Chapter Eleven

“YOU LOOK LIKE SHIT,” Dimitri said, handing me a thermos. The cap was off and the steam from the hot coffee made me moan.

“You are a good man.” I sipped the coffee and followed him to his car. He was going to take me to Ulaanbaatar to pick up Cristian from the airport. Mönkhbat and Ganbold were riding in the back and another car packed with our wolves was following behind. I smirked at the idea of Cristian lodged between my two bodyguards. He was going to love this.

“Ganzorig, are you okay?” Dimitri whispered when I got into the passenger seat.

I grinned and wiggled my eyebrows. “Do I look that bad?”

He blinked, his face void of expression. “You look like death, if death was about to kick the bucket.”

I sighed and relaxed into the seat, fastening my seatbelt. “I know. The new attacks and all the mobsters crossing into Mongolia kept me up last night. Once this is all over, I will sleep for a month.”

Dimitri grunted and started the car. “Stay sharp, my friend. Don’t want you to get hurt because you’re too tired to pay attention.”

I clapped his shoulder. “Thank you for your care. I’m functional, I promise.”

Dimitri eyed me with an intensity that made me squirm. He shook his head and focused on the road.

His worry touched me, but it made me feel guilty. We all had enough on our plates, no one needed stress added to that. I stood straighter in my seat and sipped my coffee, hoping the caffeine and the placebo attached to it would prove a strong enough stimulus.

All attacks of the past few days had been on the fringes of Mongolian territory. They would get closer soon enough, and we needed to be ready. I couldn’t find a way to be present whenever I was needed and rest as much as I needed to. At least I was eating, and that helped keep my energy levels up.

“What time does the Dacian beta land?” Dimitri asked, eyeing the clock on the car’s computer.

“An hour and change. We have plenty of time.”

“Anyone already there?”

I ran through the plan for the day, trying to remember where everyone was. “Just our guys who work at the airport. Most are assigned to the private landing strip, but it’s close enough to the commercial side of the airport.”

Dimitri grunted and gripped the steering wheel tighter. I wasn’t any happier. We were stretched so thin, I knew we’d drop a ball or two sooner rather than later.

I sighed and looked outside. I wanted to do something, strike our enemies where it mattered. The information was still dodgy and killing weres for no good reason, other than their country of origin, wouldn’t win us any favors.

We rode in charged silence for the rest of our drive. The air sizzled with worry and the energy too many wolves wound up tight and confined to a small space. We made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare, but my mood only worsened when we arrived.

“What the hell do you mean, delayed?” I snarled at the werewolf who’d greeted us. “Why?”

“There’s been an accident on one of the landing strips. The airplane he’s coming with is a small one. It’s been redirected to the small strip they use for private aircrafts.”

I shoved my fists into my jeans pockets, hoping that would keep me from hitting someone. “Go find everyone you can. Tell them to move to the private strip as soon as they can.”

The entire private jet business of the airport was manned by werewolves. The personnel that wasn’t confined to a certain post and was there for security reasons had all been redirected to the main airport. It left us vulnerable. Exposed and weak.

“There are humans onboard that plane,” Dimitri said.

“Few. Very few.” The Russians knew better than to expose themselves. But making a couple dozen people disappear from a small bird was a less important obstacle to them then it would be to us.

“He’s not traveling alone. Is he?”

“He is,” I muttered. “I could justify his arrival on our territory. More foreign wolves…”

Dimitri growled and came to stand closer to me. “Hurry up and change those stupid rules.”

I snorted and leaned into him. “If I survive our Russian friends’ attacks, I’ll do my best.”

I watched from the hangar as the plane cut its way through the maze of strips to its designated stop. It was a small bird, the kind with two seats on each side and storage room so small, no one can store their carry-on in them.

A bus pulled next to it, along with the car that would carry the checked-in luggage inside the main terminal. I watched as people exited the aircraft and made their way to the bus. My men were close by, waiting to spot Cristian and guide him to me.

I shifted my weight form one leg to the other and worried my lip. This was taking so long. Would he be the last passenger to disembark? I spotted him as he took the first step out of the aircraft. He was wearing a light jacket, loose jeans, his eyes hid behind sunglasses.

Our men signaled to the bus and it departed. Another car, a black SUV, pulled in front of the stairs leading Cristian down from the plane. They walked him to it and held the door open for him. He stopped a step from them and shook his head, pointing to the passenger seat. They exchanged some words that I couldn’t hear over the noise of the plane. My men relented, I guessed, as Cristian got into the passenger seat. The car was on the move, driving toward me. It almost made it into the hangar out of side. Almost. Something slammed into them hard, hitting the passenger side. The sound of crunching metal scorched my ears and I ran.

As I approached the wreck, details started to make sense. A van hit them from the side. A gray, battered thing that I wouldn’t get into if they paid me. Shouts and the sounds of scuffles broke over the natural hum of the airport. Dimitri shouted something as he ran after me. The pounding of more feet hitting the ground joined mine and made their way to the crash site. The deadly sound of suppressed shots pierced through and I howled, the sound so powerful every wolf on premise stopped for the blink of an eye.

My werewolves outnumbered the attackers so it wasn’t difficult to fend off their violence. A couple were on the ground when I reached the van, others trying for an escape.

“Catch them. No one gets away,” I roared as I planted my hands on the crushed front of the van and put all my strength into pushing it far from the SUV Cristian was in. There was no movement on his side of the car, I had to get to him.

A couple of my tribesmen joined me and we heaved in unison. The bent metal protested, but the van gave and it moved back. I turned to face the SUV and wince at the damage. The two doors on Cristian’s side were bent inwards, windows cracked, partly broken through.

I grabbed the handle and pulled. It broke off clean. Swearing under my breath, I tore my jacket open and used it to punch away the broken shards of glass. I then placed it over the door to grab it. A piece of glass pierced through as I pulled, cutting my right palm. I hissed at the sharp pain and squeezed the door tighter. I had to get to him, I had to get Cristian out of the car.

The door flew back as I threw it and my heart jumped in my throat. I felt dizzy at the sight of so much blood. I’d never been bothered by the side of it, but seeing Cristian’s mangled body, blood pouring from a gash on his leg where the bent metal of his door cut through, made me sway and almost lose it.

“Ganz,” Dimitri said, trying to drag me back.

I growled and shook my shoulder free of his hold. “Your jacket, hand it over!”

Dimitri complied without another word and I took the piece of clothing, pressing it to Cristian’s cut. “I need something to tie around his leg, stop the bleeding.”

Dimitri ripped a piece of cloth and handed it to me. I didn’t see what he tore and I couldn’t care less where it came from. I tied it high on Cristian’s thigh, squeezing as much as the material allowed without tearing apart.

I stepped back and turned to Dimitri without seeing him. My sight was frozen, all I could see was the mess the van had made of Cristian. “Put pressure on that wound. It’s still bleeding.”

Dimitri slid closer to Cristian, going around me, and he was now pressing his jacket to Cristian’s leg. I could hear Cristian’s heartbeat. It was feeble, but it was there. He was breathing, but the shallowness of it bothered me.

My mind raced, heart going crazy, head pounding, looking for a way out of this. Cristian was fading away. How far is the nearest hospital? Would we make it? Are there good enough doctors at the airport?

My hand moved on its own. The phone was pressed to my ear before I realized I’d already acted.

“Ganz, how the fuck are you?” Shiki says, his voice light and tinged with humor.

“Flash here. Now. Airport. Cristian is dying.”

“Ulaanbaatar?” The warmth was gone from his voice, he sounded ready for battle, showing the true general he was.

“Yes.”

Shiki materialized next to me before I had time to pocket my phone. He tapped Dimitri on the shoulder and waited to have enough room to pick Cristian up.

“Where to?” Shiki asked, his eyes on mine.

The image of him was still blurry, but his strong voice centered me. “Hospital on the compound. We have enough doctors there, surgeons too.”

He disappeared while my words still vibrated in the air. Dimitri grabbed my shoulders from behind and pushed me forwards. He got me into a waiting car and followed me on the back seat. “Home, now,” he told the driver. I didn’t look up at the werewolf at the wheel and my mind was too frazzled to identify him by his scent.

The drive back home seemed to take forever. I felt this buzz of energy under my skin, yet I couldn’t move. I stood still and watched the world go by. The city made room for nature and I recognized every turn and sight of this road. I’d been up and down it so many times, it was impossible not to memorize it.

The moment the car stopped in front of our hospital, I was on the move. Hospital was a bit of an overstatement. Or a lot of one. It was more like a small clinic, but we had great MDs working here and the machines and tools inside could compete with any hospital in the world.

“Where is he?” I yelled as I rushed through the door.

“Hey, stop,” Shiki said as he was grabbing me. “The doctors are working on him. Don’t go in there and infest everything with your microbes.”

I slumped against him and he dragged me to the few plastic chairs in the entrance hallway that were our makeshift waiting room. I fell into a seat, the chair skidding on the tiled floor.

Shiki sat next to me, his hand gripping mine. “He’ll be fine. He’s strong and stubborn. It’s hard to kill that combination.”

“It’s all because of me,” I murmured.

The slap came out of nowhere. It rattled me, bewilderment flooding my mind. Had Shiki just slapped me?

“Don’t talk shit, Ganz. The Russians are at fault. This is not on you.”

“He came to see me,” I countered through gritted teeth, ready to jump at his throat.

“Why didn’t he have bodyguards?” Shiki’s face was tight, his lips pressed thin.

“You know why.” I sighed and slumped back in my chair, grabbing my hair with both hands and fisting them till it hurt. “I couldn’t get the tribe to allow more than him on our territory.”

“So this is all on antiquated rules that put you all at risk. They isolate your tribe, keep you from having allies. Or they used to. You’ve made enough friends.”

I nodded, refusing to look at him. Shiki was right. I had made friends, I was trying to change my tribe, but everyone resisted me. And now the only man I had been interested in for more than a friendly fuck since my teens was lying in a hospital OR, being patched and fighting for his life.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

Shiki sighed, his arm falling heavily around my neck. “Any time, you idiot. You know that.”

I squeezed my eyes shut and grunted my acknowledgement. It wasn’t just his helping me that I was thanking Shiki for. It was the fact he’d flashed here. This teleportation-like power of his is fae, not werewolf. A mutation from his first mating with a fae price and the warrior trapped inside him. The mating bite hadn’t stuck to their fae skin, so, on instinct, Shiki had bitten them several times. He’d drunk enough fae blood to change him, just as his werewolf blood had altered his former mates. Shiki could flash, but he hated it. He almost never used it, especially after the divorce. Him flashing here, then doing it again with Cristian, had taken tremendous effort and had gone against his own wishes.

“I’m sorry I had to ask, I hope you know.”

Shiki growled and pulled me closer. “Say another word and I will bash your skull in. Flashing is my hiccup. You should not feel the need to apologize for needing my help. I know you’d do the same for me.”

Of course I would. There’s nothing quite like this that he could ask of me, but if our roles were reversed, I’d go to his side without a second thought. Why would I expect less of him? That’s insulting to who Shiki is as a man and to our friendship.

“Stop sulking. We’re fine. Cristian will be fine.”

I rolled my head to my right, my eyes meeting Shiki’s. “I’m going to ask more of you.”

He looked back at me and I saw the rage in my eyes mirrored in his. “We’re going hunting, aren’t we?”

***

It took a few phone calls to get the information I needed. A list of dots on a map now displayed on my phone showing us every suspected Russian werewolf that had breached Mongolia in the past week or so. They weren’t our allies, our Russian friends let us know when they come. They don’t sneak in, slithering in the shadows.

Shiki grabbed the phone and looked at it, memorizing every spot on the map. There were pictures too and he thumbed through them, committing the images to memory. He then sighed and motioned for me to step closer. “It’s a lot harder for me to flash with someone else. It takes a lot out of me. So you’ll do the heavy fighting, I’m afraid.” Shiki winked as he spoke the words, a small smile on his lips.

“We both do our part.” I winked at him and clapped his shoulder. Shiki, always wanting to be the best fighter in the room. His competitive nature amused me when I’d met him. It never wavered, not even now when he’d be doing most of the work.

“Ready?”

I nodded and grabbed his waist with both hands. His arms crossed around my back and I closed my eyes. This was going to be a bumpy ride.

I’d expected the nausea that came with flashing. I knew of it, and was prepared. What surprised me was the ease with which I punished the wolves I found. It was easy enough to spot the enemies, as the moment we showed up, they charged. I kept expecting some of them to beg for mercy, blame their alphas for forcing them to act. No… they attacked on sight. They did not ask for explanations, they let their rage and bloodlust lead, aiming for our jugulars.

I killed a few dozen men, Shiki slightly less, in the span of a couple of hours. These were the werewolves that had made attempts on my life, who had been terrorizing us with their attacks. They deserved this, they wouldn’t have stopped. I knew, deep down, that I was so angered because they had tried to kill Cristian.

A dreadful thing, to realize you are falling in love with someone among so much blood. So much hate greeting you every single time. It couldn’t be helped, I knew. But I damn well could keep him safe, no matter what I had to do for it.