Hope

One of Zayne's men had followed them in from a reasonable distance and confirmed the apartment number. They got in after five failed attempts to get close to the apartment without tipping off Dr. Nathan or being noticed by anyone.

They did not want one whiff of anything getting back to Nathan to spook him or arouse any suspicions.

And that proved challenging because it was either someone going in or coming out of the apartment building or even the cleaner lurking in the hallway doing his job.

How convenient, at this hour.

The witch Alpha Zayne sent with them did a spell to mask their aura, giving them the essence of a human.

But they had all their abilities.

Finally, after thirty more minutes, they could sneak into the building and into Nathan's Apartment.

The team came up on Dr. White and company unexpectedly in his living room, having a few drinks while he was rambling.

They heard almost every word spilled from his nervous mumblings. In here, they could listen to him clearly, babbling that 'they' were out to get him.

Whomever they were, then he rambled on about his mom. It was like he was going crazy that his men were now working for his mom. She had something extensive in the works.

But he also had something extraordinary in the works. He needed his men, and if she allowed him the chance, he would prove to her that he could do it.

He can make her proud, get her what she wants, and more. He certainly hoped he did not have to go through the tiresome process of hiring new goons to do his dirty work.

Then, in the next moment, he was panicked about something else with his labs. He would stare off into the distance, distracted. While the attractive number beside him looked bored out of her mind.

Abruptly, he stood again to pace, and that was when Carlita, the witch, did her spell.

The real purpose of the witch's presence was finally made known as she quickly whispered some incantations. Dr. Nathan dropped toward the floor, but one team member caught him before he hit the ground and got any bruising.

And the lady friend slouched down on the couch. For now, though they wished to snap Nathan's neck, Zayne had a plan, and they needed to follow the steps in order for this to work.

And a massive part of that was NOT raising unnecessary suspicions. Goddess forbid, Nathan saw bruising and decided to look at his camera feed in-depth in his attempts to find out what happened.

Now he would take extra precautions, which could delay things. They need him to think all is well and proceed as such. Going about his daily activities.

Nevertheless, Carlita instructed the men to place them on the bed so she could work, apart from bugging everything belonging to Dr. Nathan White.

Carlita was there to do two things, knock him out and perform more incantations, exploring his mind and gathering intel. Also, planting the scene of the evening in his mind, he would simply believe he had his meltdown.

He and his lady friend then moved to the bedroom and did the deed. It was terrific, and they fell asleep.

Carlita also inserts a bug of her own into his flesh. The process was painless.

What Alpha Zayne wanted to achieve was huge. The best way to ensure Nathan was always bugged was to have it embedded into his flesh.

Zayne wanted to learn where every single outpost was and Nathan's base of operations, and when he gathered that intel, he planned on hitting them ALL simultaneously.

He said it was perfect. No one would be coming to the rescue as every outpost would be under attack and everything destroyed at once.

With Carlita's bug, should all the man-placed bugs fail, at least they would still have an in.

Everyone was excited. It gave Zayne's people hope, ending this entity once and for all.

Of course, an ambitious plan like that would need men and heavy training.

While Nathan's mother, on the other hand, permanently moved with an entourage, so getting close to her without arousing suspicion was impossible. So for her, they had to go the route of tailing her every movement.

To see what sort of things she was into and if it was the same as Dr. Nathan or worse.

The elite squad was dedicated. The elite team went the distance in their stakeout if Nadera White went to a restaurant for dinner or casually met friends or colleagues.

A few members would go to the said restaurant separately-whether posing as a couple or a few guy friends hanging out. They would order dinner while they observed intently and listened in.

It was always a different set of guys, and it did not matter where she went, even on her shopping trips to the top fashion houses.

Nevertheless, at least this time, things went smoothly for the team at Nathan's. All the bugs were placed, the tenants moved to the bedroom, and the crew exited, wiping the place down and setting back every lamp, bulb, fire extinguisher, and so on that they tampered with.

Friday was a success for Zayne, and he could not wait to share their progress with his mate. For now, he kept the details of what they were working on after she told him she was struggling.

Zayne did not want to distract her with all the details and drama, but he reassured her that they were progressing, giving her hope.

By the Saturday when Mekhi woke up, he wanted to follow up with Mira for information on the flash drive. Mekhi had woken up frantic; his body was still a bit sore but almost fully healed.

However, one of his feet was taking longer, so he still had tremendous pain there.

The memories of that night came flooding back to him like a nightmare. He had fought within an inch of his life. Mekhi thought he would have lost his life early Sunday morning.

In all their battles, Mekhi had never gotten so close to death. He was shaken to his core.

Mekhi felt as if he had not lived, had not met his mate, and had not experienced being loved by someone. He has his younger brother and mom counting on him.

He simply was not ready. He woke with the urgency to bring this entity to its knees once and for all. He is prepared to put this battle behind him as quickly as possible, move on with his life, travel, and find his mate.

He simply wanted to live.

Nevertheless, he had mind link Alpha Zayne, who was relieved to hear Mekhi had woken up.

Zayne had visited the hospital the day he returned. He was thankful that this was one of the places untouched.

He doubted it was because they felt only sick people would be there. After all, they were heartless. So how it remained untouched was a mystery to Zayne.

Nevertheless, he checked on Mekhi and Jane Doe, ensuring they were both ok.

There were still no movements with Jane Doe or indication of her waking up soon, and Mekhi was weak and healing.

Zayne figured concerning Jane Doe. He could have Carlita look at her to determine the cause of her state as he observed more color returning to her face.

He had visited more than once, and Zayne relayed his great news to a comatose Mekhi, unable to keep it in much longer.

Zayne just needed someone to talk to, but that is how the word spread like wildfire.

A nurse overheard him and mentioned it to her staff friend, and then the staff friend mentioned it to her family, and from there, things went haywire.

Zayne had addressed the rumors by Thursday evening. Informing everyone officially that he had met his mate, who was unique and beautiful, and she was everything he could have hoped for and more.

He told them that he was confident they would love her. Zayne also told his people who her father was and that she would be there on Monday.

They were happy for their Alpha, expressing their excitement at meeting her, and could not wait. However, there were murmurs about her father, Alpha Theodore Thornton.

And it was nothing good; they all knew him as the Alpha who refused to give their Alpha the time of day.

Nevertheless, Mekhi felt terrible as he was the one left in charge, so when Zayne arrived, Mekhi told him how sorry he was, and he felt like a failure. Stating that if Zayne had been there, it would never have happened.

However, Zayne had corrected him, especially how it happened. It did not matter if he was there or not. He does not think it would have made much of a difference.

If anything, it might have been worse.