Jailbreak

Oliver

Over two hundred wolves had the hunters’ compound surrounded. In another four hours, there would be another three hundred and fifty more. We were overprepared, but I didn’t care. Every single wolf here knew exactly why and who they were here for. Given the way her story was told, I truly hoped they would be here even if she wasn’t their alpha’s mate.

I would have to make sure Lya knew that everyone knew now. She was the girl who overcame her upbringing only to put her life on the line for an entire population she barely knew. She was the girl who didn’t need a knight in shining armor. She just needed a sword, and she found her own. I never even stuttered when I declared she was my mate.

I couldn’t muster the courage to try and mindlink with Lya, but Cody had filled me in on what little Liam had been able to pass on, including the fact that in some way or another, her dad was involved in this whole mess. No one was quite sure what Lya had done to set the wheels in motion, but it was chaos when we arrived. The scene before us did not support the image of the hunters we all had in our heads. We thought them to be calculated and sinister, not running around the place, screaming at each other, and fighting amongst themselves. Whatever was going on, people were in disagreement of how it should be managed.

'What the hell did your girl do, Ollie?' Cody whispered, even through the mindlink.

I smiled. 'Whatever it was, it’s helping us out.'

We steadily crept closer, slowly closing in on their compound. There was barely a sliver of a moon left, and the lights glaring from the building left plenty of shadows for us to stay hidden in. The closer we got, the more we could overhear.

“You’re seriously listening to that guy?” a younger man shouted in the face of one a generation or so his senior. “He’s a fucking werewolf! We can’t trust a werewolf!”

“Used to be,” the older hunter hissed. “He don’t have a wolf now. That kid of his got herself marked and she’ll have wolves comin’ after her. Easy kills.”

I shot a glance over at Cody. We had little information to go off of, but it was reasonable to assume they were discussing Lya’s father - the Wulver Alpha. Cody seemed to be nearly radiating anger at what he heard about his other alpha. Losing your wolf was the ultimate dishonor, and certainly not something one of the Wulver Pack would suffer, I would think.

The younger one scoffed. “That’s assuming she’s not linked to a big pack. We could easily be outnumbered.”

“A pack’d be smarter than to send out all their wolves to just pick up a girl.”

Oh, if only he knew this was just a fraction of our wolves.

“She’s the daughter of the alpha of the strongest pack known to man and beast,” the younger said through gritted teeth. “The only one more powerful than her mate is probably her. We don’t stand a chance.”

'Don’t worry,' Adair growled, 'we are the beast.'

“You gonna desert then, boy?” the older man asked. “Go on, we don’t need the help of someone who can’t follow orders. You young bucks are no better than rogues.”

The younger one lunged at the man, knocking him to the ground and grappling with him. The scene caught the attention of the others in the area - supposedly the ones that were supposed to keep an eye out for intruders like us. So, I started sifting through all the links, looking for the particular line I needed.

'Sam?' I asked. 'Cut the lights.'

'Yes, Alpha,' he said.

Not a second later, the compound went dark. This was our party trick, because we weren’t assuming there would be turmoil already. IT had hacked their powergrid, cutting all electricity. Not only did this leave them in the dark, but Liam had tipped us off that the cells had fail-safe electromagnetic locks, so as soon as the power went out, Lya would be free. We could only assume they had generators that would kick in within a few minutes, but it would give us the upper hand to start, at least.

The plan had been reviewed ad nauseum. I didn’t need to send out orders to everyone; they all knew what their parts were. The second the lights went out, those of us that had shifted hit the ground, staying as low as possible as we crawled on our stomachs closer to the compound. Bullets rang over us, taking out the majority of hunters that were standing around the outside of the building, the sound drawing out more.

I smirked to myself. I had gotten pushback when I decided warriors needed to be able to shoot. It sure was coming in handy, though.

The smell of gunsmoke filled the air as the hunters drew their only form of defense. The gunfire was blinding for them at night though, and that gave us the in to charge forward at them.

I paid no regard to who was in my way. If they smelled human, they fell. Copper and iron filled my nose as the rank smell of blood permeated the air. It wasn’t quite enough to drown out my mate’s scent, though. It was like smelling it for the very first time.

Adair let out a howl, calling for his mate. The ones that could offered up a response to his song, but the battle raged on. I leapt over a body, paws skidding in the coagulated, sticky puddle salting the earth when I landed. Adair was tearing his way closer and closer to where she was, thankfully not losing regard for the task at hand.

Something mauled me from the side, sending me off balance and skittering through the dirt. Lya’s scent nearly forgotten, I stood up and shook myself off, looking around for the culprit. I zeroed in on the big, burly man who had just tried to bodycheck a wolf. He was brave, but not smart enough. I lifted my lip and growled at him, providing him just a second too long. The gun was aimed and cocked, pointing right between my eyes.

The bullet never came, though. I crouched back on my haunches, ready to attack, but paused another second to study the frozen form. Blood bubbled up through his lips and he teetered on his feet before falling face first. His solid form had hidden a small figure with a raving mess of unkempt red curls in an oversize sweatshirt. She brandished an axe, the pick of it coated in blood.

Our eyes locked. Her amber eyes looked like little balls of fire out here on the battlefield. I took a step toward her, trying to close the distance, but an injured wolf with a hunter on its trail stumbled between us. I lunged for the hunter, bone and sinew crunching under my jaw and blood leaking down my throat. The taste of it was repulsive, but the glory of another threat removed was sweet. I looked over to the wolf to ensure they were okay. I quickly noticed it was one of the newly graduated females. This particular battle had seen a lot of women stepping up, and I had to think they saw some inspiration in the way Lya put herself on the line for the pack - and she wasn’t even a pack member yet.

I glanced around, taking a moment to assess the damage. Bodies had fallen on both sides, but significantly fewer wolves than humans. With nearly a one to one ratio, we had been making quick work. My pack’s particular talent on the battlefield was showing.

When I looked back to my mate, she was gone.

The Runaway Rogue
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