The Defiant Alpha (West Coast Wolves #2) - Susi Hawke Page 0,4

Alex was okay.

"Promise? Swear you won't hate me, no matter what?" My cocky friend sounded like a scared little boy. So vulnerable and worried, in fact, my heart melted and only confirmed I was right to trust him.

"I can easily promise you as much. Whoever you are, wherever you come from, you aren't the person who put me here or plans to sell me. Enough sentiment. Let me tell you what I have in mind. Tomorrow night is our monthly run. The moon will be full, and none of us broke a rule, so we'll be allowed to shift and run around our yard. As long as we don't go up the hill or leave the fence line, we can have fun for a couple hours."

"And where are your guardians while you’re out there? Are they running with you or what?"

"No, I don't think they're allowed to. They space themselves around the yard, armed and ready to shoot if we try to make a break for it. So, I plan to."

"Wait. You want to run away while armed men are literally watching to make sure you don't? No, I think we need to work on a different plan."

"Trusting goes both ways, Alex. You're not the only one with secrets, but the ones I'm keeping aren't mine to share. Believe me when I tell you my brothers are capable of covering for me while I slip away. It wouldn't work if we all tried, but one can be managed. Unless something unexpected happens, my plan should go off without a hitch. Once I get my brothers involved, it'll be smooth as pudding. Nothing will go wrong, you'll see."

Alex groaned so loudly, I would have sworn he was sitting beside me. "Dude. I know you were raised in a bubble, but everyone knows you don't tempt fate. Like, for real, though. And you call me the cocky one. Shit, now I really am worried."

"Relax," I laughed softly, hoping to dispel his concerns. "I'm not being cocky. I'm confident. Now, let's run through this from the top so you're prepared for your part."

Though he groaned again, he at least sounded more at ease. "Okay, we've got this. Lay this flawless plan of yours on me, Thirteen."

"Everything will go down right after sunset." As I lay back onto my pillow and continued to outline my idea, I felt surer than ever it would all work out. We'd never once tried to escape before, so they wouldn't really expect it, I didn't think. Cocky or not, I knew my plan was flawless. It had to be. I didn’t dare consider the alternative.

Two

“Thirteen”

“I don’t know, Thirteen. Your plan is solid, but so many things could go wrong.” Eleven frowned, his eyes narrowing as he stared off into the distance, no doubt calculating my odds of escape.

Eight, possibly the sweetest of us and definitely the most romantic, leaned across the table, his eyes shifting right and left to make sure nobody was listening. “I want to hear more about these true mates. I’m trying to imagine recognizing my soulmate by his scent, and, well… That could backfire. Think about it—what if he just got done working out? Total BO, yeah? How awful would it be if you lost your one chance at true love because you couldn’t smell his secret awesomeness underneath the sweat?”

With an exaggerated eye roll, Six held his hands up. "Focus, brothers. Eight, we're wolves. You know the difference between the scents of fear and anger. You would recognize any of us in a dark place, even if we were drenched in sweat and any other nasty fluids you can imagine. I think we can agree—if a person exists whose very scent embodies everything good and calls to your inner beast, you will recognize it, no matter how it might be disguised in the moment. Now, can we get back to the important conversation?"

I nodded gratefully. "My escape. Yes. We have plenty of time to worry about true mates later. Right now, we need to think about ourselves. My freedom will guarantee all of yours, hopefully sooner than later." I was doing my best to keep positive. Six had already gone on record about having a bad feeling about tonight.

At the sound of a housekeeper's footsteps outside the dining room, we paused. Six waited until she was gone to continue. "Exactly. So like I was telling you, my gut says this isn't going to work like you think. But I have a stronger feeling