Chapter Eight

ARI

Adrenaline coursed through him as he peeked around the side of the building. In the dark it was hard to see all the moving parts of the werewolf fight which had already begun. The others would be watching from the restaurant windows, ready to come out and start firing as soon as they were armed. But getting to the Charger and back again with the ammunition they all needed to put the werewolves down, wasn’t going to be easy. Even figuring out which werewolves to shoot, would be difficult in the dark. To Ari, they all had glowing yellow circles in their eyes, black hair all over their bodies, and claws that could kill a human with one swipe of a paw.

What he hadn’t known until he saw the two sides squared off, was that it was easy to pick out the middle form of the two Alphas, Juan and Alvin, who, for all intents and purposes, were both on the side of good. Both Alphas stood on two hind legs in a half human, half wolf form like the werewolf monsters from old black and white movies.

They stood almost seven feet tall and seemed to have the ability to move more fluidly. In this form, they had a longer reach…arms rippling with muscle, elongated muzzles filled with razor sharp teeth, and paws possessing three-inch claws. They were both terrifying and incredibly beautiful. He’d never imagined creatures like this existed and he realized with the Alphas on their side, they might have a fighting chance after all.

He made a mental note of the distance to the Charger and then ducked behind the building before running around the back of it which opened to a vast expanse of desert. Monstrous snarls and howls filled the air. They sent chills up Ari’s spine and he did his best to ignore the feeling of dread creeping over him, shaking his confidence. If they were unsuccessful in defeating Tyler Vallejo, he couldn’t imagine the biker letting any of them go.

Between evil vampires and battling werewolves, Ari wondered for just a moment if he and Eoghan would ever have peace in their lives. He glanced upward, noting the clouds in the sky and thanking his lucky stars it wasn’t brighter, or a full moon. They were supposed to have some sort of power over werewolves. He snapped himself out of his reverie. The werewolves on the other side of the building appeared to be in full combat mode. He had to go now .

He sucked in a deep breath and took off running, crossing the first one hundred feet with only a little worry, barely hearing the tread of his rubber soled boots on the sand. But he came up short, stopping behind a tree at the asphalt parking lot. It was covered with grains of sand. The remaining hundred feet to the Charger exposed him, and the sound wouldn’t be muffled. He thought of Eoghan, the pregnant female, and all the others in the building who needed him to be successful and sprinted. Praying the werewolves would be too caught up in the fight to notice any sound he made.

His heart pounded in his chest as he gulped in air, his breath sawing in and out of his lungs. He dared not look over his shoulder at the warring werewolves who seemed preoccupied for the moment, hoping other bikers weren’t already on the way to swell Tyler’s numbers. Once he made it halfway across the parking lot, he began measuring the distance. Fifty feet, forty feet, thirty, twenty, ten to go.

He got to the Charger and inserted the key, because the key fob’s beep would no doubt draw attention to him. He couldn’t afford any mistakes now. Slipping into the front seat, he reached for the automatic door light and flicked it off. It had only been a couple of seconds but hopefully the wolves hadn’t noticed.

He didn’t wait to see if he’d been found out and instead grabbed both backpacks from the backseat, quickly dragging them over the console and as quietly as possible, shutting the Charger’s door.

He chanced a glance over his shoulder, watching only long enough to spot both Alphas and do a cursory headcount. There were only five others still fighting. One wolf lay on the ground on its side. He prayed it wasn’t Edward Walters and took off running again.

This time, the run back across the parking lot was accomplished with greater confidence. When Ari hit the sand he ran all out, doubling his speed and closing the distance to the restaurant. He tapped twice on the door and it was instantly yanked open and shut the moment strong hands had him secure within.

“Oh, thank God!” Eoghan said, grasping both of his forearms. His partner looked totally frantic.

“No time for reunions,” Ari said, instantly pulling the two backpacks off his shoulders and handing one to Chastain who waited for it with his chief and partner by his side. Ari set his on the ground and squatted to unzip it. “There’s full lethal and less lethal werewolf rounds as well as a whole bunch of empty clips in these backpacks,” he said to the three marshals. He handed Eoghan a box of full lethal, silver werewolf rounds and more empty clips, frowning at him. “I think you know what to do with those, Eoghan. Right now, I don’t care about protocol. They came to kill us and that means all bets are off.” He pulled out the can of werewolf deterrent Wordy had made up for them and tossed the empty backpack aside as he stood.

“Technically, they came to kill the other werewolf’s grandson,” Washington drawled, “but as far as I’m concerned, you’re right. I have no doubt once they finish off them three out there, they’ll be comin’ for us to get to Carmen next. Who knows what kind of a blood rage they’ll be in when they come here. I’ll sign off on whatever lethal force we need to use…no problem at all.”

“Blood rage?” Ari asked, feeling all the blood draining out of his face.

“Don’t worry about that right now. Help me load,” Eoghan said, handing him the open box of shells and several empty clips.

He shoved the wolf spray into his tac pants and glanced around the marshals. “Where’re Carmen and the two cooks?”

“Other end of the building,” Carly said, loading empty clips as fast as she could. “She nearly had a full-blown panic attack over her boyfriend being involved in this crap.”

“Is she okay?”

“Yes, the cooks gave her some pomegranate juice and salmon just to make sure her blood pressure didn’t spike,” Carly said. “Poor girl doesn’t understand why Vallejo decided to bring in his thugs and attack or how he’d even have known where to go. Then again, this is a tiny town. There’s not a whole lot of places to go.”

“Well, it might have been nice of someone to tell us that Carmen was involved with a biker gang and a pretty mean-looking one to boot,” Ari said, shoving silver bullets into a clip and then slamming it into his gun.

“We knew that there were some bikers livin’ on the rez, but we didn’t know they were the outlaw type of werewolves,” the chief said. “That would’a been useful knowledge, I agree.”

“Well, what are we going to do about this? Simply rush out there and begin shooting?” Evan asked. He looked worried that one of them might take him up on the suggestion. A long howl sounded outside, and the marshal turned to look at the door before turning back to them. The wide-eyed fear in Chastain’s eyes was evident.

Ari’s heart went out to him. He exchanged a look with Eoghan who glanced up from the box of bullets in his hand. “Well, I know this…I’m not waiting for one of those werewolves to scratch down this door. Edward and the two Alphas have been holding their own for way too many minutes as it is.”

Eoghan gave him the barest of smiles and nodded before walking to the door and easing it open. The two of them were the first ones through, followed by the other marshals. They silently spilled onto the sand and then shut the door quietly. Not more than thirty feet away, Tyler and three wolves stood fighting Juan and Alvin in their half wolf forms as well as Edward who was still alive and bravely fighting. Two large men lay on the ground, naked, covered in blood and bites. They had to be dead. Ari thought he remembered somewhere that shifters of any kind couldn’t hold their shifted forms when killed. He was sure he’d read it in the case files Priest had given him as part of his training. Those two wouldn’t be getting up again.

The next time a werewolf snarled, an unholy fear shot down his spine. The frightening sound ended on a loud howl. He was doing his best not to freak out as he thought about the strength of the foes they faced or recalled the deep furrows in Eoghan’s back. The sudden yelp of a dog turned his attention to two weres locked in a horrific battle. One of them had to be Edward because he didn’t stand out as an Alpha which meant that the second wolf sneaking up at his tail, had to be another wolf from Tyler’s pack.

He frantically glanced around, noting that the chief was directing everyone to spread out. Ari pointed at Edward trying desperately to get Washington to notice the young wolf was about to be attacked by a second werewolf. Alvin’s grandson had been holding his own until now, but the fight had gone on for more than ten minutes; they all had to be exhausted. Washington looked at the melee but turned back, shaking his head, gesturing again. He was the senior marshal on the scene and, though, Ari was obligated to follow his orders, he knew they were stupid. Edward couldn’t take on two wolves at once. Ari shook his head knowing his job was on the line and for the first time in his life, ignored a superior officer’s order. He shouted loud enough to be heard over the vicious snarling.

“Edward! Behind you!”

The larger of the two Alphas instantly looked up and broke away from his opponent, rushing for Edward and his two attackers. The opponent snarled and turned right toward Ari and Eoghan who stood fifteen feet apart, flashing yellow eyes at them before dropping his head and pulling his lips back. His canines were two inches long, looking razor sharp. They were stained red with blood, ready to rip a man’s throat out with one deadly bite. The wolf’s growl sent chills racing up and down Ari’s spine as the were came forward.

He pulled his gun and aimed it. “Stop!” The werewolf charged him, and he fired. It hit the were in mid leap, striking him in the hip. The creature screamed and smoke billowed up from the wound. The werewolf landed on the ground and rolled, howling in pain as it became evident that hitting a werewolf in the leg was not going to kill it. He hadn’t known what to expect…maybe for the animal to explode, shooting guts and fur into the air with great fanfare. Instead, the wolf lay there howling in pain. It struggled to three of its feet, keeping one off the ground as it turned and faced him. Ari turned and looked over at Eoghan who was staring back at him in shocked panic.

“That should have worked!” he screamed at Eoghan. He scrambled for the can of werewolf deterrent and pointed it at the beast.

“Yeah!” Eoghan cried, looking back at the advancing werewolf who was trying to limp toward them. When a howl suddenly went up, the animal lifted his ears, turned away from them, and ran back toward Edward.

“What ammo is this?” Eoghan shouted, clearly still focused on the near-useless ammunition they’d somehow been given.

“Full lethal!” Ari yelled over the din. “You saw the box, Eoghan!”

Several other gunshots from across the parking lot went off and they both turned to look. One of the werewolves fell but he got right back up. Snarls rent the air as the supes continued their fight. Edward fell onto his back as the wolf he’d been fighting got the better of him. It was the same one who’d he’d shot in the leg and he was already healed. Fuck. Ari watched in horror as Edward shrieked when his attacker swiped his belly with a claw, ripping it open. The gray of his intestines was instantly made red by the blood that covered the exposed organs.

Ari aimed his gun and shot the attacker as it lifted his claw for the killing blow. The bullet hit the werewolf in the chest, momentarily knocking him back and off his feet as he howled in pain. The wolf healed fast but hopefully his intervention would delay another attack until Edward was able to heal. Ari watched the brave werewolf struggle to all fours, blood pouring from the wound. He stood panting, head hanging low as he tried to recover.

A gurgling yelp drew Ari’s attention to another fight going on about twenty feet from where Edward waited for his body to heal, and he slid the can back into his pocket and held his gun at the ready. The werewolf who’d been fighting the larger of the two Alphas, lay on its side, blood pumping from a vicious neck wound where his throat had been torn out. The Alpha who Ari guessed was Juan, had a piece of flesh in its mouth and he was shaking it like a dog toy. Blood poured down both sides of his mighty jaws and dripped onto his furry chest as he stood there on two legs, clenching his clawed hands into fists. With horror, Ari realized he was watching Juan play with the trachea he’d just ripped from the body of its former owner as the werewolf on the ground shifted to a very naked, very dead human right before his eyes.

He looked over at Eoghan who was watching the fighting alongside Carly and Evan who trained their guns on the wolves. At the sight of the trachea, Evan lowered his gun, stumbled about ten feet away, and vomited the contents of his stomach onto the sand. Ari felt sorry for the marshal but there was no time to think about his colleague. Not when a battle of life and death, good and evil, was happening right now in front of all of them. He turned to look back at the combat zone.

Both Alphas, the injured Edward, and three other werewolves remained. He glanced across the parking lot at the chief who stood off to the side, also with his gun trained on the skirmish. Juan dropped to all fours and ran to Edward, pressing his nose into the neck of his injured lover. Edward whimpered at the touch and visibly leaned into his strength for a few seconds before nodding his large wolf head up and down. He sat on the bloody ground and panted. Juan looked up and flashed yellow eyes at them, canting his head to Edward before turning and running back into the fray to help Alvin defeat the three wolves who had the older Alpha surrounded.

“What in the hell should we do?” Eoghan asked.

Ari looked at him and shrugged. “I’ve got no idea. I wish we had full lethal ammo. I have no idea what the hell this is,” he said. “How could Wordy have given us the wrong boxes? Do you think they were switched somehow?”

“Never. I’ve known the man for nearly seven years. He’s never ever failed me.”

“Then I don’t know what happened.”

“What are you talking about?” Carly asked. “Who’s Wordy?”

“Freddy Wordsmith, our weapons master,” Ari said, watching the fight. “He always loads our backpacks before we leave the office.” He winced as Alvin took a claw to the back, hearing the wolf howl as he spun around and swiped at his attacker with a long claw. He missed by an inch or two.

Edward started loping toward the fight. Alvin and Juan were in earnest combat with Tyler’s bikers, but it was clear that the older Alpha was tiring faster than normal from the blood loss. The swipe of his claws was slower as was the way he lumbered along on two feet, dropping constantly to all fours and panting hard. It shouldn’t be a surprise. He’d been fighting for more than fifteen minutes and the man was in his sixties after all. Holding his Alpha form might be taxing as well, though, Ari had no way of knowing. The moment the thought crossed his mind, Alvin crashed to the ground, crushed under the weight of the largest opponent who lost his own footing and fell on him. Ari realized the werewolf had to be Tyler. He was the heaviest of the three remaining challengers.

“Son-of-a-bitch!” the chief shouted. He was twenty feet away, pointing his weapon toward the six remaining werewolves.

Ari held his breath as Tyler fought to get to his feet while Alvin howled and squirmed beneath his bulk. A second later, he watched Juan bat a huge, clawed hand at the wolf he’d been fighting, hurling the smaller animal onto the parking lot ten feet away. The beast rolled, got to his feet, and took off running into the darkness of the desert. Ari watched for a few seconds and then turned back to the melee.

Juan ran at Tyler and leapt, falling upon the large biker’s back and rolling him off Alvin. The Alpha struggled to his feet. Ari’s heart raced with adrenaline, and he looked over at Eoghan who was staring back at him wide-eyed, probably thinking the same thing he was…whether the involvement of the I.S.R. was even necessary. The werewolves seemed to be taking care of the situation all by themselves. If it weren’t for the snarling and howling as wounds were opened and blood flew into the air, the fight wouldn’t have seemed real. But three dead werewolves testified to that.

Chills ran down Ari’s spine as a bloodcurdling scream came out of the darkness behind them. They all turned toward the restaurant. Emerging from the darkness was the shadow of two people, one, an unidentified female, and the other, the smaller biker who’d run off into the desert after being clawed by Juan. Now he was in human form, carrying a large butcher knife and pointing it directly at a bundle in the female’s arms. Ari frowned as the snarling and howling ceased behind him. As the man and his captive came closer, Ari realized the woman was human, her teeth chattering in fear, and the bundle she held was an infant. The child remained quiet, oblivious in sleep to the danger at hand.

“Stay calm, ma’am,” Washington said gently. He lowered his weapon and walked toward the pair.

“Don’t talk to her!” the werewolf shouted. “Talk to me!”

Ari looked around. All the werewolves from the field of combat had shifted to human. Tyler, Juan, Alvin, Edward, and one other of Tyler’s bikers stood in the parking lot covered in blood with chests heaving as they watched…and waited… to see what would happen.

“Who’s that young lady you have with you?” Eoghan pressed.

The werewolf leaned down and spoke in her ear, keeping the knife point pressed against the bundle in her hands. She visibly trembled as she nodded to whatever he’d said. She looked up at them.

“I’m Antonio’s wife. This is our baby,” she said in heavily accented English. She glanced back at the restaurant. “I came to pick him up from work. He works there…at Pepper’s.” She clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle a sob as she shook her head. They all held their breath as she tried to compose herself. “This man…he says if you don’t give Carmen back to Tyler, he will kill my baby. Please. Please help me.” The desperation in her tiny, shaking voice made Ari sick to his stomach.

He glanced at Eoghan who was watching the vignette playing out right in front of their very eyes. Eoghan met Ari’s gaze for a moment and pivoted, directing his comments to Tyler. “What the fuck do you want?”

The werewolf sneered. “I want my woman and my baby. That fucking marriage to Edward Walters is going forward over my dead body, and anyone who dares to try and stop me from taking Carmen, dies here, tonight.” He advanced and Ari slipped his hand into his pocket, slowly sliding the can of werewolf deterrent out of his tac pants.

“We came here to talk about that, son,” the chief said. “No one wants to take Carmen anywhere. It’s all arranged. You’re free to take her and go. No need for threats to a baby, threats to us. You’re responsible for the death of three of your brothers and it was all for nothin’, son.”

“What?” Tyler looked dumbfounded.

“That’s right, you idiot!” Juan screamed. “But you might have jeopardized all of that, Tyler! I’m your Alpha.” The outraged man turned toward the man holding the knife on the young baby. “And you…you’re a disgrace, Lomax! I’m still your Alpha and I’m ordering you to get that knife away from the baby and let the woman go!”

Ari turned to look at the wolf who Juan had called Lomax. He looked uncertain what to do, moving his glance back and forth between his Alpha and Tyler. Their numbers had been cut in half with the three who lay on the ground. Ari had been in multiple hostage crisis situations including ones where innocents like this woman were taken, both in the Army Special Forces and his Lexington marshal duties. In Lomax, all he could see when he looked at the hostage taker, was a man who felt trapped and desperate. But Washington’s reference to Tyler’s brothers and Juan’s incendiary comments wouldn’t help the situation along, not by a long shot.

Lomax had to know he was wrong in threatening this innocent woman’s child as well as the rest of them. He’d disobeyed Juan, his Alpha, as well as Tyler, the leader of this mob. There had to be punishment for that. Maybe he was afraid but there was nothing he could do about the situation. At most there was only one other werewolf on his side and those were crappy odds when you considered who he was up against. Then, there was the woman Tyler supposedly loved in the restaurant behind him. She wasn’t on the side of any of this. She’d come to the table with her gay brother to negotiate her freedom so she could be with Tyler. This seemed to all be a huge misunderstanding.

Ari hoped Lomax would back down, but he couldn’t take his eyes off the butcher knife, aimed at the child. He stood a good twenty feet from the man. There was no way for him to use the spray on Lomax or shoot him without endangering the sleeping infant or her frightened mother.

“Lomax, put down the knife,” Juan said. “With two Alphas, Edward, and five marshals from the I.S.R. you have to see that you’re wildly outnumbered.” He glanced at Tyler before looking back at the hostage taker. “I think you know that now we’ve all come to an agreement, I’ll be giving little Galen Walters back to the Bishop Pack, and Carmen will be going back to Tyler. There’s no reason to take anyone hostage, Lomax. You have to see that and surrender. We’ve come to an agreement. Carmen is coming home.”

Lomax looked torn, likely afraid of what he knew he should do, and terrified of the punishment he’d face from Tyler and his Alpha if he didn’t abandon his crazed plan instead of helping him as he’d probably planned.

“Please,” Ari pleaded, anxious to get this over and done with. “Please let the woman go. Carmen’s coming home to Tyler.”

Lomax lowered the knife slowly, eased his arm from around the woman and let her step away from his body. He dropped the knife on the ground and waited. Juan walked past the rest of them and stood naked before his kinsman, looking like a large, werewolf god in human form. He was magnificent…

…even a moment later when he shifted to his half human form and tore Lomax’s head from his body.