CHAPTER 50

Forty minutes later and a couple violent detours and we were pulling into the Sentinel pack's compound. And by compound I meant military like structures with a central building surrounded by four others, one at each corner. All new, all as high tech as they come. Sentinel pack members were moving around, full tactical gear and carrying AR-15s. It was walled off by a twenty foot wall with a walkway along the top that was also patrolled.

"Are they expecting a war?" I wondered as the poor Oldsmobile stuttered to a halt. Our fuel gauge had hit bottom several miles before, and the engine heat warning light had been flashing for longer than that.

We'd lost the vampires along the detours, most of which were nothing but dirt trails through Sentinel territory where the pack had been busy laying traps, and Aiden had arranged an ambush. The last I'd seen the two were surrounded by about twenty wolves and scrambling to untangle themselves from thin strands of wire that sparked whenever they moved.

"Maybe they're leading a war," Bobby returned. He was scraped and bruised from being thrown around in the cab. We'd hit a particularly hard rock that had smashed his face against the steering wheel and split his lip. His eyes were tired and his body sagged with exhaustion.

I felt a little bad for Bobby.

I stepped out of the car as a set of five well armoured men approached with a stretcher between them, Aiden trailing behind.

"We'll take the injured," the first man said to me. He was about my height, which wasn't very impressive, but his muscle bulk strained the material of his shirt below his ballistics vest, which *was*.

I hesitated.

"It's alright," Aiden assured me, coming up from behind the men. Despite his claim of being up all night working he looked freshly put together. His sharp eyes took me in before flicking to the car and what he could see of Darius in the back seat. "I have several medically trained people on staff and a top grade facility. It's small, but we can do almost anything the bigger hospitals can."

He didn't force the issue, didn't order his men to the car, just stopped and waited for me. They were all looking at me.

I nodded, because what else was there to do? And in an instant the five men were carefully maneuvering Darius' battered body from the car.

I swallowed the lump in my throat.

"Tough night?" Aiden asked gently.

A wry laugh burst from my lips. The understatement of the year...maybe my life.

"Come on, we've always got coffee and breakfast should be started soon."

A small thread of relief worked through me. The tension that I'd held since facing the werejaguar finally loosened, just a hair. I'd done what I could. I'd brought Darius back, he was still alive when they loaded him on the stretcher. There was nothing else I could do about anything tonight.

"Bobby, you coming?" I asked.

Bobby was still standing at the front of the car, staring at it blankly.

The once shiny, pristine vehicle was full of dents, dirt and bullet holes. Both bumpers were gone and the back seat was soaked in blood and littered with glass.
He shook his head sadly. "Nah, I'll stay here for a little bit."

I was going to have to do something huge to make it up to Bobby.

Aiden didn't speak as he lead us into the central building, Hoventech's logo blazed above the door. The automatic glass doors opened up into a lobby with smooth marble floors and professional finish. Past the lobby a set of doors lead to what looked like a cafeteria but smelled like heaven.

"Good morning, sir," a human receptionist said from behind a smooth black counter. She caught sight of me and her eyes widened, but she didn't say anything.

I, on the other hand, was just as astonished. I knew the Sentinel pack was large, big enough to rival the organization. But the amount of people in this compound far outstripped that. It was because, I realized, taking a deep breath, there were just as many humans here as there were wolves.

"Good morning, Linda. This is Raven, she'll need to be admitted to the system."

"Of course, sir."

"Security level A."

Linda hesitated, her eyes flashed to me. Aiden tapped a finger on the desk the corner of his lip twitching downward.

"...Of course...sir," she blushed, arranging several items. "Put your finger here, please." She passed over a little pad with a stylized finger print in the center. It looked harmless enough.

I put my finger on the marker.

*Ouch!*

I pulled my hand back, sucking the blood from the wound that had been created, and gave Aiden an accusatory glare. On the pad the drop of blood I left spread out and filled the little grooves of the fingerprint, turning it red.

"I'm sorry, it was necessary. Security is always evolving, as you are well aware. I feel the need to push ahead of possible risks from those talented in such endeavours," he smiled at me knowingly.

"Why the blood?"

"Most biometric security systems are relatively easy to fool, as we experienced during our last little adventure. Hoventech's security is tamper proof. No passwords, no electronic or even physical keys. Just a simple blood sample that immediately runs your dna, for authentication, the sample must be fresh, so no bringing in day old tissue and trying to get through."

I didn't say anything, but even I could think of several ways around that.

"It also measures stress hormones and general health. Any form of coercement or force of any of my staff and access to the room is immediately locked. Each of our secure spaces are on separate circuits all of which have fail safes set to lock down if anything should appear to go wrong. Even the disrupter your friend managed to get a hold of won't work here."

I didn't say anything as several armoured men and women streamed out of the cafeteria past us. At least half were human.

"This is your pack base?"

"It is," he led me through the cafeteria doors and to the left where a wide selection of coffee's and teas were set out along the wall, as well as several trays of pastries and doughnuts that looked to be home made. Or at least made here in the facility. My stomach grumbled and I grabbed a plate and loaded it up.

"You've brought humans here." I stated quietly, keeping the other people sitting at random tables throughout out of ear shot.

"Ah. I see what you're getting at," he poured two cups of coffee and moved to the condiments. "Cream? Sugar?"

"Both please," I told him and then waited as he fixed both cups exactly the same.

"I find the old ways, ways where we separate ourselves from the world around us, to be a little...limiting, don't you?"

I thought about it. Sometimes I supposed it was limiting, and costly. After the vampire had attacked me on the streets of Boston Anthony would have had to spend our limited resources ensuring that none of that information went mainstream, and whatever did was discredited. As wolves we could keep business between the packs, but what happened when someone wasn't playing by the same rules?

"The world is changing, Raven. It's getting harder and harder to hide. One wrong move, one mistake and our presence is going to be much wider known than it already is. If we can control the information, adjust how it is presented, then we, all of us, stand a much greater chance of coming out on top."

He found a table, well away from everyone and sat. I sat too, shaking my head. He wanted to out the werewolf community. That was absolute insanity. I could only imagine the panic of the general population in knowing that literal nightmares were walking their streets, buying from their stores, talking to their children.

Something he said was bothering me though.

"What do you mean, already is?"

"Those files we gathered from Defence Medical were very enlightening, and they highlighted a possibility I'd been heavily considering."

"What is that?"

"The world governments already know about us, Raven. They've known all along. And they're planning war."