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they d make it work. Stephan knew the layout of the first floor so that would have to be
good enough.
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I might be able to help, Marisol s soft voice silenced the rest of the room. Her
hands shook as she opened her small purse. This is the design plan for Perez s house.
Stephan was across the room before anyone could move. He frowned as he scanned
it. The DEA hadn t been able to get this because it hadn t been recorded online
anywhere. How did you get this?
Luck and money. I met the architect a few months ago at a club in South Beach. It
took a lot of sweet talking and cost a small fortune, but he gave me a copy.
He held out his hand to her. She stared at it for a moment before placing her much
smaller one in his then stood. Stephan glanced at his family. Give me a second. They
left the kitchen and he kept walking until they were upstairs and out of earshot.
Once they were alone, he placed his hands on her hips and pulled her close. Are
you okay?
She tensed under his touch and shrugged. Your family is not happy with me.
They ll get over it.
She swallowed hard. I don t really care about them& no offense. I just care what
you think.
He wasn t exactly happy she d lied to him either, but that wasn t what she needed
to hear. Part of him wanted to shake her senseless, but more than anything he just
wanted to take her in his arms and comfort her. Why didn t you tell me about Perez?
I& I didn t think I d even get out of his house alive. I just needed one shot to kill
him and&
And she d been willing to die to do it. The words hung silently in the air. He wasn t
sure how to even digest her words. I have to go, but we are going to talk about this.
I know, she whispered.
So many things still needed to be said but time wasn t his friend. They needed to
catch Perez unaware. His guard would be down tonight. Stephan had seen the greed in
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his eyes earlier. Perez was ready to deal and he thought he had a sure thing with
Stephan Vasquez. He d made his first big mistake by settling in Miami.
Stephan was going to make damn sure that son of a bitch didn t make it out of his
house alive tonight. Then he was going to hunt down whoever had betrayed Marisol s
pack.
* * * * *
In wolf form, Stephan edged along the perimeter of Perez s expansive backyard.
He d already knocked out two armed guards using brute strength. Thomas, his father
and he had opted to shift because they were stronger in wolf form and looked a hell of a
lot more intimidating than the other two who d stayed in human form. Using the
overgrown foliage and gazebo as cover, he blended in with the shadows.
The males of his pack had spread out and they were converging on the house from
all angles. It would give them the element of surprise.
With his heightened senses, everything around him was clearer. In addition to the
men he d knocked out, a guard or someone not of his pack was nearby. He could smell
the individual. Tobacco and a specific body odor accosted Stephan s senses. As he
peered around one of the bushes, he spotted a man sitting on one of the lounge chairs
by the pool smoking a cigarette.
Stephan could sense other bodies, but he couldn t make out anyone else that was
closer than the lone guard. He hoped his brothers had already immobilized the outside
guards.
Crouching as low as he could, he inched toward the outside stone fireplace that sat
between him and the guard. He just wanted to stun the guy, not kill him, so he had to
be careful.
After the guy tossed his cigarette to the ground and stepped on it, he bent to pick
up his M4. In that moment, Stephan made his move.
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Worth the Risk
Using all his momentum and strength, he pounced from his hiding position and
tackled him from behind. His paws slammed into the man s back. The guy let out a
shout as they tumbled over the chair, but his head struck the stone tile and his entire
body stilled. Which was exactly what Stephan had hoped for. Fighting for even minutes
wasn t in the game plan. They needed to immobilize these men and take the house.
Stephan nudged him with his paw, but the man didn t move.
He s out cold, Nick murmured as he bent next to the man. He tapped his ear.
Cosmo says it s clear out front and I took out three other armed men. I guarantee
Thomas and Dad have taken out more.
Stephan understood his brother, but he couldn t respond. In shifted form, he could
project thoughts with his mind, but his brother would only understand him if he was in
wolf form too.
As they continued toward the back patio, Thomas rounded the corner. Once they
were all together by the French doors, Thomas ordered him to shift to human form.
Pain rippled through Stephan until he was on his knees and groaning. Changing
back to human form always hurt worse.
Nick had already pulled most of their clothing from his backpack by the time he
and Thomas had changed. Wordlessly, they slipped on black pants and long-sleeved
black shirts. With the weapons they d brought, there hadn t been enough room to
include shoes.
Dad and Cosmo are going in through the front, Thomas whispered.
The back door was locked so instead of wasting time picking it, Stephan broke the
glass and unlocked it manually. A piercing alarm sounded as they rushed inside. Before
leaving their family s beach house, they d all studied the layout of Perez s house.
Everything on the diagram corresponded with the layout he remembered from his short
visit.
Now they simply needed to make it to the lab and figure out a way to get inside
before any cops showed up.
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We ve got two minutes, Thomas shouted above the noise.
As they fanned out across the open living room, two guards appeared from around
the corner. Both men raised their guns.
Stephan fired at the one on the right. The man fell at the same time his partner did.
Either Thomas or Nick had taken him down with one shot. It had been decades since
he d been in an all-out gunfight, but the last time had been with his brothers in
Vietnam. After almost two-hundred years of living and fighting together, it was only
natural they knew how to work as a team.
Sidestepping the fallen men, Stephan crouched low then rounded the corner. The
hallway was empty so he motioned to his brothers. As werewolves, regular bullets
wouldn t kill them but they would still cause excruciating pain.
When they neared the end of the hallway a loud explosion ripped through the air so
Stephan and his brother picked up their pace. They rounded the corner and into the
hallway leading toward the laboratory.
Stephan nearly stumbled at the sight in front of them.
What the hell? Nick shouted above the alarm.
The steel door leading to the lab was blown off and smoke billowed out from the
room. As they neared the door, the petite brunette he d seen strapped down appeared
in the open entrance.
She was completely naked but a bright blue ball of something, maybe energy or
lightning crackled in her hands. She lifted a hand as if to fire at them but paused as
she smelled the air. As she looked at the three of them, it was as if all the energy was
sucked from her body. Her eyes rolled back in her head and she collapsed in a small,
lifeless heap.
I ll grab the girl. Torch the lab! Thomas said as he sprinted ahead of them. He
scooped her up as Stephan and Nick headed inside.
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Glass shards covered most of the tiled floor, the television screen was cracked and
the beakers and test tubes he d seen earlier were smashed on the floor. Three guards
and an old man in a lab coat lay dead on the floor with giant holes burned through their
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