Putting on my serious mask, I get down to business. “Agreed, it’ll be safer if we wait till the guys are back. Want to do two-hour shifts until they get here?” Klaus just gives me a thumbs up and proceeds to toss me a bar to eat. Ugh, I hate these things. They taste like cardboard and never satisfy your hunger for very long. Two bites in and it’s like the bar has sucked all of the moisture out of my mouth. I dig out my canteen and finish off the rest of the water inside it.
“I’m going to find a stream real quick before you head off. Want me to fill up your water while I’m at it?” Sometimes I choose to be nice. Klaus tosses me his tumbler and I head back the way we came not so long ago. I remember having stepped over a thin shallow stream a few minutes before we stopped.
I finish off my bar as I walk to the stream and make quick work of filling our bottles, draining mine again before filling it a final time. As soon as I get back to Klaus and Princess, he gets up to take off his clothes and shifts into his wolf. That way his senses are as heightened as possible for keeping watch.
A wave of exhaustion washes over me as I sit back down. Sleep beckons me to join its sweet embrace. Before I answer its call, I peer over at Princess and grimace with guilt upon my oversight. How did I overlook giving her any type of pillow? Scooching over so I can lift her head up and lay it on my stomach seems like the easiest option right now. It also has the added value of being close to her. Yep, this feels right. I bend my right arm and lay my head on it while reaching my left hand over myself to run my fingers through her hair. Now, this is a nice way to drift off to sleep.
Chapter 17
Klaus
Present
Having passed on what I just learned while on patrol, I hang up the phone with Alex and take a moment to debate if I should let Marcus know what’s going on. Without a doubt, him and Derrick are already racing to get to us as fast as they can anyways, so letting them know what’s going on won’t provide any advantages to the situation.
Deciding it’s best not to call Marcus, I throw my phone into my pouch and will the change to take over my body. My front paws hit the ground in front of me and I’m already pushing off into a run. Currently, I’m on the north side of the PMC team, which puts them between myself and Alex. I head off in a diagonal line toward the southeast so I can try to circle around them and bypass where the PMC team should meet up with Alex.
The pads of my paws sink into the soft ground as I run, putting all of my strength into my legs to propel me forward even faster. Having transformed into my wolf form, I was able to recoup some of the exhaustion from having traveled all day in my human form, but I’m not at one hundred percent.
My ears pick up a whomp-whomp sound coming from the southeast. My plan was to slightly change my direction to be more in a direct line to Alex, having assumed I've traveled far enough to bypass the PMCs I saw. Nothing is panning out to be a coincidence right now, so I make my way toward the sound to investigate.
The closer I get the more I can detect the vibrations of the air being disturbed, echoing through the atmosphere. Moments after I recognize the vibrations it finally clicks, there's a helicopter hovering in the air almost directly in front of me. Shit, I need to back up a bit, being right below it is a bad idea. My thought is further cemented when a large duffle bag, probably containing gear and weapons, lands in front of me.
It’s hard to hear anything outside of the whomping of the helicopter combined with the thrashing of all the leaves and branches of the trees. The loose dirt and debris in the area is whipping around, stinging my face as I try to hide behind a tree. I constantly blink my eyes to get the grit out and keep them from drying too much.
My eyes don’t leave the space above where the duffle landed. Frustration builds as I can barely catch a glimpse of the helicopter due to the canopy coverage the trees provide. As I’m watching, a wad of rope tumbles into sight, descending through the air until it’s touching the ground. A few twigs start raining to the ground seconds before a body slides down the rope.
A total of five men rappel down from the helicopter. They’re all wearing combat boots, helmets with protective eyewear, padded gloves, harnesses, and camo combat pants with fitted t-shirts in that awful green, typically worn with camo. The first man who rappels down takes off his harness and immediately goes to the duffle bag and pulls out a few items that he affixes to himself and a rifle.
As each member of his team arrives, he hands off gear pulled from the duffle after his counterparts drop their harness on the ground next to the bag. After the last one rappels down, the helicopter moves on, and the near silence that follows is a shocking change, especially for my heightened hearing.
Now that everyone is geared up, the leader pulls them all in for a mission briefing. “As discussed, our objective is to locate and obtain the asset. The last retrieval team’s disappearance tells us there's a trained tactical team protecting the target. We’re cleared to take out any and all obstacles between us and our goal. Four other teams are converging on the asset from different directions so keep alert, and no friendly fire.”
With the end of his speech, the team leader walks in the general direction I was heading to find Alex. Shit, this really isn’t good news. At this point, I’m not easily able to warn him either. Thank the Fates, Alex answered his phone so I could give a heads up of incoming trouble. My only hope is to aid him in any way I can and right now, that would consist of taking down the guys right before me. Too bad I hadn’t thought to take them out as each one rappelled down. I bet they wouldn’t have even heard the shot over the sound of the chopper. Oh well, hindsight and all.
Having five prey before me, I scrutinize them, picking out the weakest among them. I have to be stealthy to take them out in wolf form. The last one to move out after the leader is lagging behind the others. He’ll be my first take down. I stalk up behind him, my lighter blond fur doing me no favors when trying to stay hidden in the waning light. I follow a direct path immediately behind him to stay in his blind spot.
His team isn’t paying attention to the woods behind them, believing the only threats are still before them. Perfect, I’ll need these men to be lax with their surveillance in order to take them out efficiently. Time is not my friend at the moment, and it won’t be a good idea to have fun with my prey or do anything to extend the hunt.
I’m about a foot behind my first adversary. He has no idea I’m here, just the way I want it. With quick reflexes, I pounce forward to place my paws on the ground next to him and twist my body before pushing off with my hind legs. He only has a moment of shock before my strong jaws are closing around his jugular and my teeth snap around his neck. My front paws land on his chest and I push him away with my jaw locked. The backward momentum I push into him causes him to fall back and rips his neck open. The only sound made during my kill is the soft thud of his body landing on the ground.
One down, four to go. From behind a tree, I scan the area for the remaining men to pick out my next mark. One of them leans down and places his rifle on the tree next to him as he ties his shoe. Perfect, you’re next. On silent feet that only someone with as many years’ experience as me can pull off, I dash forward without a sound. He’s at an angle to me so I approach from his side, and at the last moment, I jump, extending my paws forward into a stretch of my body and run into his head with full force.
My paws hit their target right around the jawline and push his head into the tree next to him. The crack his head makes is louder than I would’ve wished, but nothing can be done about it now. He’s immediately knocked unconscious from the force of the hit, blood trickling from the impact point. Using my claws, I cut his carotid causing a spurt of blood to splash my face.
Ugh, I had blood on my snout from the last kill, but it’s so unpleasant to feel blood spraying me. After this, the first item on my to-do list is to find a stream to wash off in. Blood clotted fur is just the worst. Two down, three to go.
I don’t have much time before they realize their numbers are shrinking. Lasering in on the remaining three targets, I mull over whom to take down next. The team leader is still out in the front with one of his teammates walking next to him. They’re whispering in hushed tones, keeping their attention focused on each other with a slight glance down every now and again to maintain their footing.
This leaves the third SOB a short distance behind them. I sneak up behind him and will the change to switch my form. Staying in a crouched position gives me the best advantage, even if he happens to glance behind him right now, chances are he won’t be focused downward but farther out in the distance. I pause for just a moment, ensuring my timing is right before executing my attack.
Upon his next exhale, I jump up with smooth practiced motions and immediately wrap my right arm around his neck and place my left hand behind his head for leverage. I then place my right hand into the nook of my left elbow, while simultaneously pinching my right arm together to put pressure on both sides of his neck, pushing his head forward with my left hand. All of this results in him passing out in mere seconds after grabbing him.
He brought his hands up to grab at my arm after I startled him, but by the time his fight-or-flight reactions kicked in, too much blood flow had been restricted for him to put up any kind of a fight. Unfortunately, he did get a couple of good smacks to my arm causing enough sound to draw the attention of the two remaining men.
Holding onto the dead weight of the passed out PMC, I use his body as a shield. I know my naked body is a surprise to see by the bulging eyes of the two men in front of me. They turned toward us at the same time, as if they choreographed the move and swung up their rifles simultaneously. With lightning quick reflexes, I grab the knife from the sheath attached to the PMC’s belt and put force behind my throw as I let it sail through the air in a beautiful arch to find its target.
The knife sinks into his eye socket, penetrating the brain, killing my target instantly. And then there was one... and a half. In addition to the rifle he was carrying, the man in my arms also has a handgun holstered to his body. Continuing the pattern of using this man as my personal arsenal, I grab his handgun and aim for the team lead.
