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“I think I can find that if they set it up to return to them with their current location set as home, because of a beacon one of them wears.”
“That’s actually smart, and don’t give me that look. I want to rid the world of them, but I can still acknowledge them coming up with a clever idea.”
She then reached over and rubbed Nashoba’s face. “Little did they know they had Nashoba to contend with.”
“Copy that,” Gunner’s focus was caught up in fiddling with the drone. Oakley remained quiet, content to sit there rubbing Nashoba, watching Gunner work under a moonlit sky on one of the best locations in the country to marvel at the sight of the Milky Way overhead.
“Son of a –“
She knew without asking. Whatever he found was bad. “Show me.”
“You don’t want to see this.”
“Probably not, but I need to. Show me.”
He handed her the drone. “Play, pause, fast forward, rewind,” he pointed to the controls.
Oakley hit play and felt something collide with her, at least that’s what it felt like. She halfway succeeded in smothering a grunt, but the sound triggered reactions from both males with her. Gunner’s hand was on the middle of her back, and Nashoba’s paw on her leg before the sound ended.
Where there was first shock and disbelief, now anger was taking root, growing rapidly, sending its black acrimonious tendrils out, rapidly growing anddetermined to find and destroy every man who had any hand in this massacre.
The video showed footage of men with assault rifles mowing down dozens of wolves, what looked like a small pack. They left the suffering alive in agony, took time to cut off tails and laugh at the carnage, and then left.
Oakley handed the drone to Gunner. “I’m going to kill them. You need to know that. It’s not a phase meant to indicate I mean to make war and hurt them. I mean to make war and end their lineage. Every single one ends here, in this valley, erasing their line forever.
“I love you, Gun, but I have to say it again because I do. This isn’t your war. It’s one that’s been in the making for a long time. It feels like it’s being enacted by people who witnessed it, not the ones who were participants. Does that make sense? I don’t even feel like I’m that person, but I still carry the hate and the guilt and – and I don’t know. It’s a nasty mix of feelings that I thought I’d put to rest and here we are, having to deal with someone I should have tracked down and killed a long time ago.”
“Nice speech.” He gave a quick smile. “But sugar, I already told you. It’s us now. A team. Your war will always be my war. I am curious if I have the facts, however.
“Your team came under heavy fire, cutting you, Charli and one other off from the rest of the team. You decided to keep going. The target was in the building and this might be the last chance to complete the mission. So, you pressed on and ran into Samir in a courtyard. He had a woman in front of him, clutching a rope that circled her throat. He’d kick her leg, forcing a step, cutting off her air if she didn’t comply. In his free hand was a gun, pointed at the back of the woman’s head.
“You ordered him to drop the weapon, and you’d let his family go.
“He refused and taunted you, saying you didn’t have the courage to shoot an innocent woman.”
He paused and locked gazes with her. “You shot her and got off another shot, one you thought was a kill shot to Samir, that entered his eye socket. The mission was deemed a success, and it wasn’t until much later it was discovered that Samir had survived.
“Now he claims revenge on you for killing his wife. What does he really want?”
She blew out a breath, moved her head from side to side, loosening the muscles, and then answered. “He wants to kill me for turning him into a eunuch.”
“A eunuch?” Gunner crowed. “You shot his dick off?”
“There was time for another shot.”
Gunner grinned. “Do you have any idea how sexy you are right now?”
Oakley gaped at him like he’d lost his mind. “Seriously? Because I shot a man’s dick off?”
“No. Because you shot an asshole’s dick off who would use a woman as a shield.”
“Oh,” she said and grinned. “Well, when you put it like that.” Her smile faded quickly. “I have to end them, Gun. If I don't, then I allow whatever evil they inflict on the wolves to happen. I have to stop them. I have to save as many as possible.”
“I’m down with that, hot stuff, but why does it seem like you’re doing it as penance?”
Oakley never dreamed anyone would ever see through her that way. And yet, there he sat, Gunner Hale,seeing her through eyes that saw things with a singular clarity. She felt both awe and shame.
“Is this about your child, babe?” His voice was soft and made her feel comforted.
