An Unwanted Second Chance (JB Tirado) novel Chapter 82

Chapter 82

Chapter 82

1. R)

“The commander is here,” Leo said, having opened the door without bothering to knock.

Kent felt like he was being held captive in his own office. Despite his best attempts to convince everyone to get to Riley as quickly as possible, no one was listening to him. Penny had spent most of her time in the office with him, putting him in check every time he was about to lose his temper.

“I’ve got him in a guest room on this floor,” Penny sald from her spot behind Kent’s desk.

Kent barely bothered to look up from where he laid on the couch, staring at the ceiling. He had been pacing the office relentlessly for nearly an entire day, barely eating or sleeping. Pax had been going crazy in his head, begging him to find their mate. Even though he could see the reasoning behind everyone wanting to wait for more warriors. After hours of crawling out of his skin, Kent had finally flopped onto the couch, unwilling to move again.

Wesley had immediately reached out to the council yesterday and the commander himself had insisted he

was coming straight away with all of his best warriors. It should have been a relief to have such immediate

back up, but waiting for their arrival had been painful.

“He wants to meet right away,” Leo replied. “Wes is bringing him up as we speak. Can we get Patrick up here

too?”

“I’ll mindlink him now.” Penny appeared in Kent’s line of vision. “You need to get up.”

“Why?” he grumbled. “No one is listening to me anyway.”

“You are the alpha,” she snapped. “Get up and stop pouting because no one is willing to run headlong into a

trap with you.”

Kent scowled at her, but he got up anyway. Penny reached out, straightening his hair with a huff, as though

he were one of her sons.

“Get yourself together,” she grumbled. “I can’t do this for the both of us. If we want them back, we need to be

prepared.”

“My mate has been held captive by rogues for over a day,” Kent muttered. “Who knows what condition she is

in? Who knows what they’re doing to her?”

“The same can be said for my son.” She grabbed his upper arm and pulled him upwards with surprising

strength. “Go behind your desk and act like you know what you’re doing.”

Kent glanced up to see Leo standing just inside the door, watching them impassively. Kent shot him a dirty

look as he followed Penny’s directions and moved behind his desk.

Moments later his office was full of people. Wesley came in with the commander, Luke Whey, a tall, broad older man with graying hair and brown eyes. He was flanked by two head warriors, one of them being Doug Hart – a face Kent could have gone the rest of his life without seeing again.

Patrick followed shortly thereafter, sinking down into an armchair without a word. Max was still in the hospital. Kent had not gone to see him, but Penny had assured him that Max was going to make a full recovery, though it would take close to a week given the extent of his injuries.

Kent shook everyone’s hands as introductions were made before they settled into their seats.

Chapter 82

“So what is the latest intel?” the commander asked, wasting no time.

“They’re holding Riley and Evan in their camp on the northwestern border,” Patrick explained calmly. “It also appears that one of our warriors who we assumed dead during a recent attack is there as well.”

“We believe the warrior is the reason the rogues knew the boy was being moved,” Leo commented. “The warrior was chosen to accompany Riley to the council compound, so he knew all the details of the trip.”

Whey nodded as he listened. “How many rogues do we estimate?”

“Close to two hundred, but not all are in fighting condition,” Patrick replied. “Our forces wiped out quite a bit during the last attack. The rogues have numbers on their side, but not fighting abilities.”

“Do we know what condition Riley, the boy and the warrior are in?” Doug asked.

“Riley and Evan are able to walk and move about. Jaxon, our warrior, appears more seriously injured.” Patrick rubbed his forehead. “We’re assuming that Riley and Jaxon have both been dosed with wolfsbane as we are unable to mindlink with them and they haven’t attempted to shift.”

“How did rogues come to have wolfsbane?” commented the other head warrior, Alexis.

Wesley shrugged. “Rogues are able to get things through black market channels at times. It’s not common but also not unheard of.”

Whey nodded. “It sounds like we have good intel. What are your fighting forces like?”

“We lost seven warriors total,” Penny said, looking at the paperwork. “Four of our own, two council warriors plus one from Opal Lake. We currently have fifteen warriors recovering in the hospital. An additional twenty one were injured but have since been released, with nineteen of them in fighting condition right now. Total we have roughly seventy two warriors who can fight right now, plus an additional twenty one civilian pack members willing to fight as well.”

“We brought an additional fifty warriors from the council,” Doug said. “That should be enough.”

Kent felt his spirits lift. That was enough warriors to fight back.

“We need to discuss timing,” Alexis said, leaning forward from the couch slightly.

“The sooner the better,” Kent replied.

“Alpha is anxious to get his mate back,” Patrick jumped in. “But I agree. Riley and Evan have been there for over a day. Jaxon even longer. I don’t want to imagine what could happen if we keep waiting.”

Whey nodded. “I’m in agreement, but I want a certain element of surprise. I say we wait until the middle of the night, when the rogues are asleep.”

“I like that idea.” Doug looked at Kent. “How quickly can you have your warriors ready?”

“As soon as you need them.”