Looking To Belong (A Runt's Story)

Chapter 45

An anxious hour later, my head shot up as I mindlinked Ruby, "Watch the forest to the West! Something is approaching, and it isn't ours!"

I felt her jump at my frantic mind call before focusing on the forest with fresh attention. I could sense the intruders now that they were close enough. At least a hundred were approaching, and none of them were my pack members. All of the warriors had fallen silent over the last hour, leaving the safe house fighters nervous and on edge. Any who went to try and scout also fell silent shortly after they encountered the enemy. The strangest thing was that all of them still lived; none had died yet.

This safe house was the closest to the approaching group, and they were obviously heading here. I felt our fighters get angry and uneasy as the attackers appeared along the treeline in both wolf and human forms.

They slowly advanced until the defenders closest to them were goaded into an attack. One by one, they dropped into dark glimmers of unconsciousness. The attackers had minor injuries from the clash, but that was it.

I hesitated for a moment before mindlinking Ruby, "Run to Trevor and Mike's pack for help! They are putting people to sleep somehow. Anyone who tried to fight them are dropping like flies."

I was surprised when she replied, "The Alpha and Beta are already aware, and they are heading there now for reinforcements. It will take them at least six hours to get here though."

Her mind voice was intently focused and ready for the fight. The Alpha and Beta were away, visiting with another pack. Thankfully, they had been on their way back and weren't that far away from Trevor's pack. I hoped that the reinforcements would arrive soon.

Ruby was right in front of the safe house door, waiting for them to close the distance. She refused to be lured into a fight and was biding her time. I hoped that it would be enough. The attackers would close in until a few fighters attacked them, before backing up to examine the more restrained defenders. I slowly got to my feet; there were only a dozen fighters left standing outside at this point.

Instinctively, I tried to scent the air, but it was useless in here. I narrowed my eyes in rage as I felt the last twelve lights flicker into dim shimmers almost simultaneously – one of which was Ruby. The attackers had not been close to our last defenders. What was going on? They had neutralized our fighters at a distance, and our defenders had not even had a chance to mindlink the group inside to warn us.

Ruby had been giving me short updates of their actions until just moments ago. I knew that she would have told me if she knew she was in trouble so that I would have warning. Yet, she hadn't. The instincts that I had picked up during my days as a rogue were screaming that something was not right. I had never heard of anything like this before, and it had me seriously on edge.

I narrowed my eyes and backed into the corner; the wall I was touching was the one that held the door. Our defenders were being dragged away as the intruders closed in on the door. Several women were already in hysterics because they couldn't contact their mates, and their children were mirroring their mother's distress.

Dead silence fell as a huge bang echoed across the room. All eyes locked onto the door. Another bang vibrated the heavy steel door. People moved away from the door in fear. The door was thick reinforced steel; specifically designed to severely slow attackers and give the fighters time to regain lost ground. However, no door in the world could stop a force that had all the time in the world to break it down.

Minutes later, the door busted open as women and children screamed. Bags of powder were thrown into the room. I swiftly put a kleenex over my nose, but I could still pick up the potent scent of the herb that rendered the mindlink inert. No wonder we had been unable to mindlink others. A couple of large, heavily-armored men started pushing their way into the room amidst the sudden cacophony of people screaming as they tried to get away in a room with only one door.

I blinked as I noticed that lethal weapons were absent. These massive men were relying on their strength, size, and armor to protect them. Two had an odd paddle with a long handle and tiny little barbs on it. My eyes widened as I noticed that each person they tapped with it swiftly fell to the floor. My nose could pick up the faint scent of a powerful tranquilizer that must be on their weapons.

They had expected our reaction, but I had been a rogue for too many years and was used to trying to guess my opponent's strategy to find any loophole. I saw one potential tactic to take them by surprise. If I misjudged, I ran right into their hands. If they weren't prepared for it, I had a slight chance of escaping. I used my senses to quickly note the lines of men outside who were waiting to come in and grab those who were unconscious.

The three men had entered the room and slowly moved forward. Everyone moved away from them, noticeably against the far wall. I took a deep breath and called on all of my abilities that I had picked as a rogue and Omega. I turned my passive stance ability to the max; they would have a hard time focusing on me now.

I shifted into wolf form and darted between the feet of those pressing against me. I ran along the wall at full speed and was almost out the door before someone noticed my tiny grey shape in the shadows.

"Catch the pup heading towards the door!"

They had not been expecting anyone to approach them, and it had given me precious seconds. I spread my senses around me so they could warn me of anyone approaching. I sensed some come towards the door to intercept me. I launched myself at the doorjamb and ricocheted off at an angle. I darted between two men and ran full-tilt for the forest while using evasive maneuvers. The unexpected maneuvers and the fact that they couldn't concentrate or truly focus on me had them off balance.

They had expected to catch a clumsy puppy, not an agile runt. Adrenaline surged through my veins as I felt something brush by my fur, but I didn't look back to see what had narrowly missed me. Several had shifted and were hot on my trail. One jumped at me, and I swiftly changed direction to run under low branches. If they valued their eyes, they would have to go around, which they did. Two were gaining on me in an open stretch; I ricocheted off another tree and gained valuable distance away from them.

I put all of my speed as I raced for a massive bramble bush. A wolf caught up to me, and I felt his claws brush my tail. My heart hammered as I felt him reach down to grab my neck, and I put on another desperate burst of speed.

I heard his scream rip behind me as he realized, moments too late, that the plant had been covered in massive evil thorns. I changed direction once more as I kept running. The others that had been following me were distracted by their friend's agony. It gave me time to pull the disappearing act that had frustrated Ruby so many times in the past.