Roxanne Desired

by Gena D. Lutz

  “Bingo,” I said, pulling out my 45 from its holster. “The vamps and werewolves are underneath the warehouse. And there are a lot of them.”

  Nathan grinned. “I guess this means we have our work cut out for us.” He commented out loud to no one in particular.

  “Don’t sweat it, Nate. I have your back.” Paige said, sending him a sly smile.

  I resisted the urge to lift my gun and shoot the bitch close range in the head. Instead of acknowledging her obvious jab at me, I said, “We’ll need all the help we can get. Thanks for the back up.”

  My comment took Paige off-guard. She shook her head and put her focus back on where it should have been in the first place, readying herself for entry to the building.

  “We will enter in three waves,” Ember began to explain to everyone. “My group will enter from the front. You,” She said, pointing to a massive blond soldier with a scar that ran in a white puckered line across the bridge of his nose and farther down his thick neck, “Take five men and assemble around back. Look for any entry points. Stay together and listen for my signal to proceed.” Ember then addressed the rest of the wolves. “I need all of you to follow my team in. Spread out and keep to the shadows. You have permission to fire at will. Use any force necessary to keep our way clear as we make our way down into the belly of this beast.”

  When Ember finished Collin spoke up. “Adelphi soldiers,” Half of the group’s heads jerked up in response to him. Collin narrowed his eyes at his men. “We have sworn to protect all known and nameless species of the supernatural kind. Tonight, your oaths will once again be put to the test.”All of the Adelphi wolves, at once, growled in approval.“We didn’t start the fight we find ourselves in today, but for the sake of the innocent, we will damn sure finish it. Be smart, move fast, and most importantly…”

  “Protect the weak! Live and die with honor!” Collin’s soldiers yelled. Their voices boomed as one.

  With a clear understanding of our orders, all of us moved forward. Combat boots crunched over gravel as we reached the building’s front entrance, coming to a stop side-by-side each other. I was the first to attempt to enter the building, and was taken by surprise when I stepped over the warehouse’s crumbling threshold. Where my boot rested on the entryway, cockroaches skittered out from beneath the cracked wood. Huge, three inch black insects ran over my laces. I cringed and resisted the urge to stomp the creepy critters into a puddle of tiny guts. As grotesque as that experience was, it was not what had me so mystified. My eyes were glued to my second boot, which was hovering in the air inside the building. I was remiss to complete my step onto the gleaming marble that covered the floor on the other side of the threshold. I threw my arm out to halt all the forward progress from the group. After I pulled my leg back, the vision of that shiny, brand-new flooring disappeared. Oil stained concrete, littered with all kinds of debris, was in its place.

  “Is something wrong?” Nathan asked.

  I took two steps back. Like a finely choreographed dance, everybody stepped back with me.

  The aromas that corrupted the air were harsher, different from when I was right up on the entryway. I took another really good look around me. This time, I was searching for anything out of the ordinary, anything out of place. My eyes wandered over the uneven ground. It was made from nothing but pebbles and dirt, a desolate landscape that stopped about a hundred feet away. It ended abruptly, becoming a new site of fresh clean grass. That didn’t make sense. Come to think of it, an old, abandoned warehouse sitting alone out here on prime real estate surrounding by lush greenery and sand wasn’t logical at all.

  “It’s like everything around us is a mirage,” I relayed to Ember. “None of it is real.”

  Ember’s brows shot together at my proclamation. She tilted her head, giving her surroundings a thorough scan for herself. After almost tasting the air by sniffing it, her shoulders shrugged.

  "It seems real to me,” she said.

  "I don't know how I know, but I do. All this," I said, gesturing around us, "is an elaborate ruse."

  “Oh I believe you. That super bionic eyesight of yours has never proved to be anything but accurate.” Ember turned to face Collin. “I think you should inform your men that they are heading into a trap.”

  Collin pulled out his two-way, the dire situation his men were in registering in the way his face began to pale. The radio’s static screeched through the quiet as everyone held their breath, wondering if Collin would reach the tactical team in time, before the group ran headlong into unknown disaster.

  “Ghost One, do you copy?” Collin released the call button and we waited. After about 10 seconds of dead air, Collin tried his men again. “Ghost One, come in. I need an update on your position asap.”

  “Should we go behind the building and check on them?” I asked nervously.

  The backs of the teams heads was my answer as I watched them take off around the building. Everyone had run but Nathan. He looked at me, his face awash with dread.

  “This isn’t good.” He looked me deep in the eyes before gesturing in the direction everyone tore off in. “Be careful my love, and if you have any mercy for me at all, stay alive. I would be wrecked without you.”

  He pulled me in hard against his solid chest, stole my breath with a pair of demanding lips that took everything from me. The way he drank me up, tasted me; it filled me with a passion that burned like wax being abused by a flickering flame. His arms loosened as he reluctantly let me go. My whole being was left dazed from the feel of his lips and then cold from the absence of them. My hand fluttered up, brushing against my bottom lip; my own touch a stark contrast from his satin one. After one more carefully placed kiss to the bridge of my nose, Nathan pulled his guns and turned around. I followed suit, filling my own palms to capacity with cold steel. Without thought for my own safety, only his, I followed the love of my life into battle.

  ***

  “Holy shit.” I couldn’t stop the profanities from spilling from my gaping mouth. Out of the blue, large claws had pierced the back of my leather jacket. The large talons were using the jacket’s strong material to gain a sure hold on me while I was lifted into the air. Harsh wind began to slap me in the face, the sudden gust making tears stream from my eyes. I tried to swallow my disbelief, the taste of the ocean slipping down my throat in the process. I squinted through my blurry, streaked vision as I jerked my head to the side so I could look up and over my bunched shoulders. Two reptilian eyes the size of large boulders were staring back at me. My first instinct was to curl up and hide, to make myself as small as possible. But then I noticed what color those eyes were and I could’ve sworn that the Grand Canyon sized mouth filled with a set of straight, razor sharp teeth was actually curled up in a smile. Harek? He must have either read my mind or my thoughts because he nodded once at me before looking back out in the vast sky before him. My first trip by Dragon was a short one. Harek dropped me gently next to a copse of trees that lined the back of the warehouse then flew off behind the cover of the tall, thick branches. The helpful Dragon had saved me precious time by depositing me alongside Ember and the rest of my group. They were busy assessing the quickly brewing trouble at the back entrance of the building. I positioned myself next to them by taking a step back into the camouflage of the trees. I felt a nudge on my leg and looked behind me. Nathan had shifted into wolf and was now stalking behind the rest of us, keeping his eyes trained on the warehouse. He was ready for battle. I peered across the distance and caught sight of the Adelphi soldiers that we had lost communication with. A few of them had shifted into their wolf forms while the rest of them held guns trained on the windows and back entrance of the warehouse. Red eyes shone from the framed darkness and I could hear gurgled growls rumbling from behind the mirage of crumbling walls.

  I felt a pull from the white wolves that so boldly held the frontline of attack against our enemies. My body tingled in response to it and I immediately shifted. As soon as my own white paws sunk into the dam
p grass, Nathan’s brown wolf stepped in front of me. Even though my body had been taken over by my beast, it still visibly trembled in response to him. We couldn’t talk out loud to each other, but I could clearly feel his emotions. He was anxious. Torn between his duty to follow his Alpha’s orders and stay by her side, or follow the demands of his heart, and me, into a battle he knew my calling as a white wolf was leading me into. My stomach burned at the thought of those wolves facing this threat without me. There was a reason why all known white wolves sought out and became Adelphi soldiers. It was their calling; a need deeply ingrained in the most powerful of all wolves born white, to protect the weaker of their species. It was how the whole pack system worked. A great Alpha ruled over their pack with compassion, protected them and their territories from all that would dare try to invade or cause their charges harm. So it made sense to me that a wolf, even more keen, more fierce, and stronger than an Alpha, would be pulled into doing the very same thing. Instead of leading a singular pack, however, the white wolves, the Adelphi, ruled over them all. When all of this was explained to me, nobody had been sure if I would ever feel the call to protect considering I was a sired white and not born of the rare breed of wolf warriors. All those questions were being answered as every part of me screamed to join my brethren.

  Nathan’s eyes bore into mine. What I read in their depths was clear. He didn’t like what I was about to do, but I could tell he wasn’t going to move an inch to stop me from doing it. If I crossed this field and united myself with the white wolves, I would be making a declaration. I would be choosing a new way of life for myself. Essentially, I would be joining a new pack. My muzzle tipped up and over toward Ember. She had stopped talking and was watching me and Nathan intently. She knew what was about to happen just as well as I did. She nodded at me and smiled. With a wink from my sire and the Alpha of my old pack, I lovingly nudged my head against Nathan and took off across that length of dirt to join a group of white wolves; a group that, as sure as there was breathe in my lungs, would change me forever.

  As I was running across the back lot, a picture of the infected wolves that Harper, Tegan, and I had fought at the compound sprang to mind. Remembering how dangerous it was for us to fight them in our wolf form had me shifting back in mid-stride. As my booted feet hit the gravel, I pulled out my two handguns, armed to kill with the knowledge to aim for their heads, in between their eyes to be exact. Shocked faces of the Adelphi greeted me as I skidded to a stop. I ended up next to the tall blonde with a scar over his nose; he was the same soldier I had noticed earlier.

  “Get back to your pack. It’s not safe here,” The Adelphi soldier ordered.

  He didn’t even give me a second look. The corners of his wide mouth were slashed straight. He looked annoyed by my sudden intrusion. This was a man who meant business and I had caught him right in the middle of some serious shit. However, I fully intended on being useful, not a hindrance.

  “I am exactly where I belong,” I stated simply. “There is something you must know. The wolves we are up against are toxic, infected with a very contagious and fatal disease.”

  His head swung back to me and he narrowed his stare. “Why am I just now hearing about this?”

  “That’s not important. Those red peepers zeroing in on us, like we’re all big chew toys? They belong to wolves that have been magically altered. One bite or scratch and they can infect and kill any one of us.”

  “How do you know this?” He snapped, obviously irritated, but I had his full attention now.

  “I haven’t the time to explain. Just let your men know what they’re up against.”

  I kept my guns trained on the windows. I wasn’t exactly sure why those wolves hadn’t attacked us yet, but I knew it was only a matter of time before all hell broke loose.

  “It’s useless to try and fight them with us as wolves,” I began to say as I backed up a little. I figured it would be best to keep a clear view of the windows just in case the infected werewolves decided to play a game of jack-in-the-box with us and came bursting out of them. “We can’t bite or scratch these wolves without risking infection, so that line of defense is out. A couple silver bullets to their brain or decapitation are the only safe ways to eliminate them.” I explained.

  Blondie gave me a grunt and a swift nod. He then snapped out orders for all the Adelphi wolves to shift back into their human form.

  “Load your guns for wolf,” He barked at his men. And by that, he meant use silver bullets.

  “Kill points are the complete decimation of their brains. Don’t stop unloading bullets into their heads until you know for sure it’s shredded. And for those of you who prefer a quicker method, there’s always decapitation. Don’t let any of these creatures breach your skin with their claws or teeth. I can’t stress enough how important this is,” Blondie ordered at his men. The soldiers grunted and nodded sharply. Satisfied that he got his point across, he nodded back at them before turning to face me. “They have been warned. Thank you.”

  I took my new brethren’s praise with a well hidden smile; it felt surprisingly good to be useful. I was pretty sure that I was going to like being a part of this elite group.

  “No problem,” I replied coolly.

  Seconds ticked by without incident, leaving everyone on guard, but also extremely fidgety. The Adelphi unit and I had decided to make a slow retreat backward, placing ourselves about halfway between the building of gloom and doom, and Ember and her group. We remained planted there, guns at the ready as the first line of defense. By doing this, we had given ourselves enough space to fight the magically altered wolves more effectively. It wasn’t wise to let them get close enough to make any kind of contact, so we had decided to try and pick them off one by one if they were so inclined to charge at us.

  “They won’t make a move without orders from their master.” The words chimed like tiny bells swaying on a light breeze. I knew who the voice belonged to immediately.

  “If you know something we don’t, please feel free to enlighten,” I replied, not taking my eyes off of one of the windows that I had decided to make my primary target.

  “Sure thing, she-wolf,” Ariel replied. She then plopped on the ground next to where I was standing. Making herself comfortable in the middle of, for lack of better words, a Texas standoff.

  “Isn’t it obvious? Tyson ordered them to guard his resting place.” Ariel shrugged. “And that’s exactly what they will do. They will not attack unless you enter Tyson’s lair.”

  I dropped my eyes to her. “Are you sure about that?”

  Ariel chuckled. “I am.”

  I reached over and grabbed hold of Scar’s bicep. Scar was the name I had mentally given the blonde werewolf who seemed to lead all the other Adelphi in Collin’s absence. I didn’t know how else to refer to him, considering that I hadn’t been properly introduced to any of the soldiers yet.

  I heard a growl erupt from behind us, loud and fierce enough to quake the very earth beneath my feet. Scar quickly yanked his arm out from underneath my hand while, at the same time, I swung my head around to see where the noise that had rocked me to my very core had come from. Nathan’s growl hadn’t been directed toward Scar and I. Instead, he was tearing across the dirt, paws digging deep into the earth in an effort to reach a brown werewolf who had somehow managed to sneak up on us. Pushing hard off of the ground, Nathan’s lean and muscled body went sailing through the air over me, landing on the snarling beast behind us.

  My heart sunk in my chest. What if that’s one of the altered wolves? I aimed both guns at the tangle of fur and claws; blood was flying everywhere. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get a clear shot off without the risk of hurting Nathan. My hands trembled. The guns began to feel like dead weight in my hands. They were getting heavier and heavier, making my muscles burn from the strain, but the hell if I was going to drop my arms, not even for the briefest of moments, in search of relief. As soon as I had a clean shot, I took it. I couldn’t tell if I had hit anything. A fe
w seconds later, I watched as my bonded mate’s teeth severed his opponent’s neck. Nathan’s sharp fangs dug deep into the other wolf’s jugular, and as he whipped his head to the side jerking frantically, he tore the flesh wide open. Nathan swung his whole body in a wide half circle before finally releasing his steel grip. The gravely injured wolf was thrown into the air, falling limply into a heap of still mush at our feet.

  Ariel jumped up and backed away from the bloody mess. She must have forgotten she could have easily disappeared instead. The grisly scene had jarred her. The rest of us scanned our surroundings in search of any more attackers. The enemy that lay in front of us bleeding to death was no longer a threat. Unless…I looked over at Nathan. He was limping up to me; a deep gash marred the thick fur at the top of his hind leg. There was a flow of blood slowly seeping out and running in a jagged line down his leg.

  I dropped to my knees in front him.

  “Are you okay?” I gasped. Reaching forward, I ran my hand over the deep gash that marred his haunch, not giving a damn about the chance of being infected if he was poisoned by the black magic.

  Nathan lurched back, away from my touch. It was obvious that he was afraid of the same thing I was; that the wolf he just fought might have been an altered one and he didn’t want to accidentally transfer the poisoned magic to me. My hand fell to the side of my hip. I watched as his fatigued body shivered underneath his fur, and after a few failed attempts at shifting back to his human form Nathan’s naked body finally shifted, leaving him holding himself up on unsteady knees. His head slowly rose to meet my stare. He wore a strained expression, frown lines burrowing deep in between his raggedly arched brows.