by Riley Storm
The pack sticks together.
And she was a member of it now. This was her pack, and Alison was sticking with them. She would do whatever it took, if it was within her ability, to ensure they got out of that facility safely.
A spike of adrenaline spread through her core as she realized her lips were pulled back in a silent snarl, a challenge to anyone who would dare try and get in the way. To anyone who would threaten her pack.
Whether it be this Lyken, or the Canis King, or the shadowy figure picking its way across the parking lot, it didn’t matter. She would stop them.
Alison jerked upright. Shadowy figure?!
She focused her attention on the here and now, staring in horror as not one, but several shapes detached themselves from some of the parked cars, flowing silently from the cover of one to another. There weren’t that many vehicles still parked in the lot at this time of night, but there were enough.
And every single one of them seemed to harbor a shadow. She tried to count, but they were moving at random intervals, and others would spawn from the place she’d just seen one move. It was a deadly, dangerous dance, but it was obvious they were all slowly converging on the electrical box.
Shivering at the way they moved, Alison ran through her options, trying not to think that there might be one of them hiding in the shadow of her truck. If they spotted her now, she was in big trouble. As a human, she was practically defenseless against someone with the strength of a wolf shifter. It irked her to admit it, but there was little she could do to change that situation.
I might not have the muscles to overpower them. Going to need to use something else.
Perhaps, she thought with a smile, there was an advantage to being a human. She thought about it in ways they didn’t. After all, if a shifter needed to do some damage, they would use their wolf form, she assumed. They were used to fighting one another. Their code of honor, as far as she could tell, dictated a lot of face-to-face fighting and the like. To being the hunter.
I wonder how well they would adapt to being hunted by several tons of good old-fashioned steel powered by miniature explosions?
A grin split her face. Reaching up, she drew the seatbelt down and around her body, snugging it in tightly. Fingers reached up, inserted the key, and with one last breath, Alison fired the truck to life.
Two things happened.
First, every shadow darted for cover, seeming to disappear without warning.
Secondly she cackled, a loud, evil sound that filled the cab as the truck lurched into gear. Alison fired up the headlights, high-beams picking out several shapes crouching next to cars as she stomped on the accelerator.
The truck rumbled forward, slowly picking up speed as she bore down on one of the shapes caught out in the open. The radio came to life as the first guitar beats of Steppenwolf’s Born to Be Wild filtered out.
Twisting the steering wheel to the right as she careened around a car, missing it by inches, Alison reached out and cranked the volume as high as she could, screaming along to the lyrics as she played bumper cars with Lyken’s team of shifters.
“Born to be wild!!!!” she shouted as one shifter was too slow and went tumbling out of the way.
She wasn’t going to win, of course, but that wasn’t the point. The longer she delayed, the more she occupied their attention, the better chance Lucien had not only of getting out of the hospital, but of being warned that they were out here waiting.
The truck shook wildly as something hit it from the side. A moment later, a giant wolf claw came ripping through the roof. A human face appeared in the passenger window, staring in at her for a second before it smashed the window.
On the roof, the wolf snapped and ripped at the metal, tearing it open bit by bit.
Time was running out. She couldn’t let them get to him. They—probably—wouldn’t kill her. They hadn’t the first time, but this was slightly different. Now she was actively aiding Lucien in his attempt to free the others. But if this was what they required…
I’m sorry, Lucien. I tried.
Spinning the wheel around so violently the truck lifted onto two wheels for a handful of seconds, Alison set her eyes on the target, forcing the accelerator down. The truck bounced and jolted as it raced across the parking lot, speedometer inching up with every parking spot she blasted past.
With a thunderous crash, a screeching of tortured metal and a huge wolf suddenly flung free, she piled into the electrical box, sealing the exit and more than likely her own fate.
For a moment, Alison thought she was going to black out, but then the world came back into focus, accompanied by a tearing sound as someone insanely strong simply ripped the door from its hinges. A thick hand grabbed the seatbelt and pulled it free so violently it left a small burn against her neck.
“You,” a voice spat with barely bridled anger.
Alison found herself staring into blue eyes set into a familiar face below a bald head.
“Hello Lyken,” she said with far more calm then she felt.
39
They encountered Lana unharmed.
She was standing in the tunnel, staring at the wreckage that was supposed to be their exit. What appeared to be the entire electrical box was now in the tunnel entrance. Something had collided with it and crushed it beneath.
“Alison,” he whispered. “What have you done?”
He had no proof that she had caused it of course, but the more he thought about it, the more he decided the noises he’d heard earlier were the sounds of a truck engine mixed with tires squealing.
“You think Alison did this?” Lana asked.
“Yes,” he replied, staring up at the mass of metal blocking their way. “And she would only have done it for one reason.”
“Lyken is back.”
He nodded at Lana in agreement. “Yes. He’s back, and she crashed the truck into this to prevent him from ambushing us in the tunnel.”
“What do we do now?” Lorik asked forlornly. “If she’s up there with Lyken, he has her now.”
“Don’t you think he knows that,” Lana said harshly, taking Lorik’s arm and guiding him away, giving Lucien some privacy.
Privacy he simply couldn’t afford. Not now. None of them could. Lucien would have to push his fears for his mate’s safety to the side. Right now, he had a mission, and that mission was to get his men to safety. Then, and only then, could he concern himself with Alison.
“He’s right,” Lucien said stiffly, following them back up the tunnel and passing them as they rendezvoused with the rest of the group. “Lyken probably does have her. Which means we cannot let him have the rest of us as well. We need to get our asses back to that other door and get out of here asap.”
He looked at the crowd, their eyes focused on him.
“Now!” he shouted. “Move it. No time to waste. Call on whatever reserves you have. We must beat him to that door. If we can do that, we can get out into the hospital and from there, split up. He can’t possibly catch us all. Go!”
The ragtag bunch began shuffling back up the hallway at a better pace than they had managed so far, though not by much. Lucien knew if they abandoned their two or three worst members, they could increase it much more, but he simply could not risk that. He wasn’t going to leave anyone behind.
Getting to the door was easy. Unlocking it the same. As they emerged into the hospital itself, however, things became more complicated. Not only did they have to get out, but they had to avoid getting bogged down by hospital staff, a much tougher task.
They were moving slower now, because running would attract far too much attention. Though how much more attention was debatable. Eleven tall, muscular men and one woman all moving together down a hospital hallway was already a sight. Did running really make that much more of a difference? They were still shuffling along quickly.
“Lucien.”
He looked over at Chief’s call. The shifter had stopped, and was looking at the door.
“What is i
t?” he asked, stepping back, letting the others continue ahead.
Chief just tilted his head at the door.
“You can’t be serious,” he said quietly. “The Central Pharmacy?”
“We’re going to have to fight our way out of here, Lucien. You know that. We’re not going to just be able to waltz out. If enough of us stand up to him, we have a shot at ending this here and now. This is our best shot.”
“I won’t force anyone,” he said quietly. “Half of them are walking zombies already.”
“Wouldn’t expect anything else.”
“Logan!” Lucien barked as loudly as he dared.
The mass of shifters came to a halt, and at a motion from Lucien, returned to stand around the door.
“Anyone willing, come inside. Otherwise, go lose yourself in the hospital. Find a room, hunker down. Wait until morning. The rest of us. We’re going to fight.”
“How are we going to do that?” one of the weakened but uninjured asked.
“We’re going to give you all shots of adrenaline,” Lucien said, hating himself for asking that of these men who had already been mistreated for the past several days. He was about to inflict even more punishment on their bodies. “A lot of it.”
But like Chief had said, they weren’t getting out of there without a fight. If they were to have any hope of some sort of victory, he was going to need all the numbers he could get.
“I’m in,” Logan said without hesitation, stepping forward with a nod at Lucien.
One by one, the others followed suit.
“Hey, what are you all doing here?”
Lucien turned to see an orderly staring at them from an intersection of hallways behind him.
One of the injured shifters pushed his way through. “Looking for help,” he gasped, limping hard on the leg he’d been favoring all along. “There was nobody at the desk.”
The orderly frowned, but when the injured shifter—Lucien didn’t even know his name—leaned on him for support, the orderly’s training took over and he forgot about Lucien and the others. Which was good, because they were about to break into one of the most secure rooms in a hospital.
“Come on,” he growled, pulling on the handle and entering the first set of cages and doors that led to the drug repository known colloquially as the Central Pharmacy.
His band of shifters came after him.
40
“Everyone ready?” Lucien rumbled.
Muted nods of assent were all he got in return. They were all he needed.
Many of the nods were jerky, jittery things, but Lucien couldn’t stop to pay attention to that. It was go time. Ahead of them were the ultra-wide sliding doors of the hospital exit. Beyond that, the sprawling grounds of the hospital.
And beyond that, a jog through a forest, and then the parking lot. And Alison.
Until now, Lucien had pushed her from his mind, unwilling to consider what might be happening to his mate. All sorts of nightmare scenarios had filled his head until he’d clamped down on them and focused on the shifters around him. He had to. Without them, there was no chance he would ever see his mate again. Now, however, there was a chance. It was slim, but it was there.
“Let’s go then,” he growled, taking the first step.
Logan was there next to him, the pair leading the way as others fell in step one by one, an arrowhead of bodies reaching out to pierce the night as the doors fell away. Somewhere out there waited Lyken and his men, an unknown number of enemy shifters, ready to spring their trap.
Lucien was tired. He was tired of hiding in the shadows. Tired of being hunted. He was tired of always reacting, and never acting. Tired of looking over his shoulder.
The doors hissed and slid open. The few nurses and orderlies on duty watched them go, but the shifters paid them no mind. Not even the security guard who came rushing down the hallway shouting at them to stop as alarms began to ring in the distance. None of that mattered anymore. Lucien and his men had a date with the devil. And it was time to dance.
His massive upper body tilted forward as they cleared the boundary of the building itself, turning into momentum that carried him forward, his pace increasing with every step. Behind him came Logan and the rest of the team, a wave of muscle and men tired of being pushed around. They were ready to push back.
They broke out into a jog, long powerful legs pushing them forward in strides no human could match. Curving around the parking lot, they reached the grassy hills that led to the forest, and beyond that, to Lyken.
Lucien snarled a challenge to the night.
Someone else answered from nearby. Then another. All in all, twelve voices snapped their defiance as they loped forward, growls ripping through the night with a power behind them that no human throat could ever match.
Up ahead, a shape detached itself from the forest, stepping forward. And another. And another.
“Lyken,” Logan hissed savagely.
As one, Lucien and his shifters came to a halt, the shadowy figures still little more than outlines against the pitch black of the forest behind it. To their rear, the lights of the hospital had faded, leaving them nearly invisible to any watchers.
“Remember,” Lucien said as he sensed the tempers flaring. “They may have human hostages. We aren’t to harm them.”
All around him the men doffed their clothing and began to change. Wolves of all colors appeared, from the deepest midnight black to tawny gray and several so white they looked nearly albino.
There was still no challenge from Lyken or his men. Lucien had assumed he would use Alison as a hostage, a way to stop the fight from happening. But so far, none of that. Not even a word. Was Lyken even there?
Did it matter? The fight had to be ended. Now.
Lucien gave himself over to the change, noting that many of those facing them had done the same.
Black fur rippled as it spread to cover Lucien’s body, the change coming faster, smoother than he was used to. In moments, he was in his wolf form. The power in this body always surprised him. It was immense, nearly five-hundred pounds of pure muscle killing machine.
The only wolf bigger than him was Logan, his blinding white a stark contrast to the deep sable of Lucien’s coat. Together, they stood at the head of their pack, heads low, teeth bared as they snarled challenges at the opposing line.
All at once, Lucien had had enough waiting. He leapt forward, his mighty bound carrying him ten feet before he touched ground again, accelerating faster than any animal on earth as he ran straight at his foes.
The ground began to tremble as the others flashed forward, matching his pace, some of them even catching up, though none passed. They came at their enemies like a wave of death, saliva spraying the air as jaws opened, ready to strike deep. Eyes glowed with a reddish tinge to their normal yellow. Teeth flashed, ivory and gleaming in the occasional rays of moonlight that picked them up.
With a dull thud that could be heard hundreds of feet away, the two lines collided. The wolves fought in total silence, except for the occasional yelp or pained gurgle. Despite their utter hatred of one another as the two sides of House Canis coalesced for the very first time, they were all aware that no matter what, they could not risk revealing themselves to humans. The torn-up remains of the battlefield would already be risky enough come morning when anyone would see the damage the huge skull-sized paws had done to the damp grass.
Lucien smashed into a huge gray beast, the two of them tumbling over and over, paws slashing at soft underbellies, teeth flashing in, trying to go for the neck for a quick kill. Pain erupted along his flank as his opponent scored a hit with his forelegs, but it wasn’t serious. In fact, it had been a trap. Bait.
The maneuver left the gray wolf’s throat open, and Lucien ripped a bloody chunk from it, the taste of molten iron filling his mouth as blood pooled around his teeth, matting the fur of his jaw.
He didn’t stop, leaping from his wounded foe and launching himself onto the back of a dull white wolf that
was currently getting the better of one of his men. Lucien’s paws dug deep as he ripped through the thick hide. White fur grew dark as blood swiftly poured from the wounds.
Below the surprised attacker, Lucien’s comrade reached up and crushed its throat with his own jaws.
Lucien looked away, trying to push down the pain at seeing wolf kill wolf. It wasn’t the first that night, he knew, as several corpses already littered the ground, but he hated to see it just the same. There was no need for it, if only Lyken could be made to see reason.
But so far, there was no sign of his former childhood friend-turned-stranger. Lucien darted around the field, helping his men out, but he was really looking for his enemy.
“Lucien!”
Black fur nearly snapped as Lucien’s head whipped around at the call.
Standing at the edge of the forest was a figure, blue eyes faintly visible in the dark. Lucien stalked forward, noting as he did the smaller, rounder figure at Lyken’s side.
Alison.
“That’s far enough. Call your men off.”
Lucien stopped approaching. Instead, he started stalking Lyken, moving around him in a slow circle.
“I said call your men off!” Lyken barked, taking Alison by the hair.
Alison whimpered but was otherwise silent.
Stay strong, he thought, pushing the thought to his mate. I’ll get you out of this.
And Lucien knew he would. But there was only one way.
Behind him a wolf yelped in pain, the sound cutting off abruptly. Another death. There had been too much of it this night already. Too many wolves who would never run with the pack again.
But Lucien knew now, that if he was to save his cause, his mate, and those he cared about, there was going to have to be at least one more death tonight. And he was going to have to be the one to do it.
From at his side, Logan approached, his white fur splattered with blood in huge matted knots. He took a step closer, but before Lyken could say anything, Logan turned and snarled at him. The message was clear: back off, he’s mine.