“We might have to continue alone,” he said and got out. Yeager and I followed him to go see what was wrong. We found Sprocket examining his Jeep. Edie and Agnes stood by watching. Amp crawled under the Jeep and after some discussion, the two men determined it was the axle shaft.
“So what do we do now?” I asked.
“It will be tight but all of you can fit in Amp’s rig,” Sprocket said, already digging in the back of his Jeep.
“What about you?” Edie asked.
“I’m going to get this thing up and running while you guys go on ahead. I’ll be along,” Sprocket said and produced a spare axle from the back of his Jeep and a tool box. I looked at Yeager and then Amp.
“We come prepared, little lady. He’ll be fine. We should go,” Amp told us.
“Are you sure?” I asked. I’d called the Auto Club to help me change a flat tire but Sprocket was going to change his axle shaft by himself in the dark?
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be along. This won’t take long,” Sprocket told us as he jacked up the rear of the Jeep. I shrugged as Amp led us back to his black Jeep. I took the front seat again and Yeager sat between Edie and Agnes. He looked rather pleased with himself.
“You all better behave back there,” Amp said before I could make a comment, then he laughed and we were off again. Soon, Sprocket and his orange Jeep had disappeared around a bend as we traversed the rocky road. “Don’t worry about him. He’s a good mechanic. This kind of thing happens all the time doing the kind of wheeling we do. We’re prepared,” Amp assured us.
“Well, I just hope we don’t need him,” I replied.
“Me too, little lady, me too,” Amp said taking his eyes off the trail for a moment to regard me. We continued on, the road becoming easier again as we neared its end. It had been a little more than an hour since we left Sprocket when he informed us he was finished with his repair over the CB. Even though we’d been gone an hour, we only traveled a couple of miles.
“We’re almost there. Follow us and sit tight, provide cover and watch our six,” Amp told him.
“10-4,” Sprocket replied.
“That was quick. I thought he’d be there all night,” Agnes observed.
“Naw, the rear axle shafts are pretty easy to swap out,” Amp told us.
“For you guys, maybe,” I replied. Amp chuckled. Minutes later, we parked on a broad saddle where the road petered out. In the moonlight, I recognized the general area. We were above the ranch and beyond the rise before us, we would find the village where the people of Wolfsbane resided.
“It’s about a mile. Edie and I will follow you,” Amp told us as he climbed out. He went around the rear of his Jeep and opened the back. He pulled out a case and opened it, handing something to Edie.
“Night vision. You and I will wear these. Can you shoot?” Amp asked my best friend.
“Yeah, why not?” Edie said though she had been pretty handy with a shotgun when Agnes and I made our escape. Amp chuckled. He pulled out a rifle, a military looking firearm all in black with a cylinder at the end of the barrel. He quickly showed Edie how it worked, the safety, how to load it, then how to drop the magazine and slap in a new one if necessary and finally how to charge the weapon to put a round in the chamber.
“You don’t shoulder this unless I tell you, got it?” Amp told her and then added, “Or put your finger on the trigger...or release the safety...just don’t do anything until I tell you, Ok?”
“Yeah, OK,” Edie said. She looked a bit nervous but I could tell she was excited too.
“You three go as wolves. You’ll see better than we can with night vision and you can scent better too. If only I could figure out how to carry a rifle while I was a wolf. We’ll stay behind you, and cover your escape if needed. Hopefully, these folks will be more receptive of other shifters than they will be of two gunmen,” Amp told us. He then added, “I’ll carry your clothes in my pack.”
“Good, I don’t want to get stuck standing outside talking in the cold naked,” I told him but I wasn’t sure how this would go. We might not have the opportunity to dress at all or we might be received well and Amp could bring our clothing. I guess it was a good idea to be prepared for anything.
“I figured,” Amp replied. With the immodesty of shifters, Agnes, Yeager and I undressed. Once you’d seen someone as a wolf, seeing them naked just wasn’t a big deal. Wolves were naked despite their fur all the time. Yeager finished first.
“See you on the other side,” he told us and changed into the silvery gray wolf with the amber eyes as he dropped to the ground. Agnes and I were next. Agnes became a sleek black wolf as I watched. Edie bit her lip as she watched her mate change before her eyes.
“That is so fucking awesome!” Edie whispered. I giggled as I fell to the ground, my paws stopping my fall. I looked around through my emerald wolf eyes and then back at Amp. He could read my eyes and nodded.
“Let’s go,” he told us. Yeager, Agnes and I put our noses to the ground as we loped off in the general direction of Wolfsbane Ranch. We wandered to and fro covering three times the distance our two-legged protectors could manage. We climbed a gentle slope, each wolf searching for scent that would indicate danger but found nothing out of the ordinary, a heard of elk that crossed our trail that morning, a covey of grouse too frightened to flee, a hare that I so badly wanted to chase.
We reached the ridge without incident and from there we could see the village below tucked in a vale behind Wolfsbane Ranch. Few lights shone in the small village but Yeager bumped me and pointed with his snout. I saw them too. Several armed men patrolled the edges of the village. I looked back at Amp as he knelt amongst us. He’d seen them too.
“I count six. Typical sentry pattern. Four are stationary, two are roving. You three can slip between them if they’re human. If they are shifters...,” Amp said leaving the obvious unsaid. Shifters would easily scent us. Yeager looked back at the village and off he went. I knew he was going to get close enough to scent them and report back. We watched as Yeager sneaked through the scrub, grass and rocks that covered the slope. Once he was satisfied, he returned undetected. Wolves could be as silent as a church mouse when they wanted.
“What?” Edie whispered. The rest of us could read Yeager’s demeanor, his stance and his eyes. The sentries were all human.
“We’re good,” Amp told her. “You three go ahead. We’ll get as close as we can to provide cover. If those sentries move, we’ll take them out. These cans will suppress the sound of the shots but you’ll be able to hear it,” Amp told us. I tilted my head in confusion. “Sorry, these things will suppress the shots,” Amp clarified pointing to the cylinder at the end of his barrel. I felt the need to shift. Suddenly, I crouched, naked and felt the frigid air. Damn, how did Edie manage?
“We came here to make peace or find allies. We don’t know who those men are. They might be husbands and sons instead of hired guns...,” I told Amp quietly.
“Got it. We’ll avoid that if we can. But we’ll still fire shots, even if it’s in the air, if we see danger. If shit hits the fan, you three go to ground and we’ll meet you down the trail,” he replied. I nodded and changed, feeling the pain I’d come to relish as I welcomed my wolf form, mainly because I was freezing. My fluffy fur coat felt luxuriously warm. Amp pointed at the village indicating we should go.
I turned to regard Yeager and Agnes. They stared back, indicating they were ready. I loped off towards the village and they followed. We separated as we went, sniffing the ground for signs of danger. We knew what to do. Wolves instinctually knew how to evade people, to remain hidden. We were like ghosts. I headed for the center of the sentry line, slowing as the roving sentries walked towards each other and then crossed. I sneaked between them, their backs to me, and beyond.
Yeager was already past the first line and was skulking between the two stationary sentries at his end of the village. Agnes had gone wide and simply skirted all of the sentries completely. I watched the two guards b
efore me and when their attention was elsewhere, I dashed quietly between them. They never even knew I was there. By scent, I found Yeager and then we found Agnes. Suddenly as we entered the village, we were met by a young woman.
“What are you doing here? You’ll get in trouble!” she whispered harshly. I looked at my companions and they were as stunned and confused as I was. “C’mon, follow me before they see you,” she demanded and then turned and walked quickly down the path behind her. I followed. Yeager and Agnes fell in behind me. She led us to a small cabin, drab and in disrepair. The girl looked around before opening the door and ushering us inside. She took one last look outside before she closed the door and locked it.
“Are you crazy? You know this is forbidden. You’re lucky the guards didn’t shoot you,” she admonished us. She was in her early twenties with hazel eyes, reddish hair cut close to her head and freckles. She was a shifter, I could sense it, but apparently, the fact we were strange to her wasn’t alarming. There were many shifters here at the Ranch. It was possible she wasn’t familiar with them all. However, if I shifted she might become alarmed. I had to take the chance. I changed and stood up. The girl gasped in surprise.
“Who are you?” she asked warily. She didn’t recognize me but she didn’t immediately assume I was not a part of the community here at the ranch.
“My name is Cassie,” I told her.
“You’re a woman!” she exclaimed. Agnes shifted too and the girl recognized her.
“Agnes? Oh God, what did I do?” the girl asked, clearly frightened suddenly. I held my hand down to warn Yeager not to change. A tall, muscular man might send her over the edge.
“Nothing. Don’t you know what happened, Ginnie?” Agnes asked.
“Why are you here? I swear, I didn’t do anything,” Ginnie told us again. She obviously recognized Agnes as being part of Lady Violet’s inner circle, though Agnes was little more than a servant.
“We’re friends. I promise. We escaped. Lady Violet held me captive. Agnes helped me escape,” I told her. Ginnie narrowed her eyes. She understood suddenly.
“The attack?” she asked.
“Yes,” Agnes told her. Ginnie dropped her face into her hands and began to cry. I looked at Agnes and then moved towards the girl. I gently took her in my arms and hugged her. She was clearly distraught.
“Many women here lost their mates in that fight,” the girl said sobbing. She hadn’t made the connection between the attack and our escape. She didn’t see that we were part of the attacking force.
“I’m sorry, sweetie. I really am. We were forced to do it. We didn’t want to kill anyone,” I told her. Ginnie looked up and pushed me away.
“You’re one of them?” she demanded.
“Ginnie! Listen to me. You know me, right?” Agnes said to the girl. Ginnie looked ready to run and Yeager sensed that. He wandered over towards the door to prevent her from doing so.
“What’s going on, Agnes? What does she mean? Why did you have to escape?” Ginnie asked, clearly confused.
“Sit and we’ll tell you. Please just open your mind and listen,” Agnes told her. The girl looked at me and then the silvery gray wolf at her door, wary of us, but then she nodded.
“All right,” she said and almost fell into the chair near her. She was shaking. I knelt next to her and took her hand. She didn’t attempt to withdraw.
“Violet came to me a while back. She asked me to join you and the rest here at the ranch. I came and...well, that was a mistake,” I began. I told her about what had happened. How Violet and her minions immediately began lying and manipulating us. I told her about how she finally took me captive and how Yeager and Edie had been tricked into leaving me. I explained Violet’s plans and then the events that led up to the attack.
“I promise you, Ginnie, we didn’t want to kill anyone. I’m so sorry about those that died. It weighs heavily on all of us, trust me,” I finished. Ginnie put her head in her hands and cried again.
“They were just trying to defend their families,” she sobbed. I glanced at Agnes and I could see my pain reflected in her eyes.
“What about your mate?” Agnes asked. I didn’t have to ask to know that Agnes knew of the girl, her name, but not much else.
“Tell us, Ginnie. We want to help,” I assured the girl. She composed herself, wiping her tears away. Agnes nodded and Yeager sat and let his tongue loll out, his posture much less aggressive.
“I don’t have a mate. I’m like you. The Lady found me wandering the streets in Portland, Oregon. I didn’t know what I was until she told me. I was stunned but then she offered to bring me here to the ranch to be among others of our kind. I wasn’t sure but then she told me how special I was. That sealed the deal and I agreed to come,” Ginnie told us.
“That sounds familiar,” I told her. Ginnie seemed more at ease now and she continued.
“She told me I could help secure our place in the world, that I held the secret. I was eager to fit in, to be part of something bigger. So I let The Lady and that doctor examine me and then perform surgery. They told me it had failed but that I was welcome to remain here. By then, I’d made friends,” Ginnie said. I could tell she believed all of it and had found a home here of sorts.
“I’m sorry, Ginnie. I wish I didn’t have to tell you this but it’s all a lie. That doctor, Phillip, told us so. Violet needed a way to accelerate her plans, to breed more females like us. Phillip tried but there’s no magic that will accomplish that. We’re just like humans, we’re just people that happen to be able to turn into wolves. There is no secret, there is no essence,” I told Ginnie. She just stared at me and then began to sob as that sank in.
“You can’t turn, can you?” Agnes asked. Ginnie looked up at her.
“No! I can’t. I haven’t been able to since the surgery. They took my ability to give it to others but it failed,” Ginnie insisted.
“No, it’s a pheromone in your clothes. You can change once that wears off,” Agnes informed her. Ginnie frowned. She knew something wasn’t right and we were filling in the blanks. We were affirming her misgivings.
“Will we be OK, Agnes?” I asked worried our proximity to the girl and her clothes might affect us.
“We’ll probably be fine. We’re not in direct contact and our exposure will be short,” Agnes assured me. I didn’t want to get trapped here naked and unable to shift.
“Why are you here?” Ginnie asked.
“We’re trying to avoid further bloodshed,” I told her.
“Do you want to speak with The Lady?” Ginnie asked, a bit confused by our intent.
“No, we want to talk to you. Or at least to someone like you. We don’t want to fight anyone but Violet means to destroy us and anyone else who doesn’t subscribe to her belief that humans are the enemy and we are meant to dominate them. But she can’t do that without help. She probably can’t do it at all since there is no way she can breed an army of shifters as Phillip led her to believe, but she can hurt a lot of people. Do you think the others here are loyal to her?” I asked.
“I doubt it. The women and children here were brought like I was. They were promised a home but this is more like a prison. Their mates are kept apart from us. I’ve heard whispers that they have been told if they escape or disobey, their families, their packs, will be killed. The women here have been told that if they leave their mates will be punished,” Ginnie told us.
I turned to see Yeager shift. Ginnie gasped again. “It’s OK. He’s my mate, Yeager. He won’t hurt you,” I assured her.
“Those sentries aren’t there to keep us out. They’re there to keep these people in,” Yeager assessed. That made sense and maybe that’s why getting past them was so easy. They weren’t guarding against intruders. That probably meant Violet wasn’t expecting us to return.
“Where did you come from?” Ginnie asked.
“Over the mountain,” I told her.
“I had no idea Violet was separating families,” Agnes told us. Lady violet kept
her in the dark as well. Agnes might have lived in the big house but she was a captive just like Ginnie.
“This is worse than we thought. What the hell is wrong with that bitch?” I asked no one in particular.
“I’m trapped here. I want to leave. So do the others. This isn’t what we were promised if what you say is true, and I have no reason not to believe it from what I’ve seen. We’re all doomed but what can we do? Were just women and children,” Ginnie asked us. I took a moment to consider that. I didn’t know what we would find here but with the knowledge I had now, I was even more convinced this was the way to proceed. Most of these people were captives. They were innocents.
I couldn’t fight them, even if they were just protecting their own, now. I didn’t think the rest of our small band of free shifters and their packs could fight either in good conscience. But if these people held at Wolfsbane were willing to fight for their loved ones, maybe they would fight against Lady Violet to gain their freedom. Maybe all they needed was a leader and a plan. But how?
Wolf's Den - A BBW Shifter Romance Novel Page 21
