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It took a while, much longer than he imagined, but Oakley touched and spoke to every wolf. She even accepted a pup from a nursing mother, nuzzled and loved it, before returning it and giving the mother some affection.
Then she stood and offered a hand to Gunner. “Please.”
This could be one of the stupidest things he’d ever done. It was sure among the most intimidating, but he made his way through the throng of wolves until he reached her. She took his hand and raised it. “Pack,” she announced.
Nashoba and Ba’Cho howled, and no sooner had they raised their voices, the rest of the pack joined in. When there was silence, Oakley looked at Gunner. “Now it’s time to send them away.”
“To where? Those men are still out there.”
“Looking for us and our boys. We’ll leave them a trail so they can follow us.” She looked at her wolves. “Take the pack to safety. We lead the enemy away. Protect the pack.”
For a few moments, both wolves just stood there, watching her. Gunner got the feeling they were loath to leave her. She was, after all, their alpha. Then Oakley knelt down and pulled both their faces close. She lowered her head, as did they, and all pressed their heads close, foreheads touching.
When they straightened, Oakley had tears streaming down her face. She hugged each wolf, then stood. “Protect the pack. They’re yours now.”
Nashoba licked Oakley’s cheek, while Ba’Cho’s wet tongue smeared away the tears on the other side of her face. Then Nashoba turned, barked, and as one, the wolves not standing, rose and made space for him and Ba’Cho to walk between them. Gunner and Oakley watched as the pack followed, and continued to watch until every wolf was gone from sight.
“Now we invite the enemy to come,” she said, looking up at Gunner, not trying to hide her tears. He knew her heart was breaking and longed to ease that pain, but right now, she was enough like him that only one thing would stop the hurt. By making damn sure Samir and his men never hurt another wolf.
“You mean invite them to die.” He said.
“That’s exactly what I mean. They came here aiming to kill us and turn these wolves into slaves. We can’t and won’t let that happen.”
“Hooyah.”
Her smile told him that his response was the correct one. This was not the time to let emotions hold sway. He might no longer be active, but he’d definitely found a new war, and he intended to win it.
Losing wasn’t an option.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Oakley sat up, instantly alert. Gunner’s touch on her back told her he was awake. She closed her eyes, searching for a smell or sound, for whatever woke her.
Her eyes flew open with the realization. There was a wolf nearby. Oakley patted Gunner’s leg and then signed to him they had a wolf nearby. She rose slowly and looked around. About a hundred yards away, a rotten tree stood at aslight tilt, its jagged top visual testimony of a catastrophic break.
On the top of the decaying log stood a wolf. Watching.
“Nashoba.” She whispered.
Oakley watched the wolf’s ears move, and the way its tail joined in, and she smiled. He pawed the log twice, looked down at the ground, then pawed again.
“He wants us to go to him.”
“Then let’s go,” Gunner replied.
Together they crossed the short distance, neither unable to break the habit of watching their six. When they reached Nashoba, Oakley immediately embraced the big wolf.
“What’s up buddy?”
Nashoba looked at the ground behind the stump, prompting Oakley to do the same. One look down had them both looking at one another. Gunner reached down and picked up the drone.
Oakley signed to Nashoba. “Where this live?”
He looked up and then to the east. She nodded and glanced at Gunner. “What do you think?”
“I think if we can hook up one of the batteries I have and access the imagery, we might be able to tell where they’ve been looking.”
“And a location?”
