by JC Holly
“Oh, definitely. After your performance on the sofa, I’d marry you in a heartbeat.”
Victor laughed and punched Farrell on the arm. “Let’s try a movie or something first, yeah?”
Farrell rubbed his arm and grinned. “It’s a date.”
Victor smiled and rolled onto his back. A date with Farrell. Sure, they’d hung out plenty, and knew they were sexually compatible, but this was fun new territory.
Territory.
With that word, the memories of their current situation flooded back. He’d been so wrapped up in the idea of spending time with Farrell that he’d almost forgotten there was a damn pack war on. He sighed and shook his head.
“I can’t believe we’re discussing this when people are dead and kidnapped.”
That evening they were both off to rescue someone. There might not be a tomorrow for them, never mind a damn movie.
Farrell rolled onto his side and put a warm hand on Victor’s stomach. “Hey. Life has to go on. If you revel in the darkness with no light whatsoever, the dark will win every time. Trust me on that.”
Victor gave him a slight smile. “Life experience?”
“You could say that, yeah.” He slid his hand lower, and Victor took in a breath as Farrell’s fingers found his cock. “It wasn’t all sunshine and sex.”
Victor batted Farrell’s hand away. “Hey, none of that. You haven’t even paid for the movie yet.”
“Oh, hard to get, are we?”
“Not really, I’m a guy after all.” He reached over and grabbed Farrell’s cock. “We can’t have you worn out tonight, though.”
“Worn out?” Farrell raised an eyebrow. “I’m over four hundred years old, and Weres get stronger the older they are. You couldn’t wear me out if you wanted to.”
“Really?” Victor gripped Farrell’s cock a little tighter. “Sounds like a challenge to me.”
Chapter Seven
Ethan was waiting in the bar when Farrell and Victor arrived a few hours later. The boss of the pack was dressed in his usual jeans and shirt, his black boots propped on a barstool as he sat on the bar. There was a television to his side that Farrell recognized as the one usually kept in the office. A VCR sat beneath it. Farrell tried not to let his dismay reach his face. He knew what that meant.
“Gabriel sent a ransom video,” Ethan said, confirming what Farrell had guessed.
“Sandy okay?” Victor said, as he lengthened his stride toward the bar.
“She’s okay. Bit shook up by the looks of things.”
Without another word, Ethan hit rewind on the VCR, then set it playing once it was ready.
Gabriel appeared on the screen, sat on a chair in what was clearly the cabin. There was nobody else in shot, but given his glances off to the side, Sandy and her captors were still present. Gabriel smiled at the screen and folded one leg over the other and placed his hands on his knee. Theatrical bastard.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” he said. “I’ll get right to the point. A member of your pack was caught in my territory. By my warehouse, in fact. They then proceeded to attack my second without any provocation whatsoever.”
“Bullshit,” Victor muttered under his breath.
“We know,” Ethan said. “We trust you, Vic.”
“As a result, we took steps to retaliate.”
The camera panned to the right. Between two mean-looking Weres sat Sandy. She was bound to a metal chair with chains at her ankles and around her waist. A bloody cloth gag was stuffed into a mouth swollen by more than one punch. To her credit, her eyes blazed with anger. Farrell knew Sandy pretty well, and knew she’d have given twice as hard as she got and not shed a single tear.
Judging by the gaps between her and her captors, he was right. The pair were keeping their distance, and both sported bruises on their faces and necks.
“Good girl,” Farrell murmured.
The camera swung back to Gabriel, who was now standing. “The ransom is quite simple. No money, no helicopter.” He smirked. “You will concede all claims to your bar, and all other land in this city. Just give me your territory, Ethan, and I won’t have to kill her.” His smile disappeared in an instant. “This is not a bluff.”
Ethan stabbed the stop button a little too viciously, knocking the VCR off the bar and onto the hard floor, shattering the device. He closed his eyes and let out a breath, before shaking his head softly.
“I’d hoped we could negotiate, but it’s out of the question. I tried.”
“Fuck that, anyway,” Avani said as she appeared in the doorway leading to the stock rooms. “Sorry, I couldn’t watch it again. It gets me too riled.” Her gaze flitted to the destroyed VCR. “I’m not the only one.”
Ethan shrugged. “Who uses videos these days, anyway?”
She smirked and stepped around the mess, then sat on a barstool. “Me, Vic, Farrell. In-and-out job. We’ll have her back before the morning.”
Ethan stared at each of them for a long time, then sighed and nodded. “That’s how it’ll have to go, yeah. But no heroics. You go in quiet, you distract, you get the hell out with Sandy. We don’t want a bloodbath, here. Or rather, we want the bloodbath on our turf. Gabriel won’t hesitate to take this as further provocation. His sick little mind has this down as a business transaction, no doubt.”
“We’ll play safe,” Farrell said. “I may be dashing, but I’m not stupid.”
“Remains to be seen,” Ethan said with a smirk. “Watch your step, too. That asshole isn’t above bear traps.”
Less than ten minutes later the three were bundled into Avani’s car. Ethan watched them go from the fire exit of the club before disappearing inside. He’d finally started taking his own safety seriously, it seemed.
Avani was driving while Farrell sat with Victor on the back seats. The passenger seat held a large bag containing spare clothes for all three, just in case. Farrell never bothered, but the other two considered it important, so he went along with them.
Avani broke the silence a few minutes later. “You know, if you two want to strip off early, feel free. I’m totally okay with heavy petting, too.”
Farrell turned to Victor and raised an eyebrow. “Well I’m all for it.”
Victor laughed and shoved Avani’s seat. “Not gonna happen.”
She shrugged, her grin visible in the rear mirror. “Worth a shot. One day I’ll get lucky.”
“Not with me. I’m all about the men.”
“Me, too. See, there’s something we have in common. We should hook up.”
Victor smirked and shook his head. Farrell patted him on the shoulder.
“He’s taken, Av. We’re even dating, now.”
“Dating?” Avani raised a sculpted eyebrow. “Since when does Farrell, loosest cock in Christendom, date?”
“Since Vic suggested it. I think it’ll make a nice change.”
He squeezed Vic’s shoulder, who smiled back. “All right, enough chat. We’re nearly there.”
The weight of the matter settled on the shoulders of Farrell, and seemingly the other two, too, as the car became deathly silent. One of theirs was being held against her will, her life in the balance. As much as the levity helped the stress levels, it could wait till later.
The sky was black by the time they approached their parking point, a mile east of the cabin. No wind stirred the long grass surrounding the car as the three disembarked and began stripping off. Avani was as unconcerned about the privacy as Victor, and Farrell gave both of them more than one appraising look from the corner of his eye. By the time he was stripped off himself, they were both shifted into their wolf forms. Avani was scenting the air, and Victor was sitting by the car, waiting for Farrell to finish.
He reached down and scratched Vic’s ear, then kissed him on the head. “Who’s a good boy? Hmm? Wanna biscuit?”
Vic cocked his head to one side and let out a low growl. Farrell laughed, then cracked his neck.
“Right,” he said in a low voice. “We go slow till we’r
e sure nobody is about. There’s a large tree a few hundred yards from the cabin that was hit by lightning a few years back. That’s where we meet up after, if things go how they should. If not, get the hell out of there as fast as you can. This isn’t a night for heroics.”
Avani nodded once, and Victor chuffed in response. Good enough.
“When we get near, you two get yourself noticed and pull them away from the cabin. I’ll head in and get Sandy out. There are two Weres watching her, if the video is anything to go by, but if they’re in human form they’ll be easily dealt with before they can shift.”
He left out what would happen if they were shifted and waiting. I’ll deal with that if it comes up. He dropped to all fours and shifted to his wolf form. Time to work.
They covered the ground fast for the first quarter mile or so, then slowed as they got closer. Farrell smelled two wolves nearby, but both were out of the range of most wolves’ senses. Still, he slowed almost to a halt, and the other two did the same. Sticking to what cover they could, they approached, almost sliding on their bellies.
It would only take one hint of suspicion for Gabriel’s pack to mobilize. They would be expecting a rescue. Hopefully they wouldn’t realize Avani and Victor’s decoy was precisely that. Still, if they did, they did. Even outnumbered, they’d give better than they got. Avani and Victor were two of the strongest fighters in the pack, and Farrell knew how to handle himself, too, though he preferred to avoid conflict whenever possible.
He had to admit that the current situation had him fuming, though. Taking on a few wolves may even be cathartic.
Even at their cautious crawl, they soon reached their agreed split-up point. Farrell nuzzled Vic’s neck for a moment, then nipped Avani on the ear. They both chuffed in response before disappearing into the dark, heading toward where Farrell had scented the two wolves.
Farrell set off again, though faster now. He had to get at least near the cabin before the alarm was raised, so he could get in and out before reinforcements could arrive. Hopefully the wolves would be too distracted by his friends’ efforts to head back to their prisoner, though.
He reached the lightning-struck tree near the cabin and paused to rescent the air. As far as he could tell, the cabin still only held three occupants, one of them being Sandy. There were wolves in the area, though, and one sudden gust of wind in the wrong direction would be all it took to ruin the plan.
Less than a minute later a bark came from one of Gabriel’s wolves, and another soon followed. Somewhere in the distance Victor let out a howl, followed by Avani. The chase had begun. Farrell made for the side of the cabin, then sprinted around to the front. The door was partway open, a man’s head in the gap, squinting into the dark. His eyes widened as he caught sight of Farrell as he barreled into the door, smashing it open and knocking the man back and causing the woman off to the side to shout in surprise.
The man was dazed, but the other Were was not, and began to tear off her clothes so she could change. Farrell turned and leapt at her as she struggled with her pants, knocking her against the back wall and blasting the breath from her body. As she struggled to fend him off, he lunged in and bit into her thigh. She screamed as blood filled Farrell’s mouth. As she fell forward to grab at her leg, he smashed a large paw into her jaw. She fell hard to the ground, unconscious.
Farrell spun to find that the man had found his feet again. To Farrell’s horror, he discovered that he had found something else, too. In his right hand he held a small pistol. Luckily he was distracted by the woman on the ground, but it wouldn’t last. Farrell ran up and rammed his head into the man’s stomach, knocking him over. The man lashed out with his fist and managed to hit Farrell in the side, but it did him no good. Farrell lashed out with a paw, tearing the man’s neck. As he did he felt a hot pain in his shoulder, and realized that the gun had gone off. It would have to wait, though.
Sandy was sitting in the corner of the room, chained to the chair. As strong as a Were’s teeth and jaw were, there was no way he could bite through metal. That meant he’d have to shift back temporarily. With a bullet in him, that was a huge risk. There was no telling where the bullet would go when he changed. It could end up in a lung. Or his heart.
Sandy grunted through her gag and nodded toward the woman. Farrell turned quickly, worried that she had come to again, but instead quickly realized what Sandy had meant. Lying on the ground near the woman was a small key ring. Sandy grunted again and wiggled her fingers. The padlock to the chains was near her hand, and if she was dexterous enough she could unlock herself and save Farrell the risk of shifting back.
He padded over and snatched the keys up in his teeth, then carefully dropped them into Sandy’s hand, then turned so he could see both her and the door. The fight had lasted no more than twenty seconds, but wolves moved fast.
It turned out Sandy was more than nimble enough to get the key in the lock, but couldn’t turn it. Farrell could manage that, though, and gripped it in his teeth and twisted his head. The lock came free with a clunk, and he pulled it out of the chain’s loops then watched the door again while Sandy freed herself.
She joined him at the door a moment later, rubbing her wrists. “Thanks. Uh, Paul?” Farrell shook his head. “Farrell?” He chuffed and she grinned. “Should’ve known. Even Paul isn’t that fast in a fight.”
She stripped off and threw her clothes into the corner, muttering about losing her favorite blouse, then changed form. Given her snarls in the process, she was like Victor, only changing when needed. Farrell scented the air, then led her out and toward the tree that they’d agreed to meet under.
A moment later he picked up familiar scents on the air, and Victor and Avani soon came into view. They weren’t alone, but they had a good lead and were running fine. Neither seemed wounded, or even tired, but neither did the three wolves behind them. As they neared, Farrell and Sandy started running, too, and the four made for the parking spot, all notions of stealth gone. Now it was nothing more than a race to the car, then another race to get to safety.
The wolves behind them were no slower, but no faster, either, and the four kept their lead for the whole run back. Farrell felt exhilarated. He ran all the time, and loved the feel of the wind in his fur, but running for his life was an entirely different affair. There was no thought of conserving energy for the run back, or being careful not to be spotted by too many humans. It was a case of “just run.”
Avani, being the smallest wolf of the group, began to lead the pack, and by the time they were nearing the end of their run she had a lead of a few seconds. Because of this it was her who spotted the problem first, and let out a yelp as she came to a halt a few feet from the parking spot. Farrell pushed harder and caught up before the other two to find out what had happened.
The car was destroyed. Not only had they torn the tires, they had taken bats to all the windows and beat in the paneling. As Victor and Sandy arrived, four wolves came from around the other side of the car, all snarling, eyes narrowed.
Looks like we’re in for a fight after all.
Chapter Eight
Victor glared at the four wolves that stood before his group. One of their scents was familiar, but it wasn’t that of either the second or Gabriel. That wasn’t much of a positive, but he’d take what he could get.
They hadn’t just disabled Avani’s car, they had destroyed it. There was no way they could get away from the wolves, and more were coming up behind. Seven versus four.
Farrell was the first to react, growling at Victor, then chuffing at Avani and Sandy. “Victor up front, Avani and Sandy on watch.” It wasn’t the most complex set of instructions, but wolves weren’t the best at speech. All three growled in reply, and before they could begin to move, Farrell launched himself at the two closest wolves.
Victor closed in fast, but the speed and ferocity of his partner surprised him. Farrell was always the one to avoid fights whenever he could, and because of that Victor frequently forgot how well the man c
ould handle himself. Still, he was wounded. Victor could smell the blood and gunpowder residue. He would have to be careful.
Victor tore his attention away from Farrell as the other two wolves approached. Victor was confident he could take them in an everyday fight, but he was tired from the distracting and running, whereas his opponents had just been sitting around in wait for their return.
The wolf on his left, a small gray, came in first, going straight on the offensive, forcing Victor to back up or be bitten. He dodged the first two attacks and managed to smack the wolf on the head, knocking some sense out of him for a moment. The second wolf, larger and mostly white, used that moment to lunge in, but he bit nothing but air as Victor danced away.
Victor circled the pair, avoiding their attacks but not getting many opportunities to fight back. The pair was obviously used to working together. Whenever one sank back from a failed attack, the other came straight in, leaving Victor with little to do other than keep away.
Farrell, on the other hand, was having a different problem. He was faster and stronger than both of his opponents, but he also had to work hard to keep the pair away from his wounded shoulder. The bullet hadn’t seemed to bother him during the run back to the car, but it certainly seemed to be paining him now. Still, he was having less of an issue with his two than Victor was with his.
As he circled farther around, he managed to get a glance at Avani and Sandy. They had paired up against the three, and were easily keeping them at bay. Few wolves were faster than Avani, and Victor was sure she could have done the same by herself. Not that Sandy wasn’t helping. Every time one or more went for Avani, she’d try and lunge in for a bite. It wasn’t the most effective, but over time she was scoring some hits and demoralizing the three attackers.
Gray came in again at Victor, nearly managing to sink his teeth into a leg. Victor moved away just in time and tried again to bat the smaller wolf on the head. The wolf was wise to the tactic now, though, and moved his head just enough to aim a bite at the paw. Victor pulled back in time, but it cost him dearly, as the second wolf came in and bit his neck. Victor snarled as the wolf’s teeth sank into his skin, and he jerked away. Fur and flesh came away with the wolf’s mouth, but he was free to move again, at least. He shook his head to clear his thoughts, then began to circle again.
