Alpha Blood Box Set(71)

“It means you could help us and a great many people by giving us some information about a compound that’s rumored to be just on the other side of the region border,” Stevens persisted.

The woman resumed her rocking and clasped her hands in her lap. “If that’s all you got then I ain’t trading,” she replied.

Stevens frowned. “But-” Luke held up his hand in front of Stevens’ face and the old wolf turned to glare at Luke.

“We have information to trade,” Luke told her.

The old woman stopped her rocking and her wizened old hands grasped the arms of her chair. “What kind of info?” she asked him.

“Rumors for rumors,” he explained.

The old woman’s cunning eyes looked at each of us and returned to Luke. “All right, but you go first and I’ll see if your gossip is good enough to give you mine.”

Luke stepped up to the porch and put one foot on the bottom step. He leaned close to her and lowered his voice, and she unconsciously leaned toward him. “We heard a rumor that Stevens is on the run from the mafia because he owes them money.”

“W-what!” Stevens exclaimed. His face was beat-red and his hands were clenched into fists at his sides.

The old woman glared at him and put a finger to her lips. “Hush!” she hissed. She turned back to Luke. “Go on. That’s not enough to trade for what I know.”

Luke lowered his voice so even I leaned forward to hear what he had to say. “Well, they say Stevens spent too much money on-well, on lingerie.”

“For his daughter?” the old woman guessed.

Luke grinned and shook his head. “For himself.” The old woman leaned back, slapped her hand across her knee, and let out a cackle that echoed down the road.

Stevens couldn’t contain himself any longer. “I did-” Rick jumped forward and slapped a hand over Stevens’ mouth.

“Shut up,” Rick hissed.

“Well, don’t that beat all! Ah don’t care it that’s true or not, that’s a good one!” she cackled.

“Then will you tell us what we wish to know?” Luke asked her.

“About that place across the border? Sure yes. You go down the road outside of town to the south and follow it when it turns westward till you hit the swamp forest. You can’t miss it. My great-great grandson was hunting out there a week ago and said he saw a big line of trucks riding down the road leading to the place and followed them to a bunch of big buildings. He was about to get a sneak closer, he’s a curious sorts like me, when a group of werewolves jumped him. He didn’t even smell them coming, but maybe he was upwind. Anyway, they told him to git, and he got real fast. They were a mean-looking bunch and he was all alone. Well, he came back and told me what happened, and won’t go back there.”

Luke smiled, stepped onto the porch, took one of her hands in his own, and planted a gallant kiss on the ancient skin. “Thank you. You’ve helped us far more than you know.”

She blushed and pulled her hand from his grip. “Bah. Wasn’t nothing for the gossip you gave me. Now git along while I make a few calls. Ah I have to get this one worked around.” There was a muffled mutter from Stevens, but Rick still held his hand over the werewolf’s mouth.

“Well, thank you still.” Luke stepped off the porch and we followed him toward the truck.

“It is a little strange, though.” We paused and glanced back at the old woman as she rocked. “You’re the second group to be asking about that place yonder in a week.”

Luke paused and half-turned to her. “Was there a woman and two men in the first group?” he asked her.

She nodded and a soft smile graced those wrinkled lips. “Aye, and she was a pretty one, too. Gossiped with me for a while.”

Luke bowed his head. “Thank you for that tidbit.”

She waved her hand at him. “Wasn’t nothing, now git along with ya.”

We piled back into the truck and bumped back down the road. After a mile Rick glanced over his shoulder at us. “You think that was Stacy and them others?” he asked Luke.

“Undoubtedly,” Luke replied.

“That means they have a head start on us,” he pointed out.

“Then we will force ourselves to hurry,” Stevens spoke up.

“Hurry to where from here?” I asked him.

“We go to the swamp forest and cross the region border,” Luke replied.

“Sounds easy. Think we’ll get killed doing it?” I teased.

He smiled. “Perhaps, but we have our friends ahead of us to clear the way,” he pointed out.

I leaned back against the side of the truck and sighed. Then my teeth chattered when we hit a bump. “I hope I can walk straight when we get to this compound.”





3





We came upon the entrance to a murky bit of woods that spanned several hundred acres across the border between Manutia and Scientia. The road led into the dark woods and I glimpsed large puddles in the tracks that were the first indications of the swamp. The second was the scent of rotting limbs and foliage that wafted from the trees.

“Stop here,” Luke called to Rick.

Stevens turned in his seat with a frown on his face. “But why? We have yet to reach the border and Stacy is far ahead of us,” he pointed out.

“We should leave the truck here and travel on foot to the border to see if we can find any recent patrols,” Luke replied.

“Then Steve and I’ll stay here with the truck,” Rick offered.

The color drained from Steve’s face. “Can’t we go with them?” he squeaked.

“We can’t keep up with ‘em and I’m not leaving my truck,” Rick told him.

“We won’t be gone long,” Luke promised as he climbed from the bed.

“See that yer not. I don’t want to be having trouble without ya,” Rick replied.

“I will come with you,” Stevens offered.

“It would be best if one werewolf remained with the truck,” Luke argued.

Stevens nodded toward me. “Then let your mate remain here. She is a poor fighter,” he countered.

I growled at him, but Luke stepped between us. “Fine, we will all go,” he acquiesced.

“We’ll be fine with ol’ Bessie,” Rick piped up. He hefted the shotgun into his arms and patted the butt. “Nothing can get through all the spray shot from this, but if something does try you’ll know from the shot,” he told us.

“Do not fire unless you are threatened by werewolves. We don’t need to be attracting attention,” Luke advised him.

Rick frowned. “I won’t, and don’t ya bring any guests with ya, either,” he retorted.

Luke smiled and bowed his head. “We will be as careful as we can,” he promised.

We three werewolves set out on foot, our human feet, that is, into the woods. Luke led us along the road for a half mile and then into the brush and trees. Stevens wasn’t kidding when he said nobody would want to patrol that place often. It was a mixture of heavy brush growing over ground that was swampy enough to make the bayou jealous. Every step I took was like walking on a slightly leaky water bed, but with the added fun of mosquitoes nipping at my skin and brush whipping at my face. Luke led the way with me behind him and Stevens bringing up the rear like the ass he was.

We tiptoed through the ugly tulips and trees, and far out of sight of the truck. Luke would periodically stop to sniff the air, and I plugged my nose. The stench from all the rot was nearly overpowering, even for my untrained sniffer. I wondered how the others handled the smell. Our path led us at a south-westerly angle and after a mile or two Luke paused and tilted his nose up.

“How close are we to the border?” he asked Stevens.

“Only twenty yards in front of us. Why?” he returned.

“I smell a hint of a patrol that passed this way a few hours ago. Four werewolves, all male,” Luke explained.

Stevens sniffed the air and frowned. “You are not mistaken. A group of four passed by here not more than four hours ago.”

Luke’s stiff shoulders visibly relaxed. “This is good news for us,” he commented.

“What? That they are four hours off?” Stevens guessed.

“No, that we can smell them at all. This suggests that Lance cannot supply all his followers with the de-scent pills,” Luke pointed out. “That gives us hope that we may yet be able to stop any massive exports or manufacturing of the product.”

This hopeful conversation was interrupted by the sound of shots, and they came from behind us. My eyes widened when my ears judged the distance. “Rick and Steve!” I shouted.

“We must help them!” Luke agreed. He turned around, but Stevens blocked our path.

“We can use this opportunity to infiltrate the region. The facility is only a day’s run away from the border,” Stevens informed us.

Luke growled at Stevens, and I noticed my mate’s teeth and fingernails were a tad long. “We won’t leave anyone behind,” he argued.

Stevens scowled. “I am the senior wolf in this pack, and I order you to lead on into Scientia,” he commanded us.

“You may be the eldest, but I won’t recognize you as the leader,” Luke bit back. He grabbed my hand and pushed us past Stevens, who sputtered his indignation.