Samson listened to his mate and wished he had a pack connection with someone on the mission. He needed them to find the little boy who brought his mate food. If she was worried about a little boy then he would get the little boy for her. He wondered who the two kids were with her and if she had bonded with them during their captivity. He wondered how old she was and if she would want him to take the two kids into their household. He wondered what her name was and were she came from. As he wondered he watched the hall and waited for the battle to be over so he could take his mate out safely. He never imagined standing by while others rescued the children inside, but he could not, would not leave his mate’s side in an enemy camp. He wondered about the dead human girl he could see and smell outside the cell his mate had been captive in and what had happened to her. He had so many questions to ask his mate. But all he could do was wait.
Chapter Twenty-four
Jeffery watched the wolves and men surrounding him. He still wasn’t sure he was not hallucinating but as the battle raged around him he directed the next step. He wondered where his partner had gone. The mission had been going well and on track till Samson had thrown his head back and shouted, more like an anguished scream of pain and rage. The men around him had cursed and moved! Despite the shouts of the big man to a couple of the others to grab Samson and hold him they were too late. His partner had shifted into a white wolf and was gone, dodging bullets as he ran. He asked one of the men at his back what happened. The reply he got was terse and to the point. He wondered how his partner knew something devastating and painful had just happened to his mate. He needed a vacation.
He agreed with Marcus, he wanted, no he needed some of those rolling eyes the aliens had. He didn’t have to worry about cameras tracking them because the men, aliens, vampires, had set them off in different directions taking out the computer systems as they went. He had an idea where the security room should be in the compound and he was in front of the charge to take it down and retrieve all the intel while Marcus had led a group of his men to secure all the escape vehicles. Another explosion rocked the compound and one of the guys with him gave a grunt of satisfaction. “There goes the helicopter.”
He had four guys at his back, one of them something they called a Seeker but so far all the men they had encountered were pure-blood human according to the men. Someone came around the corner and he raised his gun. He recognized the poor boy just as one of the wolf people let out a shout, “NO! He’s clear! He’s clear!”
“Careful with him, he is one of the slave kids. Get him back to the ditch.” Jeffery ordered. The decision to grab the kids and run with them had been made early on. They wanted all the non-combatants out of the compound if possible. The men around him were fierce warriors who turned into wolves so Jeffery didn’t expect the tenderness he witnessed as one of the men gently scooped up the boy in his arms and hugged him to his body whispering words of safety to him as he turned to run back through the halls toward safety.
“He is one of ours. I have never seen a wolf pup so broken.”
Jeffery didn’t know who spoke but the agony in the voice told him these men weren’t just on a treasure hunt for females. They cared about the little slave boy and had saved him. He thought they might leave him. One of the men muttered that two more had been taken down while another man said they had three.
“That’s eleven out of a probable twenty-two, we are missing eleven men yet. Look alive people we are only half way to total annihilation of the target count.”
“How did you get eleven out of three and six? That’s nine. Six on the fence and three inside, nine. How the hell do you even know how many have been taken down?” Jeffery muttered.
“Pack math.”
“Okay, I’ll bite, what the hell is pack math?” Jeffery muttered as he ducked down and peered around the next hallway. He should have learned all the names of the men with him, he was going to blame the drugs that had to be in his system for the sloppiness of not learning his team’s names.
“Mental math. I am from Gammon’s pack, we took down two. Kent is from Marcus’ pack, they took down three, and Darrell is from Santiago’s pack and they haven’t taken down any yet, other than the ones on the perimeter. Santiago’s people are on the fence. No one not already inside will be getting past those guys.”
“I didn’t meet a Santiago. Who the hell is that? And how the hell do you know what your people did? You can’t be listening for bullets striking bodies and calling them like that.”
“My Alpha.” Darrell offered. “He didn’t come, too many Alphas make it hard on teams. Too many cooks in kitchen or some shit. And packs have mental bonds so we know what is going on with the others in the pack. That is why we grouped up four to a team. Odd man out takes out any non-combatants. James will be back and track us to here after he delivers the little boy. Unless something goes wrong, in which case he will let me know and I will pass it to the rest. But so far all is good, he just made the ditch and handed the boy off to Gammon.”
“I still think that bear of a man was the worst one to leave in the ditch as the safety man. He is going to scare those kids shit-less.” Jeffery muttered.
“No, he won’t. He is a mountain of a man and he knows how to use that size to reassure the kids. Besides that, the wolf in these kids will feel safe with him because he has the power to back up his position. His power wafts from him like a blanket to encompass the little ones. As children they will come to our pack so his wolf sees them as ours, and that acceptance can be felt by them even if they don’t yet have their wolf. He is the best one to leave in the ditch to welcome the little ones and safeguard them.”
“What about the human children we find? They can’t all be wolf kids.”
“So far, we have saved six kids, two of them ours and four human. James said Gammon has them all huddled behind him while he stands like a rock protecting them. Well, not huddled behind him exactly, more like behind and around him. Two of them are clinging to his legs while the others are huddled in a bunch behind him. The two are probably ours since instinct will tell them to stay close to him.”
“Down!” Jeffery shouted just before an explosion rocked the intersection in front of the men and bullets tore through the walls. “Shit, they have rocket launchers. We need a team to come in behind them. Who was on the east front? Can you use that mental shit to get word we are held down at the intersection of halls K and 2. Dammit, we need radios.”
“No, got em, Marcus is coming in through the east front patio, said give him three minutes and he will have the area clear.”
“Did you tell him they have rocket launchers?” Jeffery demanded.
“We have been running missions since before you were born, give us some credit.” Kent retorted.
Jeffery slid back a few feet before turning incredulous eyes toward Kent, “I’m sorry but I gotta call bull-shit on that. You can’t be much older than me so unless you are counting any time you spent on missions while still sperm in your dad’s ball-sack you can’t have been running missions longer.”
The men around him laughed, “Dude, you are still a baby compared to most of us. I am not young but Gammon is older than me by at least two centuries maybe more.” Kent told him.
The men were hard pressed to contain their laughter when the human started muttering again about drugs in his system, head injuries, coma, and hallucinations before he finally asked, “How old is Samson? I took that boy under my wing years ago and now you want to tell me this whole time he was playing with me? I swear I will shoot his ass when we get free of this shit.”
“Samson? Shit man, he is like a teenager playing at being a grown up. He hasn’t even made the half-century mark yet. If you partnered with him years ago you had to have been with him since he was like one of our pre-teens. How the hell the two of you are still alive baffles me. He shouldn’t be running missions for anyone, not at his age. He is a kid.” Darrell said as he slid into position behind Jeffery.
“The fuck? Tel
l me you are shitting me! Why in the fuck would you people let a kid, no, I don’t believe it.”
“Don’t really care. No skin off my nose if you believe it or not. And we people didn’t let a kid join up with a government black op organization. You gotta blame his Alpha for that. He is the only one who could have given him permission, and he is still a kid himself. Can’t be more that thirty-five himself.”
“Shit, shit, shit… retreat back about four more feet… that last bullet was too close for comfort. Damn where are your people.” Jeffery asked as he put action to words and the men retreated back down the hall.
When the men were out of range again Jeffery turned incredulous eyes toward the others, “Are you telling me you people put a kid in charge of this shit?”
“Well, to be fair, you are kinda young to be leading any of us yourself.” Kent shrugged, “But needs must when the devil rides.”
Screams, scattered shots and growls echoed down the hallway. Kent stood up, “We are clear. Let’s get to that control room or office or whatever they got going on. Eight more down, three to go if you had the initial count right. We should have brought one of Trey’s people and stuck them with Gammon, how the hell are we suppose to know how many Samson took out on his mad rush to his mate’s side. I am starting to agree with Marcus, this true-mate shit is getting too fucking dangerous, fucking insane mother-fuckers. This is the absolute last time the true-mate goes on the mission. Last time dammit!”
Jeffery shook his head, he was never going on a mission with non-humans again. He needed to have Landel put that in his next contract. But how to get it in there without being thrown out and admitted to a psyche ward?
Forty-five minutes later Jeffery watched the men trying to coax the white wolf to let them have the children. He suddenly agreed with Kent, true-mates didn’t seem to be the most sane people or wolves, whatever, in the world.
He wondered what had happened in the short time between his partner leading the mission and his partner finding the young lady and two additional kids to cause the normally calm operative to snap and snarl at his own people. When one of the men came back leading Gammon he decided he should back up even more than he already had.
In a voice filled with incredible menace Gammon said one word, “Shift!” and that’s when Jeffery found out his partner spoke Russian.
The men in the hallway started backing away from the two and Jeffery followed them. His Russian was rusty and he was certain he missed a lot of the conversation but to the best of his ability to interpret the argument between the two men, the girl had been talking to herself while they waited and Samson was not happy with what she had to say. Jeffery thought he must have translated some things horribly wrong because if he understood what was being said the girl was determined to get rid of her wolf by having a one night stand. And his partner seemed determined to keep all males away from her to protect her from herself. He looked around at the others. Only a couple seemed to be following the conversation and he guessed those were from Gammon’s pack because they almost looked like— they were— they were herding the men away from the kids with looks of sadness on their faces. Gammon’s voice had shifted from a roar of rage to one of disbelief.
“Enough! We will not allow that to happen! Will not! Do you hear me Samson. We are not so cold, we are not so easily tempted. Do you think she is the first? Do you not know even the one who gained your brother his position did not think this way would be the way? It is natural, it is the only way they have to protect themselves. It is why my pack serves the race so faithfully. Gather your new family and lead them to the freedom we fought to give them. We will discuss this later. If she will allow you to take the small one to carry, the one who wants so badly to pet the pretty doggie, and the boy will allow me to carry him we will leave this place. Marcus and his people are helping Dracula and his people strip the information from the computers and gather any paperwork. Come. I want to watch this place burn to the ground so we need to step it up. It is full dark outside and I want to get back to my pack before Sunday.”
Chapter Twenty-five
Chris turned worried eyes toward his sister and pulled her toward him, “They sound mad. We need to run away. Can you send us to Mommy and Daddy now?”
“Shhh, they are arguing but they don’t seem mad at us. The big man is mad at the white wolf. They are saving us. Maybe they can help us find the man from Alaska and let us go live with him. Would you like that? That is where Daddy was going to take you and Sammy.”
Her comment to her brother gained her the attention of the largest man she had ever seen in her life. Somehow she felt he would keep her safe but she wasn’t willing to let the long-haired man out of her sight. Not after he had stood between them and everyone else. The big man made him look tiny but he still stood up to the man. She wished she knew what language they had spoken. She was concerned until the giant had switched to English at the last. His comments hadn’t made sense. He was scary in a take charge and protect you kind of way. The white wolf was not scary.
“No one is mad at you, not at any of you. Someone called me three nights ago.” Gammon looked down at the small boy. “I am guessing you made the phone call? I told you I would come for you. I promised you I would find you. I never break my word. I am Gammon and I am going to take you to Alaska with me and my pack where no one can ever hurt you again.” Gammon knelt down so he did not tower so far above the children. “Your daddy was going to bring you to live with me? Do you have a name?”
“Yes, NikNik was getting married” a deep growl interrupted him and he shot a worried glance at the man who was a white wolf just a moment ago before adding, “and we were going to move to Alaska. Daddy said you would take us because we had to protect Sammy. My name is Christopher and this is Samantha and this is Nicole. We are pleased to meet you, sir.” He turned toward his big sister and whispered, “Did I do it right?”
Nicole nodded with a smile on her face.
“Your daddy was a smart man. Samson, shut up you are scaring your new brother.”
Samson leaned down and held his arms out to the little girl. She looked up at Nicole then held her arms out. When she was safely in Samson’s arms she looked up at him with trusting eyes and petted his cheek. “My tummy hurts. I’m hungry, and I want my Mommy.”
Samson stroked her hair, “I will get you anything in the world you want to eat. Tell me and I will find it for you. You will never be hungry again, ever.” He looked down at Chris who was tugging on his hand. “You either. I will find you food if I have to find a dragon to slay, but that might take awhile so how about a burger or hot-dog instead? Do you want to go with me and find something to eat? We haven’t cooked yet but we will.”
“I want chocolate cake.”
“Uh, chocolate cake? Sure, we will find you a whole cake just for you.”
Nicole snorted, “No, we will not feed her a chocolate cake. She has barely eaten in the last few days. She needs something that will not upset her stomach. I don’t know who you are but you need to give my sister back to me.”
Samson smiled at her, “My name is Samson and you heard the big man, these are now my little brother and little sister. You don’t want to argue with such a mountain of a man do you?”
Nicole raised her eyebrows, “Why not, I just watched you argue with him and you are still alive. I am a lot prettier and nicer than you so—” she shrugged her shoulders.
“You don’t know that you are nicer than me. I happen to be an extremely nice guy.”
Jeffery sputtered with laughter at the bold claim from his partner which caused all eyes to turn his way. “Don’t mind me, just looking for my boots, shit is getting deep in this hall.”
“Well if the shit is getting so deep what say we get these kids out of here and head back to the house. The other children are already there and someone should be feeding them by now. As soon as we get everyone fed we need to get back north. I want those birds in the air with our new children before the next hour p
asses. Come on, chop chop, make it happen. Chris would you like me to carry you? My legs are a bit longer than yours and I bet you are ready to get some food in your tummy also.” Gammon reached out his arms to Chris, who after looking at Nicole allowed himself to be lifted up. “I can’t put you on my shoulders, we just wouldn’t fit through the doors. Let’s go people. Round up everyone else and let’s get the kids out of here before the house blows. And no body better blow it till I have a front row seat either.”
The men turned and led the way back down the hall leaving Samson and Nicole alone. She fell in behind Gammon with a worried look at the man beside her. Maybe he would be suitable to take her wolf. He was a gorgeous specimen of a man. She wasn’t sure why he was calling Chris and Sammy his now but if she had to guess she would figure others who lost their parents and ended up here would need new families and he had chosen her family. That might make getting him to help her get rid of her wolf a bit difficult if he saw her as a sister now.
Nicole Page 11
