52. Chapter 52

Chapter 52

T he full moon was high and the night was almost over. He could feel the wolves near him itching to run and follow their nature, but everyone stayed still. Everyone waited.

Hunters had been driving into the base throughout the night. The car park was almost full like those fuckers were having a party while his mate was imprisoned inside their walls.

He had never seen so many Hunters in one spot, not even when a hunting party chased them through the forest, and they were still coming. There was no doubt that whatever they were doing involved all the wolves they took.

Soft footsteps behind him didn't take his attention away from the gate. One chance. That was all he needed to get into the fortress the Hunters built for themselves. He wasn't about to let anyone distract him from waiting for it.

‘I think you should rest while we wait,' Dylan said in the mindlink.

He didn't bother to respond. There was no point repeating himself.

The sound of another vehicle coming down the road rang clearly through the still night. His eyes focused on the road until the car appeared, driving slowly. Just one car. A civilian vehicle instead of a military one. He closed his eyes and focused again. Only one person was in the car, and with the four guards at the gates, that made five. The Hunters hiding outside the wall had all gone inside with the others. They were almost as good as unprotected.

Five Hunters. He could gut them with his eyes closed.

His eyes snapped open as he turned his attention to the gates again. They remained closed, but he would make his move the moment they slid open. It was time.

He rolled his neck as the muscles in his body tightened, and his jaws started to lengthen. His vision sharpened, as well as his sense of smell. The stench of Hunters assaulted his nose, but instead of turning away from it, he used it to fuel his pool of rage.

‘Shit,' Dylan mumbled. ‘I'll tell the others to prepare. Don't go in without us.'

The car slowed to a stop as it reached the gates. He crouched, watching the first two guards approach the vehicle with their weapons drawn. Once the Hunter was verified, they would open the gates. He'd seen their pattern. The guards at the second gate became less diligent with all the cars coming through them. They weren't bothering to check credentials a second time. The second gates would slide open when the car started to drive through the first. There would only be seconds to cross the open space in front of the gates, and there was a chance they would raise the alarm before he got to them.

And the other wolves likely wouldn't get time to go through after him. He'd fight them alone, after all.

The car door opened and a young man in civilian clothes got out. The scent of his fear and desperation carried over to him even from that distance.

"Please help me," the man said, pulling something from his wallet.

"This is private property, kid. Beat it," one of the guards said.

"I'm a recruit. This is my ID," the young man said, shoving it at the guard. His movements were jerky as if he couldn't stand still. "Please. I've been calling since yesterday, but no one came out to help me."

"Didn't you get the memo to return to base? Where's your uniform?" the second guard asked.

"That's not important right now!" the young man screamed.

Both guards stepped back and aimed their weapons at him again. The man ran his hands through his hair and turned away, sniffing as if holding his tears back. He seemed to pull himself together before turning around.

"They murdered him. They murdered my friend in his home," the man said more calmly.

He cocked his head to the side and looked more closely. The man looked familiar.

"Then the Clean up crew will take care of it," one of the guards said. "Head in and find a uniform before you get into trouble."

"You don't understand. The crew came and didn't even process the scene. They chose to go hunting instead." The man's voice became louder and more shaky as he spoke. "They didn't even bother coming into the house. They didn't see what I saw. They didn't see his body tied up and left to rot there!"

Ah.

It made more sense now.

Samuel. The young man was Irvine's lover.

"If they went hunting, they probably caught the animal that did it. Head inside, recruit."

"But who will take care of Irvine?" Samuel shouted. "We can't just leave him there. He has no other family. He—"

A guard invaded Samuel's personal space, putting his face close to the scared young man's.

"If you were not ready to take on the risks, you shouldn't have signed up. Either go home and face the consequences or head in and follow orders," the Hunter growled. "You know the rules. Don't get attached to anything or anyone. You seem very attached to me."

Samuel lowered his head and his shoulders slumped. He looked like he gave up hope.

"Are you saying we should let those animals win? Just leave Irvine there for his neighbours to find? What if they call the police?" Samuel asked.

"We bow to no one," one of the guards said, stepping back to the gate. "If you've called it in, then there's already a plan in place. They'll move as soon as they're able to. Didn't your guardians teach you this before you enlisted?"

"We'll let this slide just this once. Get inside before you're disciplined, kid," the other guard said. "All the families in town are on alert for the next few days. Get your shit together before someone sees you."

Samuel turned away from them and wiped the tears falling down his cheeks. His hand paused on the handle of his car door, and he squared his shoulders. Watching his demeanour change would have fascinated him if he was capable of feeling anything other than rage.

He might have even felt sorry for the kid. Irvine took his own life and left him to deal with the consequences. Though he wasn't sure if he would have killed Irvine in the end, he could understand the hatred and determination that coloured the air. That overwhelming need to hurt someone. It came through so clearly that he didn't even have to guess what it was.

Perhaps because he felt the same way. That rage wouldn't be quelled by anything other than the blood of his enemies. For him, it was every Hunter in that base. For Samuel, it was every wolf.

It felt like a challenge.

The gates finally started to slide open as Samuel started his car. He rose slowly to his feet, watching the small gap he would have to run through. And he would have to face Hunters carrying the same festering rage that Samuel now carried.

By himself.

‘It's not possible. We won't get Layla out alive,' he admitted to Cain. ‘But I think I know what we can do.'

Cain's displeasure washed over him as the beast tried to take control. It had been a long time since that happened against his will.

‘We are not leaving her in there a minute longer,' Cain growled. ‘We have waited out here long enough. This is our only chance. Most of them are sleeping.'

The gate slid all the way, and Samuel's car started moving forward.

‘They're Hunters. They sleep with one eye open. They'll all be on me the second I step foot in there. Even if I follow Layla's scent, there's no telling what the security is like inside. I might not make it to her. There's a better way, Cain. The others are right.'

The beast pushed through. Fur sprouted on his face, and he stepped forward out of the trees.

‘Listen to me. They want a war, so we give them one. As the others said—we have an army, too.'

‘They're too chicken shit to go in there, no matter what bullshit they told us,' Cain growled, taking another step.

The second gate started to slide open, just as he had known it would.

‘They won't go in there. We'll draw the Hunters out.'

Cain stopped.

‘What do you mean?'

‘Do you trust me, Cain?'

‘You're an incompetent fool,' Cain growled.

‘But do you trust me?'

The first gate started to slide closed. The second gate was wide open. Beyond it, he saw the base, bathed in a false sense of security as they all slept. They were all dead, they just didn't know it yet.

‘Of course, I fucking trust you,' Cain growled in frustration.

He stepped back into the trees, hiding from the moon's light. The first gate slid into place, and the whirring of the security system indicated that everything was back the way it was supposed to be.

They missed that chance.

He turned back to see Dylan had already gathered the other wolves. Though he sensed them, he hadn't heard them move. They stood naked among the trees as far out as he could feel, ready to shift at any moment.

‘Did you say Chase went around the town earlier?' he asked Dylan.

‘Yes,' his Beta said, stepping forward. He was frowning as if trying to work out what just happened.

‘Did he find out where the Hunter families live?'

‘Some of them. He was mapping out the safest route to escape,' Dylan said.

He looked back at all the wolves who pledged to follow him to their deaths. The Night Walkers blended so well in the shadows that it was hard to see them, even with his superior vision. And all of them painted their faces and bodies, covering their scents in case the Hunters used their hounds.

They were warriors. Bred for this very purpose.

"It's time to go hunting," he whispered.