Reed: Nano Wolves 4

by Donna McDonald

  “Normal? Us?” Brandi and Stewart said at the same time.

  Then they looked at each other and laughed. Their family was the most abnormal one in the world. None of them minded, but others typically freaked out. But then, most teenagers didn’t regularly watch their father turn into a giant bear.

  “Terra has a unique outlook,” Stewart said to his mother.

  “Which she likely got from her extremely unique parents,” Brandi replied, patting her now snickering son’s shoulder.

  “What’s the favor?” Terra asked, sliding off the table and dusting off her shorts with one hand.

  Brandi watched Stewart paying very close attention to Terra’s brushing hand. Her mouth twisted as she remembered Katarina’s comment about Stewart needing ‘the talk’ soon. Swearing wouldn’t change anything, so she didn’t bother. Gareth could handle this parenting hurdle, at least with the boys.

  She smiled at both of them. “Katarina went off alone somewhere. We’re trying to nail down final plans for relocating, but Reed’s head is not where it needs to be. The man’s distracted because he keeps watching for Katarina to return. Can you find her and ask her to come join us? I’d go look for her myself, but I need to be in the meeting to keep Reed on track. We’re only on a quick break.”

  “Sure,” Stewart said. “I’ll go find her.”

  “What am I? Invisible? We’ll find her,” Terra corrected with a smile as she punched Stewart’s arm.

  How sad was it that he was getting used to being punched by females? In Terra’s case, he even sort of liked it. Hopefully, they weren’t leaving bruises.

  Stewart nodded even though he’d mapped out the entire camp in his head yesterday. With minimal effort, he could easily locate Katarina on his own. The place was barely bigger than the backyard at their house, and that wasn’t including the tree-covered hillside behind them where he, Kent, and Aggie ran drills.

  Brandi smiled at her son’s caution with the girl. He was as careful with Terra as he was with Aggie. “Thank you,” she said, giving the boy a quick hug and kiss on his cheek before striding away.

  “I know where Katarina is. She’s at the sanctuary,” Terra whispered when she thought Brandi was out of earshot.

  Stewart felt both his eyebrows raise up. Did the human girl have psychic gifts like his Aunt Heidi? “How do you know that?”

  Terra giggled. “Because Katarina asked me if she could go sit there for a while. She said she needed some peace and quiet.”

  Stewart blew out a breath. “You could have told my mom that.”

  Terra snorted. “Dude, I do not tell adults everything. I only tell them what’s critical. Otherwise, I’d never get to do anything around here. Now we get to do something useful and they’ll think we’re wonderfully behaved children. I call it laying groundwork. When I break the rules, they don’t react so badly because I’ve been so good in every other way.”

  “Very calculating,” Stewart said.

  “I call it resourceful,” Terra corrected.

  Stewart laughed. “You reason like my brother, Kent.”

  Terra chuckled. “That better be a compliment, Stewart Longfeather.”

  Stewart thought of his siblings. They’d been together every day since they got pulled from the orphanage. This trip was the first time he’d been away from them that he could recall. “My brother and sister are more special than I am.”

  Terra hooked her arm through Stewart’s as they walked. “I seriously doubt that, but if they’re anything like you, I’m sure they’re amazing.”

  Stewart nodded and wondered if Kent and Aggie were going through their own amazing changes back home.

  Katarina tuned out the village noises behind her. Out here in their sacred space, she was nearly out of sight of the compound buildings. The dappled light slipping through the thick foliage overhead brought her the kind of peace she hadn’t experienced in a long time. She missed Russia sometimes, even though she would likely never return to her homeland.

  Not that she wasn’t grateful to have been saved by such wonderful people here in Alaska, but she missed the land she’d been so abruptly ripped from without her permission. The university had already replaced her because they assumed she was dead. Her apartment and her meager belongings were also gone.

  What would she have now if she returned to Russia? Her father’s pack was only full of enemies. Had Nicolai felt that way when he’d left the pack to roam the world?

  “I am helping Reed make friends with whole group of bears, Nicolai. Is this why you saved me?”

  There was no answer, but Katarina didn’t mind. Perhaps Nicolai’s wolf spirit had more important matters to see to back at the village he’d loved so much.

  Thinking of the village, she wondered how Yana was faring. Luckily, her sister was also a survivor. Yana had survived being captured by the evil scientists they were trying now so hard to fight.

  It was quiet here in the bear sanctuary—so quiet that Katarina heard the soft crunch of leaves under light boots mere seconds before masked people carrying guns emerged from between trees. She counted eight walking in front and more behind them that she could not yet see. They were dressed very much like those who had attacked Reed’s village.

  Katarina rose and lightly exited the area, walking backwards so she could guard herself. She needed to warn the others, but she also needed to keep these people from reaching the village. How was she supposed to do both?

  When she backed into something that stumbled away from her, Katarina swung to see a startled Stewart. Next to him was a laughing Terra. She shushed the girl, but it was too late. A quiet snick of a weapon and Terra’s laughter ended. Looking down where she’d fallen, Katarina saw a dart sticking out of Terra’s fragile human neck.

  She grabbed the boy and gripped him hard enough to bring pain. “Take Terra and go back, Stewart. Tell others before it is too late. There are attackers in the woods. I will hold them off as long as I can.”

  Stewart stared down at the girl on the ground. “They shot her—they shot Terra.”

  “Probably with tranquilizer meant for bear,” Katarina said. She pushed the boy to the ground as two more darts whizzed by over their heads. “There is no time to answer your brain’s questions. Call your inner wolf and get going. You must get help before it is too late.”

  Katarina jumped to her feet and bent to run toward the attackers. Her gaze swept the area. Two more attackers with tranquilizer guns exited the woods as she watched. She faced their front line and screamed with all the fury her human voice allowed.

  “I am here,” she yelled, then screamed again in Russian as she ran to fight.

  With his heart hammering in fear, Stewart crawled over and pulled the limp, unconscious Terra over one of his shoulders. He stood up with her easier than he’d imagined he could and took off running. His skin burned and tore as he ran. He wanted to check to see what was happening, but he was too scared to stop running.

  He had to get Terra to the bears.

  He had to find his parents.

  Something sharp hit his shoulder and sent fire racing through him.

  “No,” Stewart screamed as his eyes blurred. He made himself keep going. Behind him, he heard Katarina screaming obscenities at the attackers in Russian.

  His legs seemed to grow stronger as he continued to run. At the edge of the village, an older woman saw him. She covered her mouth, then uncovered it to yell at a man who rushed over to join her.

  Both of them stared fearfully at him as he headed toward them. It worried him, but there was no time to wonder why.

  “They shot her. Call for help. Kidnappers are here,” he yelled.

  “That’s Jon’s daughter. Give her to me. I’ll see she gets to her parents safely,” the man said.

  Trained to obey adults, Stewart immediately handed Terra over. In the process, he finally saw his hands, now covered in coarse, thick hair. His fingernails were horribly deformed. What was happening to him?

  He looked dow
n at his legs. They were muscular and strong. At least that was good. No wonder he’d been able to run all this way.

  As Stewart studied his hands, he felt his finger bones turning to fiery liquid before they extended into sharp-pointed claws. He looked back at the sanctuary where a large white wolf was trying her best to keep the attackers too busy to advance.

  Katarina. She needed help.

  “Take Terra to my mother. She’ll know what to do to save her from the tranquilizer. I have to go back and help Katarina. We will need even more help to stop them. The attackers have weapons.”

  The man nodded that he understood. The woman nodded and ran to a giant metal bell hanging on a wooden frame. She tugged until it rang out loudly. The sound hurt his ears and made his fangs ache.

  Wait… fangs?

  He put his new claws to his mouth but couldn’t feel his teeth with them.

  Stewart forgot his own problems as he watched the man shift into a bear. He’d called out in pain during his change from human to the creature before him, but he’d done it to get his beast’s help. Somehow Terra had ended up on his back during the transition. The man who was now a bear lumbered away with Terra with all the speed his shifted form allowed.

  Stewart closed his eyes and breathed. Katarina was right. There was no time to question or to be afraid. His parents would never get there in time to save Katarina. Whatever he was becoming, he needed to the biggest, baddest version of it right now. He turned back toward the sanctuary and watched several of the attackers converge on the white wolf to restrain it.

  If there was ever a time to pray, it was probably now. “Hey… uh… great Wolf Spirit of Nicolai Vashchenko… if you can hear me, will you please help me? I’m just a kid. Katarina needs real help.” Taking a deep breath, Stewart screamed loudly like he’d heard Katarina do as she ran into the fight. He screamed until a strange sound erupted from his throat and turned into unholy howling that sent birds scurrying from the treetops.

  When he skidded to a halt in the middle of things, the attackers momentarily stopped shooting to stare at him. They even lowered their weapons.

  While the bad guys were acting so stupid, Stewart used the time and looked around for Katarina. He didn’t see a naked human, or a tranquilized white wolf anywhere.

  On the ground, though, were what remained of two attackers she must have killed.

  But where was Katarina?

  Frustrated beyond anything he’d ever felt, Stewart tried to call her name, but all that escaped his mouth was another ear-shattering howl that hurt his own ears. He stalked to the nearest man staring at him, lifted his body, and threw him as hard as he could into the nearest tree. The man made one guttural sound, slid to the ground, and lay still.

  Since stopping the one bad guy hadn’t been hard to do, Stewart looked around and headed toward another one. Three tranquilizer darts suddenly hit his body all at once—one in his shoulder and two in his chest. Howling at the sting of them, he gripped the projectiles with clawed fingers and ripped them out. His skin rippled and churned at the mercy of whatever stuff the darts contained, which upset him more.

  Furious at being shot, Stewart glared at the shooters and howled loudly again.

  Their sudden yelling retreat as they ran away shocked him and made him pause to wonder why. When he realized they were all disappearing back into the surrounding trees, he scanned the sanctuary area once more before chasing after them.

  Some part of his mind said following them was stupid—and that part definitely sounded like Kent in his head—but still he couldn’t stop. He had to know where the attackers were going. He had to find Katarina. She’d fought them off so he could escape with Terra.

  The trees finally gave way to a clearing. In the field beyond them was something that looked like a helicopter, but its take off was silent except for a hum. The nearly invisible blades sliced the air soundlessly as the giant metal machine rose high into the sky with at least twenty men still climbing up metal ladders to get inside it.

  No. They couldn’t leave. Where was Katarina?

  Stewart burst out of the trees and howled over and over as the craft flew rapidly out of sight. He strained to watch until it disappeared from his vision. The world wavered around him in the sudden absolute quiet left behind. His body shook and wavered too.

  He wished Kent and Aggie were there with him. They’d know what to do about the silent helicopter getting away.

  He would get his Mom to call them so he could talk to them, but first he needed to rest. He was so tired. And his entire body hurt. The pain was way worse than his legs just growing.

  He fell instantly asleep as soon as he hit the ground.

  6

  Stewart moaned as he felt his body being jostled. Someone was running with him. “We have to follow the helicopter. They took Katarina.”

  “We know. We’ve got someone tailing them now. They won’t get far,” the male carrying him said.

  Stewart decided the man’s voice seemed familiar, but his hearing was messed up… or something. It relieved him when the man finally stopped moving and laid him down onto some kind of bed. “No more running. I hurt all over.”

  The man chuckled a little. “I imagine you do. When you wake up, you can tell us what happened.”

  Stewart shook his head. He put a hand to it—then pulled it away. He blinked at his human fingers through the black haze covering his eyes. All desire to shift was gone now. Instead, he was relieved to be his human self again.

  He blinked up at the man looming over him. His eyes finally focused. “Dad?”

  “Yep. That’s me,” Gareth said.

  “Where’s Mom?”

  Gareth pulled a seat up next to the cot Jon’s wife had provided. “When your mother saw the dead bodies, she went a little insane. You were mumbling about a silent helicopter when we found you. You even told her which direction it flew off in when it left. She took Reed and Jon with her to chase the bad guys.”

  “Good,” Stewart said. He swallowed. “Is Terra okay?”

  “The dart that hit her had enough tranquilizer to take out a bear, but thankfully she will live. The bear who brought her to Jon said you rescued her.”

  Stewart groaned in pain. It even hurt to talk. “Katarina helped me rescue Terra. Dad… I turned into something, but it wasn’t a wolf like you or Mom.”

  Gareth put a hand on his nearly grown son’s head. “Does that bother you?”

  Stewart nodded. “Yes. I wanted to be an actual wolf. Not a freak.”

  “No one thinks that about your shifted form, especially the bears. If you hadn’t acted quickly and used all you had in you to fight the attackers, they no doubt would have gotten some of Jon’s people before we could have stopped them. The bears were running to the fight, but they said you howled and ran the bad guys off before they got there. You’re their hero, son.”

  Stewart shrugged against the bed. Some hero he was. All he wanted to do was cry about not saving Katarina. “I tried to stop them. I saw a bunch of them jump on Katarina’s wolf and hold it down. When they ran away from me, I chased them.”

  Gareth ran a soothing hand over his son’s forehead. “Let me tell you something. There’s no shame in caring or being super emotional or feeling anything you’re feeling right now. This was your first shift, and you did damn good. Normally, a pack has to lock up a young wolf like you when it happens. Instead, you controlled your change, charged into a freaking fight, saved a girl, and got us a hostage.”

  “Hostage? What hostage?” Stewart blinked away moisture to look at a man he trusted as much as he did Kent.

  Gareth lifted a shoulder. “I’m only guessing you were responsible for the one left alive, unless you were the one who ripped those dead guys apart.”

  “No, that was Katarina. I—no, too gross for me,” Stewart said.

  “But the guy by the tree was yours?” Gareth questioned softly.

  Stewart nodded. “Yeah. A bunch of them shot me with tranquilizer darts. I thi
nk I lost my temper. I picked that guy up and threw him into the nearest tree. He fell down and didn’t get up. When I howled at the others, they ran away. I should have kept them busy until you got there. I sent the bear to find you and Mom.”

  Gareth patted his son’s head and nodded. “The bear did exactly that. He said at first he and his wife were scared of you, but when they saw you running back to fight, they knew you had to be the boy we brought here with us. They said you were brave like your Mom and me.”

  Stewart could feel the blackness closing in again. “So I did the right thing?”

  Gareth leaned closer. “Yes. You did the absolute right thing and your mother and I couldn’t be more proud of you. You did all you could today, and don’t you worry one bit about Katarina. That she-wolf is a survivor. We’ll find her, Stewart. Knowing that sharp as hell Russian, she’ll leave a dead body trail your mother can follow like breadcrumbs.”

  Stewart tried to laugh at his Dad’s gross joke, but it was simply too hard. He rolled into his father’s stroking fingers, closed his eyes, and let himself be soothed into sleep.

  Brandi stabbed the agent authorized communication panel in the cockpit and called her mate, who answered immediately. “How is he doing?”

  Passed out for like the third or fourth time, but lucid and in control when he’s awake. There’s no need to cage him as far as I can tell. I’ll monitor him closely though, just in case. Have you found Stewart’s silent helicopter yet?

  “Negative. They either found the tracker in Katarina or they’ve got her in a cage that’s scrambling the signal. I’m looking for a staging area. My research says they opt to stay close to their targets. It makes for a quick getaway. I’m guessing a metal bird that advanced and complicated will need a pit stop after what they put it through,” Brandi said, glancing back over her shoulder. She could feel the angry tension rolling off both the males sitting behind her. “I’m circling back to something that looked big enough to function as a chopper hangar. Their bird might be silent, but it would need big cover to hide in. Guessing the blades fold some, but they would still need a lot of space to store something big enough to carry all those guys. Gareth?”