“Congratulations, Hollis.” Finn’s voice was edged with command. “But I imagine this complicates things?” he asked. “Since she won’t be able to shift now?”
“Right,” he ground the word out. Ellen was vulnerable. He was useless. And the pack was hours away.
“We’re driving to the airstrip now. Should be in the air in five minutes. Gentry’s calling up some help—two of his former Special Forces team. They should be there soon. Might slow things down.”
But Special Forces didn’t mean shit when a wolf was involved—they all knew that.
“We need more time, Hollis. You can’t let her meet with him.”
“We’re twenty-five minutes from the city, Finn. He’ll be expecting Kim at Hemisphere Plaza.”
“The town’s Fiesta crazy right now.” Dante groaned.
“People everywhere.” Anders muttered.
“He’s up to something.” Finn growled.
“Always,” Hollis agreed. “We need to leave now to meet with him. She doesn’t see him, he’s not going to like it.”
“Who the fuck cares?” Mal asked. “Don’t let her go. The motherfucker will come after her and we’ll be waiting.”
“He has Kim’s mother,” Hollis reminded them.
“She’s dead.” Dante said what they were all thinking.
“If there’s a chance to save her, there’s nothing I can do to stop Ellen from going,” Hollis said.
There was a long pause.
“I call bullshit,” Mal said.
“I’m with Mal on this one, Hollis.” Finn’s exasperation was clear. “We’ll get there as fast as we can.”
Hollis released Ellen’s hand and stood, crossing the lab and putting as much distance between him and Kim as possible. He couldn’t afford having her run when she found out tonight’s plans had changed again. “Where?” he asked.
“He’ll come to Kim’s place.” Finn sighed. “Text me the address and we’ll head straight there. We’ll be ready for him when he comes.”
Were they ready? Hollis wanted to believe it. Then all of the living in fear would be over. What would life be like as a happy wolf? At the moment, it was beyond imagining.
“What weapons do you have?” Dante asked.
“Some magnum prototypes still in development in the basement. Wide-gauge silver injectable bullets that dig in and release. A present for Gentry.” He racked his mind for other options. “Knives in the vault.” Knives he wanted to use. He wasn’t afraid of Cyrus anymore. He relished the idea of getting his hands on the bastard, of inflicting whatever pain he could.
“Puts you within his strike range,” Finn argued.
“I’m counting on it.” Hollis growled. “Kim’s not one of us, Finn. She’s not going to let this go because you say so.”
“Fucking lock her up.” Mal jumped in. “Her mother’s dead. She’ll be dead, too, if she goes tonight.”
“Do what you need to do. Tell her whatever makes her stay. But it’s not her choice. Keep her there. And we’ll be there as soon as we can,” Finn said. “If we’re lucky this can end tonight with minimal bloodshed.”
The line went dead.
Minimal bloodshed on their side. If he had it his way, Cyrus would be bled dry tonight. The Alpha had spoken. Kim wasn’t going anywhere. It would be up to her how that went down. He didn’t believe in scare tactics. His mind didn’t work that way. Hard facts. Information and data. He was an academic. So was Kim.
“I need to show you something,” Hollis said, crossing the room to the wall safe only he had access to. “As a woman of science, I need you to read it with an open mind.” He punched in the code and opened the door, pulling the file he’d been keeping on Cyrus White out.
“With all due respect, Dr. Robbins, that can wait.” Kim stood. “My mother is all I have left. She is my world, the reason my dreams have come true. I don’t understand who this man is or what he wants with your research, but I do know my mother needs my help.”