“Oswald should be with Freya,” I said. “His abilities are uniquely suited to protect her.”
“Not up for discussion,” Nolan stated.
I narrowed my eyes, gritting my teeth to stop from arguing. He was in charge, not me. Originally, he was supposed to be paying us to do this shit. I didn’t know if he was still going to, considering he was now part of the pack.
“We’re not sure how potent Ozzy’s abilities are now that he’s not in a familiar form and is also my Alpha bondmate,” Freya said. “He’s fucking useless with weapons, so I don’t want him anywhere near Kylan. Nolan can protect him better from the sidelines. I’ll take Emmett with me.”
“And here I thought you’d try to be a team by yourself,” Nolan teased.
I couldn’t complain about Em being with her, ultimately. He was the voice of reason out of all of us. If she tried to do something immensely stupid, as she tended to do, he would be able to talk her down.
Or, maybe not, but he was most likely to be able to accomplish it.
“Emmett and I have worked out our fighting styles,” Freya said. “He figured out how to stay the fuck out of my way, and it’s working great for us.”
Em snorted, not bothering to give his thoughts on the arrangement. He would go where he was told, and being near our mate would be comforting for him. The man had been wound up tight when we’d been on our dry run, desperately tuned in to her so he would know the second something went wrong. These teams would work admittedly much better than the ones we’d had before.
The conversation moved on to how we were going to figure out which room Kylan was staying in, but I tuned out. My focus was on Emmett, his arm draped around Caspian’s shoulders and his fingers gently playing with the strap of Freya’s tank top where it rested on her shoulder. If he’d moved on to the point of casual affection, they were making progress. Their time together in the ring had been good bonding and I was happy to see it.
“Shan, what do you think?” Nolan’s voice drew me from my thoughts, and my eyes met his.
Fuck, they were a distractingly pale green, and his freckles were too cute.
“What do I think about what?” I asked.
Why were they asking me? They hadn’t asked me fuck all since I was ousted from my position as head of my team. Well, I was still technically head of my team. The team had just been consumed by a much bigger fish in which my decisions didn’t matter.
“The entire plan.”
“It’s not as bad as it could be,” I said.
They’d said something about hacking the hotel’s computer system, and I wasn’t sure who the fuck knew how to do that, but it would be helpful. Better than staring through every window and trying to figure it out. Atlantic Triumph Hotel was a Null establishment. With how high-end they were, they were frequented by Alphas and Omegas without their overt knowledge, of course, but they didn’t quite have the privacy protection of hotels specifically meant for the supernatural community.
I raised an eyebrow as I realized the other reason why Freya had been so on board with having a partner. This hotel wouldn’t have anything to dampen scents, except whatever Kylan’s team brought with them. “If hacking doesn’t work, chances are Em will be able to scent him.”
And he’d lead Freya straight to him first.
He’d better tell the rest of us, though, because I wasn’t confident they would be able to make it alone.
“Oswald and I will observe from the sidelines unless we become necessary,” Nolan said. “But we could do some scenting as well if finding him within the building becomes a problem. Our senses aren’t quite as developed as the shifter’s but we can eliminate areas where he definitely isn’t present.”
“We’ve got a plan, then,” Freya said, clapping her hands together. “And twenty-four hours to kill. Who wants to wear me the fuck out so I can sleep like a baby for twelve hours?”
I cast an incredulous glance toward the bedroom.
It was a double bed.
This was going to be interesting.
TWENTY-TWO
Freya
The sex marathon I’d done with the guys hadn’t quite been enough to calm my nerves, which was irritating.
I shouldn’t be nervous. I’d been working toward this goal for months, since I’d first realized Alphas were discovering me with increasing frequency. Kylan had been on my radar since before I’d first met Shan and Cas, which felt like eons ago now but was actually less than two months.
I was confident I could beat him.
