Chapter Twenty-Three

Rosie

“NOW! DO IT NOW!”

She saw Kassian turn to look at her as he shouted, just moments before the wolves swarmed him.

Rosie screamed as her mate disappeared beneath the mound of canines. Even as she ran out of breath though, her scream seemed to turn from a high-pitched noise into something deeper, more feral. It was an almost primal bellow of noise, conveying one emotion, and one emotion only.

Anger.

The pile of wolves seemed to expand, and suddenly a massive light-gray bear erupted from their midst. The creature caught one wolf with a paw in mid-air, and just sort of casually slammed its enemy to the ground, crushing the body as it landed on all fours, the hapless wolf squished to death.

But the other five didn’t give up, and she could see thick patches of fur matted together with a dark stain. Blood. The wolves were killing him!

“Do it!” Mila shouted suddenly from next to her. “Rosie, do it!”

Right. She had a job to do. Part one was the flare gun. Part two was what Kassian wanted her to do now. Rosie reached under her shirt, around her neck, and pulled the whistle out. Putting it to her lips, she blew one long, hard blast. Both she and the women nearby had plugged their ears against the noise, but it was still loud enough to be painful.

Which also meant it could be heard at a distance.

“I hope they saw the flare,” she told the others, holding her breath.

There was a screech of tires on the road. Rosie spun. “They aren’t supposed to be in vehicles…” she began, but stopped as she realized it was just a car full of humans. They had come to hard stop, and were now backing up and fleeing down the road as fast as they could. To her surprise, another car was already pulled over, and a group of young people were standing near it. They had their phones out and were videotaping the entire thing.

“You idiots! Go away,” she shouted. They didn’t listen.

Whatever, that wasn’t her battle. Her fight was the one that involved her mate. Who was currently delivering a solid thrashing to the wolves, but already appearing to tire.

“C’mon, c’mon!” she said, her voice getting more and more agitated as the seconds ticked on.

“There!” Madison shouted.

Rosie followed the pointed finger to the roof of the motel. A figure had just appeared on it. The huge form motioned behind it, and three more huge, muscular men landed on the shingles. They were all dressed the same. White shirts with markings on the sleeves, black tactical pants, and brown utility boots.

Several words were exchanged quickly, along with some hand signals, and then the four of them split up into pairs. Rosie watched as they entered the battle. The difference between them and the Institute shifters, even the Koche brothers, was astounding. They moved like a team. One ducked under a blow from a rampaging bear, distracting it, while the other clobbered it with a huge overhand blow, driving the skull down toward the ground.

She’d been told that they’d had training, and were some of the best, but she hadn’t believed it until now. The four of them sliced through the melee. A pair stayed with Gavin and his younger brothers, while another pair laid into the wolves surrounding Kassian, driving them back until all the allied shifters were able to regroup.

There was no pause though. The Institute shifters drove onward into their midst. They still had the numbers to win the battle. Including that damned gryphon. If Kassian was to win and rescue his brother, he wasn’t going to be able to do it alone. She would have to do something.

Rosie looked around frantically for ideas. Her eyes strayed to where the tranquilizer guns were lost amongst the overgrown grass of the field. If she could only get her hands on those guns, she and the women could make a difference. They could turn the tide of battle with ease. One dart would put down one of the enemy shifters for hours. Each gun held six darts, and they all had an extra magazine on them as well. More than enough, even with their lack of training on using one!

“Don’t do it,” Lena said. “It’s not worth it.”

“I have to,” she replied urgently.

“Those shifters can make sure we win,” Lena pronounced.

Rosie shook her head. “I don’t think they’re enough. I know they’re trained; they told me about that when I went for help. But Kassian was wrong when he said that Cloud Lake was overrun with them. It wasn’t. This was all that could be summoned in time to make it here. Only the four of them.”

Lena didn’t reply, she just stared, watching the fight as they battled back and forth with each other. Another wolf was down, but the Koches and friends were starting to tire, outnumbered as they were, even with the addition of reinforcements.

When Kassian had come to her with his plan, she’d looked at him like he was stupid. Then she’d told him he’d been stupid. If this option was open to them all along, why didn’t they do it before! He shrugged. Maximus was supposed to go to Cadia itself, to gain help. They only found out recently that he hadn’t made it, and after that, they’d been distracted.

Still, she’d followed his plan, and gone to the town of Cloud Lake, searching for help. It was a human settlement on the far side of Cadia from where they currently were, which involved a lot more driving than she would have wished for. But once she’d finally gotten into the office of the man who’d greeted her, he’d been interested in hearing about her plight. Once she’d finished telling the entire story of the Koche brothers’ fight against the Institute, and how they were running out of time, he’d been more than willing to help.

The four shifters she’d seen enter the fight already—which didn’t include the tall, brown-haired man she’d talked to, oddly enough—were what he’d called “Green Bearets.” Apparently they were the warrior elite of the bear shifters of Cadia. She vaguely recalled Kassian talking to her about going through training and being kicked out. It would seem it was the Green Bearet training he’d been referencing.

So she and the four shifters had piled into the white SUV and driven for hours through blank countryside to get here in time. Then she’d had them hide far back in the woods. When they’d discussed the plans, they had all factored in the shifters Director Burnatawiz had assigned to watch them. Unfortunately, they’d counted on there only being four bear shifters, not six in the woods, and then an additional two from the helicopter. That was making things extremely difficult for their plan.

“I’m going,” she decided, and before the other women could stop her, Rosie darted from cover. Which was an extremely polite way of saying that she emerged from the little retaining wall which was in front of the office and ran like a madwoman for the guns. Her feet pounded across the asphalt parking lot, and then the lighter gray of the road. A pothole almost ended her mad dash, but she managed to recover her balance.

Ahead, the guards near the helicopter were reacting. They shouted at her several times to stop, but she ignored them. She was almost there! She could make it.

The pavement around her erupted as bullets started homing in on her. Asphalt chunks slapped against her exposed legs and arms, and a particularly large bit opened up a cut above her right eye. A bullet whined by her ear, so close she almost thought she could see it. Then the grass was there, and she was able to hide herself from sight for a moment. The bullets stopped, but she heard one of them shouting about reloading.

Her hands felt around desperately. She’d seen them toss the guns here. Somewhere. Where were they?! She patted the ground in a frantic search, but nothing came up. They were going to find her, and kill her. They—

There!

Her hands closed around the cold metal of the gun, just as one of the humans opened fire again. It wasn’t a random spray. This time the rounds were being fired at a slower pace.

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

They were getting louder as well. Shit. He was getting closer. The dirt less than a foot to her left sprayed up as a bullet hit it. Rosie huddled down in the dirt as he grew closer. The bullets sprayed around her, but miraculously none of them struck her. She was going to be okay. She was going to make it. Just as the sliver of hope entered her mind, disaster struck.

A bullet creased her arm, opening a long cut from her elbow to just short of her shoulder. Rosie screamed in pain.

The bullets stopped.

“I told you not to do it,” the man said regretfully. “Now you made me kill you. What a waste.”

He thinks I’m dead…

Rosie stayed very, very still. She barely allowed herself to breathe, not wanting to give anything away. Bit by slow bit, she raised the only gun she’d been able to find, aiming it where she’d heard the voice. The grass began to swish, and she could hear his footsteps getting closer. He was almost on top of her.

She couldn’t see him yet. Where was he! If he saw her first, she was doomed. He’d shoot her at point-blank range. Rosie needed to make the first move.

A shadow blocked out part of the sky in front of her as the grass parted slightly, and she didn’t hesitate. Rosie lifted the gun and pulled the trigger, holding it down. The gun bucked and jumped in her hand as it emptied the magazine. She heard the distinct thwack of at least one dart hitting what could only be human flesh.

There was a soft groan, and then the sound of a body hitting the ground nearby. Rosie didn’t wait. Staying hunched over, she ran like the devil himself was chasing her as she headed for the safety of her little walled shelter. Behind her she heard the second guard shout, and once again bullets began to fly. She shrieked in terror, one hand over her head as she ran, praying that her luck would hold true.

The three-foot-high retaining wall came near, but Rosie didn’t slow down.

“Look out!” she shouted, and threw herself up and over it.

The other women cried out in surprise as she sailed over them, hitting the concrete hard and rolling several times before she came to a stop. Rosie immediately crawled on her stomach until she was up against the wall. The bullets continued to spring off the concrete as the shifter approached.

“Magazine!” she hissed, extending her arm. “Someone give me a magazine!”

She never saw who, but one of the other women pressed their spare into her hand. The one she’d been carrying had fallen out on her mad dash back to cover. Rosie slapped the big metal case-like magazine into the modified rifle. The simple design auto-loaded the first dart into the chamber as soon as it was loaded.

Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.

She listened to the approaching guard as he fired steadily, shouting curses at her the entire time. Then the moment came that she’d been waiting for.

Click.

Rosie got into a crouch, calmly setting the gun on top of the wall, pointing the barrel at the guard as he fumbled with a spare. Time seemed to slow as she closed one eye and stared down the barrel, lining up the sights as she’d been taught. It was a simple design: two notches at the back, one right above the muzzle. Place the front one between the two rear, and the dart would go where she wanted.

The guard was finished reloading, and he was bringing his gun up to point at her again.

The notches lined up.

Rosie took a breath.

The guard’s eyes went wide.

She stroked the trigger.

The gun bucked.

A flash of light erupted from the muzzle of the guard’s rifle.