Chapter 145

Chapter 145: Briggs I punched in the code to open the cellar hatch and headed down the stairs. We had set up our workstation in the largest room near the entrance. I found Mina hovering over a table, clutching what was probably her third or fourth cup of coffee for the day.

Ayla had managed to keep her from locking herself down here, but now that she was gone for a few days, I worried she wouldn’t leave.

“You promised me you wouldn’t bury yourself down here, babe,” I said, leaning on the table beside her. “We’re supposed to be visiting the venue in an hour.”

“I know,” she insisted, waving me off. “I’m ready when you are. But we both know how important it is to get through all this.”

“Yes, I do,” I sighed. “But we’re also still waiting on whatever they find from Harry’s other properties here. It’s likely none of this will make any sense without that. So, take a break. It’s Saturday.”

She exhaled slowly. “You’re right,” she said, moving before me and snaking her arms around my neck. “I’m sorry. I just want to get through this so Avla doesn’t have to.”

“I know, but Randy and Cooper said things are quiet right now, and the best thing to do is go about our lives as best we can,” I reminded her. “That means normal work schedules. And normal activities. Like getting ready for our mating ceremony.

“I know, I know,” Mina conceded.

“You keep putting this off, Mina,” I said. “If you don’t want to do this...”

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III J 10:50 Chapter 145 Enggs 1 288 Vouchers “Of course, I want to do it,” she rushed.

“Really? Because you won’t even set a date,” I said bitterly. “So either you don’t want the ceremony, or you don’t want me. And I need to know which it is.”

“How could you say that?” Mina gasped. “Of course, I want you, Briggs. I love you. I want the ceremony. I want everyone to be there.”

“Then what’s going on, babe?” I pled. “Talk to me.”

She rested her forehead on mine. “I don’t want to lose you.

“Why would you think that’s even a possibility?”

“Why wouldn’t you?” she shot back. “Look at the situation we’re in, Briggs. Theo had to send Ayla away, and it nearly destroyed them. And they aren’t marked. What if they find out who I am? What if...”

“That would never keep us apart,” I interrupted. “You know why Theo couldn’t go with Ayla. I don’t have any such limitations. If you go, I go, babe. No question.”

“Then I would feel awful,” she said. “I would hate for you to give up everything just for me.”

laughed. “Mina, you are everything to me,” I insisted. “I love Theo, even when he’s being a d**bass, and I love my pack. But I don’t know if I’m meant to be here. I don’t know if I’m supposed to be his Beta. I’m just doing the best I can with where I’m at. But I do know, without a shadow of a doubt, that I’m meant to be with you. You are the only guarantee in my life, babe. I’m not giving that up for anything. Marked or not.”

I wiped the tears from her cheeks that had escaped. She laughed as she sniffled.

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10:51 Chapter 145. Brigga 288 Vouchers “But,” I continued, “I’d really, really like to make that official to the rest of the world. I’m ready to be as close to you as possible.”

She nodded. “Me, too.” She traced the collar of my shirt. “Maybe two weeks from today?”

A smile spread across my face. “Yeah?”

“If you think we can manage?”

My hand went to the nape of her neck as I pulled her into a kiss. I stood as I held her to me, enjoying every taste and every touch. I spun her around, pushing her onto the table.

”

“Mm-nmm,” she groaned, pushing me away. “As se*y as this is, this” she waved over the stuff on the table she was now sitting on 15 all evidence.”

I huffed, my head falling to her shoulder.

“Yeah, yeah,” I drawled.

–

I kissed her neck and pulled her down. I moved to fix the papers that had been disturbed, pausing when I noticed something odd.

I picked the sheet of paper out from the pile to get a better look. The page was made up of lines and markings. Markings that were very familiar to me.

“What is this?” I asked Mina.

She glanced over my shoulder. “Oh, not sure. I think it may be a legend or cipher, but I have no idea to what. There were a few of them.”

“Show me the rest,” I requested, helping her look for the others.

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L 10:51 Chapter 145 Briggs 18 288 Mouchers Mina easily searched through her system and found what I needed. I laid them out over the table. It took a few minutes to feel confident, but when I saw the line I was looking for. I knew what these were.

“They’re maps,” I said.

“To what?” Mina asked, leaning over them with me.

–

“The tunnels beneath the Onyxerown packhouse,” I told her. “These symbols at the junctions those are guide markers. Kingston used them to lead us through.”

There was no way I could track our path by memory, but I was getting more information about what was down there. There were holes in places where Harry must not have gotten the chance to explore yet, but his notes told me enough.

“He was looking for something,” I mumbled.

“Are you sure?” Mina asked.

I pulled out my phone and searched for a name.

“Yeah, I’m sure,” I insisted. “And it wasn’t just Harry.”

And if I was right, I would be incredibly pis*ed off. The call picked up.

“Hey, we need to meet,” I said firmly over the line. “I’ll send you a time and location.”

I hung up without waiting for an answer.

“I’m sorry, Mina,” I said, stacking the maps and rolling them up, “but I’ ve got to handle this.”

“What’s going on, Briggs?” Mina asked worriedly.

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O د 10:51 94.25%

Chapter 145. Briggs #288 Vouchers “I don’t know, but whatever it is, I don’t think it’s a good thing,” I said. “I need you to do me a huge favor, babe.”

“Anything,” she said.

“Don’t say anything to Ayla or Theo about this yet,” I requested. “Please. Just trust me.”

“As long as you tell me what’s going on when you know,” she stated.

I kissed her. “Deal.”

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