Page 95 of Embracing Sky
“Think about it. Who would he call first? River, no offense, but Sky knows he’s on your shit list. He wouldn’t ask you or Gracie for help. If he truly was hurt, he would have called me or Fletcher. We’re his mates.”
My gut dropped out. I stared at Adam, horror dawning. “God, you’re right. I know he knows my number by heart. He would’ve called me.”
Adam nodded. “Plus, if he escaped, where did he get the phone? We found his phone crushed in the woods where he was abducted. Someone gave him that phone and told him to call. You go rushing in there and they’re going to capture you next,” he said firmly. “Think this through.”
This time, it was Gracie who growled under her breath. “I hate to admit it, but Adam’s right. This is a setup…and Sky is the bait.”
“Fuck. Fuck!” River yanked at his hair, buckling over.
Xan was at his side immediately, hushing him in gentle tones. “It’s gonna be okay, River. We’ll fix it, won’t we, Mom?”
He looked to Gracie, his brown eyes filled with all the trust in the world. And why wouldn’t he trust her? Not only was she his mother, but she was the Alpha of Rubydawn. She kept things running smoothly. She would keep her pack safe, and Sky was pack, even if she didn’t like him very much.
“We’ll fix it,” Gracie agreed with a nod. “Our plan from earlier doesn’t change. We locate and retrieve Sky, and get the shifter police involved to deal with Thompson and his facility. It’s just gotten a little more complicated, that’s all.”
River snorted. “Complicated. Right. Because now, instead of being downwind, I’m walking into a trap. Great.”
I looked at Gracie, biting my lip. “Run me through this again?”
She nodded and held up the two leather dog collars. There were small devices attached to them, screwed into a metal plate and fastened down.
“Once we shift, Kace and I will wear these tracking collars. They’re set to ping our coordinates once we stop moving for a period of time. River will take us through the woods, towards the facility, but we’ll stay far enough behind that it won’t look suspicious. I’ll lead the group, with Kace taking up the rear, keeping everyone contained. The idea is to surround Thompson and his men and stall them, so that the police will have a good idea of where to find us, hopefully before things go south. We want to distract, not attack.”
Everyone in the room nodded or made noises of approval, except for River, who grumbled and growled. Xan rubbed his arm.
“Adam, you and Fletcher will drive the back roads and follow our trackers on this device here.” Gracie held up a small controller with an LCD screen before handing it over to him. “I have a cop friend who is on board with helping us take Thompson down. I’ll give you her number. When our trackers ping and we stop moving, I need you to call her and give her the coordinates of our location. Can you do that?”
“Yes,” Adam said without hesitation. “Anything to get Sky back safe.”
She nodded. “If all goes well, we will stall Thompson until the police arrive, and hopefully they will take it from there and we can get River and Sky out of there. Does everything make sense?”
“I’d rather be more involved in saving my mate.” Adam growled, but it turned into a sigh.
“I understand, but I don’t want you or Fletcher to become a liability. We don’t want Sky to react poorly if one of you were to get hurt, or vice versa. He’s going to need you to help pick up the pieces once we get him whisked to safety. It’s my duty to make sure everyone gets out of there mostly unscathed.”
River scoffed. “Mostly.”
“Oh, you’ll be fine you big baby.” Xan flicked him on the nose, then softened. “Don’t be an idiot, okay? Canyon needs his dad, and I need my mate. Come back to me.” He leaned in and stole a soft kiss, a moment so tender that my chest ached, because what if we didn’t get moments like that with Sky again? What if we didn’t make it in time?
“Are you ready?” Gracie asked, her voice gentle, as if she knew exactly what was running through our heads and our hearts.
Adam nodded. “Let’s test the collars to make sure they work.”
Kace shifted first, his wolf large but not quite as large as Adam’s. I knelt down and wrapped the collar around his neck, fastening it loosely but snug enough to fit. I didn’t want to choke him, but couldn’t risk the chance of it slipping off.
“Okay?” I asked, and he wagged his tail in reply.
Adam did the same with Gracie, then stepped back.
“Looks like we’re ready,” he said.
“Good,” I murmured.
One of the other pack members involved in this rescue, a blond Alpha named Pike, gave a grin and a thumb’s up. “Let’s kick ass and take names.”
Nevin knelt down and kissed Kace’s nose. “Be safe, love.” Kace licked his cheek and wagged his tail, as if promising to do just that. When Nevin stood, Xan reached over and squeezed his hand, and the pack headed out with River leading the way.
Adam looked at me, his golden eyes swimming with worry and uncertainty. I knew he was doing his best to be strong for me, but there was a very real possibility that Sky might die, or at the very least, he might come back even more broken than before, and we needed to be ready for that.
