Chapter 31 – Descent

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            Jing watched the two men with eyes that reflected nothing of her thoughts, silently testing the slack of her bonds that held her hands behind her back.  Ella leaned back against the china cabinet, watching their capturers with wary eyes, hardly moving a muscle.  Pets was silent; she knew she was a weak link and was patiently waiting for directions.  Emma played the helpless victim to a hilt, whimpering pitifully as they secured her arms behind her back, purposefully squirming her discomfort to keep them from tying her up too tightly.  “Ow…” and squeezed out a few more tears. 

            “Easy, Fred,” the one guarding the door said firmly.  “They want them in one piece.”

            Fred glanced over and grunted something for a second then frowned at the five girls tied up on the floor.  All but a still disorientated Nicie stared back at him with various expression of displeasure.  There was a hint of hesitation before he propped Emma up against a still groggy Bernice.  There was something about the way he kept looking at each girl that clued Jing and Ella in. 

            “You don’t even know which one of us is it, do you?” Jing stated, suppressing the urge to smirk. 

            “You don’t even know why you’re truly here,” Ella shook her head slowly.  “They hired a much of clueless mercenaries to do their dirty work.”

            “Tisk, tisk,” Jing took a breath and tested the bonds while on the pretext of trying to get comfortable.  “What would the other packs say?”

            “Bunch of cowards,” Emma sniffed and wiggled into a more comfortable position, her hand gripping the bottom edge of the couch to give herself some leverage… and to imperceptibly seek the knives she’s hidden there. 

            “Quiet,” the first guy warned while Fred was looking decidedly uneasy now.  “You don’t know anything.”

            “We know you’re the hired guns,” Ella replied calmly, her eyes watching the calmer of the two. 
“We know that you probably don’t know your real purpose here and why you were hired.”

            “And we know you can be bought,” Jing added with a raised brow.  “How much are they paying you to bring whichever one of us they want?”

            “You girls need to be quiet,” Bad Guy #1 said firmly but even he was starting to soften around the edges and giving them more clues than he wanted.    

            “There’s no way you’re going to be able to leave with all of us and you know that.”  Jing glanced at Ella a moment, trading quiet responses.  “And you don’t know which of us you’re suppose to take because they didn’t give you a description of which one of us they want.  That means if you don’t bring the right girl or girls, you don’t get paid for your troubles.”

            Fred was obviously convinced of their understanding.  “So why don’t you girls save yourselves a world of hurt and tell us which one of you they want.”

            “Fred,” warned his companion.

            Jing laughed, she couldn’t help herself.  It’s hard to lie to a Shifter when they can hear your heartbeat or follow the rhythm of your breathing, but these mercenaries aren’t Shifters – and Jing could bend the truth with the best of them.  “Each of us have a unique set of skills and attributes,” not lying at all.  “There’s a different reason to take any one of us.  So unless you can tell me why, we can’t help you.”

            Ella glanced briefly at the silent Emma, noting her sister’s blank eyes.  She looked at the calmer one again, “Name your price.”

            “Excuse me?”

            “You heard me,” Ella replied with a stern look of someone without a lot of patience for the stupid.  Plus she wanted their attention on her and her alone right now.  “Name your price.  What will it take to get you guys to untie us and leave?”

            Fred and his friend traded quick looks, neither of them saying anything a moment.  A second later, one of their friends joined them with a quick wave. “The rest of the place is clear.  Davis, Walt and Jack are holding positions at the other exits.”

            “All the upper floors secured?” Goon #1 asked harshly.

            “Secured,” Goon #3 answered with a nod.  He took a brief moment to look at the 5 girls, who all looked back at him defiantly.  It threw him a moment – not the usual reaction.  He frowned and look at the other two.  “Everything okay here?”

            “We need to talk,” Fred muttered quietly, obviously not meant for other ears. 

            “Take your time,” Ella let them know, leaning back against the hutch as if to relax.  “Tell your friends what was said in here.  Maybe they’d like to add their 2 cents before a decision is made.”

            “You need to keep your mouth shut,” Goon #1 said menacingly, clearly unhappy with the situation they were suddenly in. 

            “Merely giving you all your options,” Jing replied calmly and smiled serenely at them.

            The men gave her a look before exiting the room, only going far enough away for them not to be overheard but could still keep an eye on the lot. 

            “What do you think?” Jing asked out of the corner of , trying not to give away too much movement. 

            “I think we’re gong to need to extract ourselves from this on our own,” Ella replied in the same manner, testing the bonds again.  She had some slack but not enough to get her hand through to free herself.  The thick plastic ziptie that were used to bind them with were standard warehouse ones – nothing she couldn’t get out of if she could only get herself into the right position.  But right now, escape wasn’t the only goal; escape without getting anyone killed was. 

            “You think Sean made it to the glen yet?” Pets asked quietly, turning her face to rest her head against the wall. 

            “I certainly hope so,” Emma answered with a frown.  “They’re going to need the warning…”

-Fifteen Minutes Ago-

            Emma placed the phone down carefully on the cradle and glanced at the rest of the girls.  “They want all four of us in the living room in 10 minutes, seated on the ground with both hands on the floor in front facing the entrance.”

            “All four of us?” Jing asked, her face no longer resembling the jovial person she usually portrayed – this was the Beta that had been entrusted with the inn.  “Are they watching us now?”

            “I have a feeling they’ve been watching awhile.”

            “So they know there’s only four of us in here.”

            “Why ten minutes?” Pets asked, her voice tense with fear. 

            The other three glanced at one another.  “The guards in the woods.”

            “We need to get them out of there,” Jing said, reaching into her back pocket.  “I’ll have them recalled.”

            “HQ isn’t going to do it.”

            “They will if they think it’s orders from Kai.”

            “And why would they…” Emma stopped herself then smack her forehead with her hand.  “Right… Mate.”

            Jing smirked and took the call in the other room.

            Ella would have laughed if the situation wasn’t so seriously.  Then a thought arrested her.  “Sean!”

            Emma’s eyes went wide.  “Oh crap…” and raced up the stairs.

            “We can’t!” Ella argued as she followed Emma.

            “We have to.”

            “He’ll die out there.”

            “He’s dead if he stays here.  At least out there he’s got a fighting chance,” Emma argued as she grabbed the key from outside the door and barged in.  Sean jumped as Emma rushed over to him and unlocked the shackle around his ankle.  When he made to get up, she grabbed him by the neck and forced him down again.  “Don’t!  You have to stay below the windows.  They’re watching.”

            Sean looked up at Ella, who answered with a quick nod.  “Follow us and be quiet,” before leading the way out and back down the stairs.

            Jing met them at the bottom of the stairwell and handed Ella her 9mm before shoving Sean down further toward the ground.  She didn’t even look at him as she spoke with Ella.  “Arm him.  If he can’t shift, he’s got to be prepared to shoot,” then moved quickly toward the living room. 

            Pets squeezed Sean’s hand as he passed her.  “Be careful and be safe.”  Her eyes reflected all her concerns and fears at a glance before she followed Jing to the front. 

            Not daring to speaking until Ella had lead them into the basement, flicking on one lone switch for lighting, Sean shuffled quickly behind them.  “What is going on?”

            Pressing the handgun into his hand, she gave him careful instructions.  “Go pass the washers and turn left at the fork and head into the wine cellar.  Furthest wall along the far left is a false door.  Tunnel runs below the grounds and takes you 300 feet beyond the inn’s border.  You’ll come out from a hatch between two elm trees.  Head south, follow the line of elms to a glen; the rest of the pack will be gathering there tonight.  Tell them Sanctuary is under attack and the inn has been taken by mercenaries.”  Sean opened his mouth to argue that he should stay but Ella shook her head at him.  “There are lives at stake here, including yours.  You cannot shift.  Do you understand?  Under no circumstances should you shift.  It’s too dangerous for everyone.”

            Emma ripped off the silver ring on the middle ringer and forced it onto Sean’s pinky.  “Do not take this off.  When you see them, show it to them and say: The Sun is Worshipped, the Moon Rules, but the Leaves Shields the Rain.”  She grabbed his hand tight, to keep his attention.  “Say it!”

            “The Sun is Worshipped, the Moon Rules, but the Leaves Shields the Rain,” he repeated dutifully.  He studied their faces for a brief moment.  “How bad is this?”

            “Bad,” Ella said curtly.  “Tell them it’s bad and to move carefully.”

            “Jackals,” Emma whispered, her eyes unfocused for a moment.  “Tell them the Jackals are on the attack tonight and they need to get back to the village.”  She swallowed something big and painful in .  “I don’t know if we’re the distraction… or they are.”

            For a moment, no one said anything. 

            “Go quietly,” Ella gave him a light shove, her face tense with uncertainty.  “Close the door behind you and be careful.”

            “We’re counting on you,” Emma added for good measure and headed back upstairs.

­-End Flashback-

            Thunder clapped loudly overhead as it ushered in the rain.  “What now?” Jing asked as she wiggled her hands again; there was just enough slack for her to get free when the time is right.

            “How much time do we have, GuiGui?” Ella asked, her voice quiet as she watched the doorway.  

            The use of the nickname told Emma all she needed to know.   “An hour, maybe two at most.  The jackals will hit the village first thinking it’s occupied; there’s practically no one there to protect the Gammas and Omegas.  It’ll be a slaughter.”  She let that sink in a moment, “Then they’ll come here.”

            “Even on foot, Sean should get to the others before then,” Pets murmured softly, watching the last rays of the sun disappear behind the trees through the rain soaked windows.  It’ll be full dark in a few minutes.  The night has always been the most dangerous time for them. 

            “That’s a chance we can’t take; not with the pack at stake,” Ella murmured quietly.  “Who’s the closest that can get a signal out?”

            “Cougars,” Jing answered quietly.  “They usually have a patrol outside of their Eastern territory, just within sanctuary.  They can easily get word to the glen if we can warn them in time.”

            “Our friendly mercenaries cut the land lines already,” Emma sighed and glanced at the broken cell phones on the floor across from them.  They were taking no chances, or had prior instructions. 

            “We’ll have to do it the old fashion way then,” Ella glanced at Pets and Nicie with a frown.  “How are you guys holding up?”

            “I’m fine,” Pets replied and glanced at the still silent girl next to her.  “You?”

            Nicie was swallowing the bile in .  The dense fog around her pounding head made following the conversation difficult.  “I’m fine,” she managed to get out with a heavy breath.  “I’m sorry.”

            “It’s not your fault.”

            “Yes, it is.”

            “No, it’s not,” Emma replied curtly, nudging her friend sharply with an elbow.  “They were going to find a way here no matter what.  You were just the convenient victim.  Don’t blame yourself and don’t do it right now.  We need clear heads.”

            “Until she can get whatever they hit her with out of her system, Nicie is no condition to run,” Jing replied with a grim frown.  She couldn’t abandon her brother’s mate; that’s not how family works.  “I’ll stay with her.”

            “No,” Ella shook her head and looked into the doorway again.  The mercenaries appeared to have moved further away for their little discussion – hopefully she’s given them enough for a few extra thoughts.  “You and I are going to hold off the mercenaries and give the others time to make a break for it and get help.”

            “If anyone is running, it’s you and Emma,” Jing hissed back, keeping an eye on the doorway. 

            “I’m not leaving without you guys,” Emma argued, leaning forward to give herself a little room to wiggle the knife she’d finally located under the china cabinet. 

            “You don’t have a choice,” Ella replied calmly.

            “And you are going with your sister,” Jing told Ella in no uncertain terms.

            “You and I are the only ones here that are effective in hand-to-hand combat and I at it so that’s saying something,” Ella answered back maneuvering herself back against the wall as she forced the bonds of her hand tight to give herself room to move.  “The priority here is getting help to the pack, that means we have to take whatever opportunities is given to us.”  Wiggling her tied hands beneath her, she took a breath and looped it slowly over her hips and under her thighs, thankful for the yoga lessons that kept her flexible and limber… and for the fact that their captures had no idea who they’re dealing with. 

            “Then you and Emma can go get help,” Jing said as she twisted her arm and dislocated her thumb with a sickening crunch.

            “Emma knows these woods like the back of her hands; she’s going to run to the Cougars and get help,” Ella continued, ignoring her soon-to-be sister-in-law as she worked her tied hands under her calves and over her feet until her hands were in front of her.  “Pets is going to help Nicie back into Sanctuary and get to a phone and call HQ.”  She brought her hands overhead and slammed it back down quickly, using the momentum to break the ties.  “The rain will help cover your tracks.” 

            Slipping her hands through the plastic hoop, Jing popped her thumb back into place before answering, “And why can’t you go to a phone?”

            “Because time needs to be bought and you and I are the best option to give it to them,” Ella replied grabbing the knife Emma handed her after she’d cut her way out of her own binds and releasing Pets and Nicie with it.  “And with Emma being the only one still having visions, I want her as far away from here as we can get her.”

            Jing was searching under the seat for whatever else Emma had stashed when the last part hit her.  “Wait… what?  What did you just say?”

            Pets looked just as startled, “What do you mean ‘the only one still having visions?’”

            “Shhh….” Emma checked the doorway again before turning back to Pets,  “It means my sister slept with your brother.”

            Ella winced then shrugged, flipping a pair of knives out from underneath the coach.  “No regrets.”

            Jing paused in her search for weapons to look at Ella, noting the calmness in her tone.  There were no signs of any other emotion than sheer determination at the moment… and that frightened Jing more than anything else.  If Ella felt it was okay to let go of her visions, it meant… 

            Surprised but confused, Pets looked at the other girls trying to make sense of it all.  “What does that have to do with her visions?”

            Nicie held her head to keep the pounding down to a minimum as she explained, “The lore all say that one of the reasons seers have their powers is because they are pure of body and spirit, that they have to remain chaste and unsoiled to continue being blessed by the moon.  No pack ever wants to give up a seer so no one dares to put it to the test.”

            “Plus no seer has ever lived long enough to test that theory…” Emma looked at her sister, “until now.”

            “Theory proven true,” Ella answered as she moved silently across the room and leaned against the doorway trying to see out. 

            Pets shook her head and moved to sit again when Jing motioned her back down.  “Not that I’m not happy that you and my brother are… good again,” she made a face that that particular mental image but moved on, “But why in the world would you give up your visions?  Isn’t your pack going to be upset with you?”  The silence was oppressive.  The gentle pattering of rain against earth sounded deafening now.  Pets may be in the dark but even she could see from the other four faces just how pointed the question was… and how dark the answer might be.  And it scared her.  “Why aren’t you guys saying something?”

            “We need to get ready,” Ella said quietly.  “I think our little mercenary friends are coming back,” then scrambled back to her position on the floor and placed her hands behind her back.

            “Make a break for the back parlor window; it’s your nearest exit space,” Jing said, grabbing her discarded restraints from the floor and hiding it behind her.  “Ella and I will open the way for you.”

            “Don’t look back,” Ella whispered to Emma.  “Keep running.”

            Emma’s eyes came in and out of focus for a moment before she gave her sister the saddest look and nodded slowly.  She swallowed hard and whispered, “No regrets.”

            “None,” Ella answered firmly, her eyes speaking volumes.  This was goodbye. 

            “Can it,” Jing snapped under her breath as Bad Guy #2, aka Fred, returns.  Giving a pretext of discomfort, she shuffled back against the way to hide the fact that she was a) untied and b) now welding a pair of nasty twin striking blades.  Her heart was pounding, not with fear of what she was going to have to do, but with such unspeakable pain for what was to come.  She looked at Ella, so calm and collect and ready – she’s completely at peace with what was needed for the good of the pack.  “We’re going to have to break Holy Ground,” wondering if that might deter Ella’s course of action.

            “I know,” Ella murmured before taking a breath.  “It has to be done.”  She looked at their returning capturer, “Where’s your friends?”

            “Back to their posts,” Fred replied impatiently and then seemed to scold himself for having answered her at all.  He look less then pleased with everything and anything; obviously, the conversation with his cohorts hadn’t gone smoothly.  “Just sit there and be quiet.  This will be over before you know it.”

            “Really?” Emma answered with her voice dripping in doubt.  “And how do you suppose that’s going to be?  Did anyone mention to you that my father is the police commissioner?”

            “Or that 3 our of 5 of us have brothers on the police force?” Jing added oh-so-helpfully.  “And another has a sister that’s also on the job?”

            “Do you see where we’re going here?” Ella asked quietly, watching the man’s eyes.  The eyes were always where the tale-tell signs were.  “This isn’t some easy smash and grab job they might have sold you.”

            “You need to be quiet.”  He looked nervous now.  Like he hadn’t been expecting them to say so much. 

            “And you need to wake up and realize that this isn’t going to end well for you,” Ella admonished with a frown, never raising her voice.  “We might be hostages but we’re also expendable if push comes to shove.  There is so much more going on underneath whatever tale they sold you on this job.  You think you’re going to get paid?  Think again.  You’re not going to live long enough to enjoy that blood money.  They can’t afford for you to live; you know too much.  And our people will never let you live for turning any one of us over.” 

            They rattled him.  “Shut up!” he moved closer, pointing his gun at Ella’s head, “Just shut up!” and got a little too close… with the safety still on. 

            The girls moved all at once… and poor Fred never even knew what hit him. 

(Action scenes are not my strong suit, I’m just going to leave it to your imagination.) 

‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡

            Kai shifted out of his pelt and lifted his face to the rain.  The oppressive heat from the humid day had finally been broken by the cooling downpour.  But Kai had been feeling a disquieting cold in his chest for some time now.  Something felt off.  And he was antsy because of it.

            “What’s wrong?” Xiu asked, joining him at the edge of the celebrating group of rolling pups that were enjoying a few carefree moment at the conclusion of the welcoming circle – their bright golden eyes dancing in the misty darkness like fireflies.  He watched Chun jumped aside as a group of Betas leapt onto Calvin, happily brushing themselves against him to commit his scent to memory and to scent themselves onto him.  Poor Calvin was being overwhelmed by the dozens of greeting Betas that had filled the ceremonial glen – he had never experienced welcome before.  “You look nervous.”

            “I feel nervous,” Kai admitted, frowning at his own perceived weakness.  The moon was hidden by the rainclouds but he could feel its tendrils of influence dragging itself along his spine. 

            “Is it because you’re away from Jing?” Xiu asked cautiously.  His brother had been inexplicably touchy on the subject of his mate. 

            “No,” Kai snapped… then stopped and sighed, silently admonishing himself.  “Maybe.”

            With the ceremony over and their father watching over the celebrating pack members, Xiu quietly suggested, “Why don’t you go to her?  I’m sure the others would understand.”

            “Not that simple and you know it,” Kai said quietly, watching the others shift between pelt to skin and back again.  The Betas were finally allowing themselves to relax for a few moments; and he wasn’t about to disrupt, which he knew he would if he were to leave.  Nick, Bass and a few others would insist on accompanying him back.  Nick he could understand and would even encourage, but the others needed this time with the others to affirm pack relations.  “I’ll leave by midnight and let the others…”  The air in his chest suddenly expanded to painful proportions but it had nothing to do with the physical.  He felt it; the sudden surge of toe-curling fear.

            Across the glen, Nick shifted out of his form and took a knee with a gasp.  The unease that’s haunted him all afternoon and into the evening suddenly imploded, tightening cross his chest with fear, as if chased by ghosts.  He didn’t need to question it; he knew.

            “Nick!” Bass and Mickey were by their brother’s side in the second, breaking out of their pelts.

            “Kai!” Xiu grabbed his brother’s arm when he staggered.  “What’s wrong?”

            Lily and Simon Chen put an end to the festivity with one sharp bark of command before they shifted out of their wolves and joined their children.  “What’s happened?” Simon demanded in his calmest voice; the voice of the Alpha. 

            Kai could only get out one word, “Jing.”  His mind was in shambles, overwhelmed by the foreign emotions that weren’t his but still his.  His mate wasn’t just afraid, she was terrified. 

            “Something’s happened to Nicie,” Nick said, his bright yellow eyes burning brighter in the rain soaked night.  “I have to go to her.”

            “Nicie and Jing are both in Sanctuary,” Xiu added, his voice taking on the urgency mounting in the air.  “The inn…”

            The sudden snarling from some of the Betas arrested their attention.  Those closest to the woods had all turned and taken a defensive stance, the hairs on their backs raising in warning as they growl low and threatening.  Something was out there… something they didn’t recognize and didn’t welcome. 

            The lanky youth that stumbled out of the dark was soaked to the bone and breathing so hard he was barely able to stand.  Scrapped from head to toe and covered in mud and blood, he looked like he had been in a hard fight.  And in one hand, he had a death grip on a deadly and familiar 9mm handgun.  Nick, Bass and Mickey all dropped and went on the attack, recognizing the scent even in the rain. 

            Chun and Calvin jumped in between the angry brothers and the disoriented Sean, who finally lost his battle to gravity and exhaustion and hit the ground. 

            Simon barked the “hold” order sharp and fast.  “You’ve got 5 seconds, boy!”

            Sean’s breaths were coming in starts and he struggled to get any word out at all.  “Sun…. (pant, pant)… worship. (pant, pant) Moon…. (pant, pant)…. Leaves… shield….” He coughed in pain, trying to force air into his besieged lungs.  Shaking his hand of mud, he stuck it out to show them the ring on his pinky finger.  “Ella… (pant, pant) Emma….”

            Xiu grabbed Sean by the arms, shouldering Chun’s grey wolf out of the way.  “Take a deep breath and hold it,” he commanded firmly.  His blue-green eyes glittered in the rain, giving Sean something to focus on – he’d never seen a Pure before.  “Hold it!”

            “Xiu…” the Alpha warned.

            “We need him coherent,” Xiu said above the sound of the rapid rains, never looking away.  “Hold it until you can’t anymore.”

            The air burned in Sean’s lungs but he kept at it until his survival instincts kicked in, forcing him to take a breath of the cold air.  But the painful spasms were gone, replaced by shorter, swallower breath.  “Emma said… (pant) said the jackals are attacking the village tonight but… (pant) but mercenaries have taken the inn.”  He looked around, helpless.  “They’ve got hostages.”

            “How did you get out?” Nick snapped, his eyes glowing ever darker in color.

            “Tunnel through the wine cellar,” Sean answered in a hurry.

            “Escape hatch,” Xiu muttered.  “Why didn’t they leave with you?”

            “Emma said lives were at stake,” was the response that sent everyone rocking on their heels.  

            Emma’s specialty was death; she saw it everywhere.  And she always, always put the pack first. 

            Lily came up to them, her bright blue eyes flashed dangerously in the rain.  “Was anyone hurt?”

            “Not when I left,” Sean answered.

            “Who else was there?” Simon wanted to know. 

            “Ella, Emma, Pets, girl with short hair,” he looked at his left hand, still clutching the gun.  “She gave me this to protect myself in the woods.”

            “Jing,” Kai’s face twisted with an emotion that was hard to describe.  “We need to get back there.”

            Simon held up his hand.  “Pack’s survival first,” he said in a moment of unbearable pain. 

            “Father,” Kai hissed sharply and urgently.  Every second counted now.  Not only was his sisters there, his mate as well.

            Debating himself wasn’t helping, Simon knew things had to be done.  There were more than just lives at stake now.  “Kai, Xiu, take your boys back to Sanctuary.  Everyone else, back to the village!”

            The pack disbursed in a frenzy of movements. 

            Waving one arm over head, Xiu grabbed Ding, Jie and Ming in one swoop.  “Calvin, Sam, follow me,” then turned and was gone, his black wolf blending seamlessly into the night. 

            “Wayne, Chun, you’re with us,” Kai shouted as he morphed.  Flying would be quicker but the rain would slow him down.  His white wolf was still his best option.  Nick, Bass and Mickey followed quickly, trying to keep up. 

            Lily grabbed Sean by the arm as the others rushed by.  “Leroy, Megan, Matthew, stay here.”  The three wolves paused by her side, watching the others leave in silent frustration.  Leroy and Megan were anxious to return to the village – they have twin 6-year-old pups at home.  “Take him back to HQ and into quarantine.  Matt, stay with him.  He doesn’t shift and/or get out tonight under any circumstances, understood?”

            The three nodded and didn’t question it; you don’t question an order from the Alpha’s wife.

            “How did you know?” Sean asked as he got to his feet unsteadily.  “I didn’t even…”

            “Emma wouldn’t have given you that ring otherwise,” Lily said as she talked with him toward the village, “That ring has importance; has power.”  She was staring to shift, her face morphing even as she told him the secret to the rings.  “It has the ability to stop the change.”  The large snowy feathered owl screeched loudly before she took flight; taking to the tree tops where she’d be better support for the pack with an aerial view of that attack.  Flying a rainstorm was dangerous in the best of conditions but someone needed to be in the air and scouting.            

            And tonight, they need all the advantage they can muster. 

‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡

            Wes stopped, his eyes suddenly flashing gold; better to see in the dark with.

            “What’s wrong?” Fei asked against the sound of the rapid rain, her hands tightening on her crossbow.  She scanned the area, trying to make out anything in the dim woods.  The walk back from the village to the inn should have been easy but the early rain was slowing them down.  Now she was cold, wet, and tired.  She didn’t need to add scared to those discomforts. 

            “I thought…” he stopped, shook his head in confusion. 

            “What?”

            Frustrated, he put his nose to the air again, wiping water for his face.  “I thought I smelled something.”

            “Smelled what?”

            Rain and wind was making it hard to pinpoint and catch the scent again.  But the raised hairs at the nape of his neck told him he hadn’t imagined it; there was something out there.

            “What is it?” Fei insisted.

            “I thought I smelled something other than wolf.”

            “There’s cougars and jaguars…”

            “Jackals,” he finally caught the scent again, his eyes glowing a darker burnt gold colors now.  “I smell jackals.” 

            Gasping, Fei raised her weapon a little higher.  “Where?”

            “Can’t tell,” Wes said, shedding his soaked tee-shirt and ing his jeans.  “And I’m going to guess you’re not aware of them coming so…”

            “There was an attack a few weeks ago.”

            “So not friendly then,” he concluded with a nod as he got .  “I don’t suppose you’d hold my clothes for me, would you?”

            “It’d be kind of hard,” she answered honestly and continued to scan the area, never lowering her crossbow.  She had backup gun and two extra clips but the long bow was her specialty.  “Should we head back to the village instead?”

            “We’re just a little over the halfway point,” Wes answered, crouching lower to the ground for some semblance of modesty.  He still wasn’t use the nonchalance of this pack when it came to their human forms.  “Your call.”

            Surprised by his willing to let her lead, something none of her brothers have allowed, Fei looked around them a moment.  “If jackals are here, they’re on the attack.  The inn isn’t too guarded tonight; they’ll need all the help they can get.  We should head that way.”

            “Call for backup,” Wes advised as he sniffed the air again.  The scents were there, lots of them.  He could only hope they didn’t run into them in the woods; he wasn’t sure if he could protect Fei if they attacked. 

‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡

            Rolling the window down, Rainie stuck her head out into the rain, her bright golden eyes flashing in the darkness reflected by the water. 

            “What is it?” Selina asked, carefully navigating the slick unfamiliar roads.  She had to slow down, be much more careful than usual as the weather took a nasty turn; getting stranded out here would be the worse thing they could allow to happen. 

            “We’re in marked territory but…” Rainie shook her head like a wet dog and tried again.  “There’s more than a few scents here.  Like… more than one pack.”

            Kristen turned in her sea.  “Pets said that their sanctuary was guarded by a number of packs.  Maybe that’s what….”

            “Maybe,” Rainie said reluctantly, closing the window to keep out the rain, “But this feels different; unnatural almost….”  She made an impatient sound.  “It’s hard to explain.”

            “Don’t question it,” Selina said firmly into the car cabin; her eyes trained to the road.  “If it feels wrong, it feels wrong.  We’ll have to be extra cautious.  We’re too close to this sanctuary that Calvin and the others are at for us to be careless.” 

            “Then be on the look out for anything that isn’t wolf,” Rainie warned, her eyes on the windows around them.  “Go to daylight driving lights to navigate; we need equalize the lighting to outside.”

            “This rain isn’t helping,” Kristen muttered as she flicked her personal light to see the map in her lap.  “We should be coming up on the bend leading to….” The flash of yellow eyes on the road struck her, “LOOK OUT!”

            Startled, Selina swerved and lost control of the car.  Her last conscious thought was they weren’t going to make it to sanctuary as they hit the embankment and sideswiped a tree, launching the vehicle into the air. 

To be continued….

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Author’s Note:  Nothing to say… just nothing.