Chapter 773 Chapter 773
Bear looked through the binoculars again. She still hadn’t come out of that house. Several others had gone in.
“You still there, Bear?”
He lowered them. “Yeah, Jesse. I was just checking the house again.”
“We need to get something to her so she can communicate with us, Devin.”
Bear nodded to what Rayne said.
“We can’t do anything until she reaches out again. She may not be able to go for a run or leave the buildings.” The prince sounded distracted.
Bear bit his tongue so he wouldn’t scoff out loud. He was so distracted that he couldn’t think. He needed her to come out so he could see she was all right.
“Do they need us there?” Kobie asked.
“What she said. I could use a break.”
“A break from what, Blair?” Calum chuckled.
“Kids and questions and things that need fixing…”
“Speaking of, the furnace is acting up again.” Noah cut Blair off.
Someone sighed.
“Do you want us to go, Devin? We could leave in an hour.”
Bear recognized Calum’s chuckle this time.
“Spend some time with your clan, Blair. We’re going to be sending teams out in a few weeks, and you could be gone for a month.”
“That long?” Rayne sounded distressed with the news.
“That’s a guess at this point.” Calum supplied.
“Okay, I just got a reply from Raymond.” Devin’s voice was louder now. “He’s sending two more fliers your way, Bear. Creed and Kelii. They can keep watch in places Eaton’s team can’t. Deacon and Gia will be coming with Kaid and his cousin, Rosh.”
Bear nodded. He wasn’t sure about Kelii and Rosh, but he knew the others, and if they had to go in to get Calla, having Deacon here to work with Beck made him feel better.
“Other than Gideon, the rest of the surveillance team are already gone checking out some locations of clans across the border and verifying information on people that were part of the chain helping Aiden.”
He blinked and looked at the ground. How had he forgotten about that? The priority was to find and get Leon—hand him over to the king and his son to do whatever they felt was justified. He already knew that Devin and his father didn’t agree with the outcome there, but that wasn’t his problem. They had lists of places to hit for the people who were responsible for abducting and transporting shifters and clans that, thanks to Oaklyn, needed checking on and possibly taken over. Some of the things she told them about what was happening South of the border were mind-blowing. Once all of that was accomplished, they were going international and following Taggart’s men back to their countries to take down some evil ambassadors. He blew out a breath and looked at the house. First, he had to get his mate out of there and meet her face-to-face.
“…after we get Leon.”
Bear hadn’t heard the rest of what they’d said. “When will the others be here?” Eaton leaned out of the van and waved at Bear. He went toward her quickly.
“She just signed that she was going for a run at dark.”
Bear nodded. “Calla just signed that she’s going for a run at dark.” He told them on the call.
“Okay, good. Get someone out to meet her.” Devin said.
“Beck would be the best bet,” Calum said.
Bear frowned.
“He’s from a wolf clan and would blend in the best if he had to shift.”
Bear closed his eyes. Calum was right. He and Quinn were both from lion clan and would be noticed. He still wasn’t sure what clan Eaton was, but being she was in charge of the team, it was better if she stayed on communications.
“We’re setting up watch in different directions because we have no way to signal her where we’ll be,” Eaton said.
Bear looked back in the direction of the house. If they could get her a phone, he’d feel a lot better.
“You need to keep your distance for now, Bear,” Jesse said quietly. “I spoke with Zain, and I get how hard that’s going to be, but we need any information Calla can get us.”
Bear ground his teeth together for a second. “I know.” He did. Part of him didn’t care because that was his mate at risk. His animal moved through him and he had to take a few slow breaths to keep his cool so his lion would behave. “I’m going to go keep watch and see if we can figure out a direction she’ll head.”
“Make sure Gideon is in the air and watching that no one is following her. It could be a trap to flush you guys out.” Blair said.
Sometimes, Bear forgot Blair had a logical, serious side. He didn’t let it out often.
“We will.”
“Let us know after,” Devin said quickly. “I’m going to fill Dad in.”
Bear nodded. “I’ll tell Eaton.”
When he hung up, he turned around and looked to see Eaton standing behind the van, talking to Gideon. He went over. “Devin wants to know as soon as we’ve made contact with her.”
Eaton nodded. “We’ll keep him in the loop.”
Gideon opened a protein bar. “I’ll go back up in a few minutes and do a sweep to see if there are any others out before she goes.”
Eaton touched her ear. “Beck, I’m sending Bear with a phone and weapon for her.” She pulled out a duffle bag and opened it. “Gideon is going to check to see if she’s followed. Keep watch for him before you expose yourself.” She nodded to whatever Beck said back. “Just keep watch, Bear will find you.”
She turned around and handed him a phone inside a plastic bag and a small knife. “It’s the best we can do. If we send her back with a gun, chances are they’ll smell the gun oil.”
Bear took them and nodded. “She’s friends with Amari. I’m sure she’ll know how to use this.”
Eaton grinned. “It’s a good thing Amari was sent somewhere else last minute, or it would be her down there.”
Bear cringed. “This would have a completely different ending then.”
Gideon snorted. “Yeah. Considering she and Tripp are inseparable, we’d already be cleaning up bodies.”
“Oh. I don’t know if you’ve been told yet, but Raymond is sending Creed, Kelii, Deacon, and Gia here, along with Kaid and his cousin Rosh.”
Eaton looked relieved. “That’s the kind of backup we need.” She looked at Gideon. “A few more in the sky will make this a lot easier.”
Gideon opened another bar and nodded. “Do you know where Beck is?”
Bear shook his head.
Gideon took a bite and pointed. “See those trees over there with the boulders?” Bear nodded. “He’s there but switches to that small grouping of trees every half hour in case anyone is checking the area.” He pointed the other way. “If you run along that slope over there, you can get to him without being visible from the houses.”
Bear stuffed the phone in his pocket and tucked the knife in his boot. “I’ll head that way now. It’s almost dusk.”