about it?”
“I don’t think you do anything about it, to be honest. It’s just who you are.”
Okay, true, but it felt bigger than that.
“Don’t let everyone’s reaction get you worked up,” he added as he reached out to open the door for her.
“Do you think there are others like me?”
“Maybe. Probably.” He sighed and shook his head. “I think it would be nearly impossible to find them.”
She hadn’t been suggesting they go look. They had enough things to worry about without venturing out on some side-quest to try and trace her ancestry. Being the last of some fabled lineage of wolves was a lot of responsibility, though. Too much. Imagining others out there like her, even if they were hiding in isolation, made her feel a little better.
“It would just be nice to not be alone.”
Stopping in the middle of the dining hall, Cade spun around and jerked her into a heart-stopping kiss that made her pulse race and her legs tremble. “You listen to me, Mackenna Wade. You will never be alone. Ever. Got it?”
She’d never seen him so fierce, and she felt his conviction right down to her soul. He was right, of course. She had an incredible mate and an amazing new family. They were a team. They looked out for each other, took care of each other. In every way that mattered, she was the luckiest person on the planet.
“Got it.” Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pulled him in for another kiss. “But just to be safe, maybe you should remind me again.”
Chapter Seventeen
Two nights before the full moon, Luca called a meeting to go over the final preparations for the mission to the Hunter camp. Lounging back in one of the chairs around the conference table, Cade linked his hands together over his abdomen and listened while everyone attempted to talk over one another.
The plan was simple enough. They’d park three SUVs and two cargo vans at the edge of the woods near now unused service road. According to Mackenna, the prisoners would be given a ten-minute head start in which they would all inevitably try to make it to freedom. Of course, none of them ever made it as far as the highway, and those who strayed from the woods were easily hunted down thanks to the tracking chips in their necks.
“Why don’t they just remove the tracking chips like you did?” Roux asked.
Mackenna gave her a sad little smile. “Some tried. They all bled out before they could find help.”
Dr. Lancaster cleared her throat. “Adrenaline injections should be enough to trigger the natural healing process. If they’re anything like Mackenna was when she came in, it won’t be enough to heal them completely. Still, it should keep them from bleeding out when we remove the trackers.”
“We just have to make sure we herd them in the right direction,” Deke added.
Jai Webber, the only remaining member of the Valkyrie left at the safe house, nodded. “Leave that to me,” he said. “I’ll make sure we get them to where they need to be.”
Still, the entire plan hinged on timing, and the biggest piece of that puzzle was getting the Coalition into position to distract the Hunters while the Revenant completed the extraction. It was all a pretty big “if,” and they still had to decide who would tip off the guards.
“It can’t be a human,” Luca said from his usual place at the head of the conference table.
Naturally, everyone agreed. A stray human would be taken and locked up on sight. Any mention of Hunters would be disregarded as either lies, or worse, a trap.
“They’d probably be more sympathetic to a female,” Roux suggested.
Again, everyone in the room nodded. Everyone except Cade.
“I’ll do it,” Deidra offered. She bared her fangs and snarled when everyone looked at her. “What? I said I’ll fucking do it.”
“O’Malley,” Deke said, holding his hands up for peace when she glared at him. “you don’t exactly look like a damsel in distress.”
After a moment, Deidra relaxed her posture and shrugged. “And that’s not exactly an insult.”
The only other female Gemini in the room were Thea and Mackenna. All eyes turned to Mackenna.
“No.” Covering his mate’s hand with his own, Cade sat up straighter in his chair and shook his head. He pointed to the female shifter. “Thea can do it.”
“Mackenna is the better option.” Deke spoke practically, without emotion or inflection. “She’s been to the camp. She knows the details.” He dipped his head in her direction. “No