by Angela White
Billy dropped down and gave the unlocked doors a hard shove. He immediately spun for the ladder as a large group of snarling wolves and dogs streamed through the doors.
A small, fast shepherd-type dog darted in front of the others, lunging at Billy’s leg.
The Eagle felt it coming and threw himself into the air as the animal flew under him.
Billy hit the straw-covered floor and immediately jumped again, this time getting the ladder. He yanked himself out of reach, grinning hugely.
“Can you find a way to push it?” Angela asked Kenn. “He’s not going down there again.”
“We’ll block the edge with a ladder and use more pullers,” Kenn answered tonelessly. “But there’s no guarantee that rope will hold after a few times.”
“Understood.” She did a fast count of the snarling animals roaming the bloody barn floor. “That’s more than twenty. Let’s do it.”
13
Angela helped them take down the next two groups of predators and then moved toward the window. Kenn’s ladder idea had worked perfectly. “Inside is yours...”
Kenn felt her question, her need, and gave a curt gesture. “I’ll watch their six.”
Satisfied that he would, she eased out the window as he gave the call to open fire. Things had changed again. The past was finally over for them.
Now standing on the ledge with Eagles on each side of her, Angela saw that the pack-lines the outer sentries had warned of, were about to arrive. Padding steadily through the moldy stalks, it was a huge number of predators now banded together to fight a common enemy. Man.
Angry at the injustice of the war’s effects, Angela swept the scene and found a lone white wolf in the far yard where she and Marc had been earlier. It dwarfed most of the other animals padding through the zombie corn plants that refused to stay dead and her red orbs gleamed red in the light of their torches.
The wolf sniffed their blood spots as if it was memorizing their scents.
“That’s the Alpha. Get her!” Angela ordered.
The Eagles on the ledge aimed, but the wolf darted under cover.
“Damn it!” Angela hit her button. “Get the white one! Perimeter, give us some sound!”
Gunshots echoed from the surrounding fields at her command, those on the outside using the noise of their guns to drive the pack toward the barn.
Angela waited with the others for the rest of the lines to come into sight. The doors below them swung open and a large group of filthy animals rushed in, drawn by the thick, coppery scent of blood.
Kenn’s voice, now happily in charge, rang out, “Twice more and those weak-ass doors won’t hold. Let more of ‘em in.”
Their radios crackled, “It’s coming your way again, base. Jeremy winged it. Look for red on white!”
“Copy that. Get set for part two.”
“We’re ready, base.”
Angela noticed Alex’s slightly panicked responses to her orders, and filed it away for later as gunpowder mixed unpleasantly with the other smells of the slaughter.
“One more time and we’re through in here,” Kenn called.
Angela pushed the button on her mike. “Copy. I’ll tell you when to shut them on this one.”
“Copy.”
She let her gun hang loosely and the men on the outside ledge with her did the same.
“What’s the count?”
“Over seventy bodies inside, a dozen here, plus perimeter shots,” Neil informed her, standing to the left and a bit behind. “Roughly half of what Kevin and Doug counted.”
Another big wave of growling dogs and wolves surged into the barn, followed by a crowd of bristling, bloody pups and Angela made the call. “Shut the doors! Perimeter men begin the walk-in. It’s a go!”
Angela surveyed the constantly shifting mass below, glad of the torches. She immediately found the glowing orbs of the white alpha, barely visible through the corn. Knowing what had to be done, she subtly distanced herself from the Eagles, distracting them with, “That’s too far for me. Can anyone make the shot?”
Marc and Neil both shook their heads as gunfire rang continuously from both the barn and the perimeter men.
“Not without my rifle,” Marc stated. “She’ll have to come closer.”
Time to do what I came here for, Angela thought. Face one of my many fears.
She tapped her vest for good luck and pulled the Caller from her kit. “I’ll need cover. Who’s got my six?”
Neil and Marc moved her way, both meaning to stop her, and Angela dropped the ten feet to the ground before they could.
She swung the Caller in a defensive flash of circles as two snarling pit bulls lunged for her right away. Guns barked from the ledge and the former pets fell.
The sounds of the Caller wailed harmonically over the farm and spun into the corn. “Whhhwhooowooo…”
Radios crackled, “People are in the yard! I repeat! Eagles are in your line of fire!”
Angela heard two men drop behind her and she strode into the corn, the Caller vibrating in her grip.
“Oohh…”
“Whhhoooooo!”
The Alpha’s howl overpowered the Caller as the wolf rose to her challenge from a hiding place in the stalks.
Angela threw her head back and let the woman inside answer. “Aaaaaaaaaaaaa!”
It rang in the air and she triggered her wrist blade as the white wolf came through the stalks, baring bloody teeth. Bloody? One of my men are hurt.
Fury spiraled through Angela in a lethal surge and she waved her blade, “Come on!”
The wolf snarled in answer and padded determinedly her way.
The pack was uneasy, confused and whining, and Kyle waved his Eagles to the ground to finish the battle as the last big group of animals was driven toward them by the perimeter sentries.
“Mind your lines!” he snapped and opened fire.
Angela heard Marc and Neil take aim on the running Alpha about to lunge, and she slid into their path, preventing a clear shot. I issued this challenge and I’ll answer it!
“Duck!”
The animals were all pack-hunting, even the dogs, and she hit the ground as a furry shadow came at her from the side.
Gunfire told her Marc had gotten the foaming poodle and she rolled to her feet in time to meet the Alpha’s jump, bracing her wrist to absorb the impact.
The wolf’s teeth slid against her, hot and hungry, and Angela ripped upward brutally as it bit into her arm.
She and the wolf cried out together, one gasping, the other struggling. They hit the dirt hard and Angela rolled clear as the Alpha whimpered a last time and stilled.
Angela got to her feet without taking any of the hands there to help her up. Wiping the blood down her jeans, she slid the wrist blade into its holder and surveyed the yard. Her hands didn’t shake as she pulled the .357 and reset it with full rounds.
In that moment, she wasn’t his Angie and Marc’s mind narrowed in on it. This bleeding woman was a fearless hunter, a natural killer and marksman. This fierce fighter was Adrian’s and she belonged to Safe Haven. His Angie, the sweet, innocent girl he’d loved for so long, had been left in that cabin in Versailles, along with her attacker’s corpse.
“Brady!” Angela fired and hit the white wolf pup sneaking up on his rear.
Neil got the second white pup to Marc’s left, marveling at how neat and cold Angela was. Not a shot missed as she stood with a leg over each side of her prey, Neil knew he wasn’t the only one grinning in admiration and now thinking she fit perfectly with the Eagles. They were also wild when they were out on runs.
The pack was thinned, most of the remaining animals running toward the perimeter men who were in a tight net and the Eagles in the yard linked up to meet them. Careful not to trim each other in the crossfire, they came to a stop near where Angela still stood over the Alpha. She hadn’t been attacked since killing it, telling everyone that these animals had accepted her leadership.
It was a powerful momen
t that she wasn’t aware of, but the Eagles recognized. This woman would eventually be part of the chain of command. She was too good to be anywhere else.
“I think that’s it.” Her voice was full of the victory they were sharing. “Let’s do a fast sweep to be sure.”
She didn’t have to tell them not to spare any of the injured animals they came across. After observing Kyle on the nun mission, she already knew they wouldn’t.
Angela raised her chin as Kenn and Kyle fell in on either side of her for the sweep. “Let’s go.”
Ten minutes later, nothing moved but the Eagles and the blood-streaked stalks.
Chapter Seventeen
Timing is Everything
1
Standing by the revolting, blood-splattered barn doors, Angela took her time washing, not listening to the argument going on above her. Her mind was on how it felt to win, to have beaten the Alpha and won her pack. There wouldn’t be a feeling to rival it, unless it was the moment she was finally able to conquer her fear and give herself to Marc.
“Yes, you will! Get them to ease off.”
“It won’t succeed and not just with her. With any female.”
“Where were you now? She’s like him.”
“No.”
“Yes!”
Wrapping a thick strip of gauze around her newest injury, Angela moved away from the doors, as the voices got louder. She was feeling restless and a bit frustrated. She should be hurting and probably feeling guilty, but…aroused? Again, the spilling of blood had her hormones swinging and Angela kept her profile away from the others as much as she could, not sure if the males might be able to read it on her.
Marc kept his ears on the loft and the fight that was about to start, but his attention was on the lone female wandering the battle scene like something was missing. She reminded Marc a bit of his base commander. The big man hadn’t come on missions often, but when he did, they had always ended with that dangerously good leader roaming the scene much like Angela was doing.
Marc’s gut twisted. He’d never been able to discover what caused that reaction in his commander, and he doubted it would be any different with Angela. She had a wall up that he couldn’t get through.
“It doesn’t have to be this way, but I’m telling you right now, so listen,” Kyle demanded. “This is what she wants, what Adrian needs, and you will not let your allies stand in the way!”
Kyle stormed out of the barn a few seconds later and drew the Eagles over to where Angela stood. “We’re not done here. What’s next?”
It took Angela a moment to realize he was talking to her. “Cleaning up, I suppose.”
She scanned them. “Anyone have gloves?”
Half the men raised a pair and she fell into the role more easily this time. “Okay. You guys are carriers. We’ll put it all in the barn and burn it.”
“What about the ones that got away? They’ll come here and breed again,” Kenn asked tonelessly, joining the circle, but only a far edge.
“I could poison a few of the chickens, if you think they’ll eat it.”
Tone perfectly unsure, it eased his singed feathers enough to allow a note of real interest to finally enter his voice.
“You cook ‘em, we’ll scatter ‘em.”
Angela made a crude gesture. “Cookin’s woman’s work.” And was rewarded by scoffs, chuckles.
Kenn flushed. How many times had he said that to her?
Angela was gentler than he had any right to expect. “Leave it in the past.” She gestured at the barn. “Go get your meat ready and we’ll play doctor.”
There was an instant of silence when none of them knew what to say and they waited for Kenn’s reaction with bated breath.
The Marine stared, dumbfounded at the suggestive joke, and Angela rolled her eyes. “Men!”
That pulled an unwilling response from Kenn. “Women!”
Angela didn’t hesitate to give him another humility-delivering blow. “Sometimes, they do mix.”
Kenn hated her for being able to draw it from his lips, but resisting was impossible. He grimaced. “And do it well.”
It was as close to a compliment for her success as she would get and the others recognized the moment for what it was–a peace talk.
“And, next time?”
None of them were sure if Kenn would answer. When he finally did, it was like the end of a war.
“Maybe it will be easier or maybe it’ll be harder, but the job will get done.”
Satisfied, Angela allowed that deliriously addicting tone of command to fill her voice. “It’s time. Get them moving. Eagle Two has point.”
2
Kenn had them reunited with the two vehicles they still had and set up a mile away from the burning barn, an hour later. Everyone was glad to be out of the harsh wind and smells.
Wrist aching louder than the rest of her battered body, Angela let him keep Point. Now that she’d done what she came to, the need to lead was fading. Had Adrian known it would be that way? He’d been reluctant to let her come along, but that wave of anxiety he’d released as they rolled out… Adrian had been hoping she would have another success to help push the goals further, but had he foreseen this tightly knit group of men surrounding her with their protection?
She monitored her fellow survivors. Some were playing cards, letting out the occasional quiet groan or snigger. Two of them had kits open, tending minor wounds. A few were reading, something she found surprising not only for men, but for the times. It was something the camp rarely did. However, most of this crew were sitting quietly in a circle around the nicely crackling fire. Adrian had been certain they would support her or he wouldn’t have let her come.
Her gaze skipped over Kenn, who was dozing against a tree stump, and went to the men on duty. Kyle and Seth were taking the first post and she spent a moment trying to memorize their pattern. It was a light patrol for such a dangerous area, but these two Eagles were lethal. Anyone they met in the shadows wouldn’t stand a chance. Neil was also out there roaming somewhere, saying he needed to walk it all off, and she was comforted. The only thing better than that trio, was Marc.
She glanced at the vehicles, where a lone man smoked and studied her through the Blazer window. Marc hadn’t spoken to her since the battle, but he wanted answers, she could feel that. She would tell him the truth, but he wouldn’t like hearing she had loved it, wanted to go on every run.
Angela sighed. She was officially an Eagle, had helped complete a mission. He wouldn’t be able to take much more before he split or gave in.
He has run out of things to teach, the Witch intoned, slapping her to their trip here.
Angela tensed against the pain that always came. Their two months alone together had become vague and blurry. There were times where she struggled to remember what it felt like to have his arms carrying her into the tent after her first kill. How it had felt to draw him close, like she’d done with her attacker…
Only one memory of their two thousand mile trek remained vivid, but even that was tainted. The delicious chill brought from recalling those stolen moments now sent her thoughts straight to Safe Haven’s leader. What was that man doing at this moment? Wishing she’d reach out to him, let him in for a minute? Likely that and more, but she didn’t. With the top men out of camp, Adrian would surround himself with those left. He wasn’t alone.
Unwanted jealousy seared its way down Angela’s throat and her grip in the damp dirt tightened. Clear-headed from the adrenaline letdown, she understood what was about to happen if she didn’t make a change. Marc was going to leave and this bond she had with Adrian would grow. Nothing would stop it.
Give up your new dreams, the Witch stated. That will.
Angela gazed at the fire. Not even for Marc. There had to be a way to get him to accept her choices. Once he did, they could be together and then her loneliness wouldn’t keep trying to strengthen ties with Adrian. It wasn’t what she wanted. He wasn’t Brady.
Filled with sad
ness, Angela didn’t notice how her mood affected the men around her. The jokes and laughter stopped, conversations trailed off, and the men on duty increased their sweeps. None of them connected it to the only woman among them, though, and the next hour passed slowly as she continued to examine the hard truths that she’d been avoiding.
Marc was able to feel her unrest. She wanted his support, his welcome and encouragement, and she understood that wasn’t going to happen. It was hard not to go to her and give in, but he knew it would only last until the next time she put herself in danger or did something he didn’t agree with. As long as Angie was an Eagle, there would always be a wall between them.
Can I live with that? Between the missions and lessons, she’ll be mine.
Fighting alongside her today had been awful, but it had also been enlightening. The girl he’d known was gone and if he wanted a life with this Angie, he would have to do it her way.
Marc didn’t take his attention off her, studying each expression, each gesture. There was a strength in her that he’d denied and the warrior inside was finally able to be heard.
Of course, you can. Any version of that bloody female will do. She had to be protected before. This is better. Now, you can love her.
3
Dozing by the fire three chilly hours before dawn, Angela stiffened suddenly. “There’s something wrong.”
Heads rotated her way, few of them asleep, and Marc immediately came from his solitary seat in the Blazer at their reactions.
“What is it?” Kyle asked, moving to her left as Marc came to her right.
“Something with the camp.”
The men around her nudged those who were still drowsing.
“It’s Adrian.”
Now the men began pulling on gear and following Kenn’s lead as he called for them to get rolling. None of them doubted her after the call they’d taken on the way here, a short, tapped out message that Angela didn’t know about yet.
“Is he okay?”
“Is it the slavers?”
Angela stretched out a cold hand and placed it on Marc’s wrist.