“Michael. My men said you’re up, but I had to come see it for myself,” the captain said with an impressed smile.

Rene sat up when he heard the captain, his expression and posture timid. I placed my hand on his back to soothe him.

“Captain. I heard you hauled my hairy ass here,” I said, grabbing the bed’s remote to get myself into a sitting position.

And fuck, that hurt, but I wasn’t confronting the captain lying down.

“That’s all we could really do. Well, that and pry your angry mafia off the terrorists. What was left of them,” the captain said, and took a chair for himself. He put it next to the end of my bed and sat down. “How are you feeling?”

“Shredded, but fine,” I said, trying to make myself comfortable against the pillows.

He nodded, glancing at us all. “You’re lucky to be alive. Your boy here did well protecting you.”

“Yes, he did,” glancing at Rene, who was still watching Captain Hale, looking uncomfortable. “He’s my little hero.”

My boy finally turned to me and smiled a little. He looked thinner and sicklier again… I needed to get out of here so I could take care of him.

“So what’s going to happen now?” I asked, turning back to Captain Hale. “Am I free to go home once I’m strong enough?”

The man let out a deep sigh. “We couldn’t save your house. It burned to the ground, so…”

“The house is not an issue,” I said. “Are you letting me go free?”

“Certainly. The army has no interest in you.”

“Great. So what’s with the bodyguards?” I asked, nodding toward his men.

Captain Hale didn’t reply to me.

“Could it be you’re worried about me? Your dear old friend?” I asked teasingly.

He let out an amused snort. “I do admit, this world would be a little more boring without you in it, Mercer. But my need to keep you alive is not as romantic as you’d hope.”

“Meaning?”

He let out a sigh. “I’m here to ask you to work for me.”

I stared at him. So did Francis.

“You… what?” I finally asked.

“You and your mafia. I’ve recently learned that my eyes and ears do not reach as far as I’d hoped. And… there may be… favors… I must ask you in the future,” the captain explained.

“You want us… to work for you… as snitches?” I asked with a frown.

“Correct. The Rightful Sons, and now this attack… I learned about them way too late,” the captain said. “You’ve been one step ahead of me in my own city. So, I need your help with keeping track of True Order.”

“And why would I want to work for you?” I asked.

“For the benefits,” he said. “You can continue dealing your drugs and guns and whatever it is you’re dealing with these days in exchange for keeping me in the loop.”

“I mean, you’re already letting me do my business, but… It so happens I don’t like True Order any more than you do,” I said. “However… I’m getting old, Tom. I think I want to retire.”

“What?” Francis said with a frown.

“We are getting old, my friend,” I told him quietly. “I know I need to talk to the guys first and see how they feel, but… We’re not young anymore.”

“Before you do so,” the captain interrupted us. “I think there is something you should know.”

“And what is that”? I asked him.

He let out a sigh. “I hate to do this, but I don’t really have a choice,” he said slowly, pausing for a moment. “Someone in this room is hiding something. Something that puts you in danger.”

I frowned at him, but he wasn’t looking at me. He was watching Rene.

“Those men knew you, kid,” the captain said to him. “How?”

My instincts kicked in right away. “He doesn’t have to talk about it,” I said harshly, but Rene put his hand on my shoulder to silence me.

“He’s right,” my boy whispered. “They attacked you because of me. They tried to kill you… to get to me.”

“You don’t have to talk about it, baby,” I said, but he shook his head.

“I uh… My father…” he began, staring into nothingness. “He’s a True Order terrorist… The leader of his group.”

I frowned at his words, but didn’t interrupt him, even though I wanted to. I didn’t like the fact that Captain Hale was there to listen to his story.

“He taught me everything he knew since when I was a little kid,” Rene continued, speaking slowly, softly. “I was supposed to be his heir, the next leader of his group. At first… I… Looked forward to it.”

I shook my head. “You were just a child.”

“Yes. And when I saw the devastation and destruction our attacks left behind… Death, sorrow, pain… I hated it. I hated how my father treated omegas and those who loved them. It was horrible. Cruel. Wrong,” Rene said. “I… I didn’t want to have anything to do with that. I told my father I wanted to leave.”

Rene’s posture dropped, and his expression turned scared and pained.

“You don’t have to do this,” I told him, but again, he ignored me.

“My father got mad… He was so angry with me… He was disgusted. He was disgusted because I wanted to protect omegas. As a punishment… he gave me to one of his closest men. Paul Hill. I was… his slave.”

The alpha in me required blood, and my rage boiled hot. Those sick bastards… They thought they could do that to my mate? To my baby?!

“What happened next?” Captain Hale asked quietly.

“My memories are faded. At some point, my alpha took control, but I know Paul died. It was years ago. My father’s group was eliminated almost completely by the army. His brother took me, but I don’t really have many memories of what happened after that,” he said.

“That’s how you ended up with Rightful Sons,” I muttered, seething. “They better hope I killed them all…”

“The men who attacked you three days ago were not Rightful Sons,” the captain said slowly.

“Do you know who they were?” Francis asked him, but the captain didn’t reply. He still watched Rene.

“Who is your father?” he asked gently.

Rene turned to stare at him. There was a lot of fear in him, but his expression was harsh.

“My name is Richard Rene Campbell,” my boy said. “Son of Ruben Campbell.”

Both Francis and I froze at the name of one of the most feared terrorists in our state, but the captain looked at my boy like he’d already guessed it all.

“The leader of Jomica terrorists,” he said quietly.

“No,” I said, recovering from my shock. “No. You’re Rene Mercer. My true mate. That name doesn’t exist anymore. The Campbells are gone. All of them.”

My baby smiled and hugged me, but with tears in his eyes. “You almost died because of me…” he whispered.

“Only because I got caught with my pants down, but that won’t happen again,” I said. “You are my fated mate. I will always protect you.”

“So…” Francis muttered quietly. “What does this have to do with those people who attacked Boss…? If they weren’t Rightful Sons, then…?”

His question was met with silence. He knew the answer. We all did.

“Jomica is dead. Gone. You and your army eliminated them,” I spoke to the captain.

“You can’t eliminate all of them. They are cockroaches,” the captain said, hate in his voice. “You can kill hundreds of them, but there will always be a few who survive. They hide, and breed, and soon, they swarm the cities again.”

I rubbed the bridge of my nose in irritation. Jomica… The large group that turned our entire state into a war zone years ago. Our people still hadn’t recovered from it.

“So Jomica is back…” Francis said with a heavy sigh. “Not really surprised, but…”

“They were never gone,” the captain said, and turned to me. “They want the boy. I don’t know how they learned about him, or what they want with him, but it’s clear they’re after him.”

“They’ll never have him,” I said, turning to my mate. “You are safe with me. I’ll never let them put their filthy hands on you again.”

“But I don’t want you to get hurt,” he whispered.

“That’s not going to happen, I promise,” I told him soothingly.

“So… What were you saying about that retirement?” the captain asked.

“You’ll help me keep my boy safe?” I asked him.

“Yes. You have our full support in exchange for your information,” Hale said.

“Then you and I have a deal,” I said.