Dollhouse

Chapter 16

Hello my lovely readers! Life has been hectic, but I'm back with another chapter! Thank you so much to everyone who's given this story a try. Now without further ado, on with the story!

Her last piece of resistance had crumbled after their date, and now they truly acted like mates. Ana still wasn't fully comfortable with all the physical contact, but she was gradually warming up to it. Taito had also figured out how much he affected her, especially when he deepened his voice. She'd turn to putty in his hands, and he teased her relentlessly for it. Ana had also apologized to the pack for her distant behavior. They'd brushed it off though; no one could stay angry when she apologized so sincerely. The pack had also gotten stronger. Taito had received a strength boost when Ana had accepted him as her mate. Because their alpha grew stronger, the pack did as well. Training became more intense. Ana joined the pack, and after bribing Taito, threw herself into the midst of their training sessions. She was surprisingly fierce, using her enhanced senses, speed, assumptions made by her opponent, and quick thinking to her advantage. It also helped that she'd taken self-defense classes before her abduction, so her body still remembered some of the moves. The proud gleam in Taito's eyes also pushed her to continue to come back to training. No one ridiculed her outright either. In fact, she earned their respect through her serious sparring and determination. They had stopped taking it easy on the first day when she proved her worth. They didn't train her as hard as a wolf, but they definitely pushed her limits.

It was after one such training session that Ana found herself exhausted but proud in the game room with Sherry. She'd managed to almost take down her sparring partner, Serenity, until she had regained her balance at the last moment. Still, her improvements were obvious, and that alone was enough to bolster her confidence. Sherry suddenly stood, her face twisting in alarm.

"What's wrong?" Sherry quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her into a closet, burying her under various jackets. Ana sputtered and flailed.

"Sherry what the frickety frack, knick knack – "

"I'll be back in a bit okay? Don't come out of the closet Ana. Do you hear me? And don't make a sound." The quiet click of the closet door and her fading footsteps let Ana know she was alone – for the moment anyway. She hunkered down and waited, counting sheep and making up stories about the coats currently smothering her to death. Wait a minute! I should be out there with my pack! I'm their Luna! She listened hard and counted slowly to ten before quietly busting out of the closet. Alright, let's do some surveillance. She tiptoed through the hall to the nearest room, the mission impossible theme song playing in her head. Holy ham and cheese! The sight that greeted her was gruesome. Wolves lay strewn about the part of the backyard she could see. Her pack fought over and around the dead bodies, unfazed by the carnage. She'd never seen all of them in wolf form, so she could only hope most of the bodies were the attackers. Well I can't directly in this fight. I'm no match for wolf. Maybe Sherry had the right ide – oh heck no! Screw fair fights Ana was looking for weapons. One of the younger members was fending off three wolves while protecting one of its injured comrades. Ana practically tore the room apart looking for some before moving to the next. Come on! There's gotta be something here. She rifled through the rest of the drawers before moving on to the closet. She moved everything, leaving nothing untouched. While moving the shoes, she caught sight of something shiny. Bingo! She shoved the shoes aside and pulled on the false bottom, revealing guns of all shapes and sizes, a few knives, and two pairs of nun chucks. What is this guy – an assassin?! But the nun chucks give off a more ninja feel. Focus Ana! Now is not the time. She dragged the gun case out first before hurriedly covering her discovery. Don't need unwanted guests finding this. She moved back to the window and surveyed the area again. The intruders were being pushed back, but some people were still being cornered. Ana turned back and looked through the collection, ignoring the small handhelds and going straight for the larger ones. She decided on an arm length one with a scope and what she assumed was a silencer. Ana set it up on the collapsible tripod stored next to it and took off the safety. All those spy novels and movies finally came in handy. She cracked the window just enough to clear her shots before settling in. she took a few deep breaths and aimed, thanking her lucky stars for the scope. Okay, you can do this. It's just like those arcade games. Just aim and fire. Be ready for the kickback. Although the arcade guns just shook and the deer weren't moving this much on the medium levels... She waited until one of the wolves crouched before firing. The kickback didn't knock her off her feet but it definitely bruised her shoulder. She scrambled to adjust the scope so she could see if she'd actually hit anything. The wolf had backed off and the battle had paused. Everyone was trying to figure out where the shot had come from. Ana was using the scope to see everything, and when she swept to the outskirts of the battle near the tree line she saw him. He was crouched low, watching the battle. She swore he looked right at her because as soon as she spotted him he winked and faded into the trees. Ana did a few more sweeps, but the man was nowhere to be found. The other wolves began to retreat as well. Ana figured mystery man was their leader, since they'd begun to leave shortly after he did. She sighed and sank down, about to drop the gun when a floorboard creaked. Ana abandoned the makeshift sniper and grabbed two handheld guns instead. She kicked everything else under the bed and moved behind the door. She held her breath as heavy footsteps approached. They stopped in front of the door, pushing it open slowly. Ana knew her scent had been all over the room now, so they couldn't use that to find her just yet. The intruder walked into the room, and as soon as he made it to the middle of the room she stepped from behind the door, guns raised.

"How did you get in here?" The man slowly turned around, a teasing smirk dancing across his lips.

"Through the front door of course." Ana froze, not wanting to believe what her eyes were telling her.

"You. But you're – "A harsh blow to the back of her head cut off her sentence. The man grinned wider and bent down, softly caressing her face.

"Oh, my dear, like I would ever let you go." He stood back up and walked out, Ana being carried by the one who'd knocked her out. They walked through the front door and into the forest, the guards already taken care of.

EX