All the information hit Becky like a freight train, overwhelming her, but the one thing she could make out through all of it was Jase’s rage. He wanted to go after Pat and anyone else they could link to the attack on her. She knew he wanted to do it for her, to protect her and Billy, but she was terrified of losing him. She’d rather direct the focus to the ones who’d carried out the crime. “Do we know who received the bombs?”

“Polo Gutternburg, Pat’s brother.” Roger nodded toward the e-tablet that was still in Jase’s hands. “Second tab is an image of both brothers. The one on the left is Pat and the other is Polo.”

“Is he one of the two the police arrested? Has he rolled on his brother, Pat?” Becky stared down at the pictures, taking in the two siblings in it.

“That was what I didn’t understand at first.” Roger shook his head. “The two in custody haven’t mentioned either of the Gutternburg brothers. I figured these two were fall guys and The Saviors must still need the brothers for other plans. The nagging question was, how did your neighbor miss Polo?”

“Are you sure he was even there?” Jase asked.

“The discussion board has a post from him, describing things. If he wasn’t there when the bombs were planted, he was there sometime. He knew too many details about the house, which he wouldn’t have known unless he was inside. Still, I couldn’t let it go, so I dug deeper. Turn to the next image; you’ll see proof he was there.” Roger nodded to the tablet. “He coordinated planting the bombs with the two guys already in police custody. Your neighbor and the police both missed him because he came in a different way, parking several blocks away, and using the alley as cover.”

“Jase, I know you’re going to make your move on them. To drain their financial accounts so they cannot support The Saviors is not sufficient any longer.” Karri let out a deep breath. “I request to be part of it. These are people I’ve known my whole life. They betrayed me and Arlene, and they’ve come after the people I care about above all. I can’t stand by and do nothing.”

“We’ve already talked about this, Karri; it’s out of the question,” Noah growled. “I will not have you putting your life on the line.”

“But it’s okay for you?” she snapped.

“Stop it, both of you.” Becky pushed back her chair and stood. “These people are dangerous and I don’t want anyone to get hurt. There’s got to be another way. Can the authorities do anything to stop The Saviors?”

“With pressure from Brett, they’ve been working on it but there’s only so much they can do until the laws are changed,” Garret told her.

“You’re right, Karri. We’re going after them.” Jase took his mate’s hand in his. “I’m going to ensure you and Billy are safe and that what happened to you doesn’t happen to someone else.”

What if something happens to you? Fear coursed through her but she couldn’t voice her uncertainties before he turned back to the team.

“I want you to gather everything you can on every resident of that town, especially Pat and Polo. See if you can pinpoint where the key supporters of The Saviors will be tomorrow evening. We’ll meet back here at eight tomorrow morning to put together a plan of attack. Tomorrow night this town will be all but a memory.” He glanced at Karri before shaking his head. “I’m sorry, I truly am, but they’ve left us no other course of action.”

“Let me go with you,” she begged.

“No.” There was no wavering in Jase’s tone. “Sin, Becky, before either of you get any ideas, you’re staying, too.”

“Then so are you.” Sin shot up and slammed her hands down onto the table. “I’m tired of you rushing out there to deal with whatever comes up. You’re the Chief here and you have a duty to this tribe, which means you can’t keep risking yourself.”

“I agree.” Becky turned in her seat to face Jase. “I don’t want you doing this for me. If you really want to do something for me, stay here. We’re about to begin our lives together; don’t rip that time away from us before we even get started.”

“I can’t.” He cupped the side of her face. “Baby, please understand, I have to do this.”

“That’s what you always say,” Sin argued.

“I’ll make you a promise.” He lifted his gaze to eye his sister—the tribe’s Deputy—before finishing. “After this, I’ll stay here and allow the others to do their job. This time it’s personal.”

Becky didn’t know what to say, but she couldn’t sit there any longer. She needed to get out of the room and allow herself time to process all of the madness. Shifter life was dangerous enough without Jase risking himself to extract revenge. She didn’t want or need it. What she desired was a quiet life for her and Billy.

“I need some air.” She stepped behind his chair and headed toward the front door. As she wrapped her hand around the handle, the door came open, someone pushed it toward her and she was forced to step back. “Ahh!”

“Jase.” A man stepped into the house before his gaze landed on her. “Becky…I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. I’m Brett—Brett Oaks. Is Jase here?”

“Kitchen.”

“What’s going on?” Jase stepped up behind them. “Brett, what are you doing here?”

“Arlene took off. She said she had things to take care of and you knew about it. The guards at the gate didn’t stop her. I only found out because I caught her scent at the gate while I was out doing rounds and asked them about it.”

“We’ve got to go after her!” Karri turned to Noah. “She’ll go home and get herself killed if we don’t find her first.”

“Roger.” Jase spun back around to look at him. “Go with Brett; follow the scent. Find her before she can do anything stupid. If you haven’t found her in thirty minutes, stay on the trail but give me a call.” Roger nodded and then headed for the door with Brett.

“I’m going, too.” Noah pressed his lips to Karri’s forehead. “Don’t worry, I’ll find her.”

Jase shook his head. “No, you’re going to suit up. They’ve got thirty minutes to find her. If they don’t, we won’t be able to wait until tomorrow night. We’ll have to take care of this tonight.”

“I need—” Noah’s tone and ridged body warned Jase that he was going to argue.

“I already told you what you need to do. Now go.” He turned away to find Sin behind him. “Sin, I need you to find Kaden. I want financial proof the bombs were purchased from Gutternburg. Then I want Karri and Arlene’s parents’ account drained. Make it look like they sent it all to The Saviors. Put the funds in the account that Kaden started last time for the sisters. They can do what they want with the money. Obviously, our last warning wasn’t enough so hopefully this will make things clear for them. I want to know if there’s been any further financial payments to The Saviors from anyone else in that town. When this is over we’ll give the financial information to the police, including all evidence gathered of the multi-business fraud that they’re part of, and let them deal with it. Give a little, take a little. But first we’re going to deal with Pat and Polo Gutternburg. We’re going to bring them down, every single one of them.”

As Becky stood there listening to Jase, she wanted to applaud what he said because she knew what he meant by bringing them down. He wanted them dead. These were human beings and yet she couldn’t feel anything more for them than she would feel if she’d stepped on an ant. Had she lost her humanity? No, it wasn’t she that had lost her empathy; it was them. They chose to attack shifters because they were different. How long had they thought shifters would just sit back and take it all without doing something? Now, shifters were fighting back and the humans responsible for the threat to them were becoming the hunted. How could she feel sorry when they were getting exactly what they had done to shifters?

In that moment, she accepted that she might be losing part of her humanity and she was okay with it because something better was growing within her. She wasn’t just human, at least mentally, because through Jase, she could connect with the shifter mentality. For the first time, she was seeing things clearly. Attacking shifters because they were different was like attacking someone with an accent. Things couldn’t continue like they were and if shifters had to stand up and fight back in order to make the needed changes happen, then that was what would happen.

This also meant that she had to stand back and let Jase do what needed to be done. He wasn’t a leader that would stand on the sidelines while his people were out there risking themselves. No, her man would be on the frontlines. While that scared her more than the moments in her house when the bombs were going off, she would allow him to do what he needed to.

“I worked technical support; maybe I can help Kaden.” Becky hadn’t realized Garret was speaking when she made her statement until everyone looked at her. “I’m sorry…I was…”

“I’ll take you over there before I head out and we’ll see what you can do to help him.” Jase rubbed his hand along the curve of her back. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” She forced herself to give him a smile even though she was scared about what might happen in the coming hours. “I got lost in my thoughts and didn’t realize you were talking. I’m sorry, Garret.”

“No apologizes necessary.” He rose from the table and took Sin’s hand. “I’ll get my gear and meet you back here in ten minutes.”

As Garret and Sin headed for the door, the others took it as their cue to leave as well, leaving her alone with Jase. Part of her pleaded for her to argue with him about going. Even beg for him to stay if that’s what it took. Yet, she knew it wouldn’t help. Even though Arlene wasn’t a member of the tribe, Jase believed it was his duty to go after her. Becky remembered what she’d been like at Arlene’s age and the trouble she’d gotten herself into. She’d been wild at that age, but it all changed when she got pregnant with Billy. She’d turned her life around for her son. Now they had to give Arlene a chance to change things and they could only do that if they saved her before something happened to her.

Jase leaned back against the bar separating the kitchen from the dining room. Looping his arms around her waist, he brought her to snuggle against the front of his body. “I know you’re worried but nothing is going to happen to me. I’m taking a team of excellent men with me. We go deal with what we need to, get Arlene, and come home. We’ll be back before you have a chance to miss me.”

“I doubt that. I already miss you.” She placed her hand on his chest, just above his heart so she could feel the rhythmic thump. “I was thinking, since you’ll be gone, I’d like to go ahead and bring Billy home. There’s no reason for him to stay with Zoe again tonight. Maybe she could stay with him while I talk to Kaden about helping him and then, if there’s an extra laptop around, I can do whatever he needs done here.”

“Then let’s go. We’ll do it together and after that, I’ll suit up.” He pressed his lips to her forehead.

* * *

Twenty minutes after the team left, Jase was finally suited up for the mission. Billy was settled into his new room and Becky had a project from Kaden to work on. His family would be occupied while he was gone, which would hopefully make the time pass quicker for them. As he headed downstairs to meet with his men, he caught a glimpse of Billy playing in his room.

“Hey, little man.” He sat his weapon bag next to the door and strolled into the room. “Your mom tells me you like the room.”

“I sure do. I can’t wait to show Doug. Thanks.” Billy dropped the action figure he was playing with and looked up at Jase. “Mommy said you were leaving. Are you going to fight the bad man that hurt her?”

“Yeah.” Jase squatted down in front of Billy. “I’m going to take care of it so you and Mommy are never hurt again. But while I’m gone I need you to look after her for me. Think you can do that?”

“I didn’t do so good last time.” He dropped his gaze to his lap. “I’d been bad and she’d sent me to my room. That’s why she got hurt.”

“Billy, look at me.” He waited until the boy did what he asked. “A bad guy is responsible for what happened, not you. You being in your room saved you from getting hurt. Though since you brought it up, I have to say I’m not impressed with your choice of language. The F word shouldn’t be something you say, especially not to your mom. Okay?”

“I know,” he mumbled. “Is Mommy still mad at me about it? Is that why I had to stay with Zoe?”

“She’s not mad at you and between us I think she forgot about it, so don’t bring it up. You had a sleepover with Zoe because your mom was healing. I told you about the bump on her head. Well, she needed to stay in bed for a couple of days and rest. Both of us wanted you here with us but with her resting and me looking for the bad guy, I needed someone to watch out for you. Don’t you like Zoe?”

“Even though she’s a girl, she’s okay. She let Doug come over and we had popcorn and chocolate.”

Jase let out a light chuckle and ruffled Billy’s blond hair. “I remember that age when girls are yucky. Trust me, son, you’ll grow out of it. Now I’ve got to go, but you watch out for your mom, okay?”

“Okay.” Billy grabbed his action figure but before he went back to playing, he looked at Jase again. “Unlike other kids, I don’t have a daddy. Are you going to be my new dad?”

“Would you like that?” Jase’s chest tightened. If the boy said no it would make things difficult, since Becky was his mate and he wasn’t going anywhere. He was also beginning to see Billy as his son, so the rejection would hurt on another level.

Billy nodded. “Mommy likes you. She’s happier when you’re around. I like you, too. You taught me how to pitch and hit a ball. Can we play ball again soon?”

“Once I get back.” With a weight lifted from his shoulders, Jase rose and retrieved his bag. “You be good while I’m gone.”

“Jase,” Becky hollered from the bottom of the stairs.

“I’m coming.” He jogged down the stairs and when he reached the bottom, he was surprised to find the living room empty. His team wasn’t waiting for him, which was unusual.

“They thought we’d like a few minutes alone so they’re waiting outside.” She slid her hand over the curve of the banister.

“Good.” He stepped closer so they were nearly touching. “You smell so tempting, it’s hard to leave.”

“I want to say ‘then don’t’, but I know you have to do this.” She glanced up at him. “Promise me you’ll be careful.”

“You have my word.” He traced the curve of her jawbone, slowly making his way up to her ear. “I’ll make this quick and be back soon. I wouldn’t miss a day with my beautiful mate if I can help it. I love you, Becky.”

“I love you, too.”

Their lips met in a quick but thorough kiss before she stepped back. He hadn’t been ready for it to end; maybe he never would be. The urge to reach out and draw her back tingled within him. Their time earlier in the day had been too short. He hadn’t realized he’d have to leave so soon after claiming her, but he was thankful they’d had the time together earlier. She was his and through that connection, he’d know she was safe.

“See you soon.” He strolled toward the door but paused before taking hold of the handle. “When your fear becomes too much, focus on the connection between us, focus on me, and you’ll know I’m safe.”

“Really?” She sat down on the step and watched him.

“Yes, but you’ll also have part of my bear here with you, which will leave no doubt.” He didn’t add that if he were to die, his bear would no longer be with her. The connection between them would be gone, leaving her alone once again. Though she would never truly be by herself, she had become part of the tribe when they mated and Sin would make sure Becky was welcome there. “If you need anything, Sin is right next door. The two of you are in charge of things until I return. Don’t do anything crazy.”

He chuckled and headed for the door. To leave proved difficult enough but a moment longer and wouldn’t be able to force himself to walk out of the house.