by JJ King
The clearing and the black helicopter landed in the middle of it came into view. “It’s black,” I murmured, slowly panning the area with a smallest shred of hope that I’d come across someone I recognized and trusted.
The campsite was well lit by the waxing moon, so I caught movement easily, but individuals were hard to pick out, since they, too, were decked out in all black. I remembered the dark uniforms used by the mercenaries Viktor had used for the attack on campus and swallowed back the bile that jumped to my throat.
“What do you see?” Daniella bumped my shoulder gently with hers, still whispering as if the men or women miles away from us could hear anything louder.
I shook my head and brought my view back to the helicopter. “No logo on the helicopter and the people searching the site are wearing all black.”
Rachelle started that annoying gasping again. I bit back a sharp retort and reminded myself that I wasn’t the only one to be traumatized by that day. Maybe she was partly broken, too, just like me.
Something light colored caught my eye and I moved the dials slowly, sharpening the image. “Hold on, now,” I muttered, “there’s someone…” I shifted the binoculars a fraction of an inch and lost my grip on the heavy equipment. The binoculars would have fallen to the ground if they hadn’t been secured around my neck.
“It’s Viktor,” I said in the loudest whisper I could manage. “He’s here.” My breath started to come shallower and I realized what a hypocrite I was to have just judged Rachelle her panic attack. A small part of me was kind of proud I had the mental acuity to realize that about myself. It meant I wasn’t shutting down again.
“Here,” I pulled the binoculars over my head and handed them to Daniella, whose hands trembled as she adjusted the dials. I noticed sweat beginning to bead on her forehead and shoved my own terror down, knowing I wasn’t the only one afraid. I’d spent so much time wrapped up in my selfish grief that it had become a coping mechanism, one that I was currently tearing down. We were all more alike than I’d thought.
Daniella scanned the scene below and I knew the moment she spotted Viktor. Her soft gasp might not have meant much to the others, but I knew what she was feeling. She took a moment, blowing out a breath in a move I did often to find my balance, then handed the binoculars off to Jared and turned away and went to sit by Ms. Morgan. I let her go, giving her time to acclimatize. One by one, the group watched the invaders from a distance and realized the full extent of the danger we were in.
“Are those guns?” Adeline asked, lowering the binoculars from her wide eyes. Her breathy voice now little more than a whisper.
“Semi-automatic rifles, from the looks of them,” Benson said grimly with no hint of derision in his tone anymore. “My grandfather had a range and a collection of guns. Those are M-16s, military grade.” He let out a shuddering breath. “We should get further into the woods. M-16s have a range of over a quarter mile.” He swallowed loudly and handed the binoculars back to me. He turned away then paused and looked back. “Thanks for getting us out of there.”
The waves of nausea cramping my stomach faded with shock. My eyebrows shot up as he pivoted and walked away and stayed there as I raised the lenses to my eyes again. “Never saw that coming,” I murmured to myself. I guess it was true what they said. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. At least, I hoped so, because all of our lives depended on us working together.
I focused in and scanned the wreckage again, taking note of how many men in dark uniforms and how many guns they had. The more we knew about our attackers, the better prepared we’d be. We had several miles on their location now and, thanks to Connor’s attention to detail, they wouldn’t be able to catch our scents. If we just kept moving into the bush, we’d be able to stay safe until rescue came from AWA or the Alpha.
If they even knew where we were.
It had crossed my mind back when I’d realized that the black box might have been hacked that it might actually be a secondary box and that the one used to track the plane might have been removed. We’d followed a flight path, though, or so I hoped as neither pilot was alive to confirm or deny that assumption. If we had, they’d follow the path looking for the downed plane. Luckily for us the crash had destroyed a large area of forest and would be easily seen from above. Still, it would take time. Time we may not have.
We needed to move, undetected, and find somewhere to hide until the calvary showed up and chased off the bad guys. Since we had no way of defending ourselves against semi-automatic rifles, there was no other choice.
I took one last scan of the campground, spotting Viktor’s lighter clothes easily now, and raised the binoculars to his face.
Which was looking directly at me.
Chapter 22
A chill raced down my spine and my fingers went limp. This time, the binoculars fell with a heavy thump to the snow at my feet as I stood, shaking with panic and adrenaline.
He couldn’t have seen me. It was dark and we were deep in the forest with trees all around. Surely the light from the moon hadn’t reflected off the lens.
My skin went clammy.
“We have to leave,” I said in a shaky voice that lifted just loud enough for the group to hear. “Right now.”
“What happened?” Daniella climbed to her feet from where she’d been kneeling next to Ms. Morgan and brushed off her hands.
I stared at her and seconds ticked by. It felt like I was caught in a time loop, again. I turned my head and looked at each one of them, all watching me, all waiting for me to answer and lead. The pressure of it made my chest constrict but I pushed through the feeling. “I think they saw a glint from the binoculars.”
The staring continued along with absolute silence until I questioned if I’d said the words aloud and repeated them. This time, it seemed to break through the shock and their faces went pale. Immediately, they moved to gather the items they’d put down and prepared to leave.
Adeline, who’d stayed next to our fallen teacher let out a gasp as I bent to retrieve my pack. I turned, finding her delayed response strange from what I’d gotten to know of her, and blinked in surprise when I saw Ms. Morgan’s moss green eyes open and close several times.
I rushed to her side and fell to my knees. “Old Ones, it worked!” I exclaimed, laughing at the small sliver of good news. “Ms. Morgan, can you hear me?” I leaned forward enough for her to see me but too close to crowd her.
Her mouth opened and closed a few times and her tongue darted out to touch dry lips. I reached for a patch of untouched snow and put some to her lips, letting it melt into her mouth.
“Thank you,” she studied me for a moment, then added my name, “Elena.” Her hand lifted feebly then fell back to her side. I realized then that she was unstrapped from the stretcher and felt my heart lurch. I was so happy she’d come out of her fever, but we had to move, now. We didn’t have time for this.
I pressed my lips together and sat back on my heels, then just went for honestly. “I know you’re still very sick and that you don’t want to, but you need to shift right now and get back on your feet.” I licked my lips now and wished for a tall glass of water or vodka. “We were in a plane crash but…” I searched for the right words.
“The plane was blown up by the same man who attacked the campus and killed all those students and staff.” Connor knelt beside me and reached for Ms. Morgan’s hand, giving it an urgent squeeze. “He’s here, right now, with soldiers who have very big guns and our only chance of making it out of this alive is getting as much distance between us and him as possible. Do you understand?”
Her eyelids fluttered shut and stayed down for a few seconds, long enough that I thought she’d slipped back into unconsciousness. Then they rose again, and she nodded. “Okay,” she said simply and held out an unsteady hand. “Help me sit up.”
Connor pulled her up as I supported her back. She felt as weak as a rag doll, which brought up uncertainties that she’d be able to shift. I climbed to my knees then stood a
nd moved away, giving her a modicum of privacy to find the strength to shift.
Her eyelids fluttered closed again and her lips pressed firmly together in a straight line. Her chest rose and fell in shallow breaths as she called to her wolf, begged her to come based on the lines that appeared around her eyes and mouth as the seconds passed without a whiff of magic in the air.
Connor squeezed her hand again and murmured something in a low soothing voice, encouraging her to focus, urging her to be strong. Tears swelled in behind her eyelids and streamed down her face.
“She won’t come,” she said on a muffled moan. Her eyes swam with frustration and fatigue and more than a little confusion. “I can’t.” She buried her face in her hands.
“It’s alright,” Connor soothed. “I can carry you.”
Ms. Morgan raised her head and sniffled. “Thank you. I’m sure with some food or…” she trailed off, looking helpless.
I looked between the two of them and the rest of the group who stood ready to flee at a moment’s notice and made a decision that Connor wouldn’t like or understand.
“Ms. Morgan, look at me,” I said in a voice that resonated through my chest and pushed, like a force of nature, out of my lips.
Her head snapped up.
I took a deep breath and squatted down next to her to look directly in her eyes. The strange new power that had awoken in me swirled like seductive lightning through my muscles and bones, connecting every part of me. It surged forward the instant I called.
“You need to shift,” I said simply, unsure of what would happen if I ever said the wrong words and triggered the wrong thing by accident. “Right now.” I hesitated, then added. “And be silent.” I pushed my voice from the depths of my soul and watched her green eyes go dark as the shift overpowered her and sucked her under.
Even as I stood, I heard Connor’s wild curses and blast of questions.
“What the hell was that, Elena? What did you do?” He turned to glare at the others who were watching with equally measured looks of awe and pity for the woman whose shift was tearing through her even now.
My power subsided, retreating into my cells until the next time it was needed. I felt the distant buzz of it and liked it.
“We don’t have time to chitchat,” I snapped, giving him a pointed look. “I can explain later. Right now, we need to move.”
He stared at me as if I were a complete stranger, as if we hadn’t spent a year in one another’s arms, discovering one another’s secrets. It didn’t hurt like it had the first time I’d seen him again, but it still stung.
I called Bash’s face to mind and traced the contours of his sharp cheekbones from memory. Love, thick and joyous filled me, washing away all trace of disappointment with my past. I looked down when I felt thick fur brush up against my hand and smiled.
“Hey, Ms. Morgan.” I squatted down to eye level and hoped she could read the apology in my eyes. “I’m sorry to have forced your shift like that. I know it hurt. Are you feeling stronger?”
Her head butted up against my hand and bobbed up and down. It felt strange, stroking my teacher’s head, but she seemed to want my touch, so I ran my hand up and down her neck. “We’ve got a few fresh rabbits, thanks to Connor and Joaquin. It’ll help get your strength up. We need to move as soon as possible.” I stilled my hand in her fur and leaned closer. “I know it’s confusing, you’ve been through a lot, we all have. Thank you for not questioning.”
Connor stiffened and satisfaction flickered through me. Good, I thought, he’d gotten my not so subtle message. Questions could be asked once we were safe.
He rose and got one of the rabbits from the string and gave it to Ms. Morgan, who tore into it with the hunger of someone whose body had been taxed to heal itself. I steeled myself for what I feared I’d see and went to check the crash site again.
It was empty but for the pilot of the helicopter.
I closed my eyes and estimated the time we’d lost, the time they’d gained on us. If they came as wolves, we’d be set up faster than we could get away, but they had guns and would want to keep that upper hand. My best bet was they’d send some ahead as scouts while others followed with deadly weapons.
“Everyone drop what you have and shift,” I said turning to face them. “The site is empty. They’re on the way and if they did see us,” my stomach rebelled at the thought that I’d been the one to ruin our escape plan. “If they did see us, then hiding our scent will have been useless. They know where we are now and will probably have sent some of their group ahead as wolves. We don’t have time to travel on two feet.”
Murmurs of agreement met my words, and, without a single voice of dissent, they dropped their supplies and started undressing. Only Connor remained in his human skin. I arched an eyebrow at him while I pulled my coat off and threw it to the forest floor.
“I’ll cover your scent,” he said, watching me intently.
I nodded, acknowledging the danger he was putting himself in to keep the rest of us safe, and called to my wolf then stopped dead when his arm shot out and pulled me into him.
“I know what that was,” he whispered with a grim frown. “I can smell it on you now and so will he.” Connor’s gaze darted towards the crash site.
My breath shuddered in and stuck in my chest. If Viktor knew…
I shook my head and pulled my arm from Connor’s grasp. “He already wants me dead. This changes nothing.”
“It changes everything.” He hesitated as if he wanted to say something more, then turned, grabbed the containers of disinfectant, and started covering our scents.
I turned to my pack and shifted into my wolf, then darted into the thick trees, knowing they’d be right behind me.
We ran as fast as we could go, slowing only when Ms. Morgan, still weakened from her fever, needed to rest. I moved us in different directions keeping our passage in a straight line, knowing Connor would cover our tracks and possibly lay decoys for our pursuers. As much as he annoyed the hell out of me, I appreciated what he was doing right now.
Hours slipped by as we raced to find safety. Every once in a while, a howl would lift into the night sky and echo through the forest around us, communication sent from Viktor’s wolves to his soldiers. The howls both unnerved and settled my queasy stomach since they also allowed us to gauge the distance between us and them.
Unless it was a ploy.
The thought crossed my mind as I altered our direction once again to take the pack across a stretch of marshland. It was wide open land, somewhere no one would logically take a group trying to hide, which made it perfect for us. The land around was low, giving no vantage point to spot us in the open. I glanced over my shoulder to see if anyone stopped at the edge of the marsh and was proud to see them follow me without hesitation.
If Viktor’s wolves were closer than they were leading us to believe, running into the open wouldn’t endanger us any more than running through the thick coverage. They wouldn’t have guns that could shoot a quarter mile, after all. They’d have fur, teeth, and claws, but we could fight that.
I could fight that.
The ground beneath us was softer now from the underground water source. We had a lot of marsh back in Newfoundland, vast distances of it, and running across it now made me think of home. I frowned and started to push away the thoughts, afraid they’d distract me when I needed to focus more than ever but the usual ache that accompanied thoughts of home didn’t appear. A warm, soothing feeling filled me, instead. I embraced it and let it fill me.
The bright moon lit our path as we raced across the open marsh, reflecting off the pristine snow marred only by the prints of the animals that called this part of the world home. We were the invaders here, the outsiders, but our prints would be erased soon enough, as though we’d never been here in the first place.
A low bark from directly behind me set my pulse racing in fear. I halted my stride and turned to see Adeline standing next to Ms. Morgan, whose head hung low. Her tongue lo
lled from her mouth in an obvious sign of exhaustion. Her body needed rest.
I sympathized, I really did, but we had to keep moving. I caught Daniella’s sharp gaze and pointed my head towards the far side of the marsh and sent her a message via our bond. “Lead them. I’ll be right behind.”
She nodded and yipped towards the others, then raced off. For a second, no one moved, they just looked at me with expectation. I looked pointedly towards Daniella’s retreating form and jerked my head in a clear message to follow her. When they hesitated again, my lips pulled back in a quiet snarl that got them moving.
I trotted back to where Ms. Morgan stood, trembling with fatigue. Her head lifted feebly at my approach then dropped. I nuzzled her neck with my nose and pressed the length of my body against her, letting her know I wasn’t upset with her. I understood and was proud of her for being so strong. I felt her relief instantly.
But we needed to move. Even if the gun-sporting soldiers were far behind us, the more distance between us and them, the safer we were. I nudged her gently and looked deep into her moss green eyes.
You can do this. I’ve got you. We both do. I thought straight at her, hoping she’d be able to hear me and understand. I pressed forward with the strange new power that was a part of me now.
Her eyes went soft for a moment, then she nodded.
I smiled, flashing teeth, and took a step forward, encouraging her to move with me.
The bucolic silence exploded with a sound that hit my ears like thunder and I jerked my head up and toward the origin of the gunshot, as horror raced through my veins. I saw nothing in the trees, nothing to give away their location. We were sitting ducks.
Move! I screamed inside my mind, pushing the single thought out with as much power as I could. Ms. Morgan’s hind legs bunched and sprang forward in response, but Adeline just stood there, staring at me with dark eyes that went wide with fear and wonder as she dropped to the blood-splattered snow at my feet.