Chapter 128

Lucas’s POV

I could hardly express how impressed I was with Harper’s trained skills. She was both fearless and maintained complete control over her movements. I couldn’t have been prouder given how short of time she had to acquire these skills.

She moved with such fluid grace, I could barely keep my eyes off of her. There was no way that I could ever imagine going through with this mission without her. She was my equal in every way.

We had a long way to go before getting to the gallery room. Our hope was to set free any remaining. And potentially new, wolf souls that had been captured. If and when we achieved that part of the plan, Mason would send out the signal to the council on my command.

I was ready to see this place come crashing to the ground. I wanted to snuff out the bastard behind all of this and have them locked away behind bars for the remainder of their days.

I had to split my attention between scoping out the corridors ahead and glancing back to check on Harper, who kept her position behind me.

“Turn right at the next corner,” I told the group.

Just as I suspected, we were met with another pair of guards. My intentions were to go after the larger of the two men; however, Harper flew past me and sank her claws in the guy’s chest. An animalistic sound tore from her throat as she dragged them both to the ground.

I had half a second to process what I was witnessing before needing to turn my attention to the other guard who made the mistake of thinking that he was going to win against me. Call it arrogance—I didn’t care.

I easily grabbed the guard by the collar of his shirt and knocked me out cold with a single blow to the side of the face.

Once more, we moved as a silent, cohesive unit. I stifled back a smug grin as I stole a glance at Harper. I could feel her confidence blooming within her.

I figured, if this was how our night was going to go, then I had severely underestimated our expectations. As we rounded the next corner, I cursed under my breath and felt a knot form in my gut.

Shit. I may have spoken too soon.

Instead of facing off against merely two guards, the number increased to five. No matter, Harper and I dealt with the first two while the other three were left at the hands of Bash and Reed. The adrenaline and tension that sparked through the air were purely intoxicating.

It made my wolf want to rush to the surface, but I knew I had to keep my wits about me. Now wasn’t the time. We were still the ones in control. As the last body hit the floor in a lifeless heap, we came upon the next obstacle.

“Oh my God,” Harper muttered.

This was a bit more advanced than merely taking out a few guards.

“Well, whoever runs this place certainly got creative in upping the security,” I said.

Motion sensors were scattered in thin red lines all across the next hall. All this told me was that we were explicitly close to reaching the gallery room.

Harper grew closer to the lines, trying to find a possible spot of entry without tripping up one of the sensors. “How do we deal with this?”

I instinctively pulled her back by her hip, and I looked over my shoulder. “Mason,” I called out.

If there was anyone who knew what to do in this situation, it would have been him. Sure enough, the beta reached into his vest and took out a small piece of mirror. He took his position at the far corner and strategically angled the reflective glass back at one of the red beams.

Mason successfully distorted the pattern of the other lines without disturbing the defense mechanism that would have been triggered otherwise.

This time around, we were all forced to move low to the ground. I made sure that Harper got through first while I swiftly followed after. While the others were getting through, I took a moment to check over her to ensure she hadn’t sustained any unknown injuries.

Harper gave me a small smile, reassuring me that she was fine—that everything would be fine.

I wanted to feel at ease, but for some strange reason, there was this feeling in the back of my mind. I sensed an unfamiliar presence around us.

I felt Levi become on edge. Scratching. Searching. “Something’s hiding...In the shadows...”

My head turned to the side, where I tried to listen in the distance for something. But even with my enhanced vision, I saw nothing.

“What is it?” Harper questioned.

My brows drew together in frustration. “I don’t know,” I admitted. “I just got this feeling...Like we’re not alone.”

Harper gave the area her own assessment. She glances down each half of the hallway, glancing left and then right. But she, too, came up with nothing.

She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t see anything,” she said.

“No, I didn’t either,” I explained. My jaw clenched in dismay. My senses were never this blind. “It was a feeling that I picked up.”

Now wasn’t the time to get distracted. Just as the last team member was sliding beneath the red beams, the very top of their vest accidentally struck the bottom sensor. My heart jolted in my chest; the air stilled in my lungs.

“Wait! Stop!”

A second later, the whole hallway blacked out. Our ears were filled with the deafening roar of a security siren blaring overhead. The LED lighting had been replaced with a dark crimson shade of red.

“Shit,” I snarled.

“God damnit!” Harper hissed.

Within two minutes, the group of us was surrounded by over fifteen men. Two of them tried to capture both of my arms behind my back, but I refused to surrender so peacefully. I body slammed the guy standing on my right, driving his back straight into the wall.

All hell broke loose.

Those that surrounded me, and part of the team on my side of the hallway, broke out into an all-out fist fight. However, the guards that came up behind Harper’s side, managed to quickly subdue anyone who stood with her.

“Bring them to the security room and wait for further instruction,” one of the guards ordered.

“What about the girl?” Another guard questioned.

“Take her to the prisoner wing,” he spat out. He had the nerve to glance over Harper twice. A disturbing smile took hold of the bastard’s face.

“Well, now. Don’t you look familiar?” he said venomously.

Harper’s eyes grew wide, and I was struck with a sharp pulse of fear. A viscous snarl tore through my chest as I let Levi snap back at the asshole. The edges of my claws ripped through the meaty flesh of his neck.

My vision was splattered with blood. Another group of guards appeared, carrying a heavy set of firearms.

“One more move and the girl dies,” one of them threatened.

I swallowed back a muffled growl and repressed my wolf for the time being. A guard shoved the head of his gun into my shoulder and forced me in the direction of the security room.

I whipped my head around to catch a fading glimpse of the group of guards dragging Harper and the others down the opposite hall. Her wide-eyed expression caused my heart to sink into my stomach.

Everything had been going so perfectly...How could it have come to this?