Page 110 of The Alpha’s Heir

“That’s not—”

“Don’t deny it.” He sighed. “You’ve always been a terrible liar, LT. I think that’s what surprised me the most when you left us for officer candidate school. You were never like them.”

I didn’t know what to say, so I didn’t answer. But that tug in my chest grew stronger and I rubbed it absent-mindedly, feeling the burn of the skin healing around Meg’s bite.

“Do you know who is on patrol for the government district tonight?” I asked.

Marcus wisely didn’t comment on the change of topic. “Gonzalez, why?”

“No reason.” I stared straight ahead as the rain beat down on the windshield and the road. The tug in my chest grew tighter. “Lutten, get Gonzalez on the radio.”

“Roger that, LT.” He pulled up the comms.

After the fourth call with no response, the air in the vehicle thickened.

“Do you think they’re all right?” Jacques whispered, as if speaking out loud would cause the worst to come true.

“Maybe they’re on foot?” Yemen whispered back.

“Without a radio?” Stone hissed at him.

My mating mark was on fire now, and my gut twisted in knots. Anything could happen on a night like tonight. We’d been lucky to be in the quiet part of town with no real disruptions, but there was always someone angry enough to cause problems, even on the best of days.

The rioters from the grocery store that had attacked Katrina were still at large. And the man we’d encountered earlier wasn’t the only one who’d figure out that we were on borrowed time.

My men trusted me to lead them, but I was still a part of this city—for however much longer—and it was my job to make sure we all got home.

“Turn left up here.” I made the executive decision to break our patrol route, knowing half the reason had nothing to do with this uniform.

“We should call this in.” Lutten held up the radio, looking to me for permission.

They all waited with bated breath to see what I would do, ready to disobey orders if I said, and I realized they’d follow me into hell if I asked them to.

That knowledge terrified me.

But not worse than the burning of the mating scar on my chest.

“Call it in, Sergeant,” I barked at him, turning to Marcus. “Staff Sergeant, I know you can drive faster than this.”

*

Everything was quiet as we careened into the government district, coming to a stop at the guard gates. The posh homes sat dark in the drizzle of steady rain. Flashlight beams swept over the inside of the vehicle as I spoke to the security guard through the window.

“Where is the patrol team assigned to this district?” I asked, putting enough authority in my voice that the guard stopped checking my men’s pupils with his flashlight.

He snapped to attention. “There hasn’t been anyone in or out since the council came in earlier this afternoon, sir.”

I kept my expression neutral even though fear raced through me at his words, but it was best not to cause a panic. “We’ll run a lap around the perimeter to check things out.”

“Whatever you boys need to do.” The guard stepped back, waving us forward as they pulled away the tire strips manually.

“What the fuck?” Marcus whispered, even though they couldn’t hear us. “Where is Gonzalez? And if the council is here, there should be more military presence, not less.”

“Just drive,” I told him.

The burning of my mark grew stronger as the tug in my chest tightened. I needed out of this vehicle.

I forced myself to remain steady.