It was that heartfelt plea that had finally made Sawyer and Jake agree to let her come with them. Who could say no to someone when all they wanted to do was save their boyfriend’s life? Besides, how could they go wrong having someone with them who could electrocute anyone who pissed her off?
Harley came on the radio again, letting them know she, Misty, Forrest, and Erin were boarding the tram and that there hadn’t been any problems with the invitations. Someone had simply checked names off a list.
Sawyer breathed a sigh of relief at that.
He grinned as he thought of the past two days he and Harley had spent together. After years of trying to make relationships work, he’d finally met a woman who completely got him. They clicked without any effort at all, even if all they’d had time to do was sit around in their hotel rooms or pull shifts at the surveillance villa and talk while eating souvlaki and gyros.
Sure, they’d kissed some more, and damn, it’d been amazing. He would have liked to do more than kiss, but they’d been too busy getting ready for the raid on the mountaintop monastery to do more than steal a few moments together here and there. So, he’d settled for what he could get…and taken a lot of cold showers.
But even if they mostly spent their time talking, that was fine, too. She’d been surprised when he told her that his mum and dad knew he was a werewolf, but also happy to know they still loved him anyway. It made him want to fly to Colorado right then and lambaste her family for turning their backs on her. He was glad she’d at least found a new family in her pack. He hadn’t ever thought about werewolves being part of a pack, mostly because he didn’t realize there were that many of them around. He had to admit, his inner wolf was curious about what it would be like to be part of one.
While he’d definitely enjoyed getting to know Harley better, there’d been one glaring reality that overshadowed every moment they spent together. As soon as this mission was done—very likely in a few hours from now—he and Harley would go their separate ways. They could keep in contact with each other, of course, but with their jobs, there was little chance of that working out. Sawyer rarely stayed in one place for long and never had a clue where he’d be the next day, much less the next week. He couldn’t imagine making something with Harley work long distance, even if admitting it hurt more than he would ever have thought possible.
Sawyer was so wrapped up in thoughts of Harley and the disappointment over how he knew this thing with her was going to end, he only realized he was getting to the top of the mountain when Caleb whispered over the radio for him and Jake to freeze again, that there was another guard walking right above them who was close enough to the parapet to see over the side.
The warning caught him out in the open again, this time barely ten feet from the top of the mountain, reaching for the next handhold, tips of his boots barely finding purchase on the tiny ledge beneath him. He looked left and right, desperate to find someplace to hide—because where he was now, they’d see him for sure—but there was nothing, not above him or to either side. So he did the only thing he could.
He let go.
It seemed like he fell forever in a single heartbeat, scrabbling for anything that would save his life. When his fingers finally caught on a ledge of rock, his shoulders almost tore out of their sockets.
Cursing, he hung there, his heart beating fast at the realization of how close he’d come to buying it.
Boots thudded across rough stone somewhere above him, reminding him that dying on this mountain was still a distinct possibility. Holding on to the narrow ledge with a single hand, he slowly inched the other toward the pistol strapped to his right thigh.
“Don’t move,” Jake warned over the radio, his voice urgent. “The guard must have heard you falling and is leaning over to take a look. I don’t think he can see you from where he is, but don’t move anyway.”
“I don’t think”?
That didn’t exactly fill Sawyer with confidence. Especially when the boots came to a stop directly above where he was dangling.
“The guy is right on top of me,” he murmured into his mic, reaching for his pistol again. “If he sees me, it’s over.”
Hand on his weapon, Sawyer glanced up to see the guard looking right back at him with wide eyes.
Shit.
He pulled his pistol at the same time the guard leaned out over the parapet, angling his own weapon to line up for a shot. Then, out of nowhere, a big hand reached around from behind the guy and grabbed his chin, giving it a twist. The snap it made was loud enough to echo off the rock walls around him.
A moment later, Caleb leaned over, eyeing him curiously, like he was wondering what the hell Sawyer was doing down there. Then again, maybe the omega was waiting for him to fall. Something told Sawyer that Caleb wouldn’t be too upset about that.
“You done screwing around down there?” Caleb demanded.
Sawyer had the distinct sensation the omega didn’t like him much. Maybe Caleb knew about him and Harley and, for some reason, didn’t approve of it.
Shoving his pistol back in its holster, Sawyer quickly climbed the rest of the way to the top of the mountain. When he got there, Caleb watched him pull himself over the parapet, then turned and walked away, muttering something about checking for other guards. Sawyer shook his head. Oh yeah. Caleb definitely knew there was something going on between him and Harley and didn’t like it one bit.
Looking around, Sawyer took in the tall hedges and flowering plants. They’d picked this side of the mountain as their entry point because it was behind the monastery and directly opposite where the tram dropped off the guests. From where he stood, Sawyer could see the tile-covered rooftops of five different buildings and while he could hear people moving around the property, none of them were close to him and the other werewolves.
“We all made it to the top,” Jake reported over the radio as he crouched down beside the guard Caleb had killed.
Sawyer moved over to help him check the dead man’s uniform, pulling off the radio and earpiece. Jake listened in on the bad guys’ communications while Sawyer took a quick look at the guard’s tactical gear, confirming it was an exact match for the stuff the three of them were wearing, right down to the MP5 submachine gun they’d brought with them. That would help them blend in.
Sawyer could hear chatter coming through the guard’s earpiece. It sounded like someone doing a security check-in. That was definitely a problem. As soon as whoever was on the other end didn’t get a response from the guard, they’d know he was out of commission.
“The dead guy’s call sign is kilo-one-one,” Caleb said, coming over to join them. “I heard him say it before I snapped his neck.”
Jake slipped the radio in his tactical vest and the bud in his left ear, since the one for their own team radio was already in his right. “I’ll listen for it and respond if necessary.”