by Fern Fel
“What do they plan on doing to the humans?” Dino asked, thinking of Declan, who risked his neck so Martin and he could escape. There was no helping it. They had to leave the vet behind. Declan had been too stubborn and insistent on remaining in the camp.
“Nothing good,” Sergio muttered, glancing at Kayden. “Five of Kayden’s brothers have also been taken. Kayden was the only one who made it back alive.”
“Why?” Dino asked, looking the hawk shifter in the eye.
Kayden shifted uneasily but answered. “They set me free so I can deliver a message to the Darkfall pack. The hunters say they want the Darkfall wolf and his mate, the two that escaped earlier. In exchange, they’ll let my fellow shifters go as well as the humans.”
“Why do they want Dino and Martin in particular?” Raul asked.
Dino thought of Gray and the sneer on the hunter’s face. There was old hatred there, along with the capacity for cruelty. He’d dealt with all kinds of enemies in the past, and Gray wasn’t all that hard to read.
“Gray probably wants to settle an old score. If you trade Martin and me, he’d take pleasure in delivering us to Alpine Industries, knowing how much Martin and I will suffer at the hands of their scientists,” Dino answered.
Dino thought of Martin, silently fuming back in Logan’s apartment. Earlier, he told Martin he didn’t want his little wolf involved. Maybe he was wrong. Martin said they were in this together. He looked at his Alpha now, about to tell Sergio to assign Martin and him as bait, but Raul suddenly gripped his shoulder.
“Raul, what did we say about answering cell phones during a pack meeting?” Alessio demanded.
Seeing the fear in Raul’s eye gave Dino wide pause. He’d seldom seen that look on Raul’s face, only when Logan was in danger. That could only mean Martin was, too.
“They’ve gone back the campsite on their own,” Raul whispered, only looking at him.
“Fuck. Don’t you have control over the actions of your mate, Raul?” Sergio demanded.
“Michella would have done the same. She would have gone after those captives herself,” Dino said.
Oh, he knew bringing up Michella would set fires, but he couldn’t imagine Logan and Martin walking into the campsite alone. Neither men were fighters. What did they hope to accomplish? Damn it.
In seconds, Sergio was on him, fisting his shirt, flashing canines at him. “Don’t bring my fucking sister into this.”
“Why not?” Raul rose from his seat. “Sergio, Dino knew her better than anyone. Her last act had been to save Logan, Martin, and their small pack.”
Others spoke up, too, agreeing. Sergio narrowed his eyes at Dino.
“What’s your fucking point?” Sergio demanded.
“Whatever happens, Raul and I will go. We’re getting our mates back.” Dino looked at Kayden. “Will the rest of your pack help?”
Kayden nodded. “They’re only waiting to act.”
“We’ll back you guys, of course. We stick together,” Billy told them, grinning.
Sergio swore under his breath. “Do whatever you want.”
“Sergio,” Alessio said quietly. “Listen to me. We can’t let them walk out of here alone. They are her men. She loved each one of them.”
“Were her men,” Sergio said, looking unapologetic. “They want to commit suicide? Be my guest.”
Dino had nothing else left to say. He couldn’t entirely blame Sergio. Their Alpha probably still mourned Michella’s death, but he knew Michella better than anyone. No one could change the past, she would say. The future, they could do something about. Still, turning his back on the pack he risked his entire life for still stung. Eyes watched their party pass.
Outside the restaurant, the rest of Kayden’s fellow hawk shifters waited. Together, their crew made up a dozen.
“You said two dozen reinforcements arrived, are they all from the Order?” Dino asked.
“Half of them I think, but they were all,” Kayden hesitated. “Odd, like they were high on something.”
Raul growled under his breath. “They’ve all injected with themselves with the formula.”
“I overheard them calling it BH-93, Boundless,” Kayden muttered, shivering. “They said they want to see what they can extract from avian shifter genes next.”
Dino grabbed the slender man by the shoulders, startling him. Kayden’s fellow avian shifters tensed, but relaxed when Dino only said, “We’ll get them back.”
“There’s only one main road to the lake. Are we riding in or shifting?” Raul asked.
“They might have our speed and abilities, but they still can’t shift. We’ll go in animal form and take them by surprise. If we study their formation and take them down one by one, it will be easier.”
The others agreed. They drove to the outskirts of town, left their cars behind to shift. They discussed the plan in further detail.
“If anyone has any questions, ask,” Dino said. “The slightest misstep can fuck up the entire mission.”
“Our job is to scout ahead. We’ll find you guys and report how the hunters organized themselves,” Kayden said.
Dino nodded. He might not know the hawk shifter, but he knew Sergio used the avian shifters plenty of times. They were allies with the pack and Dino trusted their intention was to save the rest of their kidnapped avian shifter brothers and sisters.
Kayden and his pack went on ahead. Dino watched them soar above the trees and turned to his own team. Raul and the others finished shifting. He didn’t know what would happen to the rest of them after walking out on Sergio and the others. There would be consequences for their actions, but Dino was willing to take the blame. Raul and he would have gone after their mates either way. He never expected the others to back them up.
Martin certainly factored in his plans. Would his little wolf be willing to follow him if the worst came to pass and Sergio would boot him out of the pack? Remembering Martin curled in his arms in the cave, Dino thought Martin would.
He shook his head. Dino couldn’t afford to be distracted. Realizing the others were waiting for him to take point, even Raul, Dino looked each man in the eye. They all came to a silent understanding. This really might just be their last mission together, Dino mused, but they would always, have each other’s back. His gunshot wounds still ached, but they wouldn’t be much of a hindrance.
Dino broke into the line of trees and sensed the others following closely behind. He was still pissed at Martin for disobeying orders. They certainly need to lay out rules, but all that mattered, for now, was getting his mate back safe and sound. He prayed to God both Martin and Logan were unharmed.
Chapter Nine
“We should have waited for them to come back,” Logan murmured beside him.
They both jumped when a guard slammed his rifle against the cage, rattling the bars. “No talking, unless you’re both hankering for a beating,” the guard hissed
Martin and Logan traded looks. Not taking any chances this time around, their captors stuffed them both in a cage similar to the one which they put Dino in. Given the cage was meant to contain one, not two, there was not much space for movement. Before meeting Dino, Martin would have given anything to be this up close, naked and personal with his best friend.
He shivered. The guards didn’t give them clothes. Logan and he were initially in wolf form but were forced to shift. The hunters slapped silver cuffs around their wrists and ankles, ensuring they wouldn’t shift. Martin suspected the hunters didn’t use the same precaution with Dino earlier because Dino had been shot and the extra silver would kill him.
Thinking about Dino made his heart ache. Logan was right, they shouldn’t have come here, but Martin had been worried about Declan, and it seemed like the Darkfall wolves would take some time about making a decision. His plan had been simple. Save Declan, ferry him out, and meet back with Raul and ask what the pack decided about the other captives. Of course, that plan went south easily.
Martin didn’t count on all Gray’
s men using the formula they were calling Boundless. He’d noticed the guard in charge of their cage inject a clear fluid into his veins ten minutes ago. Martin assumed they had to inject themselves repeatedly, but he had no idea how the drug worked.
What would Dino do in such a situation?
Dino certainly wouldn’t panic. Martin assessed his surroundings instead of worrying about what kind of fate awaited them. Besides, he might not know Dino well enough, but he knew the dominant wolf wouldn’t allow these hunters to transport them to a lab. He just hoped Dino would act smartly instead of being reckless.
Okay, focus.
The cage to the right of them contained Declan, huddled in his torn and bloody doctor’s coat. Martin couldn’t risk calling out to Declan. To his relief, Declan gave him a curt nod. He didn’t want any more attention drawn to them. There was a smaller cage next to Declan, one that instead of normal steel bars, had a crisscross of silver wire. There were hawks in there, shifters Martin realized.
He knew the Darkfall pack had hawk shifter allies to spy for them. His heart sunk a little. Where they caught too? This situation was going from bad to worse.
From what Martin could see, it looked like Gray and his reinforcements had rounded up the campers and forced them all to sit in a tight circle. Guards with guns circled the humans. Martin’s stomach lurched. Some had kids, and nearly all of them looked frightened.
One bold soul had defied the hunters, demanding release. In response, Gray shot the guy in the head without blinking. The guy’s blood and corpse still lay there. After that incident no one else dared rebel.
It made him sick, the way these hunters and mercenaries would use their fellow humans as bait. Martin supposed these hunters gave up right and wrong a long time ago. He knew little about the Order of the Knife, save for the fact they wanted all supernaturals dead. Dino told him the pack suspected the Order had allied themselves with Alpine Industries in return for Boundless.
In Martin’s opinion, that drug shouldn’t exist at all. The Paranormal Peace Accords existed for a century now. He knew there were always humans against their kind, but these monsters had to be stopped.
“Well, well, look who we have here. Missed me, animal?” Gray asked, walking up to their cage. The hunter eyed Logan and him before letting out a laugh. “Look at you two. More like pigs waiting to be slaughtered than dangerous beasts.”
Martin lifted his chin. Logan gave his arm a warning squeeze, but Martin was a little like his mate. He was never one for caution either. “Oh, you won’t kill us, Gray.”
Gray raised an eyebrow. “Enlighten me.”
“There’s no use arguing with animals, boss,” said the hunter next to him, falling silent when Gray raised a hand.
Martin went on. “You need us.”
Gray smiled from ear to ear. God, Martin was dealing with a psycho, but what did he expect from a fanatic? Hunters from the Order might be good at killing, but Dino told him they were all conditioned to hate the paranormal since childhood.
“Oh, we don’t need you or your mate. No one gets the better of me, animal.”
“You promised Alpine Industries you’d hand over a Darkfall wolf and his mate.”
Gray’s eyes gleamed. “We did, but I don’t see any mate mark on you.”
Martin shivered, his hand creeping to the side of his neck. He didn’t like the way Gray’s attention turned to Logan. “Our mercenary friends tell us Alpine Industries had a brush-in with this Omega recently. He’s marked, and I’m assuming his mate is on his way to the rescue?”
When Martin didn’t answer immediately, Gray continued, “I thought so. We’ll deliver the Omega and his mate instead. This way, we’ll make our friends at Alpine Industries happy. You, on the other hand, we’re going to have some fun with.”
Fear crawled down Martin’s spine at those words. The hunter beside Gray eyed him up and down.
“You see, my comrade here,” Gray said in the same casual tone, “has a thing for hurting fucking animals.”
“You bastards are awful, inhumane,” Logan grumbled beside him.
“Should you be the one talking, Omega? What we’ll do to your friend would seem humane compared to what’s in store for you by the labs.”
“Gray, they were talking. Should we gag them?” asked the guard by their cage.
“Let them talk, it’s not like they can do anything.” Chuckling, Gray and his hunters left them to their misery.
“What a prick,” Martin muttered under his breath once Gray was out of earshot.
Noticing Logan begin to rock back and forth, Martin touched his shoulder in concern. “What’s wrong?”
Logan shook his head. “I can sense so much hatred from them. It’s awful.”
Remembering Logan couldn’t turn off his emphatic abilities, he awkwardly pulled Logan into a comforting hug. There was nothing sexual about it. At least Logan eventually calmed down.
Martin told himself to be brave for both of them, but he wasn’t sure how long he could last.
Dino, where are you?
* * * *
Martin must have dozed off because he was woken by Logan shaking his arm.
“Martin, wake up. Something’s happening,” Logan whispered in his ear.
Rubbing his eyes, Martin listened in for any strange sounds. A gun went off in the distance, somewhere near the woods. A cry was cut off. His eyes widened. Logan and he looked at each other. Dino and the others were here.
“Check the disturbance,” Gray yelled at one of the guards.
Martin’s heart leaped into his throat. Three guards came back, holding what looked like a net. Inside, something red squirmed. Not something, Martin realized, but someone. He leaned as far as he could in the cage. Logan did the same. What the guards caught was a red-tailed hawk. Martin’s wolf could sense a fellow shifter.
“It’s just a bird, boss. You were right. The Darkfall pack is still probably discussing what to do,” said one of the hunters. “We shot one of the animal’s wings.”
“We’ll see about that,” Gray said.
Martin winced when Gray grabbed the net and gave it a shake, keeping the shifter at an arms’ length. “Are you going to talk to me, bird brain?”
Another gun fired in the distance.
“Did you bring friends?” Gray demanded, pushing the injured shifter with the muzzle of his rifle. The hawk gave a weak, but defiant squawk. Somewhere in the forest, a man screamed, probably from one of Gray’s scouts. Gray shoved the hawk back to the guard. “We have company, men. Be on guard.”
Gray began hollering orders. Martin traded looks with Logan. The hunters and mercenaries seem to be in disarray, with the leader of the mercenaries arguing with Gray about letting his men get slaughtered while the hunters stayed behind.
“Fine,” Gray spat. “You’ll send half of your forces, and I’ll do the same.”
It was chaos. Gray and his men didn’t seem to work all that well with the reinforcements, which Martin thought worked for him. Logan nudged him sharply, nodding to their watcher. The guard next to them didn’t move. The bushes rustled behind them. The next thing Martin knew, a huge black wolf he knew to be Raul, sprang at the guard, easily tearing his throat out. A second wolf came out. Seeing Dino, relief filled Martin.
Dino shifted, picked up the rifle of the dead guard and shot at the lock on their cage.
“What if you shot us?” Martin demanded, crawling out along with Logan. From the corner of his eye, Raul swept Logan into a hug. His mate, meanwhile, looked less than pleased.
“I don’t miss, little wolf.” Dino yanked him close for a bone-searing and mind-numbing kiss. “Never again, Martin. Don’t scare me like that again.”
Heart softening, Martin nodded. “We need to get the other captives out.”
He saw the other Darkfall wolves now, coming out of their hiding places. Martin saw a hawk soaring from one of the trees to pluck the eye out of one guard. The man shrieked and a werewolf finished him off. More hawk shift
ers appeared. Dino’s pack members took out the guards watching the prisoners first. They were so few, Martin realized a second later, his heart thudding. He shook his head. Somehow, they had to make it out of there alive.
“We’re going to see to the humans,” Raul said. “We called the local authorities for help. The sheriff’s sending his deputies down.”
That only meant one thing. Martin looked to Dino. “You disobeyed Sergio?”
“There was no choice. The pack wasn’t about to make a decision anytime soon. Don’t worry about it, little wolf. Come on, let’s get Declan and the shifters out.”
How could Martin not be worried? Dino was right, though. They needed to survive tonight first and focus on the future later on. Dino shot the lock on Declan’s cage, too. Martin helped the human out, while Dino freed the hawk shifters.
“We won’t make it,” Declan whispered to him. “Your mate’s friends are outnumbered.”
Martin wildly looked around. He saw a hawk shrieking as a hunter shot him down and heard the howl of a werewolf as more gunfire rang in the air. Gods above, Martin didn’t want this, for anyone to die for his sake.
“Dino,” he said, hurrying over to his mate. He was slowed down by Declan, who was leaning on him because he couldn’t walk properly.
Somewhere to the west of them, Martin finally heard it. A deep rumbling howl was followed by a chorus of yips, snarls, and answering growls. His heart leaped. Help was coming. By some miracle, the rest of the Darkfall pack was coming to their rescue.
A gun shot went off, followed by a grunt. Instinct made him push Declan away. The human wouldn’t be able to heal easily, unlike them. The realization dawned on him a second later that the shooter wasn’t aiming for them.
God no. The world moved in slow motion. Martin desperately searched for his mate, but Dino wasn’t standing. Gray stood over Dino’s crumpled body on the ground, triumphant expression on his face. Martin silently urged Dino to stand. He wanted something, anything, the twitch of a muscle perhaps, to tell him Dino wasn’t seriously injured, or worse, dead.