ATTACKING ETHAN

“Will we be killing the perpetrators, or is this a stealth extraction of my pack members?”

“We’re not executioners,” says Jake.

It’s another three hours’drive until we finally approach our destination. The terrain breaks, mountains rise from the desert waste, their slopes robed in green pines. The road slithers up the grade. The sleepy miles of empty, tan expanse give way to vigilance. Yet everyone watches the trees, expecting something to leap out from behind them.

“What’s the plan exactly here?” I ask, breaking the silence.

All eyes focus on Jake.

He stays staring straight ahead when he answers. “We go in as Enforcers under the cover of just checking things out. We find your pack members. We make it clear that they’re coming with us and that if there’s a problem, all hell will break loose with the Enforcers. They won’t want that, and we’ll remove your pack members. Then, with the victims as proof, the Enforcers will come in and handle the Ethan Pack.”

“Or?” Lucas asks, lifting a bro