“How do you know for sure?”
“Allison was on the move again. She spent several days in Seattle and then took off. I sent six men to follow her. When she finally came to a stop, they called to say they had her surrounded and were moving in.” The man took a deep breath. “That’s the last I heard from them.”
“Fuck.” Henry stood and began to pace. “What the hell?”
“I imagine it was a setup. Either NAR figured out that woman had a GPS tracker and led us out there to capture my men. Or worse. They could have even removed the chip and left the woman behind.”
“Which means she’s probably still in Seattle. Did you get an exact location in Seattle?”
“I did. It’s an enormous military base used by NAR, their headquarters. I’ve been there many times. If Allison Watkins is inside that base, there’s very little chance we can get her back easily. I’m sending men to the outskirts to watch all outgoing vehicles, but it’s a long shot. Chances are we’ve lost that battle.”
“What if she tells them too much?”
“At this point, I think we’re so far beyond that small problem. What we need is to get mobilized and do it fast. This is war now. I need my men ready ASAP. The longer we wait to take down The Head Council and this military base, the more difficult it will get.”
Henry stared out the window of his office. He could see his men training in the courtyard below. “What about the men you sent after Allison?”
“They’re probably dead. If not, they don’t know enough to cause any harm. Forget them. Just get my army ready and do it fast.”
“Yes, sir.”
“The first thing I want to do is send a group of men to that ranch and retrieve those women. You said there are about a dozen NAR troops there?”
“Yes, sir.” Henry froze. Was this guy serious?
“It’s time to go to battle, Henry. If we let those bastards think they can get away with this, they will walk all over us. A show of strength will go a long way toward earning us the respect we deserve.”
“What do you have in mind?”
“Send a dozen men in to take those women back from the ranch. Our men are stronger and better able to fight. Plus they will have the element of surprise on their side. That should be plenty.”
“Do we really need those women, sir?”
“No. We need respect.”
The line went dead before Henry could say another word
.
Henry held the phone stiffly in his hand
,
and he lowered it to his side. Because of those jackasses at The Head Council not minding their own business, the timeframe Henry had been hoping for had shrunk.
Until now, the Romulus and its entire organization had remained under the radar, a secret. They’d intended to surprise NAR and The Head Council and take them out easily. Now the situation wasn’t as foolproof.
Damnit
.
The second Daniel landed, his phone was ringing. As he listened to the messages left by Jerard while he was in the air, he started running toward the front entrance of the airport. “Shit,” he muttered under his breath.
He listened to three messages with his cell tucked under his chin and his feet pounding the floor to avoid trampling anyone.
As he finished hearing all the details, he popped outside and immediately spotted the car sent to pick him up. Relieved to recognize the driver as a man he knew well from the local group of recent recruits to NAR, he flung himself into the front passenger seat as the driver did the same on his side. “Hey, Devon. Thanks for picking me up. Hurry, man.” Daniel couldn’t bring himself to express much in the way of pleasantries right now. His family and their ranch weighed heavily.
“On it,” Devon responded as he sped away from the curb and made his way toward the highway.
Daniel’s heart raced. He gripped the handle above the door to avoid slamming into the side. Luckily Devon was actually a cop. He slapped a button on the dashboard and lights started flashing, easing his path and warning other drivers to get out of the way.
Time stood still anyway as Daniel called his brother. “Drake. Dude. Pick up. Come on. Come on.” He waited while the line rang several times.
Finally it connected. “Daniel.” Drake was out of breath.
“What the fuck is happening?”
“The place is surrounded by shifters. About a dozen. It isn’t pretty.”
“But you have enough man power from NAR to take them all out. What’s the problem?”
“These aren’t ordinary shifters, man. I’ve never seen any like them before. We aren’t sure what they’re capable of, and we’re in a standoff so far.”
“What do you mean? They aren’t wolves?” Daniel glanced at his watch and then the road. They were still half an hour away.
“Oh, they’re wolves, but they’re huge and unnaturally feral. And they have demands.”
“What sort of demands?”
“They say they aren’t going anywhere until we turn the women over to them.”
“Fuck.”
“Exactly. We hate to fire any shots. If the neighbors are alerted to the altercation, it will compromise our entire existence. These guys don’t look right. I don’t know what they’re capable of. They appear to be genetically altered.”
“What the fuck? That’s crazy.”
“Yeah, well wait until you see them. How far away are you?”
“I’m getting close. Which angle should I come in from? Maybe I can take them by surprise from behind. Scatter them a bit.”
“Check with me at the last second. Probably the west. You’ll have to leave the car about a mile away. Don’t come any closer. Shift and strap your cell on you so you can reach me.”
“Got it. I’ll be in touch.” Daniel ended the call, but before he could set it on his lap, it rang again. “Jerard.”
“Where are you?”
“On my way to the ranch. About fifteen minutes out.” He glanced at Devon, who was paying so close attention to the road he didn’t appear to have heard.
“Listen. I have new info.”
“Go ahead.” What the fuck more could there be?
“The men were brought in that had followed the chip decoy. I didn’t realize one of them had been shot. They brought him to headquarters on a stretcher. He was in a lot of pain. We used that to our advantage, insisting we wouldn’t treat the wound until he gave us information.
“So get this. We put that bastard in a cell in solitary and he shifted, of course.”
Naturally. In wolf form the man could speed up the healing process himself. He couldn’t make a bullet disappear, but he could ease the pain, stop the bleeding, and help the wound begin to stitch itself back together.
“So now he won’t talk?”
“This dude is enormous. And fucking strong. He even dented the bars of the cell. Luckily they’re too solid even for him, but if any of the wolves sent out to the ranch are like him, we could have a problem.”
A chill raced down Daniel’s spine. What the fuck were the Romulus up to? “Already talked to my brother Drake. He said the same thing.”
“Damn. I was just about to call Evan and warn him next. I guess I don’t need to.”
“No. I’m going to shift about a mile to the west and head in. I’ll have my phone on silent and check it periodically. I’m hoping to come up from behind and sneak through. They can’t possibly have the entire place surrounded with no holes. And I know the land better than any of them. When can we expect backup?”
“I mobilized more troops, but they haven’t arrived yet. I’ll see what I can find out. Be careful. Stall if you can.”
After Daniel hung up, he held on to the door to keep from getting jostled while he started to remove his clothes. He’d leave them in the car when they reached their destination. Devon could really handle a car. Thank God. Daniel stuffed his cell in the small pouch he always carried and grabbed the door handle, ready to make a move. It didn’t take long to direct Devon to the spot he wanted, and he leaped out with no more than a thank you and shifted so fast he was practically on the run before he had his bearings.
By the time he got close enough to see the enemy, his heart was pounding. He could scent the bastards before he spotted them. And fuck they were indeed huge. Nearly twice his size. Were they normal-sized in their human form?
They didn’t notice him or they didn’t give a rat’s ass. Either was a possibility considering how intent they were on surrounding the ranch.
Daniel crept into a heavily wooded area with rough terrain and made his way toward the north side of the property, where he imagined he could slip up behind the dorm building and enter from the rear.
As he approached, he gazed around the area. He could see several of the large wolves pacing, but none that appeared to be in human form. They could give chase when they spotted him, but the important thing was they couldn’t shoot at him in shifted form.
Daniel dropped his phone pouch from his mouth and shifted to catch his breath and alert his family. He hit speed dial for Drake.
“Daniel. Where are you?”
“Coming up from behind the dorm. Shouldn’t have any trouble getting through. I don’t think these bastards care much about adding another hostage to their siege.”
“Okay. I’ll be watching for you.”
“Good. Later.” He shifted back, chose his moment, and took off at an incredible speed.
The larger wolves growled, and he could smell them congregating in dissatisfaction, but none bothered to chase him down. In moments he was at the back door, and the door whipped open to allow him entrance.
Drake handed him a pile of clothes and waited while Daniel shifted and tugged on jeans and a T-shirt. “Is Allison safe?”
Daniel lifted his gaze as he buttoned his jeans. “Yes. Snuck her out this morning to go to a safe house.”
Drake exhaled. “Good idea.”
“So what are we up against? I don’t like the size of those bastards, and not knowing what they’re capable of makes me nervous.”
“No shit. And I can’t imagine why they’re bothering with this great show of force to retrieve six women.”
“I’m thinking it’s simply because they can and they want us to know it.”
“All this is just posturing?”
“Maybe.” Daniel’s phone buzzed in the small pack he’d carried in his mouth for the last sprint to the dorm. He grabbed the cell and answered with “I’m in.”
Jerard exhaled. “Good. Now tell me what you think? How many of them are there? And can we fight them?”
“Maybe a dozen and I have no idea. What else have you found out from the ones you captured?”
“Nothing yet. Sit tight and I’ll call you when I have more information. Until we know what the Romulus is capable of, it wouldn’t be prudent to attack.”
“Agreed. How long before we have backup?”
“Within the hour.”
“Good.” Daniel flipped the phone closed and followed his brother down the hall to the main living area of the dorm. His entire family and the six women were all together there. Thank God they’d congregated in one spot. Fighting against these guys from more than one front would have been far more dangerous and disorganized.
Daniel hugged his mother, reassured his parents about Allison, and then joined Drake and Evan hovering over a table where Drake was pointing out the lay of the ranch on a wide map. “Ashley?”
Evan lifted his gaze. “She left to join Kenzie.”
“Good.” He relaxed his shoulders. At least all three mates were safely elsewhere. By now Allison would be at the safe house. He would call and check on her soon.
Daniel’s brother Scott also joined the group. Only two years younger than Daniel, Scott was itching to join NAR himself. Daniel hoped he would hold off for a while. Their parents were going to be pushed to the edge of sanity if two sons left the fold, even if it was to protect their way of life.
“So you think we can get these six women out of here safely?” Evan asked.
Drake shook his head. “I don’t see how we can sneak them by at this point. We’re either going to have to talk these bastards down or fight. And I fear the latter.”
When there was nothing else to do, they paced. Daniel ran his fingers through his hair and watched the standoff outside, a dozen NAR shifters in human form surrounded by a dozen Romulus in wolf form. It was eerie. He couldn’t wait until more NAR showed up. It would raise his comfort level considerably.
Finally Daniel’s phone rang and he yanked it from his pocket. “Jerard, give me something.”
“I’ll give you several things actually. We’ve been questioning the men we picked up earlier all day. They’re powerful, Daniel. And the guy that got shot is almost totally healed, although the bullet lodged in him is still there. They can do a lot of damage in wolf form. You don’t want to go head to head with them in a fight.
“I don’t think these guys even know what they were given to alter themselves, but I don’t see any evidence it extends to their human forms. If they decide to move in and attack, there is little that can stop them. Our bullets will hardly slow them down.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah, well, there’s more. They aren’t hanging around there just for shits and grins. Apparently one of the women you rescued was promised to their leader. And that bastard wants her back.”
Daniel turned toward the women. “Does she know that?”
Which one?
“Doubt it. She probably never met the man. Or didn’t realize it. I’m not even sure which woman she is. The point is, these guys aren’t going away until they have her. They have orders to retrieve the women alive.”
“Okay. I’m going out to talk to them. Maybe I can make them see reason.”
“You can try that. It can’t hurt. Backup will be arriving any minute.” Jerard sighed. “Keep me informed.”
“Got it.”
“Daniel.”
“Yes?”
“One more thing.”
Daniel squeezed the cell tighter. He wasn’t going to like what Jerard said next. He could sense that much in the man’s tone and reluctance. “Go ahead.”
“We got more extensive results back from the blood work taken from the women.”
Daniel held his breath.
“Half of them have a unique genetic makeup distinct from the others.”
“Let me guess, the half with the GPS trackers.”
“Yes. Including Allison.”
“What does that mean?”
“No idea. We’ll have to research this further. I’m no doctor. Something about the Alu element in their DNA. I don’t have time to understand it completely today. When you get back, we’ll sit down with the medical professionals and get a better picture. I’m going to assume the Romulus is messing with the gene pool.”