Wolf Called

by Sadie Moss

  Julie shuddered as her body tried to shift, panting when she answered. “There are two… other rooms… like this. Empty. Stairs lead down to each one.”

  “Can you take us?”

  She nodded jerkily. I bent to pick up Rhys’s discarded flashlight, sweeping it over the shifters that followed us as we headed for the door. Some were in decent shape, but some looked almost as malnourished as Julie did. These test subjects obviously hadn’t been cared for the same way I had been.

  Because I was special.

  Anger and disgust burned through me as Julie guided us through a series of smaller hallways. When we hit another wide corridor, she jerked her head toward the door at the end. We passed through it and pounded up the steps, our noise level increasing exponentially now that our group had more than tripled in size. Several of the shifters remained in wolf form, their massive forms moving quickly.

  We made it up two flights before the stairs stopped, bunching us up in a traffic jam of fur and bodies. This was the same level we’d emerged on originally; if my sense of direction was right at all, we were at the end of one of the spokes. We’d need to go farther in toward the main hub to find the stairs that led all the way to the surface.

  Jackson nudged the door open, peering into the hall, then nodded and stepped out. Julie no longer clung to him for support, although her body still shuddered with repressed shifts. Her teeth were clenched in a grimace, but the adrenaline surging through her system appeared to be lending her strength.

  She also didn’t seem to know her way around this level, so Jackson took the lead, hustling down the dark hallway toward the open doorway into the main hub.

  We were halfway there when the siren stopped.

  The sudden silence in the air was so jarring that I almost tripped over my own feet, stumbling until West caught me with a grip on my arm.

  Then the lights went on, the overhead fluorescents banishing the dark shadows around us. I gasped, nearly blinded by the sudden change.

  I hadn’t considered the darkness all that comforting, but the light was terrifying. My footsteps slowed, my gaze riveted to the opening at the end of the hall.

  “Don’t stop!”

  Jackson put on an extra burst of speed, the hard soles of his boots pounding on the floor as he reached out to Julie to pull her along.

  My heart felt like it was trying to crawl up my throat, and I gasped for air as fear stole my breath. A stitch jabbed my side, but I ignored it, sprinting full out down the blindingly bright hallway.

  Finally, we spilled out into the large open space in the middle. It was so much more civilized than the matching room one level below. No cages lined the walls here, no claw marks scored the tile. This level was for humans, not the animals they tried to tame.

  Jackson slowed, swiveling his head around as he searched for a viable exit. He veered to the left, leading us toward another corridor that led away from the main room.

  But before we reached it, several burly men in tactical gear stepped forward to fill the space.

  “Aw, shit!”

  He skidded, changing direction. But it was too late. Strand hunters stood in every doorway leading out of this room, except the one we’d just come through—and we already knew that led to a dead end.

  Jackson pulled up short in the center of the large space, and I stumbled to a stop, colliding with West and Noah as they pressed close to me, guns drawn. Humans murmured and wolves snarled as the group of shifters we’d freed gathered in a tight knot around us.

  No. Not freed.

  We were nowhere close to free yet.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Everyone stood frozen for a heartbeat, and my gaze darted around the space. There were at least fifty hunters gathered around us, filling up the entryways and boxing us in. All the men threatening us were big, muscled, and carried themselves like soldiers. But the face I dreaded most—the chiseled features, thick neck, and short spiked hair of the blond Terminator, Nils—wasn’t present.

  Good. At least I wouldn’t be killed by that fucker.

  “Take the subject in the middle alive. Keep one or two of the other intruders alive for questioning,” a man with short red hair barked. “Put down any others you have to.”

  The other hunters nodded sharply. As if they shared a single brain, all of them stepped forward, closing in on us. The wolves around me shifted and growled, hackles rising. Sariah, still in human form, tried to step in front of Rhys, but he stuck an arm out, holding her back. His other hand held a gun aimed at the hunters.

  For a moment, tension crackled in the air like lightning. Then one of the shifter wolves lunged forward, teeth snapping. A dark-haired hunter swiveled to the right, about to take the wolf down—but before he could shoot, Rhys’s gun let off a quick pop-pop. The hunter went down with a cry, one arm flying up to clutch at the bullet wounds in his shoulder. Without missing a beat, the wolf leapt on him, tearing into the man’s wounded shoulder as if she were trying to remove the bullets with her teeth.

  The man screamed, and chaos erupted.

  More gunshots fired from the hunters surrounding us, and our tight group broke apart as people scrambled for cover. The room was mostly bare, so there wasn’t much to hide behind. I ducked, clutching the grip of my own weapon with sweaty hands. Snarls and yells rose in the air around me, punctuated by the loud bangs of gunfire.

  Beside me, West glanced around wildly. “We need to get out of this room! We’re sitting ducks in he—”

  His words were cut off with a grunt as a bullet slammed into his chest. Surprise and pain registered on his face as he went down, his body propelled backward by the force of the blow. He hit the floor hard, and time seemed to stop.

  My heart stopped.

  A piece of my soul withered and died.

  No… Not West. Not my mate.

  Rhys roared, stepping forward to aim at the man who’d taken down West. One shot ended his life, but I didn’t celebrate the hunter’s death. I hardly noticed the blood.

  My attention was riveted to West’s chest, as Rhys covered us and Jackson scrambled over to him, running his hands over the dark vest he wore. After a second, West coughed, rolling over onto his side as he gasped for air.

  “Fuck. He’s okay! The vest stopped the bullet.” Jackson looked up, his amber eyes shining with relief.

  My blood turned to water in my veins. Even hearing those words wasn’t enough to banish the cold fear that ran through me at the thought of what could’ve happened. How much worse it could’ve been.

  My wolf howled at the devastating vision, rage filling her—filling me. Her anger was my anger as I spun, setting my sights on a pair of hunters who’d taken cover in the doorway and were shooting into the room.

  With a feral scream, I ran toward them, aiming my weapon and squeezing the trigger over and over, just like West had instructed me to the first time he’d put a gun in my hands.

  I was a lousy fucking shot, and every single bullet I fired missed its target. But it didn’t matter. It kept them from attacking anyone else, kept them from shooting at me. When I was just a few yards away, I tossed my gun to the floor, letting the shift that had been burning inside me finally happen. Even as I continued forward, my muscles and bones broke apart and reformed, fur sprouting and snout elongating. Teeth and claws growing.

  It hurt like it always did, but the sharp bite of pain only fed my rage, spurring me on. As soon as I was fully wolf, I leapt, pushing off the slick, tiled floor with my massive back paws.

  I saw the men’s expressions change. The two large hunters, schooled in combat and violence, blanched with fear at the sight of me. Both of them raised their weapons, but by the time they did, I was already on them. I hit one with the full force of my weight, bowling him over. One bite took care of his shooting arm. Another snap of my jaws ended his life.

  While I was distracted, the other man leapt on top of me, wrapping his arm around my neck and digging the barrel of his gun into my fur. I howled, shaking li

ke a wet dog, but he clung fiercely.

  “Scrubs!”

  Noah’s voice was laced with panic, and a second later, a gunshot pierced the air. A sting of pain snapped at my side, and for a moment, I thought that was it— the hunter had shot me.

  I waited for the world to go black as death claimed me. But instead, the man on top of me groaned.

  Liquid dripped onto my fur as his muscles slackened, his weight seeming to increase as he went limp. I shook again, and he slid off me, falling onto his back on the floor. He’d been shot through the chest—the same bullet must’ve hit me too, but had barely done any damage.

  I shot a glance at Noah, my enhanced sight picking up every detail of his features as relief and worry moved across his face. His gun was still aimed at the man.

  There was no time to thank him though. Movement in my periphery drew my attention, and I whirled just as two more hunters raced toward me. Blood dripped from my muzzle as I drew my lips back in a warning snarl. I threw myself at the first man, tearing through his flesh like tissue paper. I clamped my jaws around his arm and yanked, throwing him off balance. Then I turned for the next man, hungry for more, desperate to sate my predatory rage. His blood tasted like copper on my tongue, mingling with the sweeter taste of the first hunter’s.

  Shouts, screams, and howls became my soundtrack as I moved without thought, letting the wild savagery of my wolf reign. I attacked like a machine, tearing through flesh and bone over and over again.

  Finally, words pierced the battle haze in my skull.

  “Alexis! We gotta go! You’ve cleared an exit. We need to get the fuck outta here!”

  Jackson stood in the doorway where the hunters had been taking cover, his arm still draped around Julie. She looked worse, sagging in his grip as her muscles and bones moved under her skin—as if she’d already burned through every bit of strength the adrenaline had given her.

  My mate aimed into the room, firing occasionally at anyone who got too close. Inside the large space, several downed wolf bodies lay on the unforgiving tile, joining the bodies of the dead hunters.

  Pain stabbed my heart. Damn it. We’d tried to rescue all the prisoners in this complex, but if we didn’t get the fuck out of here soon, our appearance would end up being their death sentence instead.

  I dipped my large head, my tongue darting out to lap at the blood that covered my nose and muzzle. Then I glanced behind me. The arched, open doorway where Jackson stood led to a corridor. I barely recognized it with the lights on, but I could tell by the scent it was the same one we’d come down when we’d first emerged from the vent.

  Tilting my head back, I howled, the urgent, plaintive sound drawing the attention of the other shifters in the room. Rhys and West barreled toward me, Sariah sandwiched between them. Something in my heart unwound a little to see West back on his feet, but bloodlust was pounding too hard in my veins for a proper celebration.

  The other wolves and shifters raced toward us as we sped down the hall toward a stairwell access door.

  “Go! Go, go!” Jackson gestured them through, holding the door as Rhys and West laid down cover fire for them. Noah had shifted sometime during the fight, and his muzzle glistened with blood as he urged the stragglers on. Julie sagged against the wall, her eyelids drooping.

  When the last of the shifter test subjects was through the door, Rhys jerked his head, and the rest of us darted through after them. Our footsteps sounded like rolling thunder as we raced up the stairs, moving as quickly as we could in such a confined space. As we reached the landing of the next level, the stairwell door below us opened again.

  Shit. They were right on top of us.

  “Faster! Fucking faster!”

  Jackson had his arm wrapped around Julie’s waist, practically carrying her up the stairs like a sack of potatoes, and I had a sudden sense of déjà vu as the memory of our first escape from Strand washed over me. Of the men helping me stay on my feet as I stumbled, my limbs numb from shock and fear.

  Panting and gasping, we rounded the corner of the next flight of stairs.

  So close.

  But so many of us jostling together slowed us down. I glanced back. The hunter leading our pursuers—the burly red-headed man who’d called out instructions—whipped around the corner behind us, bracing his feet on the landing as he aimed his gun, steadying the grip with both hands.

  “No!” Julie’s voice was little more than a croak, but she tore herself away from Jackson’s grip.

  Her shifting features contorted in a mask of rage as she turned to face the hunter, running back toward him. Broken, unstable limbs propelled her forward as a gunshot rang out.

  The bullet hit her in the gut, but it was too late. With a ragged cry, she launched herself off the landing, flying down the stairs toward the man, gravity turning her into a half-human wrecking ball. He fired again before she landed on top of him, wrapping her arms and legs around him as they both went down. They fell together, tumbling down the stairs in a messy tangle of limbs. His head struck the steps at an awkward angle, and when they came to a rest on the landing below, they both lay still.

  “Fuck!” Jackson stared down after them, his face a mask of shock. He moved to run down the stairs, but West caught his shoulder.

  “She’s gone, man. She’s gone.”

  Jackson’s wild amber eyes darted between West and the contorted bodies in the stairwell. Julie’s small form was sprawled across the hunter’s larger one, her limbs no longer rippling, her bones no longer breaking and reforming.

  Blood spread slowly from the two bullet wounds that had taken her life, but the expression on her face was tranquil. Almost peaceful.

  Her suffering was over.

  But already, the door below was opening again. New pursuers would be on us any second. Wrenching his gaze away, Jackson joined West, and we sprinted up the stairs. West threw down the last of his charges as we went, no longer bothering to place them carefully. The shifter pack was ahead of us now, and by the time we finally reached a hallway on the ground floor, the last few test subjects were slipping out the employee access door at the back of building.

  I put on a final burst of speed, my thick claws gouging into the floor. Jackson and Noah brought up the rear, their panting breaths reassuring me they were still there, while West and Rhys raced ahead of me. Sariah had shifted to wolf form like Noah, but still stuck close to her brother as we spilled out into the cool night air, joining the rest of the shifters.

  West shot a look over his shoulder, making sure we’d all cleared the door, then turned to Rhys quickly. “Light it up, brother. Now!”

  “With fucking pleasure.”

  Pushing his dark hair out of his face, Rhys pulled the detonator Carl had given him from his pocket. His gaze flicked to Sariah for a half-second, a look of fierce protectiveness overtaking his face.

  Then he flipped the top off and jammed his thumb on the button.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  For a moment, nothing happened.

  My heart skipped a beat. Would it fail? Had we placed the explosives wrong? Maybe they were too far away to be detonated remotely.

  Then a faint noise caught my ear, almost more of a feeling than a sound.

  The first explosions were so far below ground they barely registered. But after a few seconds, deep, louder booms could be heard. Then several more sounded, growing in intensity.

  Finally, a fireball burst through the employee access door we’d just come through, spitting out a burning figure with it. The man screamed and writhed, throwing himself to the ground and rolling to put out the flames that licked across his skin. Before he could even stand, several wolves pounced on him, ending his life in a harsh cry.

  Silence fell, the peaceful sound so strange and eerie it made my skin prickle, putting my hackles on end. No more figures emerged from the building. No sirens or alarms cut the air.

  The explosions had grown loud enough to be heard even above ground, but at this hour of the night in this remote corner of Salt Lake City, no one was around to hear it.

  But we couldn’t count on that luck to hold for long. What had been a group of five going in was now nearly thirty, with a mix of clothed and naked humans and large wolves. There was absolutely nothing subtle about us.

  “Carl?” West turned his head, speaking into his earpiece. “We’re out. And… we’ve got a few more people with us than we expected. Any other company on the way?”

  He listened intently, then shook his head at us. I whuffed out a relieved breath, and Noah’s wolf nuzzled my neck.

  Rhys spoke up, addressing Carl too. “Can you redirect surveillance cameras to give us a clear path out of town? We need to get into the foothills. I don’t know how long we have before they send reinforcements.”

  Whatever Carl said must’ve been something like “yes,” because Rhys jerked his head, gesturing for us to follow him.

  Sariah shifted back to her human form then turned to the others, her blue eyes—such a close match to Rhys’s—shining. Her voice shook slightly, but she was keeping her shit together way better than I had after my rescue. “We’re not safe yet. You don’t have to come with us if you don’t want, but I’m sticking with my brother. I’m not getting caught again.”

  Rhys shot her a proud look before grabbing her hand and leading us away from the building. The other shifters must’ve shared Sariah’s sentiment about not getting caught again, because every single one of them followed. Those still in human form had glassy eyes and dazed expressions, and several of the wolves limped or nursed injuries.

  Shit. They were in rough shape—physically and emotionally. We needed to get somewhere safe as soon as possible.

  But where was safe?

  Was any location, no matter how remote, truly secure as long as Strand was still out there? As long as they were still conducting tests? As long as they still wanted their experiments back?

  -->