Alpha Blood Box Set(82)

“We always have a Plan B,” I quipped, thinking of Steve and Rick. I could still smell them, even if I couldn’t see them, and they were approaching.

“What the hell are you two doing up here?” a voice spoke up behind us. We all turned to see Sheriff Brier limping up the hill. Behind him was a human werewolf and in his hands was Steve and Rick. They were disarmed and roughed up with cuts and bruises, but otherwise unharmed. There went Plan B.

“You were saying?” Emily asked me.

“I was saying you guys were the only monsters here,” I told her.

Brier strode up to Ian and his captives, and chuckled. “It never ceases to amuse me when somebody starts whining about monsters this and monsters that.” He stood over Abby and leered down at her. “Kind of waters down the meaning, don’t it?”

“You stay away from her!” Martha growled. She had her arms pinned behind her back by a single hand from Ian, but her struggles couldn’t loosen herself from his grip.

“We won’t hurt you if you cooperate,” Emily reminded her.

“Speak for yourself,” Brier spoke up. He grabbed Abby by her hair and pulled her from Ian’s surprised grasp.

Brier walked away from our little group as Martha twisted and pulled in Ian’s grasp. “Let her go! Leave her alone!” the distraught mother screamed.

Ian pressed his hand against her mouth to quiet her, but he glared at Brier. “What the hell are you doing?”

Brier turned to face us and I heard the crunch of grass as others approached from the house. Judging from the lack of smell I knew who’s side they were on. “Connor left instructions not to leave anyone alive to know what happened, and that includes kids,” Brier explained.

“Connor isn’t willing to get his hands dirty with this mess, and can’t tell us what to do. Cranston’s our leader,” Emily snapped. “We only answer to Cranston, and if Connor thinks he can be our leader then he’s dead wrong.”

Brier smirked and pulled out the gun on his hip. “Funny thing you should mention dead because that’s what Connor told me to do to you once the rebel leaders were caught.”

“Cranston would never agree to this!” Ian exclaimed.

“Cranston thought so at first, but now that he’s got a little whiff of Connor’s formula he’s a little preoccupied with his wild side at the moment, so I wouldn’t worry about him any more. Not since Connor knows about her helping them at the maze garden, and he doesn’t think she’s trustworthy enough to the cause,” Brier replied. “You’re safe, Ian, but interfere and I’ve been told I don’t need to worry about saving a seat for you at the victory table.”

Emily smirked at Brier, and I felt some of her weight lift off me. “Maybe this isn’t such a good cause after all,” she commented. She turned to Ian. “What do you think?”

He turned up his nose at her. “I think you’re out of your mind,” he returned.

Her face fell and I felt her stiffen above me. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about you being jealous of the great and powerful Connor,” Ian explained to her. “You’re jealousy is jeopardizing this important and history-defining mission of ours, and-”

“Traitor!” she growled. She jumped at him, freeing me from her grasp.

“Catch!” Ian yelled at Brier as he passed Martha to him.

“W-what?” Brier yelped. He lost his hold on Abby who fell to the ground cowering at his feet.

Martha, free of restraint for a moment and pushed toward the abuser of her child, wasn’t going to lose a chance to get some revenge. She lengthened her claws and collided into his, piercing his large belly with her sharp fingers. Brier cried out in agony, threw her to the side, and glared at Ian. Emily leapt at him, and he deftly caught her hands in his own and spun in a complete circle. At the completion of the three-sixty he released her and she flew toward the werewolves behind Brier who still held Steve and Rick.

Emily laughed as she collided with the surprised werewolves while the two humans screamed. All five of them rolled down the hill toward the house with Emily getting in hits against the werewolves while the other four just tried not to be on the bottom of the pile when the hard ground came around. Brier watched them disappear down the slope with his jaw dropped to his chubby neck, but he shook himself and turned to Ian. “What the hell are you doing?” he growled.

Ian smiled and shrugged. “Just helping the cause.” I noticed his eyes flickered to me and then back to Brier.

My eyes widened as I realized their argument was just an act, and it was my turn to join the play. I leapt at Brier while Martha grabbed Abby and ran toward the trees. Brier aimed his gun at them, but my strong jaws crunched down on his wrist and I felt bones snap beneath my powerful teeth. He screamed and dropped the gun, but grabbed my scruff with his other hand. This scruff-grabbing was getting real annoying, so I rocked my lower feet forward and knocked my rear legs into his face. Brier clutched his face with his only working hand and I was free to drop to the ground.

That’s when I heard it, that beautiful familiar sound. It was the howl of a wolf, a wolf I never thought I’d see again or smell again, and it came from the house. I stood, perked up my ears, and lifted my nose to the air. There it was! Even the scent was there! I wasn’t dreaming!

I also wasn’t dreaming when I heard the sound of gunfire from the house, and a lot of shouting. I raced down the hill and saw the two bodies of the werewolves killed by Emily. She was gone, as were Rick and Steve, but the bedroom window was still open. I flew threw the small space, skidded on the wood floor, and rushed into the main area of the home.

There, standing in the middle of unconscious werewolf scum and the blood of his enemies, was Luke.





13





Luke was in his wolf form, but that didn’t stop my elation. I leapt into Luke’s side and pressed against him so hard that he toppled to the ground, sending me with him. I nuzzled and purred his face, heedless of the blood and the audience around us. “You’re alive! You’re alive!” I chanted.

“Yes, fortunately for both of us,” he laughed.

I licked his face and whimpered. “I was so worried,” I whispered.

“So was I for a time,” he replied.

Then I hopped off and reverted back to my human form so I could cross my arms and tap my food on the floor boards. “And where in the hell have you been? You should have rescued me a half hour ago,” I scolded him.

Luke stood and transformed back into his human self. His clothes were ragged, his hair matted by long-dried blood, and there were fresh bruises from fending off Brier’s men and freeing our friends. “Sorry. It wasn’t easy interrogating those rogues,” he told me.

“And speaking of rogues,” Ian piped up as he walked in with Brier in front of him. The former sheriff cradled his broken wrist against his chest and glared at all of us. “I bring you an offering of peace.”

That’s when I noticed the interesting crowd we had in the house. There was Adam Brier, Burnbaum, and Stewart, bloodied and showing signs of rope chafing, but otherwise okay. Emily sat in a corner close to the door in her werewolf form wagging her tail and with a smirk on her wide, long lips. Through the open door behind Ian I could just make out Abby and Martha cautiously coming up to the house.

“Martha!” Stewart cried out. He sped past us all in his human form and wrapped his family in his arms.

I smiled and a few tears slid down my cheeks. Then I remembered a couple of missing details. I glanced around and didn’t see them anywhere. “Where’s Steve and Rick?” I spoke up.

“Right here,” came Steve’s voice as he and Rick waltzed into the house. They were once again armed with their backpack arsenal. “Just had to get our bags that those werewolves stole from us when they got us. Dumb fools tossed them into the woods thinking we’d never find them in the dark. They don’t know I carry a flashlight in my boot at all times.” I told myself never to ask to borrow that flashlight. Ever.

“It seems we have ourselves a happy ending on all accounts,” Emily spoke up.

Rick aimed one of his arsenal, the double-barreled shotgun, at her.. “Not so fast. We’ve played before and you didn’t play nice,” he pointed out.

Emily rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. “That was a few days ago, this is today.”

“A few days isn’t much time to switch without there being a good reason for it,” Rick countered.

“Brier intended to have us murdered because Connor no longer trusted us and, by the sounds of Brier’s speech, betrayed Cranston,” Ian chimed in.

Rick nudged Steve, who pointed his own rifle at Ian. “I don’t care who’s trying to kill you so long as we make sure you don’t kill us,” Rick argued.

Luke strode over and grabbed the end of Rick’s shotgun barrel. “We can trust them.”

Burnbaum stepped forward and shook his head. “I know your judgment, Luke, and I trust you, but this is no good. These two are no smells, so they must be with Lance. We cannot let them leave or let them follow us. They would surely betray us.”