The First Wave (31)

Everything had come to a standstill. While it was smart to keep Lara prisoner, she wasn't giving anything away. She was better at keeping secrets than Max had ever thought she'd be. As it was, they weren't getting anything out of her and torture wasn't exactly an option. Not because they didn't have anyone qualified for it - to the contrary, both Manny and Lola were highly trained for it - but because it crossed a line that nobody who wasn't military wanted to look at. And just because Manny and Lola were good at it didn't mean they wanted to.

While going back to where Gillespie had been holding Max was an option, the quick recon mission the Alphas sent found the area abandoned with barely a trace of wolf scent. It was strange.

Max grumped, flopping over Kyle in frustration. "There were at least twenty..." he said, voice muffled by Kyle's jeans.

Kyle chuckled. "How does a group that big not leave a scent?"

"Especially since they'd been there for about as long as you were gone at the very least." Duke added, sitting on the floor.

Blake, taking up a whole sofa in his laziness - hence why Duke was on the floor - yawned wide. "Doesn't make sense. Even Max's scent was wiped."

"Should we go talk to Lara again?" Duke said.

"Nah," Kyle said. "There's no point if she's not going to say anything useful."

Max shifted again, his usual laziness giving way to frustrated fidgeting. With a huff, Max sat up and started pulling his gun apart, cleaning each individual piece as if he hadn't already done it a million times.

"Paws?" Duke asked.

Grunting in answer, Max glanced at Duke and then returned to the gun.

"Leave him to it, Duke," Blake said, recrossing his legs. "Boy's just frustrated."

They heard it then, falling silent as the growling got louder. Max's grip tightened on the piece of his gun, and with a speed he rarely practiced, he put it back together. On seeing his urgency, the rest of the room readied themselves. Something was happening and not a single one of them needed to say the words.

"We're under attack."

The doors burst open, breaking the spell of tension that blanketed the room, Max narrowly avoiding firing his gun. For good reason, too. Andy stood there, shocked still at the sight of four guns pointed at her.

"Sorry," Duke said, lowering his gun with Max, Lola and Manny all doing the same. "What's going on?"

Andy blinked, visibly putting herself back together before speaking. "Attack. Move to the backyard, we're keeping guard there."

The group moved with a fluidity that seemed almost rehearsed. Blake and Duke positioned themselves at point, leading their little team whilst Lola and Andy were on the flanks. Manny, following Max's lead, made sure Kyle was in the middle. He didn't seem to notice, for which Max was grateful. Anything to make keeping Kyle safe easier.

They came across only three enemy wolves before reaching the backyard, and only one attempted an attack from their rear. All of them were put down by gunshot, or had their throats shorn from their neck if the bullets didn't stop them.

Stepping outside, the evening sun had died, the darkness almost smothering with the dangers that it hid. If not for the stars, Max could've believed that they'd entered another dimension entirely. He'd hate to think how his humans teammates were doing.

They kept running until the reached the centre of the backyard. True, it was called the backyard, but to Max's eyes it looked like it should've been called a courtyard, with a single large circle of grass in the centre and on either side of the paving. In the centre, more little circles of rose bushes dotted the grass in an fae-like manner

Smaller buildings that Max hadn't noticed before, stood almost diminutive in the shadow of the main River house. What they were for, he didn't have a clue. Nor did it matter.

On the grass centre, both Alphas strode in their wolf forms, Carter as well. Max briefly wondered where Fin was, but then dismissed it. Probably somewhere safe and hidden where their enemy couldn't find him.

The cloud cover cleared, revealing the bright moonlight and Max found himself almost feeling blessed by it. Whatever God existed, it could've been smiling down at him for how beautiful the moon seemed right then. That of course, was the bloodlust talking. Battle warped a man's mind and Max - as experienced as he was - was not immune. The glances he exchanged with Manny and Duke proved he wasn't the only one.

Kyle pulled Max back. "We need to shift," he grunted.

Handing his weapons off to Manny, Max followed Kyle.

Crouched in one of the Rose bush circles, Max discovered their purpose. Emergency shifting. It took barely two minutes for Max to shift - a record for him - but in a fight, if your enemy caught you in the open, those two minutes would mean life or death. At least in a rose bush cluster, there was some kind of cover to hide in.

Once shifted, they moved into a loose defensive formation. Kyle, Carter and the Alphas further in the centre. Everyone else forming a protective shield.

Silence reigned. Not even the wind dared to pick a leaf and make it rustle in the stillness. Birds had probably flown long before the mansion was even under attack. Not even the bugs that normally swarmed the night air buzzed.

And then it flooded.

Wolf after wolf after wolf. From every angle, every direction. Chaos. Anarchy. There were so many it was almost as if they'd conjured. The idea that they might've been an illusion was swatted away with the bat of Max's huge paws on a wolf's skull. The sound it made on impact with the ground was almost sickening. Max had but a second to register it. Another wolf was already on him, teeth sinking into hide. Max twisted and slashed at the wolf's eyes, blinding it. He followed with the other paw, claws severing the wolf's windpipe with ease.

And on it went. Exhaustion dragged at Max's bones very nearly convincing him that it was time to stop. To lie down and give up. But then he'd catch sight of his mate - his beautiful mate - fighting for the sake of his family and it was as if Max's strength was renewed. Yes, his muscles screamed at him, and the pain of deep bites and scratches weighed on him, but if Max making sure that Kyle wouldn't fight more than a few wolves, it was worth every torture in the world.

So he kept fighting.

"Max," the voice was distant.

"Max," it said again. Was that Lola?

He couldn't stop though. The new wave would be on them in no time. They had to make sure these were all dead. An enemy left alive was one that would stab them in the back.

"Kitten?" Kyle.

Max stopped then. If Kyle was calling him everything else could wait. He was pretty sure they were all dead, so what was the harm? Kyle needed him. Was he injured? Was he alright?

Without waiting for Kyle to explain, Max strode over, sniffing and inspecting Kyle for injuries. He had some scratches, nicks from teeth, but was otherwise unharmed.

"Kitten," Kyle growled. "Turn back. We need you human."

Max couldn't disobey an order. With the promptness that his training demanded, he found a rose bush and crouched in preparation to shift back.

Instead, he fell asleep.