I liked the new wolf that Max had brought. The female was a good role model for the pups, and Betta had fallen head over heels in love with her, following behind Maggie wherever she went. Soren was still his reserved self and Lexi remained stuck to my side.
Shane had taken to spending some time alone with Soren, hidden in the far reaches of the compound. I wasn’t sure what the males were doing, but Soren always came back tired but more confident. I figured they were doing things that the male pup needed, given his dominance.
I knew this couldn’t last.
Max and Shane had left for a meeting earlier in the evening. I was sitting on the deck, Maggie and the pups lying around my feet. It was a perfect evening for a mug of chamomile tea. Maggie had been here every day. Max picked her up in the evenings and dropped her back off every morning.
A large wolf appeared outside the fence, near the back wall. It raised its hackles, its teeth shining in the dim light. It looked like the female that had attacked recently, but I wasn’t sure. The wolf tried to jump the fence, but fell back, not able to clear the extensions that Shane and Max had added to the walls.
Soren stood, his head lowered in hunting mode, his eyes intent on the intruder. He was silent, showing that he was ready to protect his home. Maggie stood near him, but she appeared more uncertain, shifting back and forth on her paws. Submissive wolves tended not to fight, but she looked like she might make an exception to the rule tonight. They ran, but Maggie hadn’t run yet, standing near me, her whole body trembling. Lexi yipped and Betta stood in front of Maggie.
The other wolf tried again to jump into the enclosure, falling back once more and whining after hitting the ground hard. I wanted to believe that was it. Except there was a swarm of large wolves milling about outside the fence. I had never seen ones this large, and I knew these would jump inside.
But they didn’t need to, because dark shadows coalesced into men. Men wearing black clothes with wire cutters in hand that they used to cut large holes into our fence.
Shit!
I took out my phone and started to call Shane, but the call didn’t go through. Glancing at it, I noticed it had no bars. No reception. I frowned. I always had service here. Unless……these people breaking in had disrupted service. Turning, I started to run into the house, only to halt.
Standing at the glass doors was Edward.
I frowned. How had he found me here? Why had he come?
“Edward?”
Lexi twirled around and attacked the man, going for his calves.
“Lexi!”
I ran to grab the pup, but Edward kicked out, aiming at the pup.
“Get off, bitch! Or I will hurt her.”
Confused, I shouted “I am not on….”
Edward kicked out again. His foot hit Lexi in the side. She slid across the deck, hard. Edward grabbed me, pulling me in close with an arm around my neck, his other hand holding my arm tight enough that I was sure I would have a bruise tomorrow.
“Get away, you fucking wolf.” Edward growled at the pup. Maggie and Betta pivoted together, eyes going to us. Soren stayed focus on the men in front of us.
“Don’t hurt her!” I cried out, my hands going to the arm around my throat, struggling to remove it. Edward’s arm was like a steel bar, pressing into my throat, cutting off my breath.
He tightened his hold and leaned down to whisper in my ear.
“I have been looking for you, Holden. If only you had come back into town like a good girl, then I wouldn’t have discovered that you have my missing pups. And look, you also brought me an extra female that I can use.”
I froze in horror. Edward? Edward had taken the pups and put them into a lab?
“Why me, Edward?” I choked out.
“You are special, Holden, even if you don’t realize it. When you and Thomas hadn’t been able to have kids, I had told him to get me a sample of your DNA so I could do tests. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that you had lycanthrope DNA. I want to breed you with a male, to see if you can have babies with him, since you couldn’t with a pure human like my brother.”
Lycanthrope? Pure human? What was he babbling about? Edward must be crazy!
Creak! I watched men peeling open a section of fence, making a hole large enough for the wolf pack to get through.
“Run, Lexi! Take Betta, Maggie and Soren and hide! Don’t worry about me, just go!” I screamed until Edward’s arm cut off my air supply. I struggled, dark spots dancing in front of my eyes.
“Grab the pups!” He yelled out, dragging me into the house.
I saw Lexi stand and shake her head. Maggie ran over and pushed her with her nose. She grabbed the dazed pup by her scruff, before she and Betta slipped over the side of the deck. I hoped there was somewhere there for them to hide.
I reached down with one hand and punched back into Edward’s thigh with the last of my strength. He wasn’t as solid as Shane was, but I was at a disadvantage with the lack of oxygen. Edward released me enough for me to suck in enough air to scream out.
“Soren! Hide!”
He clapped a hand over my mouth and dragged me through the house, exiting through the front door and moving towards a car sitting in the driveway. I had a brief glance of Soren slipping over the side of the deck, opposite from where Maggie, Lexi and Betta had gone. A large black wolf was hot on his tail, though. I gasped, trying to take in more air, but couldn’t.
Edward drew me over to a dark SUV idling in our driveway. He opened a door and reached inside. I struggled to get away, but the lack of air was causing my eyesight to darken. Tears fell down my face as I saw Edward pull a syringe out of the car.
“Why, Edward?” I whimpered, my voice almost gone.
He stabbed me with the syringe, plunging the liquid into my vein at my neck. As my sight dimmed, I heard the man gloat.
“Thomas was stupid. He didn’t realize what he had for a wife. I had to get rid of him. Otherwise, he would never have let me do my experiments. He loved you.” This was spat out at me before everything went dark.
Shane
Lexi screamed at me on the Pack bonds.
Intruders! Coming through the fence and…. Uncle Shane! One has Holden! Bad man! It’s the Bad Man! He has Holden! Come, save her! Please come save her!
I was in the truck with Max, returning to the compound, when Max jerked to the side of the road.
“Maggie says they are being attacked.”
“Lexi says that they have Holden and I think at least one of them also had been in the lab because she called him the Bad Man.” I flung the door open, shifting as I hit the ground.
Call the Pack.
Max dialed Baron’s number, explaining what little we knew. He shifted and followed me. The Pack was too far away. It would take fifteen minutes until they arrived. Attackers could do significant damage in a short amount of time. We prayed we were close enough to save the pups… and Holden.
I raced through the forest, my mind intent on reaching the compound. Hitting the back of the group, I didn’t stop but leaped at a man holding a two-way communicator. I landed on his back, my teeth sinking into his throat. The man fell forward, the communicator dropping out of his hand as he fell to the ground.
I didn’t want to kill him, so I shifted my grip to the man’s collar and lifted him, slamming his head into the ground. Another wolf attacked me, biting one of my rear legs. I twirled, my teeth snapping. Max came up behind that wolf and grabbed its neck, ripping it out with one bite. I turned towards the man crawling away. I shifted to human and then leaned over the man and slammed his head into the ground, this time knocking him unconscious.
A shot hit me in the left shoulder, and I twirled around, falling. Max jumped the shooter, bringing him down. I got up and ran to my friend, punching the man in the face with my uninjured arm before taking up the gun. I knelt, realizing this was a sniper gun, and I could shoot it using either hand. I had a special way of propping it on my injured arm to help keep it steady.
I took aim and started shooting, both close range and further away. I took out several wolves plus another man before using its scope to look inside the compound.
I watched as a man dragged Holden inside the house and then adjusted to watch the house’s entry. The tall man dragged her out of the front door. He kept her in front of him, knowing that she was his protection. That must be Edward. Holding my breath, I waited for a chance to take the man out, trusting Max to worry about the surrounding wolves. I felt the Pack draw near, but they were not close enough yet.
Edward somehow kept Holden against him so I couldn’t get a clear shot. Damn it! I didn’t want to hurt her. I watched the door open and then saw her slump. What had Edward done? By the way he pushed her into the car, I figured he must have sedated her. When Edward stood up to belt Holden in, I took my shot.
He jerked, the shot hitting the car just inches from his side. Fuck! I needed to get to the firing range more often. The man dove into the car, pushing Holden further in and shutting the door. Damn it! They planned this well. They had a driver waiting in the truck. It roared away, its tires spinning.
I put out a call to my Alpha.
Road. At least two men in a car that took Holden.
I felt acknowledgment from Baron. I hacked his bond and heard him command two of the Pack to split off and head for the road. One of them was Splinter, one of the fastest wolves we had. Not only that, he also had bikes stashed at various locations throughout the forest and town. He had the best chance of following them, either as wolf or man.
Max yelped, and I turned back towards him. Using the gun as a baseball bat, I hit the wolf that had the doctor pinned on the ground. Max rolled over, panting, not rising. I dropped the gun and shifted. My wolf was bigger than the other wolf. And while I didn’t like to kill humans, I didn’t have the same rules for rogue wolves.
As I started for that wolf, another one hit me in the side. I didn’t waver but carried the wolf with me several steps until I got to my original target, grabbing the wolf that had attacked Max by the throat, before dropping and rolling on top of the one on my back. With a flick of my head, I ripped out the throat of one wolf while almost crushing the other. Not taking chances, I rocked several times before rolling back over, bleeding from the bites. Turning my head, I then killed that wolf.
Looking over at Max, I saw that the doctor had risen, but was limping on three legs, the fourth one bleeding and crooked. Max slipped into the compound through the hole where the intruders had opened the fence, huffing.
A large black wolf was standing near the medical hut. It was facing off a smaller, gray and black wolf — Maggie.
Maggie, who was so submissive she was the bottom of our Pack, was holding the wolf off from the pups. I passed Max, moving towards the side of the deck, creeping up on them. Maggie’s eyes didn’t leave the black wolf. She was standing over Soren, who was down on the ground, panting, with Betta beside him.
Where was Lexi?
The black wolf tensed, and I was sure I wouldn’t get to him before Maggie got hurt. Except, a small girl of about six peeked out from behind the shelf of medical supplies, raising a gun. She shot the black wolf in its neck. Twice. It yipped once in surprise, its eyes going to the girl, before it stumbled to the deck.
I approached the black, sniffing.
“He’s out for the count, Uncle Shane.” The little girl, wrapped in a towel, appeared and placed a hand on my head. “I used the tranquilizer gun.”
And shot him twice. Max limped up the stairs. That much will keep him out for a while, if it doesn’t kill him.
I looked up at her, proud. Good job, Lexi, I sent via our Pack bond.
The girl wilted. “But they still got Holden, Uncle Shane! The Bad Man got Holden!” Her voice turned into a wail and Max flinched at the sound.
Lexi, please calm down. The Pack is coming and some of them are tracking her. I will go rescue her and bring her home. I promise. I nosed the little girl, rubbing my large head against her.
Lexi hiccuped, looking at the other three. “Maggie, thank you.” She squatted next to her brother and sister and started to pet them.
Maggie shifted, moving to the side of the deck to pick up a dress she must have brought here at one point and slipped it on. “No thanks needed, Lexi. I couldn’t let them take you.” She knelt beside the little girl and then checked the other two pups over. Looking up, she saw Max, who had laid down near them. “Doctor…”
Max rolled over, unconscious, as Baron and Miranda and others of the Pack appeared. Baron shifted, checking the doctor. “I reckon we are too late for the fight but in time for cleanup.”
I huffed and then slipped inside. By the time I had shifted, threw on some clothes, and came back out, adjusting my belt, someone had laid Max out on the deck and was examining his leg. Betta had shifted, turning into a taller girl than Lexi, but not by much. Soren was still in wolf pup form and Miranda was cleaning up his bite wounds, crooning to him about how a brave wolf alpha he was.
“You hurt at all?” Baron’s voice was gruff.
I shook my head. The bullet had gone straight through. With me shifting, the wound had healed fast and now was only a dull ache. I could live with it.
“Have you heard in yet from Splinter?” I was impatient for news about Holden.
Baron stood, cracking his neck, before coming over to me. “Yes. He has shifted and is following the truck now on his bike. Boomer grabbed a ride and installed a tracker on the truck when they were stopped at a light. They can now follow them from further away.”
I snorted. “Boomer, I swear, has the gift of invisibility. He is like a chameleon, able to blend in with his surroundings. It was smart of you to send him with Splinter. We can leave soon.”
Baron nodded. “I sent two wolves back to get the trucks. We can go when they arrive.” He moved off to go talk with other Pack members.
Lexi walked over to me and hugged my waist. “Uncle Shane?”
I looked down on my niece’s head. I brushed her red hair back from her face. “What, Lexi?”
“We need to get Holden back. She is part of our Pack. You also need to tell her about us.”
I knelt beside the little girl. “You are right. We will get her back, and I will explain to her about lycanthropes. She arrived to heal you three. You are now well enough to shift. We owe her so much for that, baby. You and Betta and Soren are my family and I will take care of you always.”
I wrapped Lexi in a hug. Betta came over and joined us, wearing a simple shift dress that Maggie must have found for the little girl. I enclosed her in the hug.
A wail came from over near where Miranda was cleaning Soren’s leg. The pup lifted his head and then, within moments, a small six-year-old boy was lying on the deck. Miranda reached behind her and handed him shorts and a T-shirt. He pulled them on and limped over to his sisters. Lexi and Betta started to pull out of my arms, but I grumbled before pulling the boy in.
“My arms are big enough for all three of you peanuts.”
“Well, welcome back, pups.” The strain was clear in Max’s voice. He had shifted, but he was still in a lot of pain. Baron was bandaging his leg, while Maggie searched for an antibiotic shot to give to him.
“Welcome back to the living, Doc.” I grinned at my friend, my arms still clutching the kids.
Two horns honked in the driveway. I gave the pups a squeeze and then stood up.
Lexi panicked. “Where are you going, Uncle Shane?”
I wrapped one arm around her shoulders and then lifted her chin to look her in the eyes. “To go bring Holden home, Lexi. You three can stay as kids or change back to pups, it’s up to you. Maggie, Miranda and Max will stay here with you, along with some of my Pack. The rest are coming with me to get Holden.”
I went to take a step, but Lexi grabbed my shirt, tugging on it to show she wanted to say something more. I leaned down so that my head was level with hers.
“They are not your Pack anymore, Uncle Shane. Soren and Betta and I are your Pack. Maggie is your Pack. Holden is your Pack. Uncle Baron’s Pack is not your Pack.”
She moved over to stand near Max, turning to watch us go.
I stared at her in shock until Baron yelled back at me.
“Come on, Shane! The trail is growing cold!”
Turning, I moved through the house and out to the driveway, sliding into the front passenger side of the SUV that Baron now was driving. Doors slammed as Pack members joined the hunt, the cars peeling out of the driveway.
