Chapter Five
“I need your help. I would never ask you to do this, but all of our lives are on the line,” Rob said.
He had just finished explaining the situation to his family, his tribe—his world. They consisted of his father Roger, his mother Grace, his brother Alex, and his sister Steph. The moment the phone call ended with Kade, Rob had hopped on his motorcycle and drove as fast as he could through the desert making the typically three hour drive in an hour and a half. With his heightened hearing he could pick up any presence of the law close to him. The last thing he needed slowing him down was some cop who was trying to make a quota.
“You did the right thing coming to us,” Roger said.
“I’m sorry; I should have listened to you. Chasing my dream has put us all in danger.”
Roger put his arm around Rob’s shoulders. “Son, it’s not that simple. You had every right to live your life and fulfill your dream; you don’t have to apologize for that. We all thought that the Ganno were dead and gone. We thought we covered every track and looked under every stone; but we were wrong. That isn’t your fault.”
“Thanks, Dad,” Rob said.
“So, what is the plan?” Alex asked.
“Well, I’ve been thinking a lot about how to do this. I mean Kade has to suspect that I’m not going to come alone, so we really have to convince him that I did. Besides he most likely isn’t holding Doria anywhere near this place. It’s an abandoned warehouse the best I can figure.”
“Ok, so we pick up his scent and surprise him by getting to his hideout early. He won’t see we are coming,” Steph said.
“That’s what I was thinking,” Rob said.
“Great. Now any clue where he might be?” Steph asked.
“Well, I was thinking about that on the ride up here. When I was talking to Kade I could hear something in the background. I didn’t even realize it at first because I was concentrating on what he was saying and it was freaking me out a bit, but afterward I could hear music playing and people cheering. It was a rock concert. I recognized the band too as a band called Shill; one of my favorites. They were playing at the Marquee, in Tempe.”
“Alpha ears,” Steph said. “He didn’t think you would pick up on that because he couldn’t, being a hybrid. How far away do you think he was?”
“I’d say a mile. But if I’m close I can pick up on his scent and track him down,” Rob said.
“Ok. That’s where we go then.”
“I can’t thank you guys enough for doing this,” Rob said.
“Hey, that’s what family is for. Besides, it’s not every day you meet the woman you are mated with,” Roger said.
“You’re sure she is the one?” Alex asked.
Rob looked him dead in the eye.
“I’m sure.”
***
Rob could smell Kade. He knew that this was the place. It had taken him and the tribe about two hours after arriving in the area to track down the scent. It had led them to a neighborhood that was still under construction. The area was growing rapidly and real estate companies were having neighborhoods upon neighborhoods built at a record pace.
Kade and his tribe were holed up in one of the first houses in the development. All of the houses were of the same design; two stories with a patio upstairs, a fenced in back yard, and a small stoop with a roof at the front door. It was nice, he noticed.
Rob motioned to his family to halt behind him. He wanted to find the easiest way into the place. It was imperative that they catch Kade by surprise; it was their best plan for getting Doria back. And, of course, they were going to have to kill every member of Kade’s tribe. They had been corrupted by his evil and they would never stop coming. As long as his family stood, then their place in this world was not secure; they all knew that. They were a tribe of hybrids; the only way for hybrids to gain the power that full bloods had was if they killed a tribe of pure bloods. And they would not stop trying.
Rob moved around the house and hopped over the fence. Then he leapt high up in the air until he was hanging on the bottom of the upper patio. He held himself in place allowing just enough of his head to look over the patio into the sliding glass doors. He could see that it was a bedroom, and it appeared to be the master bedroom. It was dark, he didn’t see any movement. That might be the best place to enter.
He looked down and motioned to his family. This was the plan.
Rob hopped up on the patio and tried the sliding glass door; it was locked, of course. No problem for him as he applied just a little bit more pressure and slid the door open breaking the flimsy lock.
The door was new and it slid back and forth silently. He was thankful for that as he stepped inside. A few moments later the rest of his family was inside with him. Roger was the last to enter and he closed the door ever so gently to block out any outside noise that might have alerted the hybrids that something was going on. They had to be quiet now; the hybrids had acute senses. Not as acute as the pure bloods, but good enough.
Rob motioned for the rest of the group to stay still. He was going to check it out and when he needed them he would signal.
He carefully stepped out of the bedroom and walked into the hallway. Looking left and then right he stepped forward slowly, silently until he was peering over the bannister looking downstairs. He saw it all clearly now.
Doria was there. She was tied to a chair in the center of the room. Sheets had been nailed to the walls over all of the windows. The place had no furniture, but several of the members were sitting on steel folding chairs. Doria was scared; her eyes were wide with fear. From what Rob could tell the ropes holding her were ordinary ropes, but as he looked more closely he could see the odd color tinge to them. It was hard to see in the dimly lit room, but he could just make out that the ropes were wrapped up in silver. Silver was deadly to hybrids. If it got into their bloodstream then they would die within seconds; if it touched their skin it would burn a hole in them and then it could seep into their system almost immediately and kill them. They were even repelled by the glamor of it, almost as if it were an invisible force field. Doria could barely move a muscle without putting her life in jeopardy.
Rob knew that his family, his tribe had to act swiftly; time was of the essence. He did not see Kade. He could tell just by looking that all of the wolves below him were betas. The alpha would have sensed their presence that closely. They were in luck. But he still needed to find Kade and kill him.
Kade and his tribe were most likely feeding on humans; that was the easiest way that hybrids could grow their power, but it had limits. Killing a pride of pure bloods would take them all to the next level. And if pure bloods killed humans… they would be by far the most powerful force on earth, virtually indestructible.
It was time.
Rob gave the signal to his tribe and then leapt over the railing. The second he hit the floor the hybrids were up and leaping at him. He quickly killed the first one. He was a young guy who could have been a college student before he was recruited by Kade for his own selfish reasons. Rob felt guilty about having to kill these people, but they made their own choices. They would have to live with the consequences.
The other wolf, a woman of about thirty was almost on his back before he could blink. He started to spin on her but Steph was already snapping her neck. The woman hit the ground motionless.
Rob went to work on removing the ropes and the silver from Doria’s bonds. She was frightened but so relieved to see him; he could see it all on her face and he could hear it in her heart beat. He was so glad she was alright. He had to get her out of there now.
Several screams came from behind him as three other hybrids crashed into the room. Rob stayed busy with the ropes and shackles as his parents took care of the other hybrids. They were foolish; apparently Kade had never told them that beta hybrids were no match for purebloods. It was over too easily.
“Let’s get out of here,” Rob said as he threw Doria’s shackles to the side.
“What about the leader? We have to take him out,” Alex said.
“Mom, Dad—get Doria to the car and take her out of here. I’ll meet up with you. I’ll find you. Alex, Steph—you guys are with me. We will wait for Kade to show up. He is probably close by.
“Closer than you think,” a voice said from the doorway.
Rob looked up at the face of a monster. Standing there was a tall, well-built man with long chestnut hair. He looked almost like some sort of a Gothic model. His skin was white as powder. He looked almost human, except for the eyes. He had the eyes of a demon and they were looking right into Rob’s.
“Kade,” Rob said.
“Rob,” Kade replied. He walked slowly into the room as if he didn’t have a care in the world. He observed the dead members of his tribe on the floor. “Well, that is a pity. You break into a man’s house and kill his family. Now you are taking his most prized possession? No…that will not do.”
“Take Doria out of here,” Rob said to his parents.
“Oh, I imagine your parents will want to watch as I rip you limb from limb,” Kade said.
Before Rob could blink Kade belted him with a hard right punch across the face and sent him flying into the wall. Rob felt some of his bones crunch and start to heal, but the pain was intense. He realized then that Kade was stronger than he ever thought possible. The evil wolf was older than anyone else realized; he must have been biding his time and building up his power for years and years. This was going to take them all working together to kill him.
Steph and Alex attacked him at once. She punched Kade in the face and he staggered back as Alex swept his legs out from under him. Kade turned this into a back flip and landed behind them clanging their heads together with a sickening thud.
Rob’s heart soared as he worried about the well-being of his family, but he had to take the chance while Kade was distracted. Rob charged at him and burrowed every bit of his weight into Kade’s stomach knocking him through the air where he crashed through a window and hit the ground outside.
Rob could see Steph and Alex starting to get up out of the corner of his eye. He did not want to waste any time for Kade to recover and charge them again. And Doria was out there with his parents; he had to get out there.
Rob leapt through the window out into the darkness, landing on his feet ready to face Kade.
But he was gone. There was nothing there but the night. Rob inhaled deeply trying to track his scent. There was nothing. His trail had vanished. He was an alpha and he had speed that betas did not. Rob possibly could have tracked him down, but it would have taken too long. He was already out of range.
He knew that Kade would return; he was not through yet.
But Rob was going to be ready for him.