Nicolo listened carefully and nodded. “You make good sense, Major.”
Tufo gave him a questioning look then remembered the insignia on his collar. “So you’re open to the idea? Because we’ve been running these guys through training protocols with a lot of our guys and…” he snorted in disgust, “honestly, they just aren’t measuring up.”
“But they are not augmented, as you say.”
Mark leaned forward and stared the man down. “Son, I’m twice their age and unaugmented and I can run the gauntlet.” Nicolo’s eyes widened at that comment. “These security guys are decent. They’re trained, and some of them think of themselves as commandos, but truth be told? They’re not half as tough as they think they are. We need to do something with them where they can be productive and not get themselves killed.”
Nicolo nodded and cracked a grin at him. “Very well, Major. We shall train these men and make them proficient in killing with our weapons.”
“Nice.” Mark scratched at his freshly trimmed face.
15
Viktor paced with nervous anticipation. He could sense the upcoming confrontation and the adrenaline was free-flowing through his system. “How far out are they?”
Max gave him a sidelong smirk and rolled his eyes. “I’m sorry. My ‘traitorous bitch’ GPS isn’t working today,” he muttered. “They’ll get here when they get here.” Then he actually yawned and stretched. Viktor stared at his father and wondered how the man could appear to be ready to fall asleep at a time like this.
“But they’re close, yes? You said they were close.” Viktor continued his pacing as Maxwell continued to ignore him.
“As I said, I can sense their arrival. Exactly where they are or when they’ll get here?” Max shrugged, his head tiled away from Viktor, his eyes still closed.
Viktor stretched his neck, popping the tension out and continued to pace the underground warehouse, the other wolves giving him a wide berth. Max sighed heavily and slumped against the concrete pillar supporting the giant ceiling. He didn’t regret sending Natashia and Nadia away to prevent them from becoming a distraction. He could feel the power building in his son and part of him felt pride while another part was annoyed that he couldn’t control his angst.
“Will you at least try to calm yourself, son?” Max asked. “You’re wound so tight that you’re going to pace a path through the floor. You’re making me exhausted and I have no dog in this fight.” Viktor shot him a dirty look and Max shrugged. “Well, so to speak.”
“How can you possibly remain so calm?” Viktor growled.
Max shrugged again. “Son, I washed my hands of your mother a very long time ago.” Max pushed off the pillar and stretched. “You were too busy trying to obtain First Order Lycan to really remember, but I had been miserable for centuries. When I left her…as far as I was concerned, she was dead to me.”
“Why not just banish her?” Viktor asked, his brows knitting in confusion.
“For what?” Max asked. “She hadn’t broken any rules technically.”
“But you were the Alpha, you could have—”
“It was far easier to simply walk away.” Max shook his head. “I even thought of remarrying a time or two, but…”
“You are mated!” Viktor exclaimed, advancing on his father. “You could not mate again even if you wanted.”
Max chuckled. “The rules are not the same for me as they are for the other wolves. True, your mother is mated, but I am not. That is why she plays her little games and keeps her ‘pets’ so close. She has no clue what I may or may not be up to, so she does her best to tempt me to…”
“How do you know what she does?” Viktor asked suspiciously.
Max shot him a sly smile. “Do you think that just because I left the pack that the pack left me?” He smirked as he approached his son and draped an arm over his shoulder. “There are wolves in the pack who report to me regularly her actions.”
Viktor’s jaw set and began to tick. “Yet you say you knew nothing of our exile.”
Max stared into his son’s eyes. “I didn’t. Of those who report to me, everything I was told was petty actions of Victoria’s. I was told that you and yours were doing extended duty as security somewhere, but they didn’t know where…” he trailed off. Viktor’s eyes narrowed as he studied his father’s features. “If I had known what was really going on, it wouldn’t have lasted,” Max assured him.
Viktor nodded and started to step away to resume his pacing. “Viktor, I know you…respect, this Thorn. And, I’ll admit that I’ve learned to…soften my opinion somewhat of certain vampires since meeting him. But had I known then what I know now, you would never have been sent there in the first place.”
“We had an agreement with the Beastia, father. Something that was entered into while you were still Alpha.”
“It was never meant to put our people into slavery!” he growled.
Viktor shook his head. “It’s not slavery, father.” He met his father’s gaze. “You know that.”
Max exhaled deeply and nodded. “It was never meant for members of…”
“Of what?” Viktor stiffened. “Royalty? The Alpha family? What?”
Maxwell shook his head again in frustration. “Why do you insist on making this more difficult than it should be?”
“What’s good enough for the lowliest of pack members is good enough for the Alpha. Remember those words?”
“When applying the rules, yes. You are correct,” Max retorted.
“And the rules state that we provide security for the Lamia Beastia,” Viktor stated matter-of-factly.
Max tossed his hands into the air and stared off over Viktor’s shoulder. “Touché.”
“It doesn’t matter now anyway,” Viktor said softly. “Once I’m done and I’ve reclaimed my rightful position, I intend to return to the island anyway.”
Max turned sharply and stared at him. “What?”
“You heard correctly.” He squared his shoulders “I have duties there that require my attentions.” Max felt his jaw drop as he stared at his son. “I am Rufus’ Second. That is not a responsibility that I take lightly.”
“You would be Alpha of the pack. And you would give it up to be a second to a vampire?”
“No. I won’t give it up.” Viktor offered a wry grin. “I’ll fill both positions at the same time. I’ll simply assign my own second that I trust to handle Pack matters while I finish my duties with Rufus.”
“And who would you pick to be your second for the pack?” Max asked, genuinely curious.
“What does it matter to you? You walked away, remember?” Viktor turned his back on him.
Max feigned indifference and turned away. “I was only asking. Curiosity and the cat…”
“I have a few in my mind.”
Max smiled to himself as his back was turned to his son. “I suppose your new son-in-law could make a good second,” he mused.
He didn’t have to guess at Viktor’s reaction to that comment judging by the amount of cursing that happened behind him.
*****
Jack and Nadia walked slowly back to their barracks when Nadia suddenly pulled Jack back a step. “Wait, Jack.”
“What?” he asked, looking around. Nadia pointed directly in front of them, but Jack didn’t notice the wavering motion until Horith stepped out in his path. “Sweet Mary, mother of…” Jack exclaimed.
“Chief Jack, I bring word from the Wyldwood,” Horith stated.
“Horith, you startled the life out of me.”
“I tried to warn you.” Nadia set her hands on her hips.
Horith stood still, staring at Jack, waiting for him to recognize his statement.
“Oh, yeah, so what does Loren have to say?”
“She sends word that the emissaries have returned and they have successfully recruited a number of others.”
Jack gave Horith a wide eyed stare. “Others?”
Horith searched for the proper word and simply replied, “O
ther than human?”
“OH!” Jack nodded. “Excellent. Did she happen to say who agreed to help?”
“No, but they will be coming here in two days.”
Jack nodded, then thought aloud, “That’s just before the full moon.”
“Yes. In time,” Horith stated proudly.
Jack was wishing they had more time to plan, to stage, to practice, to…everything. But at this point, they’d take whatever they could get. “Very well. I’ll let Colonel Mitchell know.” Horith nodded and turned to go when Jack asked, “Can you let me know before they get here? So that we can prepare for their arrival?”
Horith paused and nodded again. “I will find you again before they do.”
“Thank you, Horith,” Jack said. He and Nadia watched as he stepped back into the nothingness that was the doorway to his world. Jack turned to Nadia and said softly, “What I wouldn’t give to be able to do that.”
“It would be most helpful in battle,” she noted.
“Not to mention escaping from an angry spouse…” Jack teased.
Nadia pulled him closer to him and gripped his arm hard. “I’ve not been angry with you, so you’ve no right to say such things,” she chided.
“You’ve not had to endure labor yet. You’ll be questioning my parent’s marriage before it’s over, I’m sure.”
She shot him a flat stare that wiped the silly grin from his face. “What? I was just playing.”
“Never tease an expectant mother,” she stated. “It isn’t good for your health.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said softly as he pulled her closer to him.
They continued toward the barracks, but more slowly as Jack rubbed at her back. “Tell me, at what age do natural born wolves begin to shift?”
Nadia leaned against his shoulder and answered softly, “Soon after puberty,” she said thoughtfully. “The moon will make its call first and then they will slowly learn to control it.”
Jack remembered that werewolves didn’t age. At least, not at the same rate as normal humans. “And when is puberty?” He expected her to say at fifty or seventy-five years old.
“Normally around the thirteenth or fourteenth year. But some earlier. Some as early as eleven.”
He stopped and turned her to look at him. “I thought…” he paused, “but don’t wolves age much slower than normal humans?”
She smiled at him as a mother might a child who asked why is the sky blue or why is water wet. “A child ages normally until after puberty, Jack. Once they have passed puberty, the aging slows greatly.”
Jack blew out his breath. “Well, that’s a relief. I couldn’t imagine having to deal with the terrible two’s for like…a decade. Or worse, our kid having to go through puberty for a couple of centuries. Could you imagine acne and a cracking voice for a hundred years?” he mocked. “That would be hell in itself!”
She shook her head and smiled at him. “No. Those who consider the wolf a burden would never endure such things.”
He gave her a questioning look and she continued. “There are those who consider the wolf a…curse. Or a burden. Not the gift that it truly is.” She tightened her embrace on him. “Not many, of course, but some. And of those few, the life of a wolf is most troublesome.”
“How’s that?” he asked. “I mean, I get the whole shifting and animal instincts and that, but why is it so difficult for them? Was there nobody there to teach them?”
“Non. They simply cannot accept the wolf within them.” Her voice had taken on a tinge of sadness as she replied. “They cannot accept the duality of the situation and it tears at them.”
He nodded and instantly thought of Mitchell. “I think I can understand.”
*****
When the semi stopped, Barbara almost didn’t step to the door to speak to the driver, but when you are in the middle of nowhere and the truck was the only vehicle in over an hour, she hedged her bets. She approached the truck cautiously, her hand on the pistol in her bag the entire time. She saw a man leaning over to the window, his greasy ball cap sitting slightly askew.
“Where ya headed?” he asked, his smile instantly disarming.
“Oklahoma.”
“Got a load going to Tulsa. I can give you and the boy a lift if you want.”
Barbara looked down at Bobby and could tell the child was both physically and mentally exhausted. Her sixth sense raised no alarms, but she feared that she was so tired that it might well have failed her. She glanced back at the trucker and nodded. “Thank you. We really appreciate it.”
She opened the door and helped Bobby with his pack to climb up into the cab of the semi. She followed and practically fell into the passenger seat. She no sooner shut the door before the trucker put the tractor into gear and took off again. “My name’s Rob. What’s yours?” he asked, his infectious smile never wavering.
Barbara eased her grip on the pistol in the bag and relaxed a bit. “I’m Barbara. It’s very kind of you to pick us up, Rob.”
“Aw, ain’t nothing. Figured y’all could use a ride being out here in the middle of nowhere. Besides, I could use the company. The radio does a lot of talking, but if I talk back, people think you’re nuts,” he cracked.
Barbara smiled at his remark but was too tired to drum up much conversation. Rob glanced over at Bobby. “So what’s your name, little man?”
Bobby had never been in the cab of a big truck before and his little eyes were wide with wonder. They darted from all the switches on the dashboard to the overhead consoles to the numerous compartments between the forward portion of the cab and the sleeper. “Oh, um, I’m Bobby.” He was still staring at the different lights and buttons and levers.
“Bobby, huh? That’s a pretty good name. Short for Robert, ain’t it?”
Bobby nodded his head. “Yeah. That’s my dad’s name, but everybody calls him Bob.”
“Yeah, that’s a pretty solid name, alright. That’s my name, too!” Rob said. “Except everybody calls me Rob.” He beamed at the little boy. “That makes us pretty special, don’t it?”
“Yeah, I guess it does.” Bobby climbed up into Barbara’s lap.
“I ain’t never had no kids of my own,” Rob prattled on. “My sister’s got a few though. I like them pretty good. I just hardly ever get to see ‘em. Always on the road.”
“How old are they?” Bobby asked.
Rob glanced over at Bobby and replied, “Oh, about your age, I reckon. Becky Sue is five and Cole is fixin’ to be seven. If I had to guess, I’d say you’re probably right in between there, ain’tcha?”
Bobby smiled at him and then at his mom. “He’s pretty good.”
Barbara smiled back at him, “Yes, he is.”
“Yeah, I can guess ages pretty good.” Rob smiled a toothy grin at him. “Why, I bet I can guess your mom’s age, too.” Barbara raised an eyebrow just as Rob spouted out, “She’s gotta be at least twenty, don’tcha think?”
Bobby giggled and shook his head. “Nope. Not even close!”
“No? Are you sure?” Rob teased. “Okay then, nineteen, but I can’t be off no more than that.”
“I was wrong, mom, he sucks as this game.”
“No he doesn’t dear,” Barbara replied with a smirk.
Rob just grinned at her and shot an innocent wink. “So how’d y’all find yourselves on the road like that? Are you hitchhiking or…”
Barbara thought quick and decided a mix of truth and…bent truths would be best. “We were going camping on some old family land and had some car problems,” she stated. “Rather than deal with the locals, we thought we’d take our chances on hitchin’ home and let my husband deal with the car when he gets back.”
“He travel a lot?” Rob’s eyes stayed on the road, but his demeanor didn’t change. Barbara’s sixth sense still wasn’t buzzing.
“For work. He should be back shortly though,” she said, staring out the window and watching the road disappear behind them in the side mirror.
“Y’all don
’t have any family you could have called?” Rob asked. “For help or…heck just to let them know you was okay.”
Barbara shook her head. “It’s just us,” she replied softly, wrapping her arms around Bobby a little tighter. “My cell phone battery died and the charger isn’t working.” She lied. All she had was the charger in the car, and she hadn’t thought to grab it.
Rob nodded. “I understand.” He drove on a bit more before suddenly shaking his head. “Why didn’t I think of it before? I’m such a dimwit.” He reached into the open console above him and pulled out his cellular phone. “You can call your husband if you need to. Let him know you’re on your way home and that you’re both safe.” He offered her the phone and without thinking she took it from him. She flipped the phone open and stared at the keypad a moment. Rob glanced at her and shook his head. “Don’t worry. It’s on a plan. It won’t cost me minutes or nothing.”
“It’s not that,” she replied. “It’s just…I’m not exactly sure where he is. If he can receive a call.”
“Never know ‘til you try, right?”
She smiled sheepishly at him, “Right.” She tapped in Bob’s cell number and waited. It rang and rang, then went to voicemail. She waited a moment and realized, he wouldn’t recognize the number. She went to text messages and sent him a short message that it was her, call her at that number and hit SEND.
She flipped the phone closed and waited. “He probably didn’t recognize the number. I texted him. Maybe he’ll call back.”
“That’s fine. You can hold on to it a bit. We got plenty of time before we get to Oklahoma anyway,” Rob said. “What part of Oklahoma are you going to?”
“Oklahoma City. Tinker Air Force base.”
Rob nodded. “Driven right past it many times. Not really going past it this trip, but I can get you close. Maybe when we get closer I can get on the C.B. and see if anybody else is going by there and we can get you another ride?”
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