“Keep your eyes alert. Look for small red flashing lights. Those indicate RF triggers for these claymore mines. They also emit the scent of blood, as a way of attracting their prey. It will be hard, but you must ignore it.” Santino looked directly at me. “You should have fed before we left.”
“I’ll be fine,” I grumbled. “I have more important things to hunt tonight.” I planned on taking my vengeance out on those Acta Sanctorum pieces of shit.
“Good. Keep that mind frame. There may be more Saints lurking around. Depending on how long ago they attacked, they might still be searching for stragglers. We don’t have time for you to stop for a snack. Break their necks and move on.”
They deserved more than a quick death for what they had done here. I would make some of them pay. But I knew it would do me no good to argue with Santino about it. I gave a quick nod. “Lead on.”
Santino began heading toward the wolf preserve, walking cautiously, peering in each direction.
Drew followed next.
Nicholas clapped me on the shoulder as he passed by. “Don’t worry, we’ll get our revenge.”
I felt my own resolve strengthen hearing Nicholas say that.
We walked for what felt like miles with the scent of blood teasing our noses. Some of it I recognized as werewolf, and some was human. I could only imagine the extent of the battle we’d missed.
The closer we came to the wolf preserve, though, the less blood and carnage we found. That gave me some comfort. I hoped that the wolves, even if they’d lost, had been able to keep the sanctuary safe.
We approached with caution, but Santino stopped us before we could break through the tree line. All the lights inside the building were on, but I saw no movement.
In the distance, I heard a rumbling like a large truck, but nothing else to indicate anyone was there.
“It’s a trap,” Santino said. “We’re meant to think it is all clear.”
“Create a false sense of security, that’s dirty,” Drew said.
“Nothing is considered dirty when you are cleansing the world of evil unnatural creatures,” Santino said.
“You really bought into all that crap, didn’t you?” I asked, keeping my voice at a whisper.
“I was never taught to look for the good in creatures like ourselves,” Santino said.
And if I wasn’t mistaken, he actually sounded like he might feel some sorrow for the way he had thought about our kind. Now wasn’t the time to rub it in, though.
“So what do we do?” I asked.
Santino looked around. “Circle around the perimeter. See if we can sniff out any survivors. And take out any Saints you can find.”
“Let’s split up,” Nicholas said. “Santino, you with me. Drew, you with Alyssa.”
Drew and I exchanged glances and nodded.
“If anything should go wrong, run back toward the van.” Nicholas directed the statement at me. “And keep your eyes peeled for traps.”
“Got it,” I said.
Drew and I took off, heading east toward the cabins behind the main building. We moved at a jogger’s pace, darting in between trees, making sure not to stray beyond the tree line. I kept a lookout for any signs of strange lights and listened for any other sounds of movement.
A click, barely audible over the crunching of my feet in the snow, caught my attention. “Get down,” I whispered. I grabbed hold of Drew’s coat and yanked him down as hard as I could.
Moments later three shots were fired in rapid succession. I felt the break of wind over my head as they sailed past.
Drew rolled on the ground until he butted up against a tree and then sat up against it. Lifting a finger to his lips, he instructed me to follow, cocking his head to the side.
I nodded and rolled just as he had to the large tree trunk.
Silently, we waited and listened to the sounds of the forest. Thankful for my enhanced hearing, I was able to pick up the softest of footprints. The gentle crunch of the snow added just enough sound, and I could tell someone was heading in our direction.
Drew edged himself up to a standing position, keeping his back firmly against the trunk of the tree. He motioned with his hand for me to do the same.
The footsteps came closer. There was more than one. They kept in step with each other, but I heard the slight delay on the second step. I held up two fingers to Drew and he nodded. He must have come to the same conclusion as I had.
My heart pounded in anticipation as the steps came close enough to us that they had to be just on the other side of the tree where we were standing. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and slowly let it out, trying to calm myself.
Drew tapped me on the shoulder. I opened my eyes. With his hand up he counted backwards.
Three.
Two.
One.
We jumped out on opposite sides of the tree trunk. Each of us grabbed hold of a soldier. I took hold of my soldier and twisted the man’s neck with blinding speed until I heard the satisfying crunch of his bones. Before either of the soldiers could comprehend what was happening, they were dead. I’d have loved to sample their blood, and savor giving them a slow torturous death for what they’d done to my friends, but Santino was right, we had to do this quickly and move on. There were bound to be more where they’d come from.
I left the soldier in a lump on the ground, and Drew and I resumed our search of the perimeter.
Ahead of us, I saw the flash of a light, but not a red one. This one was larger and white in color. I tapped Drew on the shoulder and tilted my head toward it. “Let’s check that out.”
“Could be a trap.”
“Or it could be someone stumbling around in the dark. Either way, they’re going to attract the Saints. Better we get to them first, right?”
“Good point.” He smiled at me. “Lead on.”
As fast as I could, I took off toward the white light. The scent of blood hit my nose as we came closer. Then the light disappeared. I stopped in my tracks.
Was this another trap?
The smell of blood was definitely from a werewolf. I recognized the richness and earthy nature of it immediately. Waiting to see if the light would flash again, I stood still. Drew came up next to me. His nose crinkled as he took in a big breath.
“Fresh blood,” he whispered. “Someone is or was recently hurt.”
“Do we chance it?” I asked, suddenly worried about walking into a new kind of trap.
Then, I heard the soft whimper. Someone was hurt, and they close. I took a few tentative steps forward. The ground suddenly sloped downward. I caught myself before falling flat on my face, but not before uttering a loud “Oof.”
“Alyssa?” I heard the weak voice of Fallon call out to me.
CHAPTER 20
I turned around, instantly spotting the reason I’d tripped. The uneven ground had created a shelf, and a few downed trees covered the area making a small shelter big enough for a person to hide inside.
I was glad for my enhanced vision; it allowed me to see better in the dark. Peering closer into the small cave-like space I recognized Fallon and let out a sigh of relief. Most mortals would have missed her hiding back there.
Thank God she’s alive!
“You okay?” I whispered.
“I’m fine,” she called back from behind the snow-covered branches. Her words were followed by the light whimper of an animal coming from her direction too. “Aiden’s with me too.”
The smell of blood, thick and musky, was coming from her direction. But it wasn’t human blood. Aiden was hurt. “Is he all right?”
“No.” She reached up, holding something long and slender in her hand. I registered what it was, just before she flicked it on and sent light blaring in my direction.
“No flashlights,” I said a little louder than I wanted to. Not only would they affect my night vision, but the light might alert unwanted visitors.
“Sorry. I can’t see very well,” she whispered back, and the frantic tone she spoke in told me all I needed to know. Aiden was hurt really bad.
“Don’t worry. I see well enough for the both of us.” I looked up toward Drew. “I’ve found them.”
“Get them, and let’s get out of here,” Drew's whispered so low I was probably the only one who heard it “I’ll keep watch.”
He didn’t need to tell me twice. I didn’t want to linger any longer than we needed. There could be more soldiers scouring the woods.
I peered back into the small cave-like shelter. Fallon was sitting with her back to the trees while Aiden, the dark gray wolf, rested next to her, his head buried between his paws.
I crouched down, eye level with her. “What happened?”
“They came out of nowhere. One minute we were cleaning up the mess in the reception hall, and the next, windows were shattering and men with assault rifles were coming in after us. Connor called all of the remaining wolves to help, but with most already gone home, we were outnumbered.”
We never should have left
. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m all right, but Aiden’s really hurt.” Fallon ran her hands through the large wolf’s fur. Aiden whimpered, a pathetic and pitiful sound. When she pulled her hand away it was coated in blood. “He took some of that shrapnel. He’s got these wounds everywhere.”
That accounted for the blood I’d smelled. It teased my nose with its earthy scent, but the danger of our situation helped me keep my internal beast in check.
“C’mon. Let’s move,” Drew called down from above me. “Can they walk?”
“We’ve got to get you two to safety; there are more of those guys out there. We ran into a couple just a few minutes ago.”
“I know,” her voice faltered. “I heard the shots.”
“Can you get Aiden to stand?”
“I can try.” Fallon stood and bend over in front of Aiden. “Come on, Babe,” she said tenderly.
The large wolf groaned and pushed up on to all fours. He wobbled a little and leaned against Fallon’s body for support. I’d never seen Aiden so weak. It wasn’t a good sign. Werewolves, no matter how hurt, always showed their strength, especially dominant ones like Aiden. Weakness was something other potential dominant males took advantage of.
Blood dripped from his matted fur to the moist dirt below. Aiden lowered his head as if in shame for his injuries.
“He’s not going to make it very far. Not if he’s losing all that blood,” I said cautiously. I didn’t want to scare Fallon any more than she already was. Werewolves don’t heal as fast as vampires do, and as weak as he was showing us he was, he wouldn’t last much longer without some kind of medical attention, or at the very least first aid.
I called up to Drew. “We can’t move Aiden just yet; he’s bleeding all over the place. Can you keep watch?”
“Whatever you’re going to do, you’d better do it quick.” Frustration edged his voice. “It’s not safe out here in the open.”
“I know.” I didn’t want to hang around either, but I felt if we tried to move Aiden in this condition, he’d die of blood loss. “Trust me, Drew, we’ve got no other choice right now. I’ll hurry.”
He sighed, though whether from exasperation or worry I didn’t know. “Okay.”
I turned to Fallon. “This is going to probably hurt him a lot, but the only way I can try to save him is to stop his bleeding. To do that, I need him to transform back to human form.”
“Do you think it will work?” she asked, and I saw the utter desperation in her eyes.
“Yeah, it will,” I lied. I knew nothing about werewolf anatomy. I hoped the transformation would push the poisoned shrapnel out. It was a guess and a fifty-fifty shot at best, but I didn’t see any other way. If we didn’t do anything, he would probably die.
“Then do it.” As long as Fallon had known me, she could always tell when I was lying. It was a testament to her anxiety that she’d accepted the lie now.
I grabbed Aiden by the muzzle and looked him in the eyes. “This is really going to hurt. But no matter what, you have to be silent. We can’t alert anyone else that we’re here. I need you to take your human form.”
The large gray wolf snorted and sat back on his hind legs. He turned his snout up toward Fallon.
“I’m here for you. You can do this,” she said in her most reassuring voice. She ran her hands along the sides of his muzzle and looked him in the eye.
Aiden nodded and let out one final snort. The air around us became electrified. Fur slowly began to fall from the wolf’s body. He let out small strained whimpers and yelps as his body began to contort. Each movement was accompanied by a popping and cracking sound. His muzzle shortened, his paws grew, and his body gradually began to look human. Whimpers and moans became strangled grunts. He twisted and contorted through the change. Where fur had been, blood now coated his naked skin. I could see a large patch of wounds on his back, but thankfully, they didn’t cover his entire body. That was a good sign. If I could take care of that localized area, he just might make it.
When Aiden had completed his transformation, he passed out and collapsed on the ground.
“Quickly pull him in close. He needs body heat,” I said with a shiver of my own. It may not have been snowing at that moment, but the temperature was still hovering around freezing. “It looks like most of the wounds are on his back. Turn him so I have easy access.”
Though he wasn’t conscious, his body shook violently. I hoped it was just a reaction to the cold and not the poison working through his system.
Fallon couldn’t lift Aiden to position him so I bent down and hooked my arms under his and lifted him to his knees. “Let him rest against you. Just try to keep him warm and quiet.”
She nodded and wrapped her arms around the upper portion of his back. Anxiety widened her eyes. “Just do whatever it is you have to do.”
I bent down to inspect the wounds. Some were trickling blood, while others looked as if they were bulging with shrapnel sitting just below the skin.
So much for hoping the transformation would take care of this part.
I knew the mixture of my blood and saliva would work to stem the flow of his blood. I’d done it once before and saved Connor’s life, but this time it wouldn’t be so simple. I had to be sure the wounds were clean of the poison and the bits of metal before I sealed them; otherwise, I might make things worse.