I paused my count of ammo in the clip I was holding. “Nothing.”
“Think she’s all right?” she asked after a moment’s consideration.
“Yeah,” I lied. “I think so.”
When she’d first returned to my life, it hadn’t felt like anything changed inside of me. I mean, she was back and I was happy about that. But there had been so many issues between us, so many things unsaid, and subtle mistrust caused by the absence in each other’s lives. I realized now, though, that the moment she’d returned to my life, I had felt a certain kind of comfort in my chest, comfort at the fact that she was near me. A connection, almost, that was so subtle you’d only recognize it if it was gone.
Moments after we’d heard her howl echoing down from the mountains, though, that feeling had somehow vacated from my chest. And nothing had taken its place. There was just an empty hole there, an absence like I’d felt before she’d shown up at the wedding three months ago.
On the one hand, I was glad I wasn’t going crazy, and I was ecstatic she was in one piece. But on the other, I was torn at this new feeling of emptiness in my chest, and couldn’t keep my thoughts from returning to it and mulling it over.
Had something happened to her? Something that had been triggered by her signal to me? Was this my fault?
But I couldn’t say any of this to the kid.
None of it.
“Why are you lying?” she asked, seeing right through me.
I sighed. “I’m not. I’m just trying to be optimistic.”
“You’re never optimistic, though, Pete. You’re a realist.”
I didn’t reply, just kept counting bullets. What could I say? The kid had me pegged.
“What do we do now?” she asked.
“We wait. Same as we’ve been doing. When the sun goes down, we make our move. You stay here, protect the women.”
“But I want to go with you.”
“Mary,” I said, setting the magazine aside. I turned to her, grabbed her by the shoulders, and leaned down to look her in the eye. “You know that’s not going to happen. We discussed this earlier. I need you here.”
Trying to avoid my eyes, she looked down, then to the side. Anywhere but my face. “For what? So I can sit with the women? With the mates?”
“No, so you can listen for our howls in case people start heading your way. You know the plan: we can’t use walkie-talkies or cellphones right now, so we have to communicate some other way. And we need someone to stay down here who can understand them and help everyone get to safety. There’s no other way.”
She broke away from my grip, saying, “It’s still bullshit.”
“Hey, hey,” I said, frowning. “Language. You know how I feel about that.”
“Is that what you want to really bitch at me about right now? How much I say bullshit or fuck?”
I sighed and turned back to the desk. “It's not just about how much you swear or don't swear. It's about discipline and being able to control yourself in bad situations. If you start to let the little things slip, the big things go right alongside with them. Language here, grooming there, groups tactics. You lose a war one encounter at a time, not all in one swoop. Life's like that, too.”
She gave an exasperated sigh and stomped off to the door. She stopped just before she left. “Yeah, well, you know what? I’m not a soldier, Peter. I'm just a girl, remember?”
And then she was out the door.
I rubbed my tired eyes. I didn't know if I should go after her or not, and right then I couldn't decide one way or the other. There were too many variables up in the air. Clearly, there was a trap waiting for us up on that mountain. But wouldn’t the soldiers of Jaeger-Tech also be looking to swoop in and scoop up our mates as leverage over us?
Given the situation, I would if I were in their shoes. Especially considering the fact that they still had the town locked off from the outside world. Where else could we send the women while we tried to rescue the ones they already had?
No, the best bet we could make was for the women to stay in town. But just because we weren’t going to be down here didn’t mean we couldn’t get some help protecting them.
I went over to the door and leaned my head out. “Jones!” I called into the hallway. “Head on back here for a minute?”
“Sure thing!”
“Bring Zeke with you, too?”
“Uh, sure,” Zeke called back, followed soon after by the sound of footsteps on an aluminum stepladder.
“What’s up, boss?” Matt asked as he came into the little office that had somehow become my inner sanctum.
“Matthew, I’m running into a problem when it comes to protecting the people we’ve got down here. Any chance you could impose on Chief Beckett to help with protection?”
Matthew winced, then seemed to consider the request for a moment. “I don’t know, Pete. He’s got a lot going on with coordinating everything. But you know who might be willing to help? Roy down at the Elk. We could hole everyone up there.”
“Mary, even?”
“Ain’t exactly like the sheriff’s going to be there bitching about Roy not checking ID.”
I made a face. “Really, Matt?”
He just shrugged. “It’s true, isn’t it? Look, he owes us one for getting those Denver guys off his back.”
“What about me?” Zeke asked.
“Here,” I said, going over to one of the tables and grabbing a pump-action tactical shotgun, its barrel sawed down to just about the legal requirement. “You can shoot, right?” I asked as I offered him the gun.
He took it and, without his eyes leaving my face, cleared the chamber to make sure it was free of shells, flicked on the safety switch, and hung it down across his body in a near tactical position. “Two tours in Nam, Mr. Frost, spent most on point. Anything comes at my goddaughter or your people, they’re gonna have me to deal with. Promise it.”
That was a relief. I’d never really spoken to Zeke about his past, but he’d been a lifesaver when it came to all the various rebuilds we’d had to do on the safe house and on our office. I’d never really wondered why he didn’t ask questions about why we had so many bullet holes in the wood we stripped out, but now I kind of did. I gave him a nod. “Good to know. Think Roy will let you hold up there?”
“Reckon he will,” Zeke said. “He owes me one from back in the day, same as he owes y’all. Probably will be better to keep them there in a public place, as it is.”
“Agreed,” I said. I tapped a finger on the box of shotgun shells we had. “Solid slugs. Anything that comes at you is going to get a nasty surprise.”
“I like surprises,” Zeke growled, clearly still upset about the fact that a janitor at Rebecca’s school had already tried to kidnap her.
“Anything else, boss?” Matthew asked as Zeke disappeared out the door.
I waved him off. “No, nothing for you to be concerned with.”
“You all right?” he asked, a concerned look on his face.
“Yeah. Just worried, that’s all.”
Matthew nodded. “Yeah, you and me both.”
If only Vanessa would reach out and contact me, though, I probably wouldn’t have this sinking feeling in my gut.
Unfortunately, as I would later find out, she couldn’t.
Chapter Thirty-four – Vanessa
“It can’t be permanent,” Jessica said as she gently squeezed my shoulder. “It can’t possibly be permanent.”
I’d pulled my clothes back on, and we sat on what I guess we’d arbitrarily decided was “my” bed. The covers were mussed into a tangle of sheets and comforters behind us, but I didn’t care. I just sat there, staring across the room at the far wall as she tried to be comforting and supportive.
“I don’t know,” I replied finally, my voice dull and void of emotion. “Why couldn’t it? Look at all this craziness. We’re in uncharted water, here.”
“But how could they just…take it all away?”
Since they’d burst int
o the room and given me whatever had been in that shot, something had changed inside me. I couldn’t shift. I couldn’t feel Peter. I couldn’t smell the way I could before. I didn’t want to prick my skin or cut it because I wasn’t sure how bad these changes were. Would I bleed out? I had no idea.
“Well, even if it is, you know, we’ll figure it out.”
I snorted, shaking my head. “I don’t think that’s going to happen. Whatever this is, if it’s permanent, it’s a little bit outside our skillset. Not unless you’ve got a PhD in molecular biology that you haven’t told me about.”
“No,” she said carefully. “Marine Biology, actually. And it was just a minor.”
I got up from the bed and started to pace again.
My head was a whirlwind of worry and confusion. How could they have just stripped my powers from me? Had they turned me into a…human somehow? Not that that was a bad thing, mind you. I didn’t think there was anything wrong with humans. I mean, here I was, locked up with one. No, the real problem was that I wasn’t a human. I was a shifter.
As I paced the floor, a thought occurred to me. I stopped in my tracks and ran my fingers back through my hair, clearing my throat.
“What’s wrong?” Jessica asked.
“What if Peter doesn’t want me anymore because of this? Because of it being permanent?”
“What?” she asked, shaking her head. “Why would you think something like that? Of course he’d still want you. You two are mates, aren’t you?”
“But,” I said, my voice rising a little despite my best effort to control it, “I can’t be an alpha anymore. I can’t be one with him, Jessica, if I’m not a shifter.”
“Vanessa,” she said, getting up from the bed and coming over to me. She grabbed both my hands and looked into my eyes. “Vanessa, the girls and I didn’t decide we wanted you to be our alpha back in that office because you can turn into a wolf. Before an hour ago I hadn’t seen you shift once, but I still respected you.”
I looked away from her.
“We voted because we know you care about us and we respect you. It’s not because you can howl at the moon or have a great sense of smell. I voted for you because I know you’ll sacrifice yourself and get shit done, just like you’ve done twice since we’ve been in here.”
I sighed. “A shifter should be the leader of the pack. That’s the way it’s always been, going back as far as the stories go.”
“So. Fucking. What?”
I laughed a little and shook my head.
She grinned. “I don’t care how it’s always been done. My husband doesn’t, either. He wasn’t raised by shifters—his father was killed in some awful accident before he was barely out of diapers and his mom was just human like me. So why should he care?”
“You don’t think the others would…abandon me?”
“Vanessa, they don’t follow Peter because he’s a shifter. They follow him because he’s a great leader and they know he’s got their back. He and Richard might be partners in the business, but we all know Peter makes the big decisions and puts everything else before his own gain. Because he always thinks about what’s best for the whole pack, not just himself. Like you.”
Before I could respond, though, I nearly jumped out of my skin as the bolt on the door was thrown back.
I’d never been really startled like that since I was a small child, since before my powerful senses had come into their own. This new life was going to take some getting used to. The only problem was, I didn’t know if I could do it.
“Oh no,” Jessica whispered as the doorknob began to turn, “they’re back.”
I realized I was holding my breath as the door opened, revealing Mr. Finney and a new guard to replace the one I’d just killed.
“Adjusting to your new lot in life, Ms. Springer?” Mr. Finney asked as he glided into the room, his step smoother than an oil slick, and his voice just as bad.
My skin crawled as I swallowed hard, but didn’t respond.
Both guards began their approach, electric batons in hand. I weighed my chances of getting away, but realized I didn’t have much. Was it even worth the struggle? They were going to bring me down anyway.
“Please don’t put up such a fight this time, Ms. Springer. My employees are a costly investment, and I do hate to lose anything that’s useful.”
My lips curled up in sneering growl as the men approached and my body made the decision for my brain. I was going to fight, even if it was a losing battle. After all, it was the only thing I could do.
Mr. Finney must have realized that I meant to put up some resistance, though, because his attention immediately shifted to the guards. “If she reacts violently, kill the human woman. She’s of no use to me unless I can use her to control this one. The others will come for her even if she’s just a corpse.”
The blatant disregard for whether I heard his plans or not was like a slap in the face. Jessica was merely a pawn in all this, and anything I did would just result in pain and torment for her.
“Yes sir, Mr. Finney,” said one of the guards, a burly man in his late thirties to early forties, his grip tightening on the baton. “Mind if we have some fun with her first?”
“What do I care?” Finney asked, smiling a little. “She’s just human.”
“Vanessa,” Jessica said, grabbing hold of my arm, “don’t listen to them. I don’t care–”
I shook her arm off, though, and took a step forward so I was right between the two advancing guards. “No, it’s fine. I’ll come along quietly. Do whatever you need to do, just leave her out of this.”
“Excellent,” Finney said. “I’d hate to risk unnecessary blood lost every time we come to get you. So wasteful.”
“Where are you taking her?” Jessica asked from behind me.
My brow furrowed in concern and I glanced back over my shoulder at her. It killed me to have to leave her alone like this, especially after we’d already been together for so many hours. But what choice did I have? It was either go with them willingly or open ourselves up to more risk of her being hurt. And, especially now, I had no way to protect her other than this.
“Nowhere that concerns you,” Finney said.
“Vanessa!” Jessica cried, taking a step forward.
Still looking back over my shoulder, I just shook my head. “Don’t worry,” I said as reassuringly as I could. “I’ll be all right.”
“Want us to cuff her?” one of the guards asked.
“No, no,” the Brit said, a wicked, skeletal grin spreading over his face, “I think Ms. Springer, here, will be perfectly amenable to travel without unnecessary bondage. Won’t you, Ms. Springer?”
I sighed and, my eyes downcast, looked back to Finney. I gave him a slow nod, saying, “Yeah. Let’s just do whatever it is you want to do.”
Flanked by both guards, I followed behind Mr. Finney, my head hanging low.
Any fight I put up, whether in here or wherever I was going, would just put Jessica at risk, and that wasn’t a chance I could take.
But worst of all? I was at the mercy of Jaeger-Tech. And not only could I not protect Jessica, but I also couldn’t protect myself from what was coming.
Chapter Thirty-five – Peter
“Alright,” I said as we stood assembled one last time by Jake and Matthew’s pickup trucks. We’d used them both to freight our gear from the Curious Turtle to this little side road on the edge of town. The sun had long gone down behind the mountain, plunging into darkness the little valley Enchanted Rock called home. If we left now, we’d be able to get to Burton’s Folly by go time. “We all know the plan. We’ve gone over it at least fifty times. Any of you guys have any questions before we gear up and head out?”
The men of my pack stood around me, arms crossed. Mary was seated on the dropped down tailgate of Jake’s old pickup, swinging her legs back and forth like this was just another day in the mountains. We were all still wearing our civilian clothes from earlier in the day, with our gear packed up in
the modified duffel bags loaded in the truck beds. The bags were like the ones some people strapped onto their dogs for extended hiking and camping trips, but built to fit over a giant wolf’s body. We’d need them to haul our gear up through the woods. No way was I planning on taking a vehicle anywhere near the Jaeger-Tech soldiers. They’d see it coming from a mile away. Instead, we were going straight up to the other side of the ridge, then approaching on their blindside.
I noticed Jake shuffling around a little bit, like he wasn’t sure if he should speak up. “You okay, Jake?”
He looked around and sighed. It was clear he was torn about what he wanted to talk about, but after a moment he finally spoke up. “Before we go, Cap, I do have one thing that’s been bugging me. Say we get Jessica and Vanessa out of there, and we get all these guys. We kill ‘em and push ‘em out. What then? That doesn’t eliminate the threat, does it?”
He was right, and I’d been wondering when someone was going to bring this up. After all, it had been on my mind for the last day. We had no plan for the endgame, no way to bring this thing to a closure.
“Yeah,” Richard added. “What are we going to do, Pete?”
All eyes on me, I lowered my head, kicking a rock off the side of the road. “We’re going to do what we should have done in the first place,” I said, looking up at them. “Take the fight to them. At least, that’s what I’m planning on doing. This pack is a group effort, not some dictatorship. You all trust me to lead Frost Security and that’s fine, but I’m talking about going after something bigger and more dangerous than anything we’ve faced. And you’re right, if we bloody their nose tonight, we still have to deal with them tomorrow.”
Quiet unease settled around the loose circle. “Some of you mentioned before tonight that you think dropping off the grid is the better option. And, I’m not going to lie, that might be safer in the short term. But I think we also owe it to ourselves and to shifters everywhere to see if we can stop this. We need to put these Jaeger-Tech people down permanently and stop whatever the hell it is they’re doing to our people. So, after tonight, that’s my plan of action. And I know Vanessa will be with me on it, as soon as we have her out. Now, you all have your own mates, your own worries and concerns, and that’s fine. I’m not expecting you to take the same path I choose. But I’m not going to reject any help you want to offer. These people, no matter how powerful they think they are, came after my pack not once, but twice. They killed my parents, butchered my family, and now they’ve got my mate and my best friend’s wife. I’m not going to just wait around anymore to finish the job.”
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