by J. J. Jones
And then I started thinking more about it – an entire pack of Lone Wolves could be out to get me and I was walking right into their home territory. What was I thinking?
I started to become a little more nervous about staying with Logan for the whole ordeal after all. I knew it was still the right decision. Even Jasmine had agreed with me. I was safest when I was with Logan, but at the moment, it wasn’t helping me feel any better about the situation – especially as I watched Logan pack gun after gun into a bag.
Most of the building was empty now, aside from a few stragglers that were still picking up files or computers, but even they seemed anxious to get their things and get out. And the more I thought about it, the more I was thinking maybe I should be running out with them. Jasmine, Logan and I were the only people that didn’t seem in a hurry to get out the door, but the more I thought about it, I started to wonder why we weren’t in more of a hurry.
“Logan, you know that I will help you in whatever way I can,” Jasmine said quietly as she stood next to him.
Logan didn’t reply but nodded in acknowledgment as he continued rummaging around the room for supplies.
“You know you can’t kill him, Logan,” Jasmine approached Logan carefully, “you remember that right?”
“Yeah, I know, but you also remember that he can’t kill me either, so that means that there may be room for resolution rather than physical confrontation. No one needs to get hurt,” Logan said gruffly. “He and I are kind of at something of a standstill the way things are right now, so if I can just get to him, before he tries to have me killed again, we may be able to work things out.”
“I know, I just want you to think everything through before you bust down his door,” Jasmine spoke forwardly.
Logan turned to look at her directly. “Jasmine, I appreciate what you’re trying to say, but this is obviously not about the program anymore. This is personal. He’s called me out and is willing to hurt other people to get at me. He knows that I won’t sit on my hands while he goes around hunting for shifters. This is something that’s between me and him, and it’s time that we took care of it.”
“Okay,” Jasmine said dropping her hands to her sides almost like she was defeated. “I will help you as much as I can to get out of the city. From there though, you’re on your own. There’s not much else I, or anyone else, can do for you. All the other bears will be in hiding as of this afternoon, so there won’t be anyone to even contact after today.”
“I understand,” Logan replied.
“Come with me,” Jasmine ushered us out of the room and down the hall to a different room. Everything looked the same, except when Jasmine put her hand on a tile of the wall, it opened for her revealing four guns.
Even as I looked at the guns, I could tell they were special – different from any gun I had ever seen before. I didn’t have a lot of experience with guns, but even with my limited experience, I knew these guns were special. “More guns like the Little Doctor?” I asked smiling just slightly.
“Oh you like that one?” Jasmine returned my smile. “The Little Doctor has nothing on these. This one here is for you. We call this The Eliminator.”
“I can only guess what it does,” I laughed.
“Yes, the name isn’t real creative, I suppose,” Jasmine rubbed the side of her face as she pondered the name with the gun. “But anyway, the gun is filled with an acid concoction – one similar to the bomb that Logan assembled. That way, if you run into any more wolves like the Lone Wolf this should be enough to take them out instantly. ”
“So why didn’t we just use this against the Lone Wolf?” I asked thinking how much easier using a gun would have been than a bomb strapped to Logan’s chest.
“We didn’t know if the acid bomb would work, to be honest,” Jasmine said. “Therefore we didn’t know if these guns would be effective. We have all sorts of weapons created here, but we do not get much chance to test them in the field. Now we know that the acid works after Logan detonated the bomb this will be the best one to use for now.”
I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks. She spoke about the acid bomb and its use like it wasn’t a big deal. It was like she had forgotten that Logan had been willing to sacrifice his life for all of us in order to stop the Lone Wolf. I felt my anger building, and just when I was about to lash out, Logan stepped forward.
“Well we will still probably be glad to have this gun with us along the way,” he stepped directly between Jasmine and me. “If I were the Big Dog, I would at least have a couple of my guards immune to the normal things. It will be nice to have Tanisha with this gun as a back-up for me.” He turned and handed me the gun smiling peacefully.
I slowly felt the anger fading, and knew he was right. This was no time for a fight – especially over something that didn’t matter because it was in the past. “Thanks,” I mumbled as I took the gun, and pretended to be really intrigued with it, so I wouldn’t have to look either of them in the eye for at least a few minutes.
“Alright, let’s get out of here. There is no use in staying here any longer,” Jasmine said, her voice a little uneasy.
“Agreed. No need to wait around for uninvited visitors,” Logan replied following Jasmine out the door.
I was glad we were finally leaving headquarters. It felt like we had wasted enough time waiting around for visitors to show up when it was expected that they had known the location of headquarters for some time.
I quickly followed both of them still carrying the Eliminator at my side. It wasn’t particularly heavy, which made me believe they had used some sort of lightweight metal when designing it, because it was fairly large and at first glance, one would think it was going to be heavy. I would have preferred a couple of practice shots with it because I anticipated that it would shoot different than the other guns I shot, but considering it shot acid, I didn’t think there was a lot of room for practicing.
“There are two cars in the lot next door that belong to us,” Jasmine said. “We can take those. You can leave your other car here. So if there’s anything you want to grab from it, do it now.”
“I’ll get our stuff,” Logan said quickly. “Go ahead and get in the car. I’ll meet you over there in a minute.”
“Okay,” I replied following behind Jasmine, but choosing specifically not to walk next to her.
“We’ll take separate cars, so I’ll have a way to separate from you at the edge of town,” Jasmine explained. “Keys are in the center console. There should be a full tank of gas, too.”
“Alright, great.” I got in the passenger’s side and rummaged through the center console until I found the keys. It didn’t take too long, and I had the car started. This car was much nicer than the beater we had been driving. We had the luxury of air conditioning now as well as automatic locks and windows. And the seats were even leather.
I did feel a slight sense of sadness at leaving our old clunker behind though. It had been a good little car and had gotten us through some tough situations. It was an old piece of shit, but it was good car. I reminisced for a second about when we had bought the car and had told the dealer that we were buying it for our teenager who had just turned sixteen. Even though that hadn’t been but a week or two ago, it felt like a lifetime ago now after everything that happened. I watched Logan from a distance empty all of our things from the car and then give it a farewell kick as he walked back over to the new car.
I felt a slight pounding at the back of the car and realized that Logan was asking me to pop the trunk for him. I reached across the seat and found the lever popping the trunk. Then he opened the door to the back seat and threw a large duffel bag in the back seat as well. I guessed it was full of guns and other defensive things.
“The Exterminator is back here, okay?” he said. “Just in case you need it – I want you to know exactly where it is.”
“Alright, great,” I said turning around a smiling.
“The Little Doctor is back here, too, as well as the shot
gun and handgun you fired the other day,” Logan held up all the guns in order before putting them back in the duffel. “So if we run into trouble, you choose the best gun for the scenario and jump into the fun, got it?”
“Yes, sir,” I saluted him jokingly.
“Whatever,” he brushed me off as he shut the door to the back seat and jumped in the front.
Jasmine pulled out of the parking lot and we followed. She knew the city and the best routes to take, so there was no question that we would follow her until she decided that it was time to separate.
She mostly drove on back roads and side streets. I waited for her to jump on a highway or freeway, but she never did. I kept thinking that it was going to take up forever to even get across town going the way she was going, but in the end I decided that she should probably be trusted to know what she was doing more so than the GPS on my phone.
“So who is this Big Dog guy, and what’s his problem with you?” I asked as we drove.
“Well it’s kind of a long story, but it all has to do with the program. So remember how I told you about the government program to capture and train all the shifters – especially the werebears?” Logan asked.
“Yeah, of course,” I replied.
“Okay, well the Big Dog was a big part of that program. He helped fund it, but he also really pushed it through with the right people. The Big Dog is a werewolf and a very powerful one. He’s very persuasive and good with words. I’ve never met another shifter or another person quite like him. When he speaks, you want to listen and you want to do what he says. It’s not like magic or anything, it’s just the way he is with words.” Logan stopped to rub his temples. “I mean even lots of shifters bought into his ideas and the program in the beginning. It’s hard for me to believe that now, but it’s true. He was able to say all the right things in the right way that he just had people eating out of his hand in the beginning. Almost like the Hitler of the shifter world..”
“Okay,” I said. “Go on.”
“You need to understand that The Big Dog has always been extremely jealous of us werebears. I’m not exactly sure why, but we have abilities and strengths that werewolves just don’t have, so it probably had something to do with that. Regardless, his jealousy drove him to see all werebears brought into captivity. He wanted all werebears part of the program. That’s where I come in.” Again Logan paused as if lost in his own thoughts.
I waited patiently for him to continue.
“I was part of the last group of werebears to be captured. I resisted the training and eventually engineered the escape of myself as well as many other werebears. By escaping and leaving the program, we greatly undermined the Big Dog’s authority and brought the entire program into question. Soon after our escape, the government shut it down. To be honest, I don’t think our escape was the sole reason for the shut down, I think investigations were happening prior, but the Big Dog doesn’t like to think that. Instead he sees me as the reason for his failure. I guess he is a little pissed off with me” Logan sighed loudly.
“So the Big Dog only sees that your escape coincides with the government shutting down the program, therefore he blames you for the fact that the program was shut down. And now he wants his revenge.” I said quietly.
“Something like that, I guess,” Logan said, his voice sounding tired.
“I can see that,” I said. “It’s not right by any means, but I can see where he would be misguided. Maybe all he needs is help seeing that you weren’t the only reason the program was shut down. If he can see that there were other reasons as well, he won’t be so angry with you, but he will understand that the program had to be shut down for other reasons as well.” I suggested.
“I wish it were that simple,” Logan said. “I’m afraid, the Big Dog isn’t quite that reasonable. I wish he were, then this task would be so much simpler. Others have tried to help him see just what you are explaining before, but he will not see reason. He only wants to see that his program was right and just. He doesn’t want to hear that his program failed. I fear that it would take a miracle for him to see what you are suggesting. And I don’t think we have a miracle on our side.”
“Something’s wrong,” I said pointing ahead to Jasmine’s car. She had swerved into oncoming traffic and then veered quickly back into our lane only narrowly missing a head-on collision.
“Do you see anything?” Logan said concern in his voice.
“No,” I replied straining to see anything out of the ordinary ahead of her.
It only took a few more seconds before we both could see why Jasmine had veered so suddenly. A pack of werewolves had come from nowhere and attacked her from the front and were moving to attack us as well.
Jasmine quickly took a side road to try and throw the pack from her car – we followed at the last moment. Unfortunately, the pack wasn’t fooled for a second.
“We’ll have to stop and fight them,” Logan said decidedly. My heart began to beat with all the adrenalin.
It was almost as if Jasmine had overheard Logan from her car. The moment following his comment, she pulled her own car into a deserted alleyway and threw open her car door. In the same fluid motion, the woman opening the car door shifted into a beautiful black and orange tigress. As she shifted she roared with such fervor that even I shuddered in the seat of the car. I could feel her anger as she growled low and inviting.
Logan also emerged from our car shifting into his polar bear form snarling and growling at the wolves as he shifted. The pack of wolves easily numbered twelve or fifteen, but Jasmine and Logan didn’t seemed concerned or bothered at all by being out numbered seven or eight to one.
I noticed that neither Logan or Jasmine fought first, but waited patiently for the wolves to attack them. I didn’t know if that had any significance, but I thought it noble of them. The wolves slowly surrounded them and started to circle them while Logan and Jasmine stood back to back with one another. Neither spoke, but once the fighting began it was like everything had been planned from the beginning.
I felt like I was watching a movie or even a well-rehearsed dance watching Jasmine and Logan fight together. It was like they anticipated each others next move and could help each other or plan together how best to beat the enemy. I sat in the car knowing that they would not need my help to win this fight. I hoped that anyway. As strong as I thought I was, violence made me nervous.
Wolf after wolf attacked and Logan would bite at its throat, claw away at it’s chest, moving aside when it attacked, but also knowing when and where to defend if it moved to attack against Jasmine. And Jasmine did the same for Logan. They moved like one – it was incredible to watch.
The carcasses of werewolves piled next to them as the attacking wolves dwindled. The final werewolves were the hardest to defeat, and Jasmine battled two while Logan fought against three. They pounced and swiped at Logan’s feet and face, trying to find a weakness in his movement, while also trying to throw him off-balance enough to get a chance to injure Jasmine from behind. But Logan was too quick and moved quickly to keep Jasmine protected.
Jasmine also found herself working hard to keep herself protected while not leaving Logan vulnerable. Logan roared loudly in frustration that this was taking as long as it had. His roar signaled to Jasmine that it was time they did the attacking. Both he and Jasmine moved against the five remaining werewolves and finished them in a matter of seconds.
Both Jasmine and Logan shifted back to their human forms, nodded respectfully to each other and walked back to the cars. I noticed a little skip to Jasmine’s step as she walked back to her car, though. It made me wonder if fighting gave her a bit of a rush. I couldn't help but notice that her now naked body was absolutely delicious. She had an incredible figure. It is women like her that can often make me question my own sexuality.
Logan was slightly out of breath as he got back in the car and reached for some spare clothes in the back.
“Never a dull moment with you,” I said trying to keep the
mood lighter.
“Yeah, I suppose not,” he replied trying to smile.
“So she is a.. Tiger?” I asked, still stunned at what I just saw.
“Yep. I did warn you that you would not want to see what she is.” Logan joked casually.
“Wow, well let’s keep going,” I said pointing ahead as Jasmine’s car pulled away from the alleyway and back onto the road.
Logan started the car and followed her. Something told me this was not going to be the final incident.
Chapter2
We continued to drive through the city for a while and I tried not to think about how well Jasmine and Logan had worked together during the fight. Everything about their movements and the fluidity of their style had said that they had been or still were close. They definitely seemed to share some sort of chemistry. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the history that existed between them, but something ached inside me that wanted to know. And so finally, I couldn’t help but ask.