Savage Retribution

by Lexxie Couper

  Her stomach twisted with unease. Pulling her bolt-cutters from her backpack, she severed the chain on the shepherd’s cage, the noise like a gunshot in the silent lab. Hurry, Woman. Hurry. Pulling the chain free, she unlatched the lock and swung the door wide.

  The dog stared at her, sunken eyes unblinking, tail wagging weakly.

  Time pressing down on her, the weight of the wolf’s gaze like a branding iron on her back, she withdrew her hypo kit from her backpack. “This won’t hurt,” she whispered, reaching into the cage. “I promise.” The dog cowered, tail thumping in nervous swipes against the bars, its eyes fixed on her. With gentle fingers, she pinched a fold of skin on the back of its neck and injected the painkiller directly into its blood system. Tucking her torch under her armpit, she placed the hypodermic between her teeth and ran her hand down the dog’s chest, feeling its wildly beating heart. “I’ll do this as painlessly as I can,” she said, her throat growing tighter at the animal’s implicit faith. She moved her hands to one of the thick tubes inserted into dog’s neck, readying to withdraw it.

  A low grumble sounded behind her. Like a warning.

  Muscles tense, Regan looked at the wolf again. I’m coming. I can’t rush this.

  The wolf studied her, before flicking its silver stare to the left again.

  A chill shot up Regan’s spine and the hair at the back of her neck stood on end. Fair dinkum, it was like the animal was trying to tell her something.

  Yeah. To hurry up! Pull your finger out, Woman or you’re going to get caught!

  Gnawing on her bottom lip, she turned back to the shepherd. Hoping against hope the Rimadyl had started to take effect, she removed one tube. The dog whimpered but didn’t flinch. “Good boy,” she murmured, giving it a soft smile. Another tube followed. Another. Another. The dog gazed up at her, the thumps of its tail growing weaker. Regan’s throat constricted. It wasn’t going to last much longer.

  “I need you to stay here for a moment, mate,” she whispered, scratching it behind the ear. “Just until I see to the other animals. Then we’re outta here, okay?”

  Another tail wag, weaker this time. As if it knew what she wanted, the dog dropped into the down position and rested its muzzle on its extended front paws, liquid-brown eyes still locked on her. Trusting. Hopeful.

  Tears burned at the back of Regan’s eyes. She placed her palm on the shepherd’s head…

  And the wolf growled again.

  “I’ll be back,” she said, knowing the high dose of painkiller would end the dog’s misery before she returned. Blinking, refusing to let the tears fall, she moved silently. Across the lab. To the wolf.

  A flash of white in the dark told her its teeth were bared, but she continued forward. Pulling the bolt cutters from her backpack, she quickly severed a link in the chain wrapped around the cage’s locked door.

  A soft growl emanated from behind the bars and she looked up, her breath catching at the silver eyes staring at her. This close, the wolf’s power was almost suffocating, as was its pain. “Not much longer,” she muttered around the barrel of the flashlight. She slipped the bolt-cutter blades around one thick, shiny metal bar and—with considerable effort—managed to slice into the metal. Half an inch. She tried again. Maybe a bit more this time, but not much.

  Regan scowled. This was going to take longer than she thought.

  The wolf watched her, silent, before its hackles rose and it swung its head to the left. Seconds later, the chimp burst into screeching wails and a concealed door in the far left wall flung open.

  Three armed security guards barged into the lab, guns and flashlights aimed at her. “Hands up, missy!”

  Ah, shit!

  “Hands up, now!”

  Shit! Shit!

  A whine filled the air, followed by the acrid stench of urine as the shepherd emptied its bladder.

  “C’mon, girly,” the largest of the three guards barked, something black and ominously shaped like a gun pointed straight at her chest. “Don’t be stupid.”

  A wave of cold calm rolled through Regan. She gave the guards a slow smile, feeling the black paint smudged across her face stretch and crack. “Someone should tell Nathan Epoc his security sucks.” She pitched her flashlight at the largest guard’s head.

  Twenty-six years being the baby sister to one hulking, older brother stood Regan in good stead. When it came to defending herself, she was an expert.

  The flashlight cut across the dark lab like a lethal pinwheel, narrow, white beam turning the room into a crazy lightshow. There was a loud clunk—metal on bone—as the flashlight struck the largest guard’s forehead, followed by a bellowed, “Mother fucker!”

  But Regan wasn’t listening. She ran straight at the stunned and indignant man, flinging herself into a reverse spinning kick and smashing her booted heel against his thick jaw.

  The guard went down. With a solid and somehow wet thud.

  Blue eyes wild, Glock raised, the guard to Regan’s left leapt at her. “Bitch!”

  Without thought, she dropped into a crouch, taking out his legs with a tight, savage foot sweep. She was up before he hit the floor, scooping up her torch and sprinting across the lab to the far door, the chimp’s screeching wails like a Klaxon alarm in her head.

  “Freeze, bitch!”

  Shit, shit, shit!

  The third guard—the rookie, if she remembered the schedule correctly—began running after her, stumbling over one of his fallen partners as he did so. God help me if he remembers he has a—

  A shot fired, shattering the grim thought, and the rack of glass test tubes on the counter to Regan’s immediate right.

  SHIT!

  “Shoot the fucking bitch!”

  A metal chair flew through the air—Christ! They’re throwing furniture at me?—before something large and heavy smashed into her, driving her to the floor.

  Hot, wet breath snorted in her ear. “Gotcha, cunt.” The largest guard—the one she’d hit with her flashlight—ground his flabby, sweaty bulk against her back, pinning her to the chilly, lab floor. “I’m gonna show you who sucks around here,” he sneered. He dug his fingers into the soft underside of her wrists, ramming his hips against her ass. “You. On my hard cock.”

  “Shit!” A high-pitched shout cut across the guard’s snarl. “She’s let the dog out!”

  Regan twisted her head, in time to see the shepherd, weak and trembling, launch itself from the cage, teeth bared, hackles up. Oh, no!

  A gunshot split the air. Blood spurted from the dog’s side, bright red and thick. Regan screamed, the anguished sound drowned out by loud, raucous laughter as the shepherd’s lifeless body thudded to the floor.

  “Got the fucker!” the tallest of the guards smirked, re-holstering his gun. Piercing blue eyes fell on Regan and his grin stretched wider. “Now, back to the fun.”

  Cold dread curdled in her throat. She bucked, trying to dislodge the guard pinning her to the floor. “Get off me, you fat fuck!”

  He chuckled, dick grinding against her writhing butt. “Only when I’m done, cunt. Then my partners are gonna have their go.” He pressed his open mouth to her ear and shoved his tongue into its shallow shell. “And you can scream all you want ’cause there ain’t nobody here to hear you except these dumb-fuck animals.” With a grunt, he flipped her onto her back and shoved his engorged dick hard against her crotch. “And they ain’t gonna help you one little bit.”

  Regan stared up into his red, pudgy face, her dread turning to fear. Oh please, no. Help me!

  “Hurry up, mate,” the second guard said, stepping up beside his partner to leer down at her, depraved hunger burning in his blue eyes. “Shooting that mutt has made me hornier than—”

  A low, savage growl cut him short.

  “Aaah, Trev?” The rookie squeaked from across the lab, and even though Regan couldn’t see him she heard something close to confused terror in his voice. “Trev, the wolf’s gettin’ bigger!”

  The guard grinding his dick between Rega
n’s thighs rolled his eyes. “It’s in a fucking cage, Hicks. What’s it gonna do? Join in?”

  The wolf’s growl filled the air—louder, longer. Two sets of flashlight beams fell on it immediately and, lying trapped under the grotesque and hideously aroused Trev, Regan watched the animal contort. Twist. Somehow grow bigger. The tubes poking from its neck quivered as, with an audible pop, they tore free, spurting black liquid all over the wolf’s steel-grey fur. Regan’s heart stopped. Oh, my God…

  There was a low snarl, a sharp creak and the leather straps imprisoning it in the cage snapped. Just like that.

  The rookie let out a yelp.

  Trev stared at the snarling wolf, too stunned to get to his feet. “Jesus fuckin’ Christ,” he whispered. With a howl of brutal rage, the wolf burst through the bars of its cage. As if they were made of tin foil.

  The rookie screamed. Blue Eyes stumbled backward. “Fucking hell!”

  “Shoot it, shoot it!” squealed Trev, trying to scramble upright and grab his gun at the same time.

  He didn’t make it.

  The wolf smashed into him, driving him across the floor of the lab in a screaming blur of flailing arms and legs.

  Regan scurried backward and stumbled to her feet, Trev’s screams and the wolf’s low, savage growls punching at her ears.

  “Trev! Oh, fuck, Trev!” The rookie continued to wail, Glock completely forgotten.

  “Shoot the wolf, you dumb fuck!” Blue Eyes shouted, throwing the rookie a murderous glare.

  For a split second, Regan stood frozen, staring at the chaos around her. The smell of blood and piss stung her sinuses—What in the name of God is going on?—before primitive self-preservation kicked in and she turned and bolted for the exit door. Hot disgust rolled through her. She hadn’t saved one single animal tonight. Not one.

  Trev’s screams, raw and wet and gurgling, rose above the rookie’s wails and the chimp’s screeching. Regan heard blood in the guard’s throat and an image of the wolf’s long teeth flashed through her head. Bloody hell, she’d caused this. Her feet faltered. She’d caused it all to—

  A gun went off. Twice.

  Trev howled. As did the wolf.

  “Get the fucking bitch!” Blue Eyes screamed.

  Regan didn’t need any further prompting. Guilt bubbling like acid in her gut, she fled the room, the image of the dead German Shepherd haunting her. I’m sorry, boy. I’m so sorry.

  Another scream pierced the terrible cacophony and the chimp screeched, manic and insane. A third gunshot rang out, a fourth, and the wolf howled again—long, loud and deadly—as Epoc Industries’ high-tech security system finally activated, a shrieking Klaxon squeal shattered the chaos.

  Regan tore along the corridor, bleached in flooding white light. All around her, she heard the sound of metal cages rattling and shaking as the animals inside squealed and howled and tried to break free. She ran, their terrified calls drilling into her head, her heart. Another gunshot sounded behind her, a high-pitched scream rent the air, the wolf howled one more time…

  And she burst from the building, wrapped immediately in the warm night air of an Australian summer.

  Blinding spotlights swam across the surrounding walkways, slashing through the darkness like blades. Regan sprinted for the back entry gate, the same one she’d used to gain access to the secured grounds what felt like a lifetime ago. If someone had discovered it ajar, she was screwed. There was no way she could scale the twenty foot razor-wire fences enclosing Epoc’s labs, no matter how loud the egging voice of her brother in her head. She looked over her shoulder, convinced she would see Trev, the rookie and Ol’ Blue Eyes coming after her.

  Nothing.

  Except the stripping, swirling spotlights and the ear-piercing wail of the building’s alarm, killing the peaceful stillness of pre-dawn.

  Regan kept running. Until she cleared the perimeter, she was in danger. Even then, she couldn’t relax. The black smudges on her face may have hid her true appearance in the lab, but it made her conspicuous as all hell out on the streets. An early morning jogger may wear all black—a stupid early morning jogger—but they wouldn’t cover their faces in black shoe polish. If Epoc’s men found her, they’d know who she was.

  Run faster!

  Her car was parked three blocks away, tank full, engine tuned to perfection. All she had to do to get away was get through the—

  “Freeze, cunt!”

  SHIT! Ol’ Blue Eyes.

  “Stop or I’ll fuckin’ shoot you down and fuck you as you die!”

  Regan ran harder, the gate coming into sight. The open gate. Yes!

  “I mean it, bitch!” Blue Eyes screeched. “The next thing you’ll feel is my—”

  He didn’t finish. Regan prepared her body for the bullet but it never came. Throwing a look over her shoulder, she saw something that looked like a wolf but wasn’t—something huge—thrash Blue Eyes’s limp body about on the ground, its powerful jaws clamped around the security guard’s blood-pissing throat.

  Her blood ran cold. Jesus! What is that?

  Feet stumbling, she fell to the ground, staring at the nightmarish sight as though hypnotized. God. What IS that?

  “Over there!”

  The furious shout snapped her out of her trance. Whipping her head around, she saw them. Five armed guards running towards her.

  “Over there! Over there!”

  She flung her stare back to the wolf, watched it raise its massive head from Blue Eyes’s mutilated throat to regard her. Their eyes connected for a brief moment before it threw its head back and howled.

  “There! There!” The approaching guards screamed. “Shit! Get it! Get it!”

  They changed course, running at the wolf—the beast—instead. Guns raised and aimed.

  Blood flicking from its muzzle, the animal swung its silver stare to her once more before it ran away. Disappearing around the corner of the building, the yelling, bellowing guards close on its tail.

  Regan stared at the motionless body of Ol’ Blue Eyes—for exactly two seconds. Blood roaring in her ears, she scrambled to her feet and sprinted through the gate. Off Epoc Industries’ grounds. Into the darkness of the street. Heading for her waiting car.

  She was speeding through the quiet streets of North Sydney before her heartbeat returned to normal. “Holy shit!” Long dark fingers of pre-dawn shadows reached out for her car as she turned the wheel and sped down a narrow lane. “Holy shit!”

  Had the wolf done what she thought? Had it saved her?

  Regan shook her head and tried to force some calm into her screaming muscles. Wolves were smart, possibly the most intelligent of the canine genus, but that smart?

  Was it really a wolf, though?

  The question flitted through her stunned mind and her heart started thumping again.

  She had no answer.

  Not without seeing the animal again.

  Turning the wheel once more, she pulled into her short driveway. Killing the engine, she stared out the windscreen at the closed door of her garage. Everything in her studies told her what she’d seen was lunacy. Wolves did not grow that big. They did not exhibit self-sacrificing behavior, especially not to protect a human. She made her living working with animals. She was Sydney’s leading animal physiotherapist, damn it! She knew animals. And what she saw tonight wasn’t normal.

  But you did see it. The wolf did draw the guards’ attention from you. It did save you. It did stop Trev.

  A shiver raced up Regan’s spine and her flesh broke out in goose bumps. Christ, what a fuckup. She pulled a deep breath and the cloying stench of Trev’s sweat assaulted her senses. Urgh, she needed a shower.

  She climbed from the car and began to cross the small patch of lawn she proudly called her front yard. She needed a shower and sleep. She needed normalcy again. In only a few hours she had an appointment with the director of Taronga Zoo. Following that a physio session with the Prime Minister’s aging dachshund, after which came lunch with Rick at his�
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  A low and distant howl cut her thought dead.

  A wolf’s howl.

  Regan spun around, expecting to see the steel-grey wolf behind her, its muzzle dripping with blood, its silver eyes burning into her soul.

  Nothing.

  As if there would be! Get a grip!

  She stood still, ears straining to hear…

  Nothing except the gentle roar of Bondi Beach half a mile away and the soft warbles of a nearby magpie out searching for breakfast.

  Shaking her head, Regan climbed the steps of her porch and unlocked her front door. She entered her home, closed the door behind her and headed straight for the shower, stripping as she went. It was time for normal life to resume.

  For her, at least.

  * * * *

  The early-morning sun streamed into her bedroom through the open side window like a stroke of brilliant gold paint, casting everything in a warm hue and turning the dust motes on the air into dancing points of white-gold light.

  Eyes still closed, Regan stretched, arms extending up and out, back bowing into a deep curve. Rick Deluca—a vet she’d known since her university days and had dated off and on for the past three months—had commented more than once how cat-like she looked when first waking. Regan took it as a compliment. She liked cats. They were creatures of grace and feline beauty. If she had to be compared to animal, a cat was fine and dandy with her.

  A gust of warm wind blew through the window and the organza curtains billowed, brushing against her bare legs and tummy. Groaning low, Regan opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling. Why did her body ache like she’d been hit by a bus?

  Her tired mind drew a complete blank.

  For a disoriented second.

  “Oh, bloody hell!” She smacked her palm to her forehead and dragged her hand down her face. “Epoc’s lab.”

  Shit! What a complete cock up.

  An image of a sad and dying German Shepherd filled her head and guilt flooded through her. She’d failed too many creatures this morning. The shepherd’s brown eyes grew light, cooler, and suddenly it was the wolf’s silver gaze staring at her. The wolf that saved her.