Chapter 20: Chapter 19 ~ Plan In Action

Penny’s P.O.V

I was sat on the back porch with a glass of orange and ice in hand, staring off into the woods thinking about the search parties that were out in this weather. The day was hot, probably the hottest day of the year so far and they were out there searching in wolf form, no doubt exhausted from the heat. The sun was high in the sky, directly above me radiating its heat in waves. The position of the sun told me that it was around noon which meant I’d better go and help out the other females with lunch. I quickly gulped down my drink and immediately felt the liquid cool my insides, so refreshing.

I walked into the kitchen to see lunch was already being prepared. The meal was pretty basic consisting of sandwich’s filled with ham, cheese, tomatoes, lettuce basically every filling you could think of. There were also crisps in bowels, different fruits and salad bowls.  It looked like it would be grab what you want and go.

I joined Victoria over the other side of the kitchen and helped her prepare the last remaining sandwiches. Victoria is the packs best cook.

“Would you like a hand finishing up?” I asked.

She smiled showing me her teeth. “That would be lovely.” We settled into a comfortable silence concentrating on the task at hand.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Victoria look over at me a few times opening her mouth but then closed it. “You can ask me anything you know.” I smiled softly at her.

“Oh I know Penny.” She replied quickly as if she had offended me in some way. “I was just going to ask if you’ve heard anything yet.”

I knew what she was talking about, she was wondering if the search parties have found a location on Cameron and Jay but sadly I haven’t heard anything from them since the left in the early hours this morning.

“I haven’t heard anything yet.” I sighed buttering a piece of bread. “But no news is good news.”

“I suppose you are right. Although, it has been a rather long time and I’m starting to worry a little bit. It’s not just me, it’s the whole pack they are really worried about them both. I’m just hoping that we don’t hear that one of them is...” She trailed off.

Dead, I finished the sentence in my head. Everyone has prepared themselves for the worst case scenario but at the same time they have pushed the negative thoughts to the back of their minds, mainly focusing on the positive and that was that both Cameron and Jay will return home safe and sound.

The last of the sandwiches were placed on large, silver serving trays and taken into the dining room with the rest of the feast. The children were the first to grab something to eat and quickly scurried off to continue with their games. The adults however ate very little with being full of worry and concern. I managed to eat a sandwich and an apple but I didn’t have much of an appetite. Once everyone was don’t eating we left the remaining food (which was a lot!) and went about our own business. Some went off to do chores; others went to their rooms to have a nap, to read or to watch TV. We all found different ways to keep ourselves busy. I on the other hand didn’t have a way to distract my thoughts. I was constantly in them, thinking everything over and over. I have also taken up full residents on the back porch looking into the forest. It was peaceful apart from the occasionally visits from the children but they mainly played inside now.

Almost the entire pack left at around six this morning to search our territory but there was still no news and it has gone one in the afternoon.

“They’re taking an awful long time.” I spoke to my wolf.

“They will be incredibly thorough with the leads that they find. They won’t want to put Jay or Cameron in unnecessary danger.” My wolf reassured me. “I hope they aren’t much longer.”

I couldn’t help but agree. I really hoped they weren’t that much longer or else I think I’d go crazy. I would have been out there searching with them but Leon had put his foot down and said that I needed to be here where it was safe. I tried to protest but he wasn’t having any of it. I even said that he couldn’t order me around as I was the Alpha of this pack and I’ve been leading them on my own for years but that still got me nowhere.

The sun was still beaming over the silent forest. You couldn’t hear a thing. No birds were singing, no pitter-patter of tiny paws on the ground and no rustling of the bushes. It was eerily quiet not what a forest should be like.

I sat there on the porch in silence for an hour and a half, lost in thought as I watched and listened for anything. I was about to give up when there was a howl in the difference. I stood up and stood on the top step alerted. As the howl died down another howl filled the once quiet forest with others quickly joining in. By now the people inside of the pack house was stood either on the porch or were in the garden, watching and listening.

“What do you think that means?” Victoria whispered from beside me. The howls all completely died and in their place thundering feet echoed.

“I think we’re about to find out.” I replied. I moved from my spot near the beam and positioned myself in front of everyone. My eyes were glued to the forest line the whole way.

Alpha Sage and Leon appeared from the trees followed closely by the triplets and Adam, not long after them the rest of the pack remerged. They slowed their run to a trot and made their way other to us. Alpha Sage shifted back while everyone else stayed in wolf form. They were all scattered around the garden lying down panting hard. I returned my gaze to Alpha Sage and waited semi patiently.

“We’ve found them.” He grinned. We were all silent for a minute absorbing what he had said then we all broke out into cheers and some pack members even cried. I was grinning from ear to ear.

“Are you serious?” I asked in disbelief.

“Is the sky blue?” He smirked.

I grinned again. “What do we do now?”

“We carry out the plan that we have discussed. However, instead of two teams we will have three to cover all the major exits. One will come from east and the west like we discussed but another will be coming from the south.”

“What about the north exit?” I asked.

“There is no need to worry about them escaping that way as there is a large river with strong currents running through the north.”

“When are we planning the attack?”

“We leave at nightfall.” Alpha Sage said then turned to the wolves. “I suggest you all get some rest and have a big meal to gain back your strength. You’re going to need it.”

One by one everyone shifted back and made their way into the house looking completely exhausted. The children and women followed them in leaving Alpha Sage and I outside.

“How do you think this is going to go?” I asked my happy mood gone.

He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “Honestly? I don’t know. The building where Jay and Cameron are being held has high security. Cameras, barbed wire, and rouges guarding the place at every corner.”

“What does this mean?” I asked wearily afraid of the answer.

Alpha Sage looked grim. “It means that even with the element of surprise there is a chance we may not reach them in time.”

“We can’t let that happen.”

“And we will try not to. I have every intention on bringing them home.” He said with determination then headed for the house leaving me in the garden by myself.

I had no doubt in my mind that we will get them back but at what cost I don’t know. Before we even knew where they were we were positive that we will have no losses, just scratches and bruises but now I’m not so certain. All I could do now was wait and pray to the moon goddess that everyone came out of this alive.

~*~

The hours that followed passed painfully slow. I wasn’t able to concentrate on anything not the book that I tried to read, not my favourite TV show and not to anyone that tried to speak with me. I walked around the pack house as if I was in a trance just waiting for night to fall.

I was sat in the kitchen watching my marshmallows bob up and down in my mug of hot chocolate, alone. To tell you the truth I don’t remember even making it let alone how I ended up in the kitchen.

“Penny honey, are you okay? You’ve been staring at your drink for twenty minutes.” I looked up and saw Leon looking at me with concern.

“Yeah, I’m okay.”

“Don’t lie to me. The look on your face says it all. Now tell me what’s eating at you.” He pulled out a chair making it screech across the kitchen floor and sat in it.

I grunted. How could he read me so easily?

“Penny?”

I sighed. “I’m just worried.”

Leon pulled me into his lap and wrapped his arms around me. “Everything is going to be okay, I promise you.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” I muttered. Leon didn’t reply probably knowing that I couldn’t be brought out of the funky mood that I was in. I was looking out of the window watching the sky. Instead of its normal blue colour it was a variety of yellows, oranges and reds as the sun started to set. It wasn’t long until we all left well most of us. The children and the women are staying here in the safety of the pack house to look after the children. I would be going with the search parties, not that Leon knows about this yet. I refuse to let them go without me.

I felt Leon tense against me.

“What’s wrong?” I asked looking up at him.

“It’s time to go.” He replied.

“Alright then let’s get ready to go.” I jumped off his lap and headed for the kitchen door.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“I’m coming with you.” I turned back to face him. He was frowning.

“No you’re not.” He said sternly.

“I’m coming with you whether you like it or not. I am the Alpha and it is my pack member in trouble and she is like a daughter to me. There is nothing that you can say that will make me stay so I suggest that you just deal with it.” I snapped. Leon’s mouth was agape in shock. I turned my back to him. “Are you coming or what?”

I walked off and started heading for the back garden where everyone would be gathering.  When I heard his footsteps behind me I couldn’t help but smirk. I swung the back door open to see that everyone was already there and ready to go. I walked over and stood next to Alpha Sage.

“I’ve gone over the plan so you all should know it. If we stick to it everything should run smoothly and we all will be coming home with Jay and Cameron in toe.” Alpha Sage addressed everyone. “So the question is are you ready?”

A series of ‘yes alpha’ and cheers erupted around the pack house.

“Then let’s go.” He shifted into his dark brown wolf and I quickly followed in my red/brown wolf. I didn’t need to look behind me to see if they were following because I heard their rapid paws running after us.

When we reached a small clearing that I assumed was half way between the pack house and the building that was hold Jay and Cameron, we came to a stop and Alpha Sage shifted back.

“This is where we will break off into the three separate areas. Everyone get into their group.” He spoke rather loudly so everyone could her him. There were probably around a hundred and fifty wolves standing before him. We all broke in off into our groups. I would be staying with Alpha Sage, Leon and some other wolves; we would be covering the south. The triplets and their group would be covering the east and Adams group the west.

“Right, let’s get this show on the road.” Alpha Sage shifted back into his wolf and took of once again but this time with fewer wolves trailing behind him. Our paws moved with great speed making no sound so the rouges wouldn’t hear us.

We ran, jumped over fallen logs and to add some excitement we ran some more. I was out of breath by the time we reached the rouges hide out. We were all crouched behind bushes our stomachs flat against the ground, watching the rouges on patrol pace. It was a good thing that we masked our scents otherwise we would’ve been found out by now.

The building before us was built with grey bricks; it was two storeys high with a basement where Jay and Cameron were. The windows were large and covered with dust. It looked as if no one was living here but the rouges patrolling said otherwise. Everything about this place screamed prison, all that was missing was a tall wall with barbed wire.

A horn blared from inside the building. We all tensed thinking that it was an alarm alerting them of our presence but the rouges on patrol turned their backs to us and started heading for the building.

“We move out on my say so.” Alpha Sage’s voice floated into all of our heads.

Leon brushed up against me and rubbed his head into my neck. I turned to face him to lick his muzzle, he returned the gesture.

“You stay safe and don’t do anything stupid.”  He said through our private link.

“I promise.”

“I love you Penny.” He nuzzled into my neck.

“I love you to Leon.” We huddled together while we waited for Alpha Sage’s word.

We continued to watch the rouges retreat inside from their patrol duties, there was no at least two to three metres between us and them.

“Everybody move in but keep quiet, make no sound and take out these rouges first.” Alpha Sage commanded. We trotted out from behind our hiding place and stalked the rouges. “Take me them.”

We leaped at the rouges crushing them beneath us. I quickly put my jaws around the neck of the rouge beneath me silencing him before he could alert the others. Someone else must have forgotten the memo as a howl filled the forest and it wasn’t from any of us.

“Everybody brace yourself we’re about to have some company.” Alpha Sage warned us. He couldn’t have been more right. Rouges stormed out of the building already in wolf form charging at us with their teeth bared and saliva flinging everywhere. They looked like savage animals.

Alpha Sage howled and led the charge. The fight was underway.

There was a lot more rouges than I anticipated; when I killed one another took its place immediately. I was fighting a male that was only slightly bigger than me but he was an incredible fighter, strong and proud. We circled each other our gazes locked. If I even blinked I would be killed and that was not happening today. I watched him carefully looking for a weakness but I couldn’t find any, I could tell he was doing the same to me. The male made the first move, he lunged aiming for my neck but I dodged his attack. I sank my teeth into his front leg tearing flesh and muscle, I gripped harder then I heard the bone break and a painful whimper. I let go of his leg and the rouge crumbled to the ground whimpering, without a second thought I snapped his neck and watched him go limp.

“Another rouge down loads more to go,” I sighed to my wolf. I was starting to feel the lack of sleep sneak up on me, my muscles were protesting with the amount of work I was giving them, I felt like I would collapse any second but thinking of Jay kept me going. I had to save her.

“Stay strong Penny.” My wolf replied.

“How are you holding up?” I asked.

“I’m fine. We’d better get focused again Penny, stay strong.” Her voice faded into the back of my mind. I regained my focus and surveyed the area; there was not a single wolf that wasn’t involved in a fight to the death. On the other side of the clearing Leon was fighting off three rouges  even from where I was standing I could see he was injured, one wrong move and he would be dead. I charged over just as one of the rouges leaped at Leon, luckily I was fast enough and tackled the wolf in mid-air snapping his neck in the process. I spun around so I wouldn’t be vulnerable to an attack but got a paw in my face, their claws dug into my muzzle leaving claw marks behind and blood dripping out of the wound to the floor. I knew Leon could smell my blood but he kept swiping and snapping at his opponent besides me picking up speed with his attacks.

I was in yet another fight with a rouge that was bigger than me. Why did I have to be a small wolf? Focus Penny focus I chanted to myself.

The rouge that had clawed me was lying limp on the floor with a goory wound on his neck. Who killed him? I looked around to see if anyone was near but it was just Leon and I. I did a double take looking at my handsome man, he was limping his was over to me.

“Are you okay Penny?” He voice was laced with worry.

“Yes I’m fine. My muzzle is just a little sore. But I should be asking you that question.” I eyed the wounds that were littered all over his body. He had a bite mark on his rear leg which was making him limp, claw marks all over his chest and there was a gash on his back.

“I’m okay. I’m just glad you’re okay.” He licked at my wound.

“It’s not over yet.”

All around us rouges slowly went down one by one which was strange as usually for this number of rouges we would have finished them off ages ago, there was something else going on here. I didn’t voice my concern; it wasn’t the right time to do so. I was so lost in my inner debate that I nearly missed the explosion.

~ Jay’s P.O.V (before the fight) ~

I don’t know how long I slept for but I felt so much better and revived. My body was warm, tingles ran all over my body and without having to open my eyes I knew that I was in Cameron’s arms. I opened my eyes but quickly shut them. The light that was coming from a window in the cell opposite us was blinding.

My back was firmly pressed up against Cameron’s back; his arms were tight around my waist. It’s going to be tough to wriggle out of this. My eyes were still closed as I wriggled in his arms. I squirmed around until I was facing his chest. I’m surprised I didn’t wake him, I was lucky. I gripped his top in my hands and snuggled into his chest, I sighed. I could get used to this. Cameron’s arms tighten around me bringing me closer to him if that was possible. I opened my eyes and looked up at him through my lashes. I gasped, he was wide awake. His eyes were sparkling with amusement and he was wearing his signature smirk.

“You know it would be wise if you didn’t squirm around so much.” Cameron’s voice sounded strained. My cheeks burned when I felt something pressed against my leg, I’m pretty sure my cheeks were as bright as a tomato. “You are so cute when you blush.” This only caused me to turn even redder.

“Shut up,” was my smart reply.

“Hey,” he whispered. “I have some good news. I was able to speak to Adam last night while you were sleeping.”

“Why didn’t you wake me up to tell me?”

“You were dead to the world and you looked so peaceful, I didn’t want to disturb you.”

“So what did you and Adam talk about?” I asked.

“He asked if I knew where we had been taken but I explained that we were drugged at the time so we were pretty out of it. I also told him that we were in a cellar of sorts so they should look for a building with an outside access on the side of the building, but going by a lot of properties these days that’s going to take a while to narrow down. I don’t know how long it will take them to find us but I know that they will.”

“Yeah, I know.” I was over joyed to hear the news; we will hopefully be getting out of here soon. The only question that remains is how long we will have to wait until that happens it could be hours, days or months. “What do we do now?”

“What do you mean?” Cameron sounded confused.

“What do we do to pass the time until we can get out of here?”

“I have something in mind.” He smirked wiggling his eyebrows.

I immediately knew what he was talking about, I punched his arm. “Not going to happen lover boy!”

“Ow,” he complained rubbing his arm. “Okay so that idea is out the window. We can see if your powers are working?”

I thought about it for a moment. Since I’ve been here I haven’t tried to see if I can still use fire I just assumed that I wouldn’t be able to because of the drug that was coursing through my veins. Maybe the drug was out of my system by now. I could even get us out of here.

“I’ll try.”

I moved away from Cameron to stand in the middle of the room so I wouldn’t harm him, just in case I didn’t have full control over the flames. I closed my eyes picturing the heat inside of my body and the particles in the air; I took several deep breaths then opened my eyes. I could feel them changing colour to a fire red and the heat all over my body, so far so good. I took another deep breath and imagined a fire ball forming in my hand. My right hand started to burn starting at my wrist then travelling to my fingertips. In the palm of my hand a small fire ball was floating, yellows, oranges and reds swirling around.

“That is awesome!” Cameron cried.

I clasped my hand shut distinguishing the fire ball. “It’s not awesome Cameron. It doesn’t usually take me that long to make a simple fire ball and they are never that small. It’s like I’ve gone back in time when I first discovered that I could control and make fire, it’s frustrating.” I sighed trying to run my hands through my hair but it was just a tangled mess.

“It’ll be okay Jay.” Cameron’s hands rubbed up and down my arms. “All you have to do is wait for the drugs to wear off a bit more, keep a clear head; you don’t need to put any unnecessary stress on yourself.”

I nodded and took another several deep breaths to calm myself down and to clear my head. I stepped out of Cameron’s embrace and tried again. I went through my routine again and this time I saw a larger fire ball compared to the last one. It wasn’t as big as I would want it but it was better. I grinned. I don’t know how long I practised but the light that was once seeping through the window was gone and it was almost nightfall. In that time I managed to get my fire balls back to their normal size and shooting them at the wall. The whole time Cameron was sitting patiently on the bed that was in our cell, observing and learning.

“I am seriously amazed.” He said mystified looking at me in awe.

“It’s great-” I was cut off by the sound of a horn beeping. I looked over at Cameron confused but his face mirrored mine, what was going on? Before we could say or do anything a howl broke through the silence which was followed by snarls and growls.

“They’ve found us.” Cameron whispered smiling. I couldn’t smile or be happy about the rescue, above us my family was being attacked and some of them might even be dead. I had to get out of here and fast. I shot a fire ball at the wall I was using as target practise earlier, nothing happened. I shot another one and another one. They were flying out of my hands but still nothing happened. I was growing agitated and I could feel my anger getting the better of me, I could still hear the fight above us and it wasn’t helping my anger.

“Jay you need to calm down.” Cameron cautiously started to walk over to me. “Your eyes are brighter than they usually are.”

I knew he was telling the truth because I could feel it, I felt the power surge through me.

“Step back Cameron.” I said through gritted teeth.

“But Jay-”

“But nothing Cameron,” I cut him off. “Step back now!” Out of the corner of my eye I saw him take a couple of steps away from me.

The anger was still building up inside of me waiting to be released. I decided that I’d put it to good use so I imagined fire surrounding me everywhere being carefully that it didn’t harm Cameron. The fire swirled all around me not even leaving a scratch or a burn. I put my arms up in front of me pointing to the wall and with a burst of energy the fire hit the wall with a loud thud. The wall crumbled and flames were flying everywhere. For a moment there wasn’t a sound, it was as if time had stopped. When the wall crashed to the ground the bricks broke apart sending dust everywhere, I was breathing heavily from the lack of oxygen.

I looked over to Cameron to see if he was okay. He sat there with his mouth open and his eyes wide with surprise.

“Are you okay?” I asked. All he could manage was a nod. “Good. Now let’s go.”

I pushed my way through the dust, over the debris and then I climbed up the broken wall. I was able to breathe again once my feet stepped on the ground. I took in a deep breath.

“It’s so good to be above ground.” I said to no one in particular. I surveyed my surroundings and found that we were being held on pack land, so they hadn’t taken us far from home. I recognised this part of the land as well; I would patrol around here and occasionally ran into the odd rouge that had stumbled into our territory.

I felt eyes on me and there were a lot of them. I turned around to see both my pack and rouges staring at me. When my gaze roamed over them they flinched away or turned their heads away. My eyes must still be glowing red.

I found Penny just at the forest line with Leon at her side; both of them smiling at me. Then I saw the triplets, the Alphas and Adam run over to them. I smiled at them then returned my gaze back to the rouges. My smile vanished completely, my mouth in a grim line and a stare that could kill. I didn’t hold back. I leaped into the air with two feet then landed back on the ground with four very large paws. Fear filled the air and that was all it took for me to bring hell upon the rouges.

I snarled, growled, snapped and clawed at the rouges doing as much damage to them as I could so they were more vulnerable and easier to finish off. I swept through them like a hurricane, destroying everything in my path. I was on a mission and that was to find Seb but I couldn’t find him anywhere.

Time seemed to slow as the fight continued. The rouges were now fighting a losing battle, the ones that were still alive and walking were injured and their numbers were low. It wouldn’t be long now until all of them were dead. I don’t know if our side had any casualties but I couldn’t think like that now, I had to concentrate.

I’d just killed a light brown wolf when I spotted Seb near the hole in the wall where Cameron and I escaped from. Our eyes locked over all the mayhem studying each other. I started to stalk towards him never letting me gaze waver, I could feel my muscles ripple when my paws hit the ground, and I could feel my strength with every step. I had a few wounds covering my body, pain was shooting throughout my body but I didn’t let that stop me. Seb didn’t move an inch as I neared him and he didn’t even go wolf, he stood proud still human.

“I’ve been waiting for you Jay.” His voice was calm and collective.

“I’ve been looking for you.” I replied sending the message to his mind.

“Well you found me.”

“Yes I did.” I didn’t waste any time I leaped at him and sank my teeth into his lower leg. He screamed but he quickly recovered hitting me over the head. I released his leg shocked and stumbled around trying to shake away the pain. Seb didn’t give me any time to recover, he charged at me throwing a couple of punches at my chest and a kick to my stomach, I whimpered. He was strong, smart and he was getting in some good hits.

“Come on Jay we’re stronger than him, we can do it”. My wolf encouraged. “We can do this together.” I stopped stumbling around and regained my balance.

Seb was in a defensive stance expecting me to attack him straight away but I did the opposite. I circled him, observed him looking for his weak spots. An obvious one would be the bite mark on his lower leg that I gave him but I knew he would be expecting that, so I continued to observe him. I scanned every inch of him then I found it. Every now and then he would rest a hand on his right hip subconsciously; I doubt he even knew what he was doing so this told me it was an old injury. I had my target all I had to do was time it right. We were still circling each other our eyes never leaving out opponent but that was what gave me an advantage. Seb was too busy focusing on me that he didn’t see the brick; he tripped and fell on his side. I charged at him and I ripped a chunk out of his hip, he was screaming when I bite him again but this time his muscles and veins were torn and I broke his bone. There was blood everywhere; he was slowly bleeding to death. Seb’s breathing was irregular and he was gasping for air, I almost felt sorry for him after all he did give me vital information about myself, but if I let him live he would only gather more rouges to come for me. However, it was over now the battle was done all around me the last remaining rouges were dropping like flies and Penny, Leon, the Alpha’s, Adam and Cameron were all looking over the dead bodies.

“I-i-it isn’t over yet.” Seb gasped for his last breath. “It h-has only just begun.” His eyes glazed over, his head rolled to the side and his chest stopped rising. He was gone.