Stefan sat on top of a mountain watching Nico in the valley below. He zoomed in with binoculars. “Take two steps to the right and keep downwind.”

“Jesus, this thing is stealthy. I’m hungry.”

“Yeah, well I dug the cave so you get us dinner.”

They had already spent one night out and it had been freezing. They had played cards and talked about what they had endured so far. It had been hell but they had passed every trial put in front of them.

 

Half an hour later, Stefan had joined Nico and they cut up what they needed from the deer. They already felt eyes on them in the woods. Lelantos was keeping a wary eye out. Stefan threw him a big chunk, and he swallowed it whole.

“Damn, Lelantos, chew!” Stefan laughed.

Lelantos’ head turned sharply, his ears picking up sounds. He let out a low growl, showing teeth.

“Well, I think it’s time to head out.” Nico grabbed the bag of meat and they headed back up the mountain.

It had been Vince’s idea to send Lelantos with them. Most of the time he stayed on their property but there had been times he had ventured father and came home with blood on his fur, either escaping hunters or traps. This was a good way for him to get out and also put him to good use.

They started a fire and Stefan put the meat on. Lelantos was sitting at the edge of their camp, ears up picking up sounds from all directions. Nico dropped down and sighed. He missed Tanner. They had barely spoken and Nico was missing him.

The radio fired up and Vince’s voice came over. “Snow coming your way.”

“Oh, great.” Stefan rolled his eyes.

“I love Russia,” Nico said sarcastically.

This was the last part of their training. They had already been hunted, learned hand-to-hand combat, and spent hours at the shooting range. Being in the mountains on their own was the last stage and so far they’d had no problems. Nico was mid-chew when Lelantos’ ears went back and he crouched down, waiting to pounce.

“Shit,” Nico whispered. He and Stefan grabbed their rifles and waited. They didn’t have to wait long. A pack of wolves had followed the smell of food. “Oh, shit!”

Stefan watched them approach. Even at his size, Lelantos couldn’t take them all on and Stefan wasn’t comfortable shooting them.

“Lelantos! Get in the shelter!” Stefan whistled.

Nico knew he wouldn’t move; he and Stefan were his pack and he would die defending them. He grabbed Lelantos by the back of his neck, pulling backwards. Stefan fired a warning shot and the wolves stopped. Nico looked at the sky. “Shit! Get in the shelter now!”

They had seconds before a blizzard hit them full on. Nico hauled Lelantos into the shelter and then he and Stefan pulled a rock in front of the opening when the wind hit.

“Jesus.”

The wind battered them for three hours, so Stefan and Nico played cards. Nico smiled at Lelantos. “I hope you don’t have to pee.”

“I do.” Stefan chuckled.

“Have you talked to Phoebe at all?”

Stefan sighed. “Nope. I guess she has a new boyfriend now, though.”

“Well, Damon tells me Tanner is single. Even though he’s always with Aidan, he doesn’t like him that way.”

“Do you have any eights?”

“We’re playing gin.”

“I tried.”

They rolled the rock away when they heard the wind dying down and Nico peeked out. There was a wolf sitting by the fire pit staring at him. “Hey, Lelantos, there’s a chick out here. She’s kinda hot.”

Stefan chuckled as Lelantos looked out of the cave. The gray female growled and he growled back.

“Hmm, she’s playing hard to get.”

Nico corrected, “She’s part of a pack and he’s not. It’s Romeo and Juliet.”

“Yeah, well I’m not letting him kill himself over a piece of ass.” Stefan ran his fingers in Lelantos’ fur.

“Well, well.” Vince came over the side of the mountain, smiling. “You survived.” His eyes settled on the female wolf watching Lelantos. “Girlfriend?”

“I think she’s hoping. He is kinda handsome,” Nico answered.

“Well, if she follows us home I’m in deep shit with my alpha. You guys ready to head in?”

“Hell, yes!” they answered together and Vince laughed.

“Come on.”

Sergio sat with his dads up in the mountains, his sniper rifle trained on the leader of a kiddie porn ring. Anger rose in him.

“Take the shot.” Marco was watching through the scope.

Sergio pulled the trigger and the man went down. All hell broke loose as they headed down with the rest of the team. Sergio hadn’t planned on going into the family business but somehow here he was and now it was second nature to pull the trigger. He felt no remorse. The people they took out were the very worst — and able to escape traditional law enforcement. His fathers had argued but the first time at the range they knew he would do what he wanted anyway. He could shoot a moving target with his eyes closed.

Sergio broke the door down and went to work. There were at least twelve men in the room, half of them naked. Kids were hiding in corners hoping not to be next. Sergio stopped and closed his eyes; it was like he was there all over again.

“Sergio!” Marco’s voice broke through and Sergio heard a man to his right. He turned, plunging a knife into the man’s lower body.

“Dammit, Sergio!” Antonio looked at his son. “It was too soon for this!”

“No. It’s not. I’m fine now.” Sergio went to work. He ignored the pleas from the men to spare them and took pleasure in relieving them of their lives. There was a green-eyed little boy in the corner and Sergio crouched beside him. “It’s okay now.”

Marco had a boy in his arms and watched as Antonio picked up a little girl, wiping her face. Even though Antonio was covered in blood, she wrapped her arms around him and cried. They gathered the rest of the kids and Antonio called Damon Santorno to let him know they had breached the complex and killed everyone who needed killing.

“Get the kids to the shelter and the doctors immediately.”

Sergio squatted down in front of the little boy and put his hand out. “They are all dead. I know how you feel.” Sergio watched as the boy tried to process it all. “I was in one of these too.”

Marco felt proud as Sergio talked quietly to the little boy. He finally inched out and put his arms out to Sergio, who picked him up and held him close.

Antonio smoothed the little girl’s hair back and asked her, “Would you like to eat?” She nodded and he smiled. “Good.”

Anna was waiting for them with a doctor at the shelter and her tears fell as the kids arrived. She had taken time from college several times to help out on occasional missions, under doctors’ supervision. She had already been accepted to medical school. She helped check them each over; the more intensive examinations would come after they had earned their trust. She was afraid of what they would find. She glanced at her blood-covered brother and father.

“You should shower.”

“Yes, doctor.” Sergio winked.

Anna grinned and watched him leave before she turned to her dads. “How bad was it for him?”

Marco sighed. “He lost perspective for a moment.”

“Dad, that’s all it takes! Are you sure he’s ready for this?”

“We cannot stop him.” Antonio sighed.

 

Sergio looked in the mirror. A wave of nausea overcame him and he retched in the sink. The thought of what had happened to those children tore him apart. He sighed and washed his face. He had never had a girlfriend. He had had sex, however; it was part of him trying to recover from his own sexual abuse. It hadn’t helped. He didn’t kiss them, wouldn’t let them touch him; he got what he wanted and got out.

His hazel eyes showed how empty he was. This was his life now — the more of these bastards he took out, the better. He was an assassin and a guard on the side, with a preference for the assassin side of his job. The guard part was boring. He flexed his bicep; he needed a new tattoo.

“Sergio, are you all right?” Marco called out. Sergio had put on quite a bit of muscle, even surpassing his dads at the gym. Marco had trained him in hand-to-hand combat and was not surprised when his own son took him down soon after.

“Yep.” Sergio washed his hands and told his dad, “It won’t happen again.”

Marco held him. “I cannot lose you.”

Sergio hugged his dad. He knew they didn’t like that he was joining them, but he felt as though killing these sick bastards was therapy. “I know; I’ll be more careful.”

“I cannot stop you, can I?”

“Nope.”

He found Anna in the office looking over paperwork. He leaned against the doorway. Her dark hair was in a ponytail with a Hello Kitty barrette keeping strands out of her face.

“What’s up, Doc?”

Anna’s head jerked up. Her brother, so her friends said, was so hot they wanted to bake cookies on him and then eat them off his body. “So, are we going out? Check out some chicks?”

“And be in competition with you?” Sergio laughed. “No thanks, half of them want to go home with you.”

“And I take them.” Anna waggled her eyebrows.

“You know how it is with me.” Sergio gave her a sad smile.

Anna came over to him and hugged him. Sergio had come a long way but when it came to having a girlfriend — he just couldn’t do it. He had been through a lot worse than she had. If you didn’t cooperate, they whipped you and Sergio hadn’t cooperated. He had protected her more than once when they were in the compound, taking the brunt of most of it. She would forever be grateful for it but it had left him hollow.

“She will find you, Sergio. That one girl who knows everything about you and doesn’t care. You’ll see.” Anna palmed his face.

“So will you.” Sergio smiled.

“Yeah? Tell her she has to do dishes too.” Anna laughed. “So, the club or the bar?”

“Bar.”