Chapter 105
Kevin POV
The abandoned cabin at the edge of the pack territory served as the perfect meeting spot. I inspected the three mercenaries who I had sneaked into the pack the previous days. They were hardened and trained assassins.
Spread out on the makeshift table of stones we had placed in the middle of the room were maps of the pack territory and pictures of Lily taken without her knowledge, plus a detailed schedule of her movement over the past few days.
“This is your target,” I gestured towards the pictures. “Her name is Lily. She follows the same route from the college every night to her dorm room. It’s usually at ten to fifteen minutes’ walk and she goes through the oak grove p>
The leader of the mercenaries, a scarred man who introduced himself to me as Drake, studied the picture for a few seconds and then sighed shaking his head. “Pretty thing. Shame to waste her p>
My lips curled. “She’s more trouble than she’s worth it, believe me. I’ve made sure everything is in place for you to do this without raising suspicion. She usually starts going home at around 8:30 using the east trail or the Oak grove I mentioned. That’s where you’ll intercept her p>
“How about the patrols?” another of the mercenary asked. “We heard that Royal Hunter’s pack crawl with patrol teams at every time of the day.
“I’ve already taken care of that,” I replied with a sly grin. “Alpha Kai has been so distracted of late that he barely keeps track of the patrol schedules anymore. The east trail is clear after 8:30. You’ll have a good thirty-minute window p>
“Does she have friends? Someone that she walks with?” The leader asked. “And what about witnesses? What if someone unexpected comes along p>
My grin widened. “That’s why you’re the professionals, right? Handle it as you see fit. Just make sure the job gets done and Lily doesn’t walk home with anyone to the best of my knowledge. She has no friends too p>
The mercenaries nodded. “And payment p>
“It will be transferred to you once you confirm the kill p>
“Don’t worry,” Drake remarked, picking one of Lily’s picture’s and pocketing it. “Silver bullets don’t come cheap, but they get the job done and you can trust us to get the job done as you want it p>
I moved closer to the table and started pointing on the maps. “You’ll wait here until it’s time for the rendezvous. I’m going to provide disguise for all of you so you’d be able blend in properly. So I pointed at the map. “Is your entry point. I’ve arranged for the patrols here to be five minutes later p>
“And the Alpha?” Drake asked again. “I heard he goes around each patrol station especially the ones close to the borders at night to inspect and that he knows the faces of everyone in the pack p>
“He won’t,” I assured them. “Like I mentioned before, he’s preoccupied with something else. By the time anyone realized what’s happened, you’ll be long gone p>
The mercenaries nodded and crowded the makeshift table as they began to memorize the route, talking about the timing and the backup plans.
Later that day, I went about my normal activities, getting excited as the night was creeping in. Finally, a few minutes to the heist, I arrived. While we were still talking and making last minute adjustment and going over the plans again, my message buzzed.
I pulled it out and frowned when I saw it was a message from my ally in Golden Moon pack.
He has never reached out to me by this time, let alone at this hour and he prefers to talk than to send messages. This was strange.
“Give me a moment,” I murmured to the mercenaries before stepping out.
When I opened my phone, as soon as I read the message, I swore under my breath. The message read: Change of plans, Capture her alive. Don’t kill her.
I immediately placed a call to the contact but he ended the call and sent me another message. ‘Text, I’m in a meeting p>
My grip on my phone tightened as I composed myself and started typing.
“What? You were the one who insisted we eliminate her? Why the sudden change p>
“You don’t need to question my reasons,” the contact typed at first. “I realized that she’s more valuable alive. I want her captured and brought to me instead. Can you handle that, or do I need to find someone else who can p>
I clenched my jaw in annoyance. “I’ve already briefed the mercenaries and they’re in place, waiting to move. Changing the plan at the last minute could complicate things p>
“Figure it out,” the contact snapped. “You’ve been well compensated, Kevin. Don’t disappoint me p>
“This is last minute I sent; I was furious now.
A few seconds passed aftr the contact read the message but refused to reply. Until finally he did.
“If she dies, so do you p>
I just stood there staring at my phone in disbelief. I ran a hand through my hair, muttering curses under my breath. Capturing Lily instead of killing her would be more difficult, but I couldn’t risk defying my contact.
With a resigned sigh, I returned to the room. The mercenaries all looked up expectantly, when I entered.
“There’s been a change,” I announced quietly. “The target is no longer to be killed. Your orders are to capture her and bring her in alive p>
Their leader, Drake scoffed. “That’s not what we agreed on. Capturing someone is a lot messier than taking them out. Are you playing with us p>
My patience was wearing thin already. “You’ll do as I say or you won’t get paid at all. Those are new orders. Do you have a problem with that p>
The leader stared at me for a moment, before shaking his head. “Fine. We’ll do it your wau. But it’ll cost extra p>
I gritted my teeth but nodded. “Fine. Just make sure it’s clean. I don’t want any unnecessary attention drawn to this p>
The mission failed.
The mercenary could not capture Lily because somehow, she didn’t take that trail that night. They had waited there for more than the time allotted to them and had almost been caught by the patrols on duty if I hadn’t intervened.
Although the mission wasn’t over, I decided to leave it for another day. In the meantime, I had to gather information about Kai at least to use to my advantage. As a compensation to the failed mission to my contact in Golden Moon pack.
So, this evening I decided to go pay a visit to Kai at the hospital.
I had asked one of the servants in the pack house to confirm if he was home but I was told he wasn’t. So, I headed to the hospital immediately. When I arrived at the VIP floor, I went straight to the last room meant for the Alpha.
When I arrived, I hung at the door, peering inside. True enough, I saw Kai sitting next to the bed side in an easy chair. His gaze was steadfast on the she-wolf. I opened the door of the room a crack, expecting contemplating if I should go in and ply the devil’s advocate.
But as I prepared to open the door wider, I heard the bed creek and some muffled, groaning noises. When I peered in, the she-wolf had woken up. Kai had shot up to his feet, going to press the buttons that summon the doctor when the she-wolf’s voice filtered into my ears.
“Mate!” she murmured, cupping Kai’s face in her hand.