Braden
They were as ready as they were ever going to be.
Braden inhaled deeply and then exhaled, focusing on the rhythm of his breathing, trying to keep it smooth and steady. The attack could come at any point. Based on what Andrew had told them, in terms of when the previously unknown member of the Arrest Party, as they were calling it, arrived back in Cadia, the earliest a response team could arrive had been about eight hours earlier.
That was if they had been ready and waiting to go the instant the photographer arrived back in Cadia. Considering that there would have been time necessary for him to report in, and then a response team to be assembled, a more realistic arrival had been about midnight.
Now all they were going to do was sit around and wait. The supplies that had been intended to feed the nearly two dozen shifters who had been in Cloud Lake under a visiting/vacation pass would keep the eleven of them stocked for quite long enough. Braden knew their enemies couldn’t take very long to execute their attack. Andrew had told him that his friends back home would be able to put an end to things. It was just going to take time. Armen and his lackeys needed to act sooner rather than later, else they ran the risk of being shut down before they could finish dealing with Andrew.
After a whirlwind few hours of planning they were now just waiting for the other shoe to drop. The Intelligence team would waste no time coming after them. Right now they were working in teams of three. One team would sleep, one would relax, and two would be on watch. One unlucky member would have to pull double duty, but it wasn’t all that bad. Right now Braden’s team was relaxing, awaiting their turn to pass out. He doubted he would be able to sleep. Not knowing that a fight was coming. Braden wished that Elle were there, so he could talk to her. She would know what to say.
“Oh fuck!” he cried, sitting up straight and jamming one hand into his pocket so quickly it nearly ripped his pants in the process.
He fumbled with his phone, popping it open. During work hours their phones were always set to silent, since they weren’t really supposed to be on them. Normally it would be perfectly fine if he had spent his shift texting her. But tonight there had been so much to plan that he’d totally forgotten.
Anguish clutched at his heart as he saw the missed texts and phone calls. It was hours after he was supposed to have been at her place. What an idiot he was!
“Something wrong?” Kassian Koche mumbled from nearby where he was sprawled out on the floor, resting on some of the couch pillows he’d pulled off to make the area more comfortable.
“Uh, yeah,” he replied, fingers hovering back and forth as he tried to decide whether to text her or call her. He’d prefer to call, but Elle was much more of a texter than anything else. “I got in a huge fight with my mate. Though she doesn’t accept that yet. So it was really bad. We were supposed to get together after I got off work…almost three hours ago,” he said, noting the time. “This was the first time since the fight she’d agreed to see me.”
“Just tell her the truth. Don’t try to sugarcoat it, and whatever you do, don’t try to lie.”
Braden glanced over at him. “Why would I try to lie?”
The massive shifter’s shoulders rose and fell. “I don’t know. We men get stupid sometimes when we’ve screwed up, even if, like in this case, there’s a perfectly good reason. This is serious what we were doing tonight. Ten minutes ago was the first time we really sat down and had a moment to ourselves.” Kassian sat up. “Not to mention that you’re now much more at the center of all this than you were before. So that’s got to be weighing on your mind too.”
“Thanks.”
“It’s the truth. Whether you want to admit it or not, you know I’m correct.” Kassian just stared at him, the full weight of his gaze settling on Braden.
“Perhaps,” he admitted. “Can you blame me? They now have a reason to single me out as well as Andrew.” The knuckles on his right hand cracked and popped as he flexed it into a fist. “I’m confident of my own skills. But they’ll have brought something to deal with him. From what you all have said, Armen isn’t stupid. He’s not going to underestimate Andrew. So whatever can deal with Andrew will probably be more than I’m capable of handling. Don’t you think?”
Kassian smiled lightly. “Like I said, you’ve got a lot weighing on your mind. Tell her that. Be upfront. Don’t hide your emotions from her. You’re nervous, possibly even scared. I get it, I’ve been there before myself. It’s not easy. Women love it when you open up to them, though. Not only does it make you more accessible, it makes them feel closer to you, because it shows that you trust them intimately. That you’re willing to be vulnerable around them.”
“She’ll think I’m a wimp.”
The second eldest Koche brother laughed softly, so as not to awaken the others who were sleeping at the back of the room. “In that, you are wrong. You might think that of yourself. But she will see that you’re a real person. That’s big, my friend. Very, very big. Women love a man who is in touch with his emotions.” There was a pause while he obviously considered his next words.
“They don’t want you to cry every time the wind blows, and there will be times that they want you to be ‘manly’ in the stereotypical sense. But if you think that revealing your most secretive thoughts, emotions, fears, even things like goals and desires that you don’t share with anyone else, share with her.”
Braden opened his mouth to reply, but Kassian lifted a single finger. He wasn’t done yet.
“You said yourself that she is your mate. Did you mean that?”
“With every fiber of my being,” he whispered. “She’s my mate. I would do anything for her.”
“Then show her all the depths of your soul, my friend,” Kassian said as he rose, settling one large hand on Braden’s shoulder as he walked by him. “If you won’t show that to her, then is she really the one for you?”
Then the shifter was gone, headed over to the kitchen area for food or drink. Braden didn’t know, and right then he didn’t care. He had other things to do.
Picking up the phone, he dialed her number, heaving himself to his feet and moving away from everyone else. They didn’t need to eavesdrop on this conversation. It was a private thing, for him and Elle only.
The phone kept ringing, eventually going to voicemail.
“Oh come on Elle,” he muttered. “I know you’re there.”
He called again. And again.
And again.
Finally he left her a voicemail. “Elle, it’s Braden. You’re probably pissed right now, and I don’t blame you. There’s a legitimate reason behind it though, and I need you to hear it.” He paused, drawing in a shaky breath. “Something bad is going on here Elle, and I’m in the middle of it. I…I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier, but I had thought it was settled. I was wrong.”
Braden looked away over his shoulder at where Kassian was standing sipping a liquid of some sort. The big shifter caught his glance, giving him a reassuring nod before turning back to give Braden some privacy.
Right. Open. Honest.
“I’m scared, Elle,” he said at last. “I’m trying to maintain hope, but I don’t know.” He sighed. “Please call me right away. I need you.”
He hung up, staying with his back toward the rest of the room until he’d composed himself. Then and only then did he go over to the sink and grab himself a glass of water, tossing in a few ice cubes on top.
“That was fast,” Kassian said quietly from the other side.
“Voicemail.”
“Mmm. It is pretty late.”
“She’s awake. I know her. She’d have a hard time sleeping until she talked to me.” He laughed, the sound surprising him. “I’m kind of shocked she hasn’t come down here yet to ream me out in person. That’s very much her style.” Braden shrugged as he paused to take a sip. “But she has Gwen, so maybe she didn’t.”
The phone in his pocket buzzed. He jumped, jamming his hand into the pants, trying to get it out as quickly as possible.
Elle: Do you want her?
He frowned. “What the hell?”
Kassian made a polite noise of inquiry.
“She texted me. All it says is ‘Do you want her?’ I don’t understand. Why is she referring to herself in third person?”
The Koche shrugged. “I don’t know. But say the truth.”
Braden: Yes, of course.
There was a delay before the reply.
Elle: Come and get her.
Attached was a picture of Elle, tied to a chair, her eyes wide and red from crying, mascara smeared down her face from the tears. Next to her, his face pressed close while he held the phone, taking what Braden now knew was a ‘selfie,’ was a face he’d only seen today for the first time.
“Armen,” he hissed angrily, barely able to restrain himself from crushing the phone in his fist.
He slapped the black object down on the table as Kassian came upright in a flash. The Koche brother glanced at the phone and immediately let out a piercing whistle.
The room came alive as shifters jumped to their feet or came running in from the lobby, their boots pounding on the floor.
“They have—” Kassian paused and turned his head to the side to talk to Braden. “What’s her name?”
“Elle.”
“They have Elle,” he pronounced to the crowd, showing the picture around.
The room filled with angry growls.
“How did they know to get her?”
Braden hissed furiously. “It’s my fault.” He told them how he was supposed to see her after work. “But I never texted her. She most likely decided to come down here to find out what I thought was so much more important than her.”
Gray nodded. “That means they’re here already, and in force. They’ve got the building surrounded by the sounds of it, and they’re intercepting anyone who appears to be coming inside. I want you all to get in touch with your mates now, and tell them to stay away. Do not come to the embassy under any circumstances. Have them call you, or the embassy line itself. Make sure they have that number if they don’t already.”
The shifters broke apart, everyone pulling out their own cellphones.
Braden just stood there, breathing in deeply, trying to keep himself calm, so that he didn’t do anything rash.
“Just stay calm,” Gray said, coming up alongside him. “We need to get ourselves together. So that we don’t do anything—”
Braden took off at a dead run for the door, interrupting his boss midsentence.
“—rash,” Gray finished dully.
She was his mate. He was not going to stand around in a committee.
As he ran for the front door he summoned his animal. There had been no survivors the last time he faced these goons. If any one of them got in his way again, he’d just have to ensure they all met the same fate.
I’m coming for you, Elle.