Chapter 533 Chapter 533
Tripp jammed the last of his gear in the bag and did it up. He glanced at the door again to see the snow was still coming down. Sighing, he looked at his phone, Kenzo had told him to hang on and hadn’t returned yet. Amari hadn’t returned either. She’d been ushered off to the home of those they’d found while he’d elected to get things back in order with his gear. He was so aggravated right now; he didn’t know which way was up.
“Sorry about that, quick strategy session.”
Grabbing the phone, Tripp took it off the speaker and put it to his ear. He leaned against the workbench and stared at the door, “ops canned?”
“Temporarily, but if we can’t move in this weather, neither can they. The cities are basically shut down during weather like this, so that’s in our favor.”
This wasn’t what he wanted to hear; they were so close to hitting the jackpot as far as finding Tomas’ people. This was personal, his father had died because of the Tomas family. His loss wasn’t directly connected, but the rogues wouldn’t have been rogues if it weren’t for them trying to hide their females from the Tomas family. Until they got all his movers and shakers, they would never stop him.
“We’re regrouping and hoping to pull off a few more, despite the weather. I want you to head to us, as best as you can in this.”
Tripp nodded, “it will be slow, but we’ll get there.” He watched Amari come back into the garage. She was wearing a bright red, puffy jacket and matching toque, both caked with snow. She looked like an ad you’d see on a billboard for a winter vacation destination. Shaking his head, he raised an eyebrow in question to which she shrugged and then came over and held out a piece of jerky. From the smell of it, he knew it wasn’t some prepacked product. His stomach growled, reminding him he hadn’t eaten any real food in a while. Taking it from her hand, he took a bite and then tracked her every move. She set a bag in the front seat.
“There’s going to be a short break in the weather, maybe an hour, then it’s going to be bad—according to the weather radar.”
He’d almost forgotten Kenzo was on the phone. Blinking to tear his gaze from her, he looked outside to see how heavy the snowfall was, it looked like a solid white blanket. “When’s the break starting?”
“Half hour, if this app is right.”
“We’ll cover as much ground as we can.”
“If it gets bad, Tripp, find somewhere to hole up until it passes.”
“What kind of timeline are we looking at for the new ops?” Amari was doing what he could only call housekeeping on the inside of his ride. Wiping off the dash, the door—
“It’s going to take us a few days to get enough bodies back here to do anything substantial.”
Tripp nodded, that worked for him—he still had to deal with his mate. He had no plans to walk into an op with his head scrambled and emotions all over the place. It was a good way to get dead if his focus wasn’t on point.
Amari took off the hat and jacket and put them in the back seat. She turned around and tilted her head in question.
“We’ll be heading out in five.” He told his leader in a quiet voice.
“Keep me updated on your progress. We have members stranded in the North; they can’t move a foot right now. The fewer trying to travel in this, the better.”
Tripp was glad they’d already been heading South before this had hit. He watched Amari put her belt back on and then adjust her boots. “We’ll be careful.” He needed to hang up, the longer he stood there watching her, the more his anger flared again, the image of her lying broken at the bottom of that ravine playing in his head on a loop.
“Check in later.” The line went quiet.
Tripp tucked the phone in his back pocket.
“They packed us a picnic.” She motioned to the bag on her seat. “Guess it will be an indoor one.” Leaning on the door, she looked outside.
Food was the last thing he was thinking about right now. “We’ll eat once we’re on the road. The storm is supposed to pause for a short break, so I want to get as far as we can before then.”
Her expression changed to a more focused one. “What’s the status of the ops?”
“Snafu currently, but they’re hoping to get something together in a few days.”
Amari smirked, “Snaf what?”
Tripp blinked, “uh, situation normal all…”
“Got it. Snafu, I like that.” She grinned. “Okay, so the game plan is to try to get to them before winter wonderland takes over?”
He nodded, almost willing to forgive her for scaring the hell out of him earlier when she smiled at him like that. The image of her lying broken and unmoving at the bottom of the ravine flashed through his mind and later he’d try to figure out if it had been prompted by his animal or his mind.
Amari put her hands on her hips. “Well, let’s get the lecture over with so we can get on the road.”
“Lecture?” Tripp grit his teeth, “you think I’m going to lecture you?”
She lifted one shoulder and let it drop, “yeah, I caught the looks from you when we found them.”
Tripp jammed his hands in his pockets so he wouldn’t go over and shake her. “That look didn’t mean I was going to lecture you.”
She cocked one eyebrow at him, “no?” Another half shrug, “what then?”
Jerking his hands out of his pocket, he took four long strides toward her and then clamped down on his temper, “you were reckless.” The growl in his tone was his animal letting them both know he was close and wanted in on this discussion.
She snorted softly, “and?” She scowled at him, “your S.O., I thought they got off on that?”
Tripp opened his mouth and then shut it so fast his teeth clacked together. She wasn’t entirely wrong. “Not when other lives are at stake.” He ground his teeth briefly, trying to force his mind to find the words to explain it to her. “Those women needed us to find them.”
“We did.” She crossed her arms over her chest and glared back at him.
“You had no idea what was hidden by the snow and wind when you jumped over the edge.”
She shrugged again and he had to bite back a growl, “I managed.”
Something inside him broke loose and he couldn’t stand here and try to discuss this like a rational person a second longer. Two strides had him right up in her face, his hand spanning her throat to get her attention. “You knew I couldn’t follow,” he ground out through his teeth, “that I wouldn’t have your back if you ran into a problem.”
Amari inhaled slowly, holding his look steady, she made no move to try to break his grip on her neck. “I knew you’d get down to me in no time.”
“That’s not the point, Amari.”
At the mention of her name, her pupils dilated ever slightly, “what is the point, Tripp?”
Her voice wasn’t shaking, her tone was even and that annoyed him more than anything else. The fact that she wasn’t on the offensive as he held her back against the open door. She just stood there, unaffected by it. “We’re mates.” His voice was softer, his emotions close to tipping to somewhere he didn’t want to go. “If anything had happened…”
“So, I’m supposed to tippy-toe around forever now because I have a mate?”
Was she? Would he have to? He had no idea where any of this shit led to, none at all. “You’re not alone now.” It dawned on him that he wasn’t either.
“Yeah, I got that.” She sounded bored.
How could she not care that his hand was wrapped around her throat? His animal stirred, coming closer to the surface.
“Either fucking kiss me, Tripp, or let me go before I hurt you.” She pushed her knee between his legs and rubbed it against him.
His body responded immediately and not in a defensive way. He was one sick bastard, and she was his equal in all ways. He flexed his hand around her throat as he leaned down and crushed her mouth under his.
“Oh good, I was afraid you’d already left.”
They jumped apart and turned to see the youngest of the girls they’d found standing behind them. She was wrapped in a blanket and not even wearing a jacket.
Tripp cleared his throat and jammed his hands into his pockets. “We’re heading out in a minute.” The kid either had the best or worst timing, he couldn’t be sure.
She smiled up at him and then came over and hugged him tightly. “Thank you.” She released him and pivoted to do the same to Amari, “I forgot to say thank you.”
Amari looked uncomfortable with the hug. “No problem.” She crossed her arms over her chest as soon as the child moved away.
“I want to be like you.” The girl looked up at Amari, her eyes drowning in adoration, “when I’m bigger.” She smiled, “I want to help people.”
The frosty exterior Amari had melted right before his eyes as she reached over and touched the side of the girl’s head, “work hard and don’t take any sh—guff from the boys, okay?”
The girl nodded. “Okay.” She jerked her head to look at Tripp, then back to Amari, “I want my mate to be just like him.”
Amari smirked and looked him up and down, “that’s a good goal to have.” She looked down at her and winked, “now get back in the house and stay there until this storm is gone.”
The girl’s head bobbed up and down. “Have a safe trip.” She hopped a few steps and then ran out into the snow.
Tripp shoved his hair back from his face and cleared his throat, “We better get moving.”
Amari held his look for a moment, there was something in her eyes he couldn’t figure out. She turned her back to him and got in his SUV before he could figure it out.
Blowing out a breath, he looked around to make sure all their gear was loaded and then moved over to close the back. He needed to drive and focus on something other than her for a bit like that was going to happen. Once he closed his door, every breath he took was going to be tinged with her scent, her taste. It was going to be a tense drive—the snow was the least of his worries.