by Golden Angel
"Snipers?"
He could hear the smirk in Raoul's voice. "That would be my job."
Grinning wolfishly, satisfaction shot through Steele. These fuckers had no idea what they were in for. Even if they'd had snipers, it wouldn't be enough.
"Any idea who's in charge?"
"The group on Main has some guy with them that seems to be running the show. Definitely not a soldier. They're supposed to hang back while the others sweep the streets and clear out any resistance."
"Description?"
"A few inches shy of six feet, about 170 pounds - skinny, indoors type. Very pale skin, dirty blonde hair that needs some shampoo, and brown eyes. I'd guess in his forties. Nasal voice. He stands out."
"It's him." Bethany's voice was full of pure hate, startling Steele with her sudden closeness. He'd been concentrating so hard on what Raoul was saying, his mind flowing with plans, he hadn't even noticed her creeping up behind him. Now, her spicy, sweet scent filled his nostrils and his cock hardened automatically. Damned mating call. Not that he minded being mated to Bethany, but some of the physical manifestations were really inconvenient right about now.
"Him?" Kasim asked, his eyes flicking over Bethany's shoulder to where Bailey was standing, her heart-shaped face pale against the dark brown of her hair, big, blue eyes wide in fear and anxiousness. Steele's wolf growled at the sight, feeling Bethany's distress and need to protect her sister through their bond. The emotions were distant but distinct.
"Dr. Montgomery."
******
Emotions seethed through Bethany, allowing her to focus her frustrations and anger. She'd been a mess all morning - strangely going through all the stages of grief when it came to her mating with Steele. Silently, of course. She'd even done the bargaining, with the thing inside of her head. Of course it had ignored her.
So she'd accepted it.
Really, it wasn't the worst fate in the world, was it? Okay, so she didn't get to have lots and lots of hot sex with a bunch of different guys and enjoy the beef buffet that Steele's pack had to offer. But truthfully, she wasn't as attracted to any of them as she was to Steele, and from the way he acted, she was still going to get lots and lots of hot sex. And he was kind of like a beef buffet all on his own.
It didn't hurt that, around the time that everyone had been evacuating into the bunker below the theater, she'd skipped acceptance and had backtracked to denial, mumbling something to Bailey about how she didn't really believe Steele was her mate. Several of the females had overheard her and that had immediately thrown them into a starry-eyed tizzy. One of them had even had the nerve to flirt with Steele!
Fortunately for his balls, Mr. Luckily-Oblivious hadn't seemed to notice - or if he did, he hadn't cared - and had barely given the woman a second glance. But that was all Bethany had needed to push her right into angry acceptance. She wasn't happy about it - not like the monster inside of her - but she could live with it. What she couldn't live with was bitches fawning over her man, even if he didn't notice. It wasn't just the thing inside her clawing out her insides with jealousy... she liked him. She liked the way he'd treated her last night, the way he'd ended up compromising this morning, the way he hadn't been able to go out with his soldiers even though he'd obviously wanted to (she didn't need him to take care of her, but he didn't know that) so that he could keep an eye on her, and the way he listened to what she said. She'd liked the way he'd crumbled under her sister's plea not to put them into an enclosed space. Even though it meant Bailey was out in the open.
There were worse fates than being mated to him. Still, she had some pent up resentment that she hadn't gotten to choose him herself - and that she hadn't been able to at least bang a couple of guys before settling down with one - and she knew exactly who to blame.
Dr. Montgomery.
He was the one who had done this to her. Who had taken all of her choices away from her, even the one of whom she would mate, when he unlocked her shifter genes. And not even a natural shifter, but a monstrous one. And now he was coming to try and take her and her sister back? Yeah, fuck that.
The look on Steele's face said he'd agreed. He'd gone from imposing and focused to absolutely fucking enraged when she said the doctor's name. She could practically feel his fury - oh wait. She could feel his fury swirling inside of her, feeding hers. Kasim had explained some of the finer aspects of the mating bond to her this morning, including the fact that she would be feeling more and more of what Steele was feeling as it grew stronger.
"That fucker's coming here?!" The deep, rasping growl in Mr. Hot-and-Furious' voice went straight through Bethany's core. Something else that Kasim had explained to her - she and Steele were going to be boinking each other's brains out for the first few weeks of mating while the bond solidified. Whether the timing was appropriate or not, they were both going to be horndogs.
The timing sucked donkey balls.
"He's got some kind of tracking system with him," Raoul said, cutting off whatever more either Steele or Bethany might have said. His deep, velvety voice made her wonder what he looked like. She felt strange relying on a man that she'd never met or talked to (well, before this moment), but Eli and Steele trusted him.
Then the impact of his words hit her. "Tracking system?" Immediately her hands went to her body, even though she couldn't feel anything through her clothes and she'd never noticed anything when she was naked. "That bastard put something in us!"
It explained how he knew where they were... which meant they had to find the trackers and get them out and warn her brothers -
"Calm down," Steele snapped, taking her by the shoulders and giving her a small shake. She looked up at him with wild eyes and actually whimpered, hating the way she felt out of control. His voice softened, his hands gentled and he pulled her into his chest. She took in a deep breath of his comforting scent, feeling it like a warm balm against her rioting emotions. "Now that we know it's there, Doc will find it and get it out. Okay?"
"Okay," she whispered, pulling herself together. Shit. She'd just fallen apart in front of Bailey.
Gathering herself, she pushed away from Mr. Suddenly-Touch-Feely-and-Reluctant-to-Let-Go, and turned to face her sister. Bailey was trembling from head to toe and Bethany immediately abandoned Steele to give her sister the same comfort she had just received. Behind her, Steele started talking to Raoul again, barking out orders and calling his squad leaders on their radios to update them on the enemies' movements.
"It's okay," Bethany whispered, pulling Bailey into her arms. It didn't matter that her baby sister was much taller than her tiny frame, Bailey snuggled in like a cub huddling into its mama bear. "They won't get us. I won't let them. We'll get the trackers out and -"
"No."
"No?" Shock and confusion. Bethany pulled her sister away from Steele, distracted by all the movement and orders going on behind her. She yanked Bailey off to the side; no one was paying attention to them anyway. "What do you mean no?"
"I mean, not yet," Bailey said. She was still trembling from head to toe, skin completely blanched of color in her fright, but her voice was firm and the look in her eyes was... calculating. Her gaze met Bethany's and held it. "I have an idea."
******
Eyes skimming over the maps, Steele barked out his orders.
"Robert, you're going to take the squad on Water Street; Jacqueline, you've got Centerway; Jordan, Briardale. Try to take at least one man alive from each group for questioning. After that, Robert, I want you to head down past the group on Main, come at them from behind." Steele blew out a long breath, his mind jumping around the possibilities. "Raoul, keep us informed on Main's movements. If it looks like they're going to reinforce anyone's troops, I need to know. Just in case, I want everyone to hit their target at the same time, in exactly ten minutes."
That way, hopefully, Main would be left floundering. Right now his squads were outnumbered, four to six, which weren't bad odds since they were all military trained shifters, but he didn
't know what kind of training the enemy would have. Raoul couldn't tell him that, or whether or not they were armed with silver. Regular bullets could kill a shifter too, but only with a direct shot to the head or heart - and sometimes even that didn't work. The best way was silver. It leaked into a shifter's bloodstream like poison, causing much greater damage on impact than a regular bullet and - if it wasn't removed immediately - the effects slowly spread throughout the body, causing destruction as it went.
Considering Dr. Montgomery's experiments, they all had to assume the mercs were armed with silver weapons and go forward accordingly. Steele's people were trained, as well as being faster and stronger than any human, but the pain that silver caused was more subversive and more intense than regular bullets would be to the human mercs. With greater numbers, if they got reinforcements from the group on Main, it was conceivable that Steele could end up losing some of his people.
Which was unacceptable, as far as he was concerned. He didn't want to just beat the mercs, he wanted to send a message.
Don't ever come here. Don't risk your lives for The Company. Don’t ever move against us. It's not worth it.
So these poor, unfortunate souls were going to have to die to make a point. Raoul would be sure to spread the word. Taking The Company's side in anything was dangerous. Eli agreed. It was the best way to keep their people safe; Steele just didn't want to lose any of them in the process of keeping that safety. If they weren't outnumbered, he wouldn't be so concerned, but any backup Eli sent was going to come too late at this point.
"Everyone copy?"
They all gave their affirmatives, synched their watches, and clicked off their radios. Out in his town, his pack was moving into position. In the bunker below him, the rest of his pack was hunkered down. Not that they were just sitting there; they were shifters after all. Adults were tasked with watching the children, assembling first aid supplies, preparing food, and setting up defenses in the case of a last stand situation. One or two would be scouting out the escape tunnels, ensuring that they were still secure and secret. Everyone had a job and no one down there was idle.
Still, he much preferred being up here where he could keep track of the battle, even if he couldn't participate, and his mate.
Bethany's scent had faded, and he turned to where she and Bailey had been sitting before, assuming that she had gone back to where she was supposed to be.
A growl rose in the back of his throat as he realized that, of course, his mate wasn't where she was supposed to be. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Kasim looking up to see what was wrong. The lion shifter's dreadlocks swung through the air as he snapped his head around, quickly picking up on what had Steele snarling.
"Bethany!" He roared her name, his fists clenched at his sides, fur beginning to sprout all of his body as his wolf howled inside of him. He could actually feel his skin rippling with the effort of keeping the animal contained. Silence fell around him, as everyone stopped what they were doing and immediately looked for his mate. Who was nowhere to be seen. "Where the fuck is she?!"
"Zane, Luke, Thomas, report," Kasim barked out, naming the three snipers who were on the rooftops above them, spread out around the theater. "Did you see anyone leave this building?"
"Negative."
"Negative."
"Thomas?"
The tension grew as Steele's canines lengthened, his fury growing. He couldn't even sense his mate's emotions, because his own were too strong.
"Thomas?"
"Holy fuck..." Thomas' voice was a mere whisper, hoarse and shocked. "There's a... holy fuck..."
"THOMAS!" Steele roared, not bothering to use the radio. Thomas would be able to hear him from all the way outside. Steel was already moving towards the back of the theater, which was where Thomas was positioned. He could hear every word coming through the radio, though, thanks to his shifter hearing. The only thing slowing him was that he wasn't sure that whatever had rattled Thomas had anything to do with Bethany.
"There's a giant fucking rabbit headed down Slip Street," Thomas said, sounding choked. "Like, bear-sized. It's fucking huge, and... something small, but I can't get a good look at it, even through the scope. It's fucking fast as hell. What the fuck?! They just turned, it looks like they're headed towards Main."
The last vestiges of Steele's control shredded as he realized that somehow his mate and her sister had left the theater without anyone seeing them and were now headed into direct confrontation with The Company and Dr. Montgomery, and his wolf exploded out of him. When he caught up with his mate, she better be unharmed, so that he could put her over his knee and then tie her to his bed, where she could be pampered and cared for as long as she didn't move, for the rest of her life.
Chapter 7
Bethany and Bailey had heard enough of Mr. In-Charge-and-Oblivious' plan to know that the group on Main could be a problem. Although, even if he'd had the people to easily overwhelm the entire enemy force, the sisters would still be headed straight for Dr. Montgomery. He was theirs to deal with, on behalf of their whole family. Despite her terror for her little sister, Bethany still wouldn't have left Bailey behind, given the choice. Both of them were owed.
Keeping to the walls, Bailey was a white blur ahead of Bethany; running slowly enough that her older sister could keep up, even though she probably could have left Bethany in the dust. She was a fast and furious little thing, and Bethany felt like a lumbering giant next to her, but she didn't care about her big size. That just meant she'd probably draw the most fire. Well, that's assuming that they'd be fired on at all.
She was partially counting on the fact that the doctor would want them, safe and unharmed. And he'd recognize her, even if he couldn't know what Bailey looked like in this form.
For once, she and the thing inside of her were in perfect agreement - they both wanted the doctor's blood. The quaint shops on Main, all lit up - although empty - to try and fool the enemy into thinking that everything was mostly normal, slid past her. Hopefully this full out assault wouldn't kill her. She'd really been looking forward to going through some of those shops; shopping was something that had been denied to her for so long and she'd thought it would be a good bonding experience once Bailey was up and out of bed.
Instead, they were heading down the street for a bloody confrontation.
That sounded about right for her life.
The street curved at the end, so she couldn't see the enemy yet, but she could smell them. Hear them. The sharp scent of gun oil and metal, the musky scents of humans (and one of them definitely needed a bath), and their raised voices. One of them grated as the man shouted, his voice rising over all the others.
"Tranqs only! Don't you dare shoot them with anything else!"
A snarl rose in Bethany's throat, her bunny lips lifting above her huge fangs and sharp teeth. The damn trackers. She'd almost forgotten about those. When she caught up with the doctor, she'd let him live long enough just to tell her where the tracker was inside of her and her siblings so that she could take them out.
So, no point in even attempting a sneak attack. The doctor was obviously watching their approach. It was going to be a balls to the wall frontal assault.
Somewhere behind her, a wolf howled, and some part of her that identified as prey quivered. The other part of her, the enraged predator, recognized the competition for her own prey.
My kill! Mine!
As if Bailey had the same thought, her tiny form suddenly darted forward even faster, going around the gentle curve of the street. There were shouts and the sounds of shots fired, and then Bethany was rounding the curve as well, getting her first look at the enemy.
They'd used their SUVs and Jeeps to create a kind of barricade across the street, between the antique store and the florist, with men spread out behind them. They were all dressed in black, wearing body armor, and looked like professionals. She ignored the looks of shock and horrified awe as they got their first good look at her - although part of her cringed at
knowing Mr. I'm-Your-Mate would probably look the same way when he saw her - and focused in on the real target.
Dr. Montgomery was bouncing up and down in one of the Jeeps, completely oblivious to the target he was making of himself, pointing at Bailey's tiny, furry form. Well, trying to point. Bailey was moving so fast that he was a second behind her every move as she darted back and forth, easily evading the tranquilizer darts that sped her way.
Unfortunately for the soldiers, they quickly dismissed Bailey as a threat when they got a look at Bethany. She snarled savagely, giving them a good look at her teeth, as she pounded towards them, her back legs kicking out powerfully. Drawing as much attention as she could and making herself as big a target as possible.
Behind her, she heard another wolf howl, and the thing inside of her quivered with relief and happiness. She realized that she trusted Mr. Hot-On-My-Trail to keep her safe, even if Dr. Montgomery's men managed to knock her out. So she didn't even bother to try and hide in her shell - her soft bits could still be hit anyway, all they had to do was aim inside the giant head and armholes. She wouldn’t get the kill, but Bailey would and Bethany could assist.
Stinging needles hit her head and legs, bouncing off the rest of her body (or getting caught in her fur), and lethargy swept through her immediately. The doctor had tested enough drugs on the Bunson siblings to know exactly what to use on her.
Still, physics was going to work in her favor anyway. She heard the screams of Bailey's victims, and smiled even as she lost control of her body and slammed into the vehicle barricade like a bowling ball.
******
Seeing the huge, fluffy, white body of his mate stumble and then roll, crashing into the center jeep in the middle of the road, Steele roared his fury. While some part of him was shocked by the size of Bethany in her shifter form - she was at least three feet higher off the ground than him, not including her ears - that didn't stop his protective instinct.
Screams were coming from the vehicles as a tiny, white bunny wreaked havoc on the soldiers, blood dripping down its front as it attacked like something out of Monty Python. Darts were bouncing off of their body armor as they tried to hit the vicious bunny and ended up shooting each other instead - one of them took a dart to the throat and immediately went down. Those who saw him and Kasim bearing down on them - a huge grey wolf and a monstrous lion - were thrown into even more confusion as some of them tried to grab their regular guns, wanting real, silver bullets instead of tranq darts now that they were faced with two apex predators.
