Wayward Son

by Heath Stallcup

  “So would I, sir.” Jack set his cup on the corner of the desk and stared at him. “So what will you do with him?”

  Mitchell shook his head. “I honestly have no idea.” He ran a hand through his hair and stared at the ceiling. “By all rights, he should be killed in action when we raid that warehouse.” Jack raised a brow at that but held his tongue. “We lost some damned good men here, and I know you lost good people due to him.” Mitchell stood and paced his office, the tension building. “What would I do with him if we simply took him into custody? Lock him up in the silver cells? For how long? Forever? Ban him? Put him in a military prison?” He threw his hands up in disgust.

  “I can only imagine what you’re going through, Colonel. Something like this is unprecedented.”

  “You’re damned right it is. We operate outside of so many rules…but the rules have to apply or what are we doing this for?” Mitchell paused and lowered his head. “Jack, I’m at a loss here.”

  “Are you asking me to lead a team in there to take him out, sir?” Jack prayed the colonel would say no.

  “Negative.” He worked his way back to his seat and stared at it as though it were a foreign object. He slowly lowered himself into it and rubbed the back of his neck. “He wants us to direct an attack on the full moon while their men are shifted. They have silver lined cargo containers or some such for them to lock themselves into. He’ll be the only one still in human form.” Mitchell looked up to meet Jack’s gaze. “You and I will be locked up down below. We’re going to have to trust the squads to take care of this.”

  “So, either Jones or Gregory will be taking lead on this op…” Jack trailed off, his mind racing through different scenarios. “Mark will be out of the game for a while.”

  Mitchell picked up his coffee again and sipped at it. “We’ll be spread thin for this full moon, but we’ve been there before.”

  “I could call in reinforcements if you don’t want the squads to dirty their hands with this one.” Jack actually looked forward to having a reason to contact the Wyldwood and grill her personally, even if it was under the guise of asking for reinforcements for a night.

  “Naw, we have this covered.” Mitchell fought the urge to stand up and pace again. “I just wish that everything didn’t have to go to Hell in a hand basket all at once, ya know?”

  “Try to look at the silver lining, Colonel. The attacks pointed out the weak spots in the armor. You’re having those fixed. Now we know who directed the attacks, even if we don’t know who was behind it.”

  Mitchell looked up at him and set his coffee cup down. “We know now. Laura came through on that one.”

  “Clue me in, sir.”

  “Remember that little blonde gal that wolfed out and tore me a new one? Alpha One?”

  “Your Fated Mate. She’s the one behind this?” Jack was floored at the prospect.

  “Negative. Her father. Apparently he’s some rich son of a bitch…literally. He wants revenge for what was done to his little girl.”

  Jack let out a low whistle. Thinking about his own child soon to grace the world and putting himself in the father’s place, he couldn’t truly blame him.

  *****

  Laura opened her eyes and turned slightly to watch Jennifer. She sat stiffly in her chair, her eyes pinned forward toward the cockpit door, her cheeks wet with wiped tears. Laura couldn’t be sure the full extent of her relationship with Mick, but she knew what being torn looked like and Jennifer was definitely torn. Laura gazed out the side window and tried to place herself in her friend’s position. A lifelong friend and possible lover betrayed her to a father whose evil spans multiple continents. A Fated Mate that once shot her in the face then held her as a lab rat for a decade. Forced to choose what is expected of her and not what her heart wants. Laura cast a furtive glance toward the smaller woman and saw her wipe at her face again.

  “It’s not too late you know. We could have Mick divert the flight and…”

  “You know we can’t.”

  Laura turned back to the window and leaned her head against the plastic. “Because I’m not wolf, I know.” She shook her head in confusion. “You know, I used to be jealous of the strength and agility that our men had because of the wolf. I even caught myself daydreaming more than once what it might be like. To be like you, I mean. A natural born wolf.” She turned once more and saw Jennifer studying her. “But I’ll be honest, this whole idea that a force outside of myself dictating who I’m supposed to marry? That doesn’t sit well with me.”

  Jennifer smiled and cast her gaze off into the distance. “Not all wolves meet their Fated Mates. Many…actually, most, never do. They’ll meet somebody, fall in love and get married. Some will have kids and live a perfectly normal life together. Most stay married until death.” She turned and faced Laura, her face suddenly solemn. “But those who have the chance…the opportunity to be with their Fated one? That is something that simply can’t be ignored.”

  “So you’ve said.”

  “No, Laura, you don’t comprehend. Being mated isn’t the same as married. Your souls are bound together. You feel what each other feels on such a level that words cannot describe. Your lives are physically bound together. If one wolf dies, the other dies as well. It isn’t just a mating or coupling…not a pairing. It’s…truly becoming one with your mate. Your lives become so intertwined that you become a part of your mate.”

  Laura raised a brow. She’s really drank the Kool-Aid if she buys all that. “And you want to bind to somebody like that? I mean, if they die, you die? Really?”

  Jennifer smiled. “It’s an honor to find your Fated one. If he truly is mine, I can’t imagine saying no.” She sighed as she turned back toward the front. “And when I became a woman, I gave up childish things.”

  Oh yeah. She didn’t just drink the Kool-Aid, she guzzled from the pitcher. “What if Mick is who you were supposed to be with?”

  Jennifer’s head spun around and she stared at her. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, what if all of this is just a test? You created Matt, didn’t you? He isn’t even a natural born wolf, right? You said yourself that this shouldn’t be happening. So, what if you were supposed to be with Mick and the fates are testing your resolve?”

  Jennifer shook her head. “A wolf cannot be with a cat. It isn’t natural.”

  “Yeah, lots of things aren’t natural. That doesn’t stop it from happening.” Laura sighed and slumped into her seat. “I’m just playing Devil’s Advocate here. What do I care if you go against your heart.”

  “Who are you to know my heart?”

  Laura didn’t even turn to look at her. “Any idiot can see that you and Mick love each other. If you’re both too proud to admit it, that isn’t my fault.”

  *****

  Sheridan shuffled through his papers and stuffed a small handful into a leather portfolio. “Big, do you have the inventories for the southside storage containers?”

  Bigby reached across his small workspace and pulled a short stack of paper. “Right here.” Handing them to Sheridan he watched as the man sifted through them then added them to the portfolio with the others. “How’re we doing on our supplies?”

  “With the next shipment, we should be able to arm a nice sized force.” Sheridan dropped the leather folio to the ground and kicked it under the counter. “When are the reinforcements supposed to arrive from Mr. Simmons?”

  “The day after the full moon.” Bigby leaned back in his chair and interlaced his hands behind his neck. “Do the boys know that we’ll have company?”

  “A small handful of Mr. Simmons’ more trusted wolves do.” Sheridan booted up his computer and clicked on the internet, wanting to check their last shipment and estimated arrival times. “Once they’re here, we’ll leave the proper breadcrumbs so that the squads will come to us, and we can take care of them once and for all.”

  “So that’s the plan? Make them come to us?”

  Sheridan turned and gave him a smirk. �
��Partly. I’m sure they’ll want payback, so I’m hoping they’ll send most of their forces. The reinforcements will be here to handle them while we finish what we started at their stupid little hangar.”

  “You don’t think they’ll be expecting that?”

  “They won’t be expecting what I’m bringing this time.” Sheridan chuckled to himself. “I’m taking Mr. Williams’ advice this time and drop a bit of gas on them. Let their own ventilation system deliver the killing blow.”

  “I like the sound of that. Let the gas take them out and then we go in and mop up the bastards.” Bigby got to his feet and stretched.

  “We won’t have to do much mopping up, old boy. Hit them with mustard gas and regardless of whether they’re wolf, vampire or human, their flesh will blister, their lungs will fill with their own fluids…it will be quite painful. The supernatural beings might recover with time, but we’ll have put silver slugs into their brain pan by then.”

  Bigby shook his head at the idea. “You truly are a nasty one.”

  “I know. One of my more redeeming qualities, if you ask me.” Both men laughed at the offhand comment as Apollo walked into the office.

  “Did I miss a joke?”

  “Not at all my dear boy. We were just discussing our upcoming tactics.” Sheridan pushed Apollo’s favorite stool toward him with his foot. “Have a seat.”

  “You decided what we’re going to use to lure the squads out here?” Apollo tried to appear nonchalant.

  “We have a few ideas.” Bigby leaned against the counter. “But we haven’t decided for sure yet.”

  Apollo leaned against the workbench and nodded. “You could just call them and let them trace the call.” He glanced to Sheridan and shrugged. “That would definitely get their attention.”

  “A little obvious, don’t you think?”

  Apollo smiled. “They got their asses handed to them. You really think they’d care? They’d have to respond.” He glanced to Bigby. “Wouldn’t you?”

  Bigby considered the situation and nodded. “Actually, yeah. I think I would. Even if I suspected a trap, I’d still go.” He glanced to Sheridan.

  Sheridan looked between the two men and nodded. “Very well then. When the time comes, we may well do that.”

  “It’s safer than sending some of our able bodied boys out there to lead them in.” Apollo shrugged.

  “True enough.” Sheridan clicked off the computer and turned to Apollo. “So have you given my offer any more thought since we last discussed it?”

  Apollo detected something in his voice that he couldn’t quite identify. He almost felt like he was about to walk into a trap. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his meaty arms over his chest. “Actually, I have.” He glanced at Bigby then back to Sheridan. “In fact, I made up my mind last night and came out here to find you but you was laughing it up with Big here, so I did an about face and went back to bed.”

  Sheridan raised a brow and glanced at Bigby who visibly stiffened. “Really? Why didn’t you join us?”

  Apollo cocked his head to the side and gave Sheridan a knowing look. “What I had to say was between you and me.” He hooked a thumb toward Bigby. “I didn’t want to interrupt you two and tell him to beat feet.”

  Sheridan nodded then turned to Bigby. “Excuse us for a moment, would you old boy?”

  Bigby huffed and pushed off the counter. “Yeah, yeah. You two have your little tea party. I’ll go do some real work.”

  After he was far enough away Apollo turned back to Sheridan. “I’ll do it.”

  “Just like that?”

  “You said it. You ain’t in physical shape to run missions like what needs done and Bigby? If brains were dynamite, the boy couldn’t blow his own nose.”

  Sheridan smiled then extended his hand. “Welcome aboard. Partner.”

  *****

  “This is the satellite imagery for the area. According to Apollo they have silver lined cargo containers, so I’m assuming that’s what these are here.” Mitchell pointed to the long rows of shipping containers set in rows along the abandoned truck parking area between the two warehouses. He looked up at Jericho Jones and shook his head. “I honestly don’t know how much faith to put into what Apollo says after what he’s pulled.”

  “No worries, Colonel. I’ll have a drone in the air and as long as we don’t have two ops going at the same time, I’ll pull a second team to act as security.” He pointed to the high points. “If I put men here, here, here and here, we’ll have a bird’s eye view of the entire compound. Nothing will be able to move in there without our knowing it.”

  “Make sure your primary and secondary teams have IR beacons. I don’t want anybody getting pinged by friendly fire because they saw a shadowy fast mover.”

  “Copy that.” Jericho stood tall and stretched his back. “What of Apollo himself? Will he be in a container, or…”

  “He thinks he’ll probably be standing security.” Mitchell turned away and shook his head. “To be honest Captain, I don’t know what to do with him.”

  “Shall we consider him a hostile, sir?”

  Mitchell sighed and practically fell into his chair, his eyes focusing on a photo of Second Squad when Apollo first made Team Leader. “I’m not prepared to give that order, Captain.” His eyes crept up and read the young man’s face. Jericho would make an excellent poker player. He gave away nothing.

  “Very well, sir.” He bent and scooped up the satellite photos. “If you change your mind, let me know.”

  “Jericho.”

  He turned and faced the Colonel, his face still stoic. “Sir?”

  “When you address the squads and go over the mission?” Mitchell felt like he was listening to somebody else say the words that came out of his mouth next, “Leave Apollo’s fate in their hands. He was their peer. He was their Team Leader. He turned against them as much as he did me.” He turned in his chair and gave Jericho his back. “I don’t want to know their decision.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  *****

  Foster clicked off the satellite phone and reclined in his seat. “Transportation has been taken care of. There was an issue with the number of vehicles. Apparently they thought we were a small party. They didn’t take into account our enforcers.”

  “Had Monsieur Thompson came with us, it would have been a small party.” Thorn cracked open an eye and fought a smile. He knew how much Paul hated Jack, and he still found humor in his brother’s bristling at the mention of his name.

  “We don’t need the likes of him.” Foster spat. “Anyone who swears allegiance to you and then turns the first time you don’t inform him of one of your little pet projects doesn’t deserve to be your Second.”

  Thorn nodded slightly, his eye closing. “Monsieur Thompson never swore allegiance to me. Only to his beloved.”

  “All the more reason to kick his hairy ass to the curb.” Foster crossed his arms over his chest and fumed. “He should know that the master of the castle has affairs that he couldn’t possibly understand.”

  “Perhaps.” Thorn sat up and turned to his brother. “But if we are to be honest, we both know that he is simply a man of honor. He couldn’t work for someone who both stole from his former employers but also attempted to build a Doomsday weapon.”

  “Pish-posh. He is weak minded. Anybody who can’t understand your need for such a weapon…”

  “Non. We both know that is not the case. Jack is many things, but he is not weak minded. He is perhaps one of the best tactical minds I have met.” Thorn sat back and allowed his words to soak in. “Just one of the many reasons I enjoyed having him around.”

  Foster turned slowly to face his brother. “You miss him?”

  “At times. Like I miss Viktor.” Thorn sighed and shook his head. “Sometimes an unorthodox point of view is refreshing.”

  “He was a heathen. Unorthodox? He was uncouth!”

  Thorn laughed and nodded. “Oui. That he was. Very much so. But he was very good at what he d
id.”

  “Keeping you safe.”

  “Among other things.” Thorn turned to his brother again. “Do you know how many times the Council made attempts on me while Jack was in my employ?” Foster shook his head. “Seven. In the few short months that I knew him, he thwarted their efforts seven times. The first was a dear friend of his. A man he had known for decades. A man that should have been unreachable, yet, the Council found a way to get to him. And Jack stopped him. Because he believed in me. He believed in what I stood for.” Rufus Thorn paused and stared out the window, realizing perhaps for the first time just how deeply he had let down the man he called ‘friend’. “I assured him that I, too, was a man of honor.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “I assured him that I would sooner die than harm another human. And yet…”

  “You needed to regain your strength, brother.” Foster sat up and leaned toward him. “You were dying. Your work is important and it…”

  “Non. If I could go back and do it over again, I would rather have died than take a human life.” He slowly shook his head. “But beside that, I lied to him. I had a weapon built that had the potential to destroy all ‘others’.”

  “A minimal risk. You said so yourself.”

  Thorn shook his head. “Perhaps it was divine intervention that the device didn’t work.” He turned his troubled face back to Foster. “Tell me brother, do you still believe in God?”

  “I believe that there is one. But not for the likes of us.”

  Rufus turned back to the window and the night sky. “I pray that you’re wrong.” He stared out into the inky blackness. “And I pray that both He and Jack will one day forgive me my trespass.”

  *****