Haley

It all started with the facility downtown. They had burned it to the ground, as it turned out. She had been watching the entire time, and had been shocked when smoke started pouring from the building. She’d recognized that as the signal to go for pickup even before Maximus had called for her over the radio. Gunning the engine, she’d barreled down the ramp to the underground parking seconds before Lena or Rosie got there, eager to get her man out of danger.

And there was no mistaking it. Maximus was her man. The past two weeks had demonstrated that. It had been a blur of one Institute facility after another. They’d struck a second place the next day, then it had been two days between strikes, then three. Then two in one day, and then a five-day break. Always keeping the Institute off-balance and unsure when the next strike would occur. All throughout it, she’d stayed at Maximus’s side whenever possible. They shared a bed, sat next to each other during the car rides, and she’d come to realize that her life would never be the same again. She wanted him in her life for the foreseeable future.

Maybe even forever.

They hadn’t exchanged any words or talks of commitment, but then again, they’d been too busy to do so. Between their constant assaults, and the building online hatred and protests against the Institute, she was positive the whole thing was coming undone. It had to be unraveling right before Reashallow’s eyes. But when it was all over, she was going to corral him, and they were going to discuss just what was going on. Haley had gotten a good look at just how well the other pairs meshed and worked together.

Mates. That was the term they used for each other. Nobody had called her Maximus’s mate yet, but she knew the others thought it. It was hard for her to deny them either. The way they worked together was eerily similar to how Pierce and Mila functioned, or Gavin and Lena. Each pair had their weaknesses and flaws that seemed to be picked up and supported by the strengths of the other.

Haley had never seen anything like it. Nor had she felt anything like the way she did with Maximus. It was like they operated on the same wavelength. Their brains were so in tune with one another that they often were thinking about saying what the other person was speaking. It was intoxicating to her on an emotional level, making it easy for her to open up and care for him in a way she’d never done with anyone before.

She could sense that Maximus wanted to do the same with her, that he was attempting to be as open and truthful with her. Unfortunately, he was having an issue with it. Even now, as he and his brothers disappeared into another medium-sized Institute facility on the outskirts of town, it was visible in the way he held himself. Each time he left the car and kissed her for good luck, she could see him struggle to speak.

Haley had an idea what it might be he was trying to say, but so far, he hadn’t been able to. She also knew why it was so hard for him. All these missions, the destruction of as many Institute facilities as Mila and Madison could come up with from their memories. She’d found out about their histories, working for and fighting against it respectively. Yet no matter how much havoc they wreaked, Reashallow had yet to show his face. There had been no counter-attack of any sort. Even the shifters they had let go that one night had yet to resurface. It was driving her man mad, and though he tried not to show it to her, she could see that he wanted to end it already, to be at peace. It broke her heart watching him like that. Unfortunately, there was little she could do for him.

She kept him updated on how the public was reacting. To both of their surprise, things had snowballed beyond their wildest dreams. Protests had already occurred in front of Federal government buildings across the country. Online, people were making petitions and lobbying for changes. They had expected it to die off, but it showed no signs of that. The public was angry, and they were showing it.

Maximus was convinced if they could find Reashallow and deal with him—Haley preferred to just not think about what that meant, knowing it would be easier that way—that the Institute would collapse, tearing itself apart. Until then though, there was nothing they could do.

So now she sat in her car, a cornfield at her back as they stormed a squat rectangular building that didn’t look like it served any sort of purpose. It was dark, a combination of the setting sun and thick black rainclouds overhead that promised a deluge any moment now. The car was turned off, giving her a better view of any approaching vehicles. This was one of the last Institute facilities around Longhorne that they hadn’t yet hit. The only other one was their main base, which would be heavily guarded according to Maximus. She hoped desperately that things would be resolved before they got that far.

Looking to her left and right she eyed the other two vehicles. Mila and Madison’s SUVs were both still with them, even though the trunk still hadn’t been repaired on the one. It must get windy in there, she thought idly, trying to kill time while the brothers did what they had to do on the inside.

Wait. What was that?

Motion caught her eye near the front of the building. A truck had pulled up. A big one. She watched in growing horror as men began to emerge from the back of it, forming up in a perimeter. The building was long, and they were on opposite ends of it from each other, so she hoped they wouldn’t see her. They had to be shifters. It was a trap.

Haley thought about it for a split second, but she knew what she had to do. Reaching over, she grabbed the tranquilizer gun they’d given to her from the passenger seat and put the strap over her shoulders. Then she carefully rolled down her window—for once she was glad she’d gotten the base model without power windows—and pulled herself from the car. She was taking a risk that they would see her, but if she opened the door the lights would turn on, and despite the distance, that would be a dead giveaway.

“What are you doing?” Lena hissed. Her windows had been rolled down already.

“Warning them!” she replied. “It’s a trap.”

Lena’s view was blocked by the building, so she didn’t blame the other woman for asking a question that would have been dumb otherwise.

“You and Rosie get ready. Who knows how this is going to go down,” she said, then darted for the entrance Maximus had led his brothers through, staying hunched over as she ran.

Reashallow had finally made his move it would seem. Haley had to warn them before it was too late.