look shocked, too. Jace’s eyes are wider than Gideon’s. Knox’s face is tight, but his stare is softer than it usually is. Vance’s jaw is hanging open. Caleb—all of the emotion is gone from his face, even the intensity that always seems to linger.
“The prodigal sons return home,” Dr. Thomas says, some amusement in his voice. “I wondered if there were any of you left out there in The Tangle, but I figured it took care of you a long time ago. It seems I was wrong. Where’s Silas? Surely the rest of you didn’t survive this long without him.”
“He’s gone,” Caleb spits out, some intensity finally flickering in his eyes.
“That’s a shame,” Dr. Thomas sighs. “But five of you is plenty.”
“Plenty?” Gideon growls. “Plenty enough for what? And you still haven’t told us how the hell you’re still alive. We were told you and Mom both died when Gen-York was bombed. And if you didn’t, you sure as hell shouldn’t have lived this long.”
