Chapter 10: The Long Night
The yard became a hive of motion before the dust from Cole's report had even settled. Men and women in leather moved between motorcycles, checking fuel lines and tires, their movements sharp with the particular efficiency of wolves who expected a fight before sunrise. The overhead fluorescents cast everything in a sickly yellow glare, catching off the chrome and the eager glint of eyes that were already more wolf than man.
Duncan stood at the edge of it all, his arms crossed over his chest, watching the pack dissolve into controlled chaos. He could feel the pulse of it in his blood, the way anticipation crackled through the yard like static before a storm. Jared stood at the center of it, giving orders in short, clipped sentences, his voice carrying over the rumble of engines being revved and tested.
Duncan waited until there was a lull, until Jared's amber eyes swept the yard and found him standing apart. Then he moved, crossing the space between them with a purpose that made a few of the pack members pause in their work to watch.
"We need to talk," Duncan said, pitching his voice low enough that only Jared could hear.
Jared's jaw tightened, but he followed Duncan to the shadowed side of the building, where the light from the yard didn't quite reach. The noise of the pack faded to a dull roar behind them. Duncan turned to face his alpha, and for a moment he just looked at him, at the sharp lines of his face and the way his hands hung at his sides, already fitted with riding gloves.
"The plan," Duncan said. "One charge isn't going to cut it."
Jared's eyes narrowed. "You said it yourself. The trap is the same, just baited different."
"And that means we spring it the same way, they'll see it coming." Duncan shook his head, the auburn curls falling against his forehead. "They want you at that ridge by dawn. They'll watch the approach like hawks. If we ride in a straight line, we'll be walking into whatever they've set."
"So what do you propose?"
Duncan took a breath. The word felt heavy in his mouth, but he'd thought it through. He'd been thinking about it ever since Cole had stumbled through the doors with blood on his face and Barrett's name on his lips.
"Two prongs." He held up two fingers, watched Jared's eyes track them. "One loud, obvious charge from the main road. Big and stupid and exactly what they expect. They'll put their eyes on that, all their strength. They'll be watching it like foxes watch a rabbit."
"And the second?"
"The ridge." Duncan lowered his hand, met Jared's gaze squarely. "Cole said they took Barrett from the east ridge. That territory is ours. We know every gully, every rockfall, every blind approach. A small team can slip through there on foot, quiet as ghosts, and reach Barrett before dawn. Pull him out while the Coyotl are busy watching the show."
Jared was silent for a long moment. The yard noise washed over them, engines gunning and boots on concrete, but between them there was only the thin, cold air and the weight of the decision.
"You're asking me to split the pack," Jared said finally, his voice rough.
"I'm asking you to make them look one way while we move the other." Duncan stepped closer, close enough that he could feel the warmth of Jared's body through the cold night air. "You lead the charge. They'll expect it. They'll want it. And while you're giving them everything they think they want, I'll take the ridge team in and get Barrett out."
Jared's amber eyes flared with something that might have been anger or fear or both. His hand shot out, catching Duncan's wrist in a grip that was almost too tight.
"You're not going on that ridge."
"I'm the one they won't watch for," Duncan said, keeping his voice level. "They know you. They know your riders. They don't know me. I'm the stray omega that wandered into your pack. They won't expect me to be the one pulling their hostage out from under their noses."
"Duncan." The name came out raw, scraped from somewhere deep in Jared's chest. "I cannot lose you. Not now. Not when I just found you."
Duncan looked at the hand on his wrist, felt the tremble in it, the barely restrained violence that Jared was holding back. He turned his hand over, laced his fingers through Jared's, and squeezed.
"You won't lose me," he said. "I've spent my whole life being underestimated. It kept me alive. Let it work for us now."
Jared stared at him for a long moment. The fight in his eyes warred with something softer, something that Duncan had only seen in the dark of his room, in the hours after the bite. Then Jared pulled him forward, hard, and Duncan's chest hit his. The kiss was bruising, claiming, a promise and a plea all at once.
"If anything happens to you," Jared said against his mouth, "I will burn that whole territory to the ground."
"I know." Duncan smiled, just a little. "That's why I'm going."
Jared made a sound that was half laugh, half growl, and released him. He stepped back, and Duncan could see him pulling the alpha's mask back on, the calm authority settling over his features like armor.
"Who do you want on the ridge team?" Jared asked.
"Sofia. She knows the eastern terrain better than anyone. Marcus can run lookout, keep the bikes hidden. And Danny."
Jared's eyebrows rose. "Danny?"
"He wants to prove himself more than he wants to fight me." Duncan shrugged. "Let him prove it where it matters. And he knows Barrett. He'll fight harder for him than anyone."
Jared was quiet for a moment, then nodded slowly. "Sofia and Marcus will be with you. Danny too, if he can keep his mouth shut." He looked out at the yard, at the pack moving in the cold light. "You take the ridge. I'll take the road. We move at midnight."
Duncan followed his gaze. The yard had taken on a different quality now, rougher and more dangerous. The pack knew a fight was coming. They could smell it, taste it in the cold air. They moved with a sharpness that bordered on violence, strapping gear to bikes, checking knives and firearms with the easy familiarity of creatures who had done this more times than they cared to count.
Jared turned back to him, and there was something in his eyes that made Duncan's breath catch. Pride, and fear, and a love so fierce it almost hurt to look at.
"Stay alive," Jared said. "That's an order from your alpha."
Duncan reached up, touched the mate bite on his neck, felt the warmth of it even through his sweater. "And if my mate asks me nicely?"
Jared caught his hand, pressed a kiss to his knuckles. "Then I ask you to come back to me."
The roar of an engine split the night as someone gunned a bike in the yard. Duncan felt the vibration of it through the soles of his boots, felt the pack's hunger rippling outward like a wave.
"I'll come back," he said. "I've got a pack to come back to."