I gazed sadly around the neighborhood as we pulled our car over and parked about half a block away from our target's address. We quietly got out, taking care to ease the doors shut so as not to make a sound that would echo and inform anybody of our arrival.

At two o'clock in the morning, there wasn't a soul around—although there probably wouldn't have been at two in the afternoon either. Half the houses on the block were boarded up with foreclosure signs on them, while several others were just flat-out abandoned.

The houses on either side of the target fit that demographic. One was completely abandoned, with missing windows and graffiti sprayed over the walls of the house and garage door, while the one on the other side had the foreclosure seal on it.

We'd definitely have complete privacy, because the back of the house met with a vacant field. The houses directly across the street all stood empty, too. I almost felt badly for any people who genuinely lived in this neighborhood, because the place felt like the setting of a post-apocalyptic movie. In fact, I almost expected a few extras from The Walking Dead to come lumbering along at any moment.

"Jonah wasn't joking about this neighborhood going downhill over the last few years. Some of these houses look like they were nice at one point, like this wasn't a poor neighborhood, you know? I wonder if this was all caused by the housing crisis a few years ago with all that mortgage balloon payment bullshit," Ezra commented as he looked around the street.

Zeke snorted. "Doubt it. I think property values just tend to sink when complete shitheads move in. A sex trafficking ring next door? Well, there goes the neighborhood, you know?"

Noah ran a finger across the front of his throat in a silencing motion. He spoke in a hoarse whisper as we all scattered around the house to take our previously agreed-upon positions.

"Levi, you stay across the street and be ready to fire. Boomer, you're on my six, and the twins are taking the back-way in. Everybody ready?"

Ezra's voice crackled across the comm. "Sorry, bossboy—you're gonna have to repeat that. You lost me after mentioning taking the back way in and my brain wandered."

"Ignore my twin, we’re in place, bossboy," Zeke said quietly.

Boomer carefully pulled the screen door open on the front porch, while Noah got into stance to bust the door down. "All right, boys. Let's go on three—one, two, THREE!" As he said three, Noah kicked the door in, and I heard the sound of another door breaking in as the twins made their way in the back.

"What the fuck? You can't just bust in here and—" The strange voice ended abruptly.

"Except we just did," Boomer said quietly.

"Zeke, Ezra—you two are in charge of the humans here while Boomer and I go deeper."

"Aww, you guys get all the fun," Ezra whined playfully. I heard a few punching sounds, and footsteps rustling over the carpet, but nobody spoke for a few more minutes.

"Fuck me," Noah cursed. "The place is clear of perps except for those two human pieces of shit. They’re the only things we need to deal with here. They were guarding an omega, and Boomer and I just found him back here."

"Do you guys need me in there?" I asked quietly.

I heard the sound of chains rattling and metal clanging before Noah answered.

"You need to keep watch, Levi. Be aware, we’re bringing an omega out. We found him chained to a bed in a back room, but the principal is not here. Jonah, do you copy?" Noah said.

"Right here, bossboy," Jonah answered.

"There’s a wallet with a school ID in it for the kid that we found here in the bedroom. His name is Peter Monroe, and he's a sophomore at the high school Cody attended. Perhaps you could look into that for us?"

"Already on it, bossboy. You guys get out of there safely. Shall I call the authorities about the humans?"

"No, I think maybe there's going to be a problem with the hot water heater, I'm feeling kind of psychic at the moment," Noah said. "Ezra, Levi—take the human scum to the garage. If I remember correctly, that's where the hot water heater was on the blueprint Jonah showed us?"

"Sure is," Jonah said.

"Perfect," Noah said. "You guys tie those two up to the water heater. I'd love to use the chains they had Peter here held with, but I think a flammable rope in a natural fiber would be a better pick."

"Gotcha, bossboy," Zeke said. "And I'm assuming you'd like us to leave through the garage door, and possibly leave it up?"

"But of course, how else will Levi be able to see his target?" Noah asked as he and Boomer came back out the front door. Boomer had a young boy over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. A few seconds later, the garage door rolled up and I saw two men lashed to the hot water heater.

Boomer bitched all the way back to the car. "This is bullshit, Noah. Why does Levi get to have all the fun? Explosions are supposed to be in my purview."

The omega was either stoned or in shock, because he wasn't moving or speaking while they all got back into the vehicle. I moved around to the cargo area and pulled out Big Mama—my 50 caliber Barrett sniper rifle. Boomer watched jealously as I chambered its special bullet that measured in at about five and a half inches long.

"Where's Baby?" Zeke asked. "Are you cheating on her with another gun tonight?"

I grinned. "Baby is for everyday action, but tonight Big Mama gets to come out and play. Okay, Zeke, start the engine; I'll be done in just a moment."

The guys got silent as I made my way onto the porch of the abandoned house we were parked in front of. I rested Big Mama on the porch rail, screwed on her silencer, and lined up my shot. From here, I had the perfect angle for the hot water heater.

Seconds later, it was done. My round hit the hot water heater before the men tied to it ever saw it coming. The house was engulfed in flames as we made our way back out of the neighborhood and disappeared into the night.

"Please, anything we can ever do to help you in the future—promise you’ll let us know. We owe you everything; the humans never would have found him. Peter's been missing for five days, and there wasn't a trace of him to be found. Are you sure I can't help bring down whoever took him? I’m a strong wolf."

The boy's dad spoke to us in a choked voice, tears streaming down his face. The mother had disappeared inside with Noah and Boomer while the twins and I had stood there explaining things to the father.

"Listen, sir. I can't stress this enough—we know who took him, and you don't have to worry—he won't be taking anyone else, ever again. We are part of an elite team that exists solely to rescue omegas in distress. You and your family need to go about your business but keep Peter home for a few days. Don't advertise that he's been found until you get a phone call from a member of our team letting you know that it's okay."

Noah and Boomer joined us finally. "My men are right, sir. You sit tight and take care of Peter; we’ll be in touch. But listen, if you hear of a prominent member of your community disappearing that hits a little closer to home than your usual news story, you'll know who the guilty party was in Peter's disappearance."

It took us another ten minutes to finally escape from the grateful parent, and then only because Noah had gently suggested that he go in and see his son while we got to work on dealing with his captor.

"Okay, Jonah. Talk to me," Noah said into the speakerphone once we got on the highway. "Where are we heading?"

"I've already downloaded the address to your GPS, if you'd bother looking at it," Jonah said. "But you're headed to the Catskills, if you need a place name in your head."

"The fucking Catskills?" Boomer asked, his voice laced with surprise. "We won't get there for hours; it'll be lunchtime by then."

"Yeah, that's why you guys aren’t going in until tomorrow night. Sorry to fuck up Thanksgiving weekend for all of you, but that's why this dude is off in that remote location. School’s out for the long holiday weekend, and the principal went to his vacation home."

"I'm not worried about it," Noah said confidently. "Papa and Cindy will never let Thanksgiving dinner get served without us there."

"Don't I know it," Jonah grumbled. "I'm not happy about having to wait a couple more days for my pumpkin pie."

The following night, we crept up through the tree line toward the cabin. We'd shifted half a mile back, so that we could slip in undetected. The moon was high over the treetops as we took our positions around the fancy cabin.

Here we go again, team. Those of you jumping through glass, remember to close your eyes so you don't get shards in them this time, Noah warned, his voice laced with humor, as he mind-spoke with us.

Shit, Ezra said. You forget to close your eyes when jumping through one plate-glass window and nobody can ever let you live it down.

That's right, Ezra. Only a total dumbass jumps through glass with his eyes wide open.

Shut up, Zeke. At least I didn't jump through a window and land on a hot stove. Who's the one that did that again? Remind me, I forget. Whoever it was though, you'd think they would've looked before they leaped, right?

All right, Noah chuckled. Enough of the Zeke and Ezra show… Let's do this on three but remember—this guy is Levi's to take out.

Everyone agreed, even though Ezra and Zeke pretended to grumble about it. Noah counted us down and on three, five large alpha wolves jumped through the different doors and windows on each side of the cabin.

I made it through the back door, and into the large, open living area just in time to see a smaller, mud-brown beta wolf come charging into the room, growling fiercely and flashing his teeth at the twin pair of large gray wolves that stood in the center of the room. It was almost cute.

Noah walked in behind him, already shifted to human form. Putting his alpha strength into his voice to compel the smaller wolf, Noah commanded the beta to shift. Immediately, the beta wolf shifted into one of the most evil monsters I'd ever seen—a completely average-looking man.

He stood about a head shorter than Noah, with skinny limbs that lacked any obvious muscle tone. His paunchy gut must have been hard to cover when he put on his disguise of looking like a decent authority figure at the local school. Disgust curled in my stomach the longer I looked at him. I growled as I pushed in closer.

Noah shook his head and held a hand out to me, without ever taking his eyes off the man.

"Harold Jackson, we found out about your dirty little secret and we've come for you. How dare you abuse your position of authority and put children entrusted into your care into such danger? You're supposed to protect them, but instead you turned sweet, young omegas into hookers for your own profit?"

I'd been doing my best to hold myself back, but the word “hooker” pushed me over the edge. I charged at the man, my teeth bared and my fur standing on end. I was inches away from the fucker's jugular when Boomer body slammed me and knocked me against the wall. He held me down while Noah continued talking to the fucker.

"Thank you for managing that feral beast," Principal Jackson—no, Harold—sniffed. "As for the omegas? You know as well as I do that nobody gives a shit about shifters in general, and omegas are a dime a dozen. No one gives a rat’s fart about them, so why do you?"

I almost broke free of Boomer's hold, but he held me fast. Zeke and Ezra moved in on either side of Harold, while Noah turned his attention to me for a moment.

"Levi, I won't tell you again. You need to stand the fuck down. I need information and this fucker is going to give it to me, but in order for that to happen—you need to get a grip. Don't make me have the guys escort you outside, because that's the last thing I want to do."

I whined but chuffed my agreement. Satisfied, Noah turned back to Harold. "Like you just heard me tell my man there, I want information—and I want it now."

The man shook his head. "I don't have any information for you. I funded my retirement and bought this house with the money I made from humanity. How’s that for information? Humanity is shit, you guys know that. Humans will pay ridiculous amounts of money to be with a shifter—even a puny drugged-up omega. They think the danger makes it more exciting, you know?"

His eyes shone with excitement as he spoke, a bubble of spittle frothing at the corner of his mouth. "You know what’s the funniest part? If one of those stupid omegas was actually smart enough to shift and protect himself, it would probably make me even more money. That's how stupid the humans are. They want to prove that they can overpower a shifter, but I trained my omegas well. They know better than to cross my men."

"And the ones who don't know better? What of them?" Noah asked in a deceptively calm voice.

"The ones that aren't smart enough to follow directions? They’re easy enough to subdue with a shot of happy juice. Even if they get hooked on it, it's still cheaper to keep them drugged than it is to deal with training a new one. And if you get a bad seed, you just cut your losses. Just slit their throat, and toss them in a ditch somewhere to rot, you know? Why, are you boys interested in getting in the business? Is that what this is about?"

Noah growled then. "Harold Jackson, for your sins against your own kind, I sentence you to death."

Harold began laughing maniacally. "Sure, okay. You go ahead and kill me. But do you really think killing me will be the end of this thing? I'm just a cog in the machine. If you let me go, I'll give you my superior. That's all I have, the name of the guy above me. And he'll only have the name of the guy above him, and so on, and so forth. But first, call off your dog. Everyone needs to be in human form if you want me to talk."

Noah agreed. "Levi, shift back. I'm not gonna harm this man if he gives me the name I need."

I shifted back, along with Boomer. I went to sit up, but Boomer just shook his head and leaned back against me, keeping me pinned. The man watched us, fear rolling off him in waves and filling the room with the stench of it.

"You promised me a name, Harold," Noah prodded.

Harold jerked at the sound of Noah's voice, and looked back at him. "Melvin. Melvin Thompson. He lives in Jersey, over in Newark, I think. That's all I know, I have a number in my phone to text him in case of emergency—other than that, there's no contact."

Noah nodded slowly. "I smell nothing but truth from you, so I will take you at your word."

Harold nodded quickly. "I am telling you the truth, I swear it. I have no reason to lie when five alpha wolves have a beta like me cornered. So, are we good now? I can go? Or, rather—you guys will go?"

Noah shook his head. "Boomer, let Levi free. Levi, shift." He looked back at Harold, as the smell of piss filled the air from the puddle forming rapidly at the beta's feet.

The man trembled with fear as he pleaded for his life. "You said you wouldn't hurt me if I talked! You promised! You can't hurt me, we're shifters—we're supposed to stick together!"

Noah sneered. "Exactly, shifters are supposed to stick together—not sell each other's children to be molested by humans. You're disgusting, and like I said—I sentence you to death. Zeke, make sure you get this shithead’s cell before we leave.”

"But, you promised!" Harold whimpered.

"No, I promised I wouldn't hurt you. I didn't say anything about Cody's mate. You remember Cody Evans, right? An omega who went missing from your school about six years ago? Oh, I'm sure you remember him. I mean, since he and two of your other workers went missing from a certain motel in the Bronx a few months back, I'm sure you're well aware of the name Cody Evans. See, the thing is… that wolf that we've been holding back from you is his fated mate."

Harold paled, his eyes widened with horror as he stared at me. I snarled and growled menacingly before I said fuck it and shifted back to human form. I dug into the pocket of the tactical vest that we wore whether in human form or wolf. Silently, I reached into the side pocket and pulled out a handgun. The guys all watched as I put a single bullet through the bastard's head. When he dropped, I put the gun in my pocket, zipped it shut, and shifted back to wolf form.

As we made our way back down the mountain, Zeke kept ribbing me. Dude, don't you know you're supposed to play with your food? That was so anticlimactic it was boring. Talk about a letdown, especially after Boomer had to hold your ass back the whole time we were in there. I was expecting some tooth and claw action, not a fucking bullet.

I shook my fur, as if I could shake the memory of that man’s evil as easily as I could water. That dude wasn't worth another minute of my time. I just want to go home to my mate now, you know?

Zeke rubbed up against me, bumping his shoulder against mine to knock me into a snowbank. No, I don't know. But maybe one of these days, I'll find out what it's like to have a mate, too. In the meantime, I'll just have to live vicariously through you and the bossboy.

Ezra barked in amusement. Fuck that, you go ahead and live vicariously. Me? I've got a date with a pair of omegas lined up for tomorrow night. I was planning to invite you, but if you're not interested, I can probably handle them both.

Screw you, Ezra. I'll be there, and you know it. But I'm not buying all the drinks this time. If you forget your wallet, I'll get my money back in a pound of flesh.

I felt oddly peaceful as I listened to the twins bicker while we made our way back to our vehicle. The guy who had abducted my mate was gone from this world now. Sure, we still had more people to ferret out above him, but at least he'd been dealt with.

Oh, man. I just realized that I should have done a little damage back there, and erased any possible fingerprints, Boomer complained.

Noah's wolf chuffed with amusement. You’re not worried about fingerprints, admit it. You're just bummed because you missed the chance to blow shit up.

That too, Boomer agreed.

You guys are crazy. You know I love you, right? I said randomly.

Aww, we love you too, Betty, Ezra chimed in. But if you keep saying shit like that, you're gonna have to fess up about those panties we caught you wearing.

Fuck you, Ezra.

Aw, Betty… I love you, too.