I care what Dathan hears. At this point, they all know we’re mates.
Aries holds his fist up and we come to a stop and lower to the ground. In front of us is a group of three buildings. I’m not sure homes would be the right word. They’re more like run-down shacks that look like no one has lived in them in over a decade. The paint on the outside is peeling. The wood that makes up the exterior walls is bowed with nails hanging from it. And the faint scent of pipe tobacco is thick in the air.
I will never understand why these people need to hold their captives in places like this. Most of them are making a lot of money from their illegal dealings. They should at least have a fortress of a home with thirty guards around it. But what do I know?
Light flickers in two of the buildings. Not electricity, candles.
“On my go,” Aries whispers. I count back from ten in my mind. Aries starts at the, “Four, three, two, one, go.”
We rush forward. Whit is by my side and Sevan is on his other one. Aries is ahead of me with Des. Coming in from the back is Thay, Sawyer, and Austin. We split up farther. Whit and I take the building with no light. Aries, Sevan, and Des take the one on the opposite end. Thay, Sawyer, and Austin take the middle. Aries thinks the middle is where they’re being held, so he wanted three males on that location.
Whit and I move in perfect sync. I’m not sure if it’s from our mate bond or the training we’ve done. I move the same with the others, but this seems like more. Better harmony. Like I can anticipate his moves.
Coming up along the front of the building, I notice movement to my left and not from one of our guys. A male is heading our way and there’s no telling if he’s human or paranormal. I drag Whit behind me and bring my weapon up, ready to fire, but there’s no need. A red dot appears on the male’s head and then he’s down.
“Thanks, man,” I say to Echo over the earpiece.
Whit glares at me before moving to drag the male to the side of the building where hopefully no one will see him.
“What?” I growl when he returns.
“Don’t push me behind you like I need to be protected,” he says in my mind. There’s anger is in his tone. I knew this was going to happen. I was going to act on instinct, wanting to protect him, and he was going to take it as me not thinking he could handle himself. But that’s not the case.
I get up close to him so there’s a breath separating us. The only part of Whit that’s visible are his light blue eyes. “I won’t let you get hurt.”
“And I’m fae who will heal instantly. You better get a grip of your protective streak, Camden. How would you like it if I did that to you?” Another growl rises up my throat. “I thought so.” He tilts his head toward the door. “We have a job to do and if we want Aries to keep us paired, we can’t screw this up.” He’s right, of course. Aries warned us before we left that this is our chance to prove we can work together and not royally mess up the mission by focusing on each other.
I nod and take my place alongside the door. The others call out that they’re in place. We’re entering the buildings as one. This way Thay and Whit can use their magic and not worry about anyone getting a jump on the others.
“Three, two, one, breach,” Aries whispers.
Turning, I kick the door down with my gun raised as Whit steps in front of me with magic pouring from him. We both move forward and scope out every inch of the place. There are three small rooms and every one is empty.
“Clear,” Whit says to the others.
“Three down,” Des adds.
There’s a loud bang, causing us to rush from the building and go toward the middle one as Aries, Sevan, and Des do the same. When we get inside, Sevan starts fighting a male in hand-to-hand combat while Sawyer shreds someone else as his wolf.
The male on Sevan lands a punch to his jaw, sending Sevan across the room. Fangs can easily be seen on the male as he stalks toward us with murder