She focused on it. Back door, past two doors, take a right when it hits another hallway. Take a left four doors down. Then, they were at the warehouse.
“Two doors, take a right. Four doors, then take a left. Holding area is at the end of the hall,” she mumbled to herself several times. The wolf watched her, intent and focused.
“Good?”
“I should be,” she replied. He swept the map off the floor.
“Tell me again,” he growled softly.
She did, several more times until he was pleased.
“You ready?” He asked quietly after nearly forty-five minutes. He’d put the fire out and was sharpening his stick into a spear with a rock.
“I fucking hope so,” she murmured.
They left quietly. He showed her where he’d found her, then they moved a mile south, to where he’d jumped the fence.
It was still a tough climb, but they made it over. Thomas caught her, so she didn’t hit the dirt on the way down. He held her impersonally, ignoring their nudity. She was thankful for that and ignored her own flood of emotion at being touched by a male that wasn’t her pride. Thomas was helping her rescue them not… not him.
She shifted to cheetah, in case she had to run. Thomas had the makeshift spear and stayed human in case he needed to use it. They moved slowly through the brush until she caught a scent and his hand went up.
“I’m not sure why they make these night patrols. The shifters that get out aren’t stupid enough to come back,” a female voice, cruel and annoyed. “Odd, since they are fucking animals.”
“Yeah. And what are the two of us going to find? There’s enough land here that Boss would need a hundred guys to keep it covered.” A male voice and he snorted at whatever he was thinking about. “Carl is losing it. That cheetah making it out really pissed him off. I know he’s our boss but…”
Carl. That was the blue-eyed human’s name. The leader. She would be able to find him easier,now. If she didn’t kill him tonight.
“We know the risks when we hunt. It’s part of the fun. Would be like hunting any other animal, if they weren’t smart enough or strong enough to make it sometimes,” the woman huffed.
“Yeah, but he already had a deal on her,” the male growled back at her. “Let’s move to the next sector. It’s already fucking midnight.”
She watched Thomas sneak closer and motioned for her to follow.
“Get the female by the neck, take her down. I’ll get the guy. They have AK-47s so this could go very badly. But we could use the guns, and this will get two more out of the way.”
He spoke so low, she barely heard him, but she bobbed her head in acknowledgment. He nodded back to her. They were within ten feet of the hunters.
Closer, she crept through the bushes, on the prowl. She had to be on top of this woman to get the bite she needed. To get the force she needed to knock the weapon from her hand.
Cheetahs weren’t fighters, but her guys had tried to teach her anything they could.
Thomas moved first, gaining the attention of both the hunters. He rammed his spear in the man, who grunted in pain as the wooden point entered his gut.
The woman raised her firearm, back turned to Riley, who sprung out onto her back.
She tried to fight Riley off, but Riley sank her teeth in the back of the woman’s neck. She couldn’t wait for suffocation from the front, so instead she shook hard, lashing her head back and forth until she heard it.
The telltale snap of the neck breaking. The woman was limp, and her yells quieted.
“We’re far enough out still that the main building wouldn’t know, but we need to tread carefully,” Thomas was standing near her as she stepped off the corpse.
She had never killed someone as a cheetah. She hated the fact that human blood tasted like any other animal’s. Shouldn’t it taste worse? Shouldn’t she be disgusted by the idea of having human blood in her mouth?
She wasn’t, it was just any blood. It had its own scent, but it all tasted the same in the end. Deer, rabbit, human. The only real difference was that Zachary had made her get over eating raw deer and rabbit in case she needed to. Human was not on the menu.
“Shift back to human and grab a gun,” Thomas went back over to the dead guy and pulled his assault rifle off him. He even stole the man’s pants, even if they were too small.
Riley did the same to the woman, pulling off her shirt and pants so she could wear them instead of freeze to death. It felt awful, looting the dead like this. This was fucked up. And necessary. What the fuck was her life, now? One day, she promised herself, she would figure out the answer to that question.
Once they were done, Riley was armed and covered, even getting a light jacket out of it. Thomas was still only in the pants, but he didn’t seem to be bothered by the cold.
“Let’s move. We avoid them unless we have no choice. Don’t be afraid to pull the trigger.”
“I’ve shot people before,” she mumbled back, and Thomas looked down at her, curious and impressed. “Six hunters over a few weeks. The first guy I ever killed though was with a kitchen knife to the back while he tried to get his gun back.”
“You are fucking wild, cheetah,” he chuckled. “You won with a knife in a gunfight.”
“I know, right?” She wasn’t laughing, staying serious, but she could tell he found it a little amusing. He must have assumed she was only a runner.
Assumptions killed people. Hopefully, he would trust her to do what was necessary.
They finally saw some light through the trees. Thomas checked the phone he’d stolen and nodded to her.
“It’s nearly one in the morning. We made decent time. Most of them should be asleep, but we still need to move quickly.”
They took a moment to look over the clearing behind the compound. And that’s what it was, a fucking compound. A massive building three stories tall in a fenced off private property. These assholes had invested in this.
No one was outside, wandering the clearing. Most of the windows were dark and empty. The few windows with lights had no one in them.
“We’re clear. Jog straight to the back door. Don’t stop if I go down,” Thomas was right next to her and then he gave the call.
“Go.”
She moved quickly, weapon ready to be raised and fired. She pressed her back to the wall with Thomas still next to her. He hadn’t left her side the entire run, sticking to her like glue. It must have been something he was trained for, but she didn’t know. Felines didn’t group run like that, they normally had a lot of distance between them and fanned out.
“I’ll breech,” Thomas went to the back door, smiling when the handle turned. He shoved it open, weapon up.
She followed him in.
They’d done it. They had breached the compound.
RILEY
They moved slowly, and she stayed in front of Thomas. He was covering their flank as they moved, inch by inch, down the hall.
Before they made it to the first turn, a door opened, and she knew to stop moving. She was barely breathing.
“These fucking cats are a problem, Carl.” A male was talking, agitated.
“They’ll be out of our hair soon enough, then we can wash our hands of the entire pride.” Carl wasn’t worried in the slightest.
“People are looking for them! The fucking government is looking for them. When they never made it home, it was like every special task force in the country mobilized. They eve-”
“It doesn’t matter,” Carl laughed. “Our buyer is going to take all of them in only a couple more days. Now, go hang the keys up. I’m going to bed.”
“Fine.”
People were trying to find them? Riley felt a bit more hope creep into her heart, next to her anger. Good. Actually, it was fucking fantastic.
She tried to move but Thomas grabbed her, shaking his head slowly.
“I need to kill that-” she was whispering. She had to put a bullet between that mother fucker’s eyes. She had to. Sh
e bared her teeth at Thomas, who pulled her against him and leaned down to talk in her ear.
It brought a rush of fear, but she had to focus.
“If you kill him, they will all come running. We won’t rescue anyone.”
She held onto the tears of fury at what he said. He was fucking right, and she just wanted… she just wanted to get that evil son-of-a-bitch back for what he let the shifter do to her. The rage made her throat work, the pain made her heart race.
And she could do nothing but wait for the footsteps to recede until they were once again alone in the hall.
She peeked around the corner to the right as Thomas checked the left. They entered the second hallway at the same time. Four doors now.
Three.
Two.
One.
They checked the turn and made it into the last hallway. The double doors at the end were only fifteen feet away.
They moved quietly, waiting for anything.
Thomas grabbed a set of keys off the wall when they reached the door.
“So arrogant, they don’t even lock the keys up,” he mumbled as she slowly pushed the door open. She winced at the creak it made, and Thomas took over, pushing through, his gun raised.
The warehouse was dark, but she could see the sleeping forms of everyone who was there when she left. None of them knew that they were about to be released.
Thomas moved quickly and tested keys on his Alpha’s cage first. The wolf woke and shifted back to human, staring blankly at Thomas.
“Hey big brother,” Thomas whispered. “Don’t make a sound. We’re getting you all out.”
The other male nodded. He was the one that was an asshole to her, but she could forget it for now.
Once Thomas was done, he moved to her. She had stopped into front of Brenton’s cage; the lion was not awake yet. He was probably exhausted if he didn’t notice her scent.
“Alphas first,” he mumbled to her. “Always.”
He tested keys and they rattled. This made Brenton’s large lion eye open and he gave a low growl, not realizing who was there yet.
“Brenton,” Riley whispered. The growl had woken up every shifter in the room, who slept in their animal forms for warmth. They were all silent as they shifted back human, eyes wide at possible freedom.
Brenton went back to human form and walked slowly to her at the front of his cage.
“Riley,” her name on his lips sounded like a caress. “Why?”
“You saved me more times than I can count. I wasn’t going to abandon you in return for that.” She heard the cage unlock, and Thomas moved away, to continue opening cages. Sheriff was next.
“Oh, beautiful,” his voice broke and he pulled her to him. “Oh, Riley.” It was like he was praying.
She held back a sob as more of her pride were freed. All the wolves were out by now. The foxes were last.
Each of her pride hugged her quickly.
“Can I have the gun, Riley?” Andrew whispered, trying to reach for it slowly.
“Not this time, Andrew,” she growled at him, stepping back. “I’m not giving this gun away for anything. I’ve got some fucking revenge to get. Plus, I’m the rescuer this time.”
Her men took a minute to look at each other. Brenton gave a heavy sigh, and shook his head in defeat.
“Let’s go. We need to find vehicles or just fucking run for it,” Thomas growled at them. Everyone was waiting. “Let her keep the damn gun. It was her fucking idea to come back and get you all out.”
The wolves all looked at Thomas like he was mad and he shrugged. She nodded to him.
“Me and you in front?” She asked.
“Bear in the back,” Thomas added. “But don’t shift until we’ve been found out.”
“Riley, please,” Zachary growled in her ear. She wanted to be comforted by it, but she wasn’t. The memories were still too close to the surface, instead she tensed and was scared of him. Scared of Zachary. “Let me… let me have the gun.” He was hurt by her fear, she could smell it.
“No,” she hissed. “Trust me to stay alive.”
“You don’t have to keep going like this,” he snarled. “Let one of us-”
“Yes. I do.” She walked off with Thomas. They both held their weapons up, ready for anything. They took the front and they were going to go two wide out into the hall.
Her pride mixed with the wolves and foxes. Sheriff would be a monstrous presence in the back when he was in bear form, walking backwards to cover their rear from being torn open by bullets it they were fired upon.
“Wait,” one of the foxes finally spoke up. “They don’t know we’re out yet. We can steal our shit back.”
“You’re worried about that?” Chris hissed at the fox, who shrugged.
“Why not?”
Riley was amazed by the fox’s foolhardiness.
“Actually,” Gabe spoke up. “We can take this place down, right here and right now.” They all looked at him. “Even if we don’t kill all of them, if I can get into a computer room or an office, I can take everything they’re worth. I could ruin them. I could gather enough evidence to send them away for a long time, even without our testimonies.”
Riley smiled. It would give her the chance to kill Carl. She held her gun tight to herself and waited for the others to put their word in.
“Let’s do it,” Brenton told the wolf Alpha. “We were all going to die in here anyways, why not try to fix the problem? We also need weapons and hopefully some car keys to get out of here.”
“Fuck, you’re right,” Chris growled. “But this is stupid.”
“Damn right it is,” Thomas sighed. “But it’s all we’ve got, it seems.”
“Then let’s hurry,” Riley smiled at her Alpha, whose eyes twinkled in pride. They hadn’t even won, but he was proud of her.
They huddled in a dark corner of the warehouse and made teams.
Foxes and wolves would go for personal effects for everyone. Easy part in Riley’s mind. She and her pride would go with Sheriff deeper into the compound to find out what they could to bring this place to its knees. They would meet the wolves once the foxes were headed out of the building to get them transportation. No big deal… right?
RILEY
She moved slowly in the front, Brenton on her heels with the rest of the pride behind him. He kept a hand placed gently on her back and she was comforted by it. Every time they got to a door, he opened it and she cleared it. Nearly the entire first floor was empty of anyone in their way.
She knew the building was three stories tall, and she knew they were going to run into someone eventually. What would happen when they did?
In the last room on the hall, they stumbled onto someone, a guy making coffee in a small break room. He had no idea who was behind him and by the time he turned around, Brenton was there. She heard that snap that she now knew fairly well. The dead body fell to the floor when Brenton released his head from his arms.
She watched Brenton pat the man down and find a handgun. They all got into the break room and looked through every drawer and cabinet.
“Nothing here I can do anything with,” Gabe whispered. “He also didn’t have a cell on him, must have left it somewhere else.”
They kept moving soon after that, not wanting to waste time. The plan was for everyone to meet outside at the vehicles. No one got left behind unless it was too hot for them to stay; i.e., run if you’re in a vehicle and someone is shooting at you.
Brenton took point now, and Riley stuck behind him. Sheriff was right behind her, ready to bear out and hurt some mother fuckers. She could feel the massive bear vibrating the air around him, and it was actually terrifying.
They climbed up the stairs at the end of the hall towards the second floor. They hoped it was the offices, since the entire first floor had been a bit of a bust.
They saw the wolves and foxes at the end, holding bags. A quick wave told them everything was okay for them to keep moving. Riley made her way to Thomas to get
an update.
“We found everything. They just tossed it all in the room at the end of the hall. We’re sending the foxes down with everything. We can get dressed later,” Thomas spoke quietly enough that she had to strain to hear him only a few feet away. She didn’t need to say anything else, she just nodded.
She made her way back to Brenton, and they started clearing rooms from that end, while the wolves were working on the far end.
Brenton could barely hold back the growl at the room with the bed. And the straps attached to it. Riley was stuck staring at it for what felt like a long time. The taste of metal and leather filled her mouth. Sheriff rubbed her back, fatherly and kind, leading her back out of it. None of them looked at her.
They eventually found exactly what they were looking for. The gun room. After a few trophy rooms, just like down stairs. These hunters had so many shifter skins that it made Riley sick.
“Not even in safes,” Andrew chuckled. Zachary nodded as well. The hunters had just put all their weapons on racks, free for anyone to grab.
They had no idea their prey would get out, and they had underestimated the predators they hunted. It reminded Riley of the arrogance of the two hunters back in the diner. Fools.
She watched her pride arm up and when they stepped out, they covered the wolves to do the same thing. It was tense, and Riley could have heard a pin drop on the floor above them from how quiet everyone was.
Also on the second floor, they found, was the massive security room. Gabe ran in with Troy and they both began typing at control panels. Gabe searched through different drawers until he found a USB.
“Oh, my fucking God,” he whispered, horrified by what was on it.
Riley stepped closer; but Zachary, who’d already been watching, stopped her and blocked her vision.
“No, Riley. You can’t,” he growled softly. “You just can’t see that. Gabe, keep it. It’s evidence now.”
“It had enough space on it for me to make backups of a few of the security logs as well,” Gabe whispered as Troy found a couple more of the USBs.
Wild Fire (The Kingson Pride Book 2) Page 20