Jace (River Pack Wolves 2)(52)
She rushed to the front of her cage and thrust her arm through the bars—the key card was just out of reach! Dammit. She yanked off her boot and used that to extend her reach, just barely nabbing the card and sliding it toward her. Jace’s wolf had drawn everyone’s attention—the few guards who had been loitering near the cages on her side of the hangar had quickly rushed toward the melee of people trying to contain the oversized beast. He was surrounded by a dozen of them now, and several shots rang out across the metal-and-concrete confines of the hangar.
Piper wrenched away from watching him, hurrying to do her part. She quickly swiped open her own door but left it just slightly ajar. Then she rushed to Owen and passed him the card.
“Keep passing it down,” she said breathlessly, “and keep it quiet. We need to all spring at once. The last one in the line gives the signal—then we all go. Do it fast, Owen.” She glanced back at Jace’s wolf fighting off attacks from all sides but still moving. “He doesn’t have much time.”
Owen dashed to unlock his own door and sprinted to the far side of his cell to pass the key card and the message along. There was a long line of cells in Owen’s direction. Piper couldn’t bridge the gap of Jace’s cage next to hers—they would have to liberate those prisoners, as well as the others on the far side of the hangar, separately. But an initial rush of a dozen or so prisoners on the loose should be enough to cause panic… and give them a fighting chance.
If only Jace could hold out that long.
She hurried back to the door of her cell, now slightly ajar, and gripped the bars as she watched Jace’s wolf fight for his life—and theirs.
Piper’s heart beat loudly in her chest, one steady pound at a time. Jace was getting hit—some of those shots had to find their target—but he was taking them out as well. The guards with guns fared the worst. Their screams as they were slammed against the concrete floor or steel-barred cages echoed throughout the hangar. Several scrambled to get larger rifles. Piper prayed they only held tranq darts… a prayer answered by the whooshing sound they made when they fired. But tranq darts were ineffective against Jace’s wolf, just as they had been in Afghanistan… at least so far. The beast charged the men trying to pump more darts into him, scattering them and causing even more panic. He really was a spectacle to behold. She understood why Jace would think such a beast was made for destruction only. But she knew better. Even in this fight, he wasn’t killing people—just disabling them, tearing into their arms and knocking them unconscious so they could no longer shoot at him.
Still… shot after shot rang out. A hot tear coursed down Piper’s face as she waited, trembling at the door, trapped by this plan of hers to have most of the prisoners free before the guards were aware. She glanced nervously at Owen in the cage next door. He shook his head. Not yet. She gripped the bars of the cage harder and gritted her teeth.
She didn’t know how much longer she could stand to wait.
If only Jace would just kill the men—tear out their throats, so they couldn’t keep coming back for more. Pumping more bullets into his body. He was enormous—and his hide must be amazingly thick to keep going this long—but he was still taking an enormous beating.
Jace’s good nature was going to get him killed.
Her father and Agent Smith cowered in one of the medical suites, hiding behind the gurneys. The shifters who were strapped down were struggling to free themselves.
Jace must’ve noticed them struggling, too. He lunged toward the trapped prisoners—or maybe he was going after her father—right when a shout came from the cages. All at once, the doors flung open, and a dozen burly shifter men raced out. Piper burst from her cage as well and sprinted across the open floor as fast as her human legs would carry her. She couldn’t shift, just like the other prisoners, but she was heading straight for Jace, determined to get him out of the fight—he’d already taken too many hits. A quick glance behind her showed one of the prisoners staying behind with the key card, rapidly running between the cages and liberating the rest.
The hangar was in complete chaos.
The guards had scattered, no longer focused on containing Jace’s wolf, now that the prisoners were roaming free. They were vastly outnumbered, and while most of the prisoners couldn’t shift, they made up for it with pent-up rage—a full on melee broke out.
Her father stood, paralyzed with fear, watching as Jace’s wolf used his razor-sharp claws to shred the bindings holding the prisoners down. Piper arrived at his side just in time to see her father snap out of his daze and draw his pistol.