Chapter 33

33

" K eep up," Sloane shouts in a clipped tone as the two of us sprint down the hall from the cell. Even though she has to take two steps for each of mine, I'm the one falling behind as we race through the corridor, that horrible sense of foreboding still twisting in my gut. I have no idea what we're about to go charging into when we leave this basement, but I've already snapped into mission mode. I'm focused solely on going through the motions, following Sloane's lead as she veers off to approach the last door before the stairs rather than continuing up them.

"We need to arm up," she breathes as she punches a sequence of numbers into the electronic keypad affixed to the wall beside the door, the lock disengaging with a shrill beep. It's similar to the coded locks we use at The Guild's safehouses- yet another indication of how vastly we underestimated this particular werewolf pack. Their technology is just as sophisticated as ours, and when Sloane swings the door wide to reveal a fully stocked armory, I see just how much we underestimated their firepower, too.

We never had werewolves fight back with guns before, but it seems this pack has been preparing to take on The Guild .

I don't have time to fully appreciate the impressive cache of weapons in the room. I just hurriedly follow Sloane inside, fighting back a wave of nausea as the knots in my stomach wind tighter. She rushes over to a large table positioned in the center of the armory and stoops down, yanking black canvas gun bags from underneath and tossing them up onto the surface.

"Start filling them up," she directs, and I pivot toward the nearest rack of rifles on the wall, removing them one by one and tucking them under an arm. I know that time is of the essence in situations like this, and I don't waste a second of it. I fill my arms with as many rifles as I can carry, dart back to the table to stuff them in one of the bags, then spin back around to repeat the process.

"Ammo?" I ask as I begin pulling more guns off the rack.

"I've got it," she clucks, tossing the last of the gun bags onto the table before yanking open a drawer beneath it, retrieving boxes of ammunition and stuffing them into each of the bags.

As I'm carrying another armful of guns back over to the table, I hear the sound of footsteps pounding down the stairs through the open door, casting a wary glance in that direction as I start loading up another bag with rifles. The red-haired girl I briefly encountered outside the locker room the other day rushes inside, followed by a surly looking blonde dude with a beard and an impressive amount of ink. Upon seeing me, they both grind to a halt, the guy keeping me in his sights while the redhead turns to gape at Sloane.

"Whoa, what's he…?"

"Later," Sloane snaps, cutting her off. "He's helping." She continues stuffing the bags with ammo as she asks, "what's the counterattack?"

"Interception Three," the guy responds gruffly, striding over to a locker on the opposite side of the room. He retrieves a pair of handguns from inside, shoving one into the waistband of his jeans and passing the other back to his flame-haired counterpart. "Everyone else is already headed that way."

"Riders Corner?" Sloane asks, and the guy jerks a nod.

I don't understand their lingo, but I'm relieved they've at least got a plan worked out. And chances are, wherever they're going, Avery will be there. The girl seems to be a magnet for danger.

The four of us work in tandem to finish loading up the bags with rifles and ammunition, Sloane introducing the others to me as Andie and Nash; a mated pair. Between the snippets of conversation I can actually follow, I pick up on the general situation unfolding and their responsive defense strategy.

Four SUVs have been spotted incoming on the main forest road that cuts through the center of their territory, presumably hunters from The Guild, and vehicles have been dispatched to a location they call ‘Riders Corner' to block the road and prevent them from advancing further. A wave of fighters are already on their way to meet them- some in wolf form, others on foot- and should arrive at any minute. Our objective is to get the weapons to them before the incoming vehicles reach the blockade so everyone can arm up and get into position.

Many hands make for quick work, and as soon as we've got the weapons loaded up, we each sling as many bags as we can carry over our shoulders before departing the armory and ascending the stairs. Rather than heading for the nearest exit doors, however, Nash leads the way across the indoor training arena to another door off the back. It opens into a large garage with several ATVs parked inside. Sloane hops into the driver's seat of a side-by-side, barking orders for me to get in with her, and Nash gets behind the wheel of another, Andie sliding in on the passenger side. One of them must activate the remote to open the garage, because the next thing I know, Sloane's hitting the gas and we're tearing off, the wind hitting our faces as I get my first taste of fresh air in days.

Nash and Andie take the lead in their ATV, the trees whipping by in a blur as we pick up a well-worn trail through the forest. Sloane drives like a bat out of hell, nearly dumping me off at every turn, but I can't say I don't appreciate her sense of urgency. My heart feels like it's about to beat out of my chest. I can only surmise that this trail must be a shortcut of some kind to reach our destination, but every minute seems to stretch on for an eternity. The beast inside my brain is beating against the bars of his cage, demanding to be released, while all I can do is grit my teeth and hold on tight.

I'm not sure I could shift, even if I wanted to. My wolf still feels like a separate being; an intruder taking up space in my mind that I can't communicate with or control. Avery makes it sound easy when she says I just need to accept him and integrate, but I know I've still got too many mental blocks up, whether consciously or not. Either way, this isn't the time or place to experiment with a transformation. Something I am adept at is keeping the beast at bay, so that's what I focus on instead, white knuckling the handle on the roll bar while I'm jostled around with every bump.

After what feels like an hour- but in reality, is probably only ten minutes or so- we finally hit the end of the trail, coming out on the road. There's a crowd of people gathered around a pair of trucks blocking it, and I finally understand the ‘Riders Corner' moniker when I see the sharp curve in the road beyond them. It's a smart play to ambush the inbound SUVs here; they won't see us until they take the turn, thereby equipping us with the element of surprise. Though I'm not sure what The Guild's strategy is in carrying out a blatant attack in broad daylight; it's far more risky and reckless than any missions we ran in the past.

Gravel sprays out from beneath the tires of the ATV in front of us as Nash pulls it to the side of the road, Sloane veering off to park ours behind. Before it even comes to a complete stop, I'm hopping off the side-by-side, securing the straps of the bags over my shoulders, and darting around to the other side of the ATV to help Sloane with hers. A heartbeat later, the four of us are sprinting for the cluster of people near the trucks.

The crowd parts as we approach and wave of relief hits me when I catch sight of Avery up ahead, radiating confidence and ferocity like a valkyrie ready for battle. Those whiskey-brown eyes widen when she sees me coming, and I'm not sure whether it's in surprise or fear- because her brother's right beside her, and he just spotted me, too.

"What the hell is he doing out of his cage?" Madd spits as I draw closer, his jaw clenched tightly and his glare murderous. With his heavily inked skin and hulking build, he's easily recognizable from the video Matty took weeks ago. Even if he wasn't, though, the way he shoulders in front of Avery gives off a distinct protective brother vibe.

Sloane pushes past me to intercept the confrontation, approaching her mate and dropping a weapons bag at his feet. "I let him out," she states matter-of-factly, meeting his cutting glare without so much as a flinch. "He wanted to help."

Madd shakes his head back and forth so hard it's a wonder it doesn't pop off his damn neck. "No, absolutely the fuck not ," he snarls.

Apparently Avery's not content to be sidelined in this encounter, because she heaves an annoyed sigh as she bumps her shoulder into her brother's, pushing past him to stride in my direction.

" Aves ," he growls in warning.

She pivots back toward him, pointing a finger. "Down, boy."

His glare turns fucking arctic, the vein in his neck protruding. Shit, I know exactly what it feels like to be on that end of Avery's snark, so it's no wonder he looks like he's a breath away from completely snapping.

Been there, buddy.

"Just trust me, alright?" Sloane placates, pulling a pair of rifles out of a bag and shoving one into his hands. "We need to move, now ."

Avery closes the distance between us, leaning in as she grabs for the straps of the bags on my left shoulder. "What are you doing here?" she hisses under her breath.

I don't have a chance to answer her because the sound of squealing tires suddenly cuts through the air, alerting us to the inbound vehicles' presence, and all hell breaks loose. People start making a mad dash for the bags of weapons, grabbing for rifles and ammunition and running to seek cover in the trees. I pull two guns out of the bag at my feet and hand one over to Avery before I start loading my own, completely blind to what's happening in the road from our position behind the trucks. By the time I'm finished loading my rifle, gunshots are already popping off.

Holding my firearm at the ready, I slink toward the front of one of the trucks, peering around the hood to see four familiar black SUVs parked in the road. The soldiers that arrived in them are already disappearing into the thick brush of the forest, and I immediately recognize the mission strategy. They'll fan out, forcing us to split up, then use the forest for cover to stealthily pick us off one by one.

Madd clearly has a strategic mind, because he catches on right away, barking out orders to circle around and head them off before they can get too deep into the woods. Avery takes off like a shot, barreling into the forest, and wanting to keep her in my sights, I follow.

There's only one way to describe what ensues next.

Utter. Chaos.

People are shouting, wolves are snarling, bullets are flying. I get separated from Avery within minutes, and I'm suddenly on my own, dodging shots from my former allies and fighting beside my former foes. It's a complete mindfuck, especially because I recognize so many of the men behind the Guild tactical gear they're wearing. Shooting at strangers is one thing, but shooting at the guys I used to live and work with feels like madness.

I spot Collins ducking behind a tree to take aim at a wolf sprinting past, and I don't allow myself to think- I just react. I line up a shot and squeeze the trigger, my bullet piercing the fleshy part of his bicep. His rifle falls from his hands, but then another bullet whizzes past my ear, embedding itself in a tree trunk right behind me. I pivot in the direction it came from and pop off another shot, my bullet tearing into Studebaker's thigh and dropping him to a knee.

Diving into a thicket of brush for cover, I reload my weapon, my mind racing to piece together The Guild's strategy behind this mission. Judging by the number of vehicles they brought, this can't be all their forces… unless there are more of them moving in on foot from another location. Still, this doesn't seem well-planned enough to be their big extermination effort. It's too risky. It doesn't make sense.

Remaining keenly aware of my surroundings, I move swiftly through the dense brush with my rifle at the ready, still searching for Avery. That pull inside seems to be directing me west, so that's the way I start to go while chaos continues unfolding all around me. Each time a soldier steps into my line of sight, I fire off a shot, and every time I do, another little piece of the old me dies. As I go through the motions of battle, the hollowness inside me grows.

Then I see Avery. She kicks up dirt as she sprints to take cover behind a tree, her blonde ponytail streaming behind her and a Guild soldier in hot pursuit. I pop off a few rounds to intercept him, managing to clip his shoulder, and while it doesn't take him down, he falters enough that she's able to get away. I line up another shot and squeeze the trigger, but all I hear is the click of the firing pin. I'm out of ammo.

I quickly duck behind a tree and lower my rifle, shoving a hand into my pocket for a fresh magazine to reload. The moment my hand closes around it, another Guild soldier steps into view.

Matty and I lock eyes, his baby blues widening at the realization that it's me he's got his gun pointed at. My heart leaps into my throat as it registers that he's got a clean shot, his finger on the trigger.

I grit my teeth and brace for impact, but he doesn't shoot. Instead, another gunshot comes from my right, grazing my arm like the slice of a hot blade. Pain sears up my limb and shoots into my fingertips, and I whip around with a snarl as I yank the magazine from my pocket and shove it into place, ready to return fire.

Except my world stops when I see who took that shot at me.

There's no trace of compassion in his eyes, no hint of care or familiarity. Jonathan Knox is stone cold as he lines up another shot, and though my finger is on the trigger of my own gun, I hesitate.

The man who raised me doesn't.

He fires at the same moment Avery appears from out of nowhere and takes me down to the ground. The force of the impact knocks the wind out of me for a second, but my beastie doesn't miss a damn beat. She immediately rolls over, aims her gun toward my former father, and fires.

He manages to dodge it, diving behind the safety of a tree, and Avery seizes the opportunity to pop up to her feet again, offering me an arm. We lock eyes as I grip on, and as soon as I'm back on my feet, we skirt the wide tree trunk to put ourselves out of the line of fire.

"Fall back!" a familiar voice calls out, and some of the gunfire immediately ceases, my anxiety climbing to new heights.

What the fuck are they up to?

The soldiers start making their way back toward the road, falling into formation to cover one another. I hear doors slamming and tires squealing, but by the time Avery and I make it to the road, three of the SUVs are already speeding away. The fourth is still parked, but no other Guild soldiers are in sight.

Realization dawns like a slow-motion car crash in my brain, all the air whooshing from my lungs as I snap my head toward Avery in panic.

"Get away from the car!" I roar, and her eyes fly wide as my warning registers.

I told her about the bombs they were planning to build. About the explosives experts my father called in; about the supply drop for materials he'd kept me in the dark about until the reinforcements showed up and he finally clued me in. He wasn't able to plant the bomb on a body, so of course this would be his next move. Start a conflict, draw out the werewolves, then flee the scene and let the explosion do his dirty work. I'm only mad it took me this long to figure it out, because now everyone in the vicinity is in grave danger and I have no idea how much time we have left before it detonates.

"It's a bomb!" Avery screams out, and panicked yells rise up all around us, everyone turning to run for the woods.

The two of us take off, but a yelp of pain has me skidding to a stop, glancing back over my shoulder. Sloane's on the pavement- she must've tripped in her haste to get away. I immediately pivot, running back to help her up. I'm not thoughtful or gentle about it- I just grab her underneath her armpits and haul her onto her feet, snatching her hand and yanking her with me as I dash for the trees again.

Before we can reach them, Sloane's hand is abruptly torn from mine as Madd swoops in, scooping up his mate and flinging her over his shoulder like a ragdoll. He runs for the woods, and that's when I see Avery has paused to wait at the treeline, eyes wide with fear.

"Go!" I shout, racing toward her.

She doesn't spin around and take off again until I make it closer, but then the two of us quickly fall into step with one another, running side by side in a dead sprint. The earth suddenly rocks beneath our feet as the explosion detonates in the road, sending us sprawling to the ground, and I dive to cover Avery's body with my own as we go down.

A high-pitched whistle rings in my ears and a sharp, acrid stench burns my nostrils. Dirt and debris fly while splintered wood and twisted metal rain down all around us, black spots clouding my vision until everything goes dark.