Tristan\u00a0<\/p>\n
70\u00a0<\/p>\n
The jet touched down on a small airstrip that Derek had somehow arranged on an island I\u2019d never heard of, and the moment we stepped off the plane, I\u00a0<\/p>\n
could feel that something was wrong.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The bond with Athena was there but it felt different, like she was further away than she should be based on what we\u2019d tracked during the flight.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s not here,\u201d I said immediately, and my voice came out tight with frustration.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Orion nodded beside me, his face grim. \u201cI can feel it too. She\u2019s close but not on this island.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Derek was already talking into his radio, coordinating with his men who had spread out to secure the landing area. When he finished, he turned to us\u00a0<\/p>\n
with a frown.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMy scouts are reporting activity about two miles across the water,\u201d he said, pointing toward the dark ocean.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a cave system built into the cliffs on the opposite shore. Natural formation but it looks like it\u2019s been modified.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I followed his gaze and could just make out the dark outline of rocky cliffs rising from the water. Somewhere in those shadows, Athena was waiting.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But a part of me couldn\u2019t help but wonder what Daxon was really up to. Why was he doing all these? This was more than just a revenge.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This was more than we thought it was, but I was ready to get to the end of it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do we get across?\u201d I asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBoats,\u201d Derek replied. \u201cBut here\u2019s the thing. My surveillance shows Daxon\u2019s main operation is still running on those ships we identified. They\u2019re using the cave as a secondary location, probably for whatever they\u2019re doing to your mate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My wolf snarled at the thought of what they might be doing to her, and I had to force myself to stay focused.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018So we split up,\u2018 Orion said, and his voice was steady despite the rage I could feel radiating from him. \u201cSome of us go to the cave, others hit the ships.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Derek nodded. \u201cThat\u2019s what I was thinking. Jackson can lead the assault on the maritime operation while we handle the cave.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I looked around at our group. Besides Derek, Orion, and myself, we had my trusted gamma Jace and Orion\u2019s gamma Lucas with us. The rest of Derek s men and Orion\u2019s beta were preparing to split between the two targets.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019m going to the cave,\u2018 I said, and there was no room for argument in my voice. \u201cThat\u2019s where she is.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018We\u2019re all going to the cave, Orion corrected. \u201cThe five of us can handle whatever they\u2019ve got waiting there.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Derek was studying a tactical map one of his men had provided. \u201cThe cave entrance is here,\u201d he said, pointing to a spot on the coastline. \u201cBut there are\u00a0<\/p>\n
at least three guard positions we can see from our surveillance. Probably more inside.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHow many men total?\u201d Jace asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cUnknown, Derek admitted. \u201cBut based on the heat signatures we\u2019re picking up, at least twenty, maybe more.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:26 Sat, Jan 10 G MR.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 184\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lucas spoke up for the first time since we\u2019d landed. \u2018Five against twenty isn\u2019t bad odds.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not, when three of us are Alphas and two are highly trained gammas,\u2018 I said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
70\u00a0<\/p>\n
Derek folded up the map. \u201cThe boats are ready. We move in ten minutes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Those ten minutes felt like hours, but finally we were crossing the dark water in a fast boat that Derek\u2019s people had waiting.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The cave loomed larger as we got closer, and I could see lights flickering from within the rocky entrance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The bond with Athena was getting stronger, more urgent, and I could feel her distress like a physical pain in my chest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Remember, Orion said quietly as we approached the shore, \u201cwe go in fast and hard. No hesitation, no mercy. And be careful. I\u2019m sure their weapons are\u00a0<\/p>\n
loaded with wolfbane.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all must come out alive. He continued looking at me like he was speaking to me particularly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I nodded with the others in understanding.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We beached the boat on a narrow strip of rocky shore and immediately I could smell other wolves. Many other wolves, along with the scent of weapons and something else I couldn\u2019t identify.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The cave entrance was about fifty yards up a steep path carved into the cliff face, and I could see the guards Derek had mentioned. Three men with automatic weapons positioned at strategic points.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Memories Drifted Into Soft Silence by Kyx Frost 184 Tristan\u00a0 70\u00a0 The jet touched down on a small airstrip that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[77],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-second-gear-of-love-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26341"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26341\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}