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I traveled with all of them for the next several days. Kiba led them south, through the mountains and the deep forests, taking care to keep to less traveled routes during the night. The stars and the rising moon guided the pack and the more time that I spent with them, the more I began to love them, and see that they were real people with feelings and hopes and dreams.
Toward the end of the journey, I could feel Kiba begin to tense along with the rest of the pack. When I asked what the cause was, he told me that we were drawing close to the second beta containment facility. I couldn’t feel them, but he could. I didn’t say a word as he chose a place where the pack could safely camp out for the rest of the day.
He found a hidden cave and as everyone began to settle, Kiba chose three of the fastest members of the pack to scout ahead. They ran off and Kiba assigned a rotation of guards to ensure the camp remained undisturbed. I curled up against his dark fur and his tail wrapped around me, keeping me snug and warm against his massive body. I slept, exhausted from the days of travel and lack of rest. I dreamed of what might come next when we set out to rescue the betas still kept prisoner.
The scouts returned that night and Kiba pulled them aside along with me. He introduced them to me as Flint, Ashe, and Nikita. They were slender, strong, and three of the younger members of the pack. They remained in wolf form, as did Kiba. It was safer for them that way.
“What do you have to report?” Kiba asked calmly, sitting back on his haunches and appraising the three wolves.
“We have much to tell you. This complex is much more heavily guarded than the first. It’s even more remote and reachable only via a few gated access roads. The woods are less dense there and the terrain rockier, but with plenty of brush to cover our wolf forms,” Flint began.
“There’s a tall barbed wire fence surrounding the compound. The building itself appears to descend an unknown number of levels below ground as the first government black site did. It’s patrolled by guards twenty-four/seven. There are cameras that are trained on the perimeter that appear to be running twenty-four/seven,” Nikita reported.
“Our strategy is going to have to be different for this rescue mission,” Kiba replied carefully.
“We saw a delivery truck arrive while we were there,” Ashe offered, her feminine voice soft but confident.
“Before you rose, alpha, I worked for a site like this one,” Nikita offered. “There are a number of us with inside knowledge as to how their security systems work. We can devise a way to break into the compound, but we must become familiar with every detail of this particular black site’s operations first. We need to do some reconnaissance.”
“Gather a small team. You will observe the facility and report every last detail. Once we have the information we need, we will devise a relevant strategy that will free our people for good,” Kiba directed and the three wolves dispersed as though they were shadows in the night.
Kiba shifted next to me and the magical feeling of his transformation tingled across my skin. When I turned my head, he was standing there beside me, human once more.
“When it comes time to free our beta kindred, you will remain here. It won’t be safe for you. As strong as you are, your human body is still delicate and weak to the weaponry we may encounter there,” he said softly. “Do you understand, little mate?”
“I do,” I answered, but I didn’t agree. I didn’t voice my opinion, but my knowledge and expertise could prove useful if necessary. Not only that, but these wolves were quickly becoming a family to me. As a member of the pack, it was my right to be there for them too. I kept quiet though, knowing now was not the time to bring up how I felt.
Sometimes it was just easier to ask for forgiveness afterwards instead of asking for permission first.
We didn’t talk of it again and before I knew it, a week had passed, and Nikita’s team had completed their reconnaissance mission. They had taken detailed records of every single guard change during the day as well as when and where the delivery trucks arrived. Their notes included how the extensive gate operating system worked. Her team had also found an abandoned factory building nearby, which included some older computer equipment as well as some other leftover supplies from the black site compound.
Now that we had the information we needed, it was time to come up with a plan. Kiba and the pack were ready. It was time to free the rest of the betas.
* * *
After finding no evidence of surveillance or human presence at the abandoned warehouse, we moved into it and used it as our base of operations. Kiba put Nikita in charge and she started planning and putting everything into motion.
In the next few days, I learned a great deal about the pack, but the most surprising thing of all was how skilled they were. They’d lived long lives and as a result, they’d worked a great many different careers, including quite a few in the technology sector. A number of them had taken to careers deep underground, where they traded in things like money, power, and prestige through highly developed coding skills that allowed them to hack through whatever digital walls that were required, including the one that we were going to break into in just a few days.
Ashe was able to procure a copy of the black site’s blueprints, including every door and keycard scan lock through some of her own connections on the dark web. Everyone took their time to study it, including me.
Nikita broke into the camera feeds, making sure to record several hours of footage to use that would cover our tracks during the day of the break-in. She marked the location of several rooms where there was storage for a number of things including weapons, combat gear, and guard uniforms in case any of us would need them.
Flint hacked into the delivery manifests of what was being shipped in and out of the black site facility. He also found the information for the schedules for the next two weeks of delivery, including the exact times in which the trucks would arrive and depart.
The plan was beginning to take shape.
Loosely, a team would intercept the next delivery, taking the place of the drivers and filling the truck with pack members instead of product. Then, when the truck was inside and secure within the facility, the team would break out and take over the receiving area as quietly as possible. Once they were in position, they would open the gates, which apparently could only be done from the inside since they were on their own private servers not connected to the outside network. It would be tough to make it through the building undetected, but Nikita thought we could slip in and out without being discovered.
The night before the break-in was to take place, most of the pack was resting in preparation for the big day ahead. Nikita wasn’t though
and Kiba had gone off to hunt with a number of the men in order to blow off some steam, leaving me alone for the night. I wandered to Nikita’s side where she was studying the blueprints, making sure she knew the plan inside and out because she was going to be the one leading everyone into the fray.
“Nikita, you should get some rest too,” I whispered, trying to keep my voice down so that I didn’t wake the others.
“I have to be prepared,” she countered quietly. She was worried. The rest of the pack had been too. Before they’d gone to sleep, they’d been quiet. Tense. There hadn’t been any laughter that night. Everyone was nervous and I understood why.
“You are, Nikita. You’re more than prepared, more than any of us. That’s why Kiba put you in charge,” I replied.
