Jace’s pov
When I was a young pup, my favorite movie was How The Grinch Stole Christmas. I could recite the entire thing by memory. My parents found it hilarious, and to this day they still buy me some kind of Grinch trinket for Christmas.
It wasn’t until I was in my teens that I wondered why we celebrate this particular holiday at all. The only things we should be celebrating were the moon cycles and Selena, the God of our race.
Anyways, there’s this part of the movie where the Grinch figures out how to stop Christmas from coming, and he gets a wonderful, awful, idea. The top of his hair curls in, and the smile that splits his face used to make me laugh every single time.
As I stare out the windshield at the dumb fuck who’s waving that gun around, that’s exactly what happens. I got a wonderful, awful, idea. And it was either going to work like a charm, or blow up in my face.
Micah’s hand reaches for the gear shifter, but I stop him. “We can’t run. What we can do, is show these asshats that they fucked with the wrong wolves today.”
“I heard what you said Jace. If you get out you die. Now look at them, they have nothing to lose. You should know better than anyone that they’ll go to any lengths to get their pups back. “
A bittersweet chuckle comes out before I mask it with a cough. “Yes I know why they’re doing this. That’s why I’m going to let them live. There’s six of them, and thirty five of us. Now let’s get this over with.”
My door swings open with force, and I let my feet hit the pavement with a loud thud. Since Calvin can’t point his weapon at both me and Micah, he chooses me. Smart choice. “Hands up asshole,” He yells at me.
Crossing my arms over my chest, I stare him straight in the eye and slowly shake my head no. “Are you trying to find out if you're bullet proof or some shit?” He takes a few steps towards me, and lifts the gun to aim at my face.
“Your pack knew about this before our pups were taken up there and sacrificed. You could have stopped them, but instead you hid in your stupid tree stands and waited for them to make the first move. It only seems fitting that we get to trade your sorry asses for our pups back.” Calvin laughs.
I keep my eyes trained on Calvin, but I take notice that Micah walked over and joined Finn and Kreed. The three of them are looking at me, probably waiting to see if I’ll make the first move. They make subtle head movements to indicate they’re aware of where the rest of the armed males were standing. What Micah said in the truck puzzled me as well. How did these six idiots get the drop on everyone else?
Shit shit shit! I almost forgot that my mate was walking straight into a trap. “Adler, you there?”
Of course, what’s up?
“Malcomb knows we’re coming. Shift back and get the team out of there.”
You got great timing. Another few minutes and we’d be fucked.
“So what’s the plan after you trade us?” I ask him. His lips open and he pauses long enough for me to know that they didn’t think about the aftermath. They were short sighted in this rescue plan of theirs.
“That’s none of your business,” He finally sputters at me.
For someone who was probably twice my age, he certainly wasn’t wise. The dark circles under his eyes is a dead give away that he hasn’t slept in days, and likely doesn’t have the ability to think straight either. It’s ironic that he has a gun trained on my nose, and here I was feeling sorry for him. He was desperate. Hell, they were all desperate. Mine and Azariah’s plan to leave this pack out of the rescue mission was a smart thought. Too bad we didn’t follow through.
“He won’t give them back Calvin. All you and your friends have done is ensure that we fail today.” I look over at the others, “Not only are we fucked, but all our pack members who are being held up there are fucked too. This is why we hold meetings and plan things.”
“Plans that we were left out on,” Calvin screams at me.
“Gee, I wonder why,” I sarcastically tell him. How we were going to salvage this situation was beyond me. Getting the hostages out was not going to happen now. All we could do was meet Malcomb head on, and put an end to this.
We’ve lost the element of surprise, but leaving and doing this another night is out of the question. I make eye contact with Micah one last time, hopefully letting him know I was going to take matters into my own hands. His slight nod is all the confirmation I needed.
Dropping my head down at the same time I grab the barrel of the gun, I jerk it upwards and out of Calvins hands. His trigger happy finger does exactly as I predicted and squeezes just as I pull it free. The blast of the gun going off directly beside my ear renders me deaf, but I can’t waste time dwelling on that fact. Still holding it by the barrel, I smash his face with the butt end of the gun. His nose basically explodes upon impact, and blood goes flying everywhere. Turning the gun around, I aim it towards where the other stupid assholes who were holding us hostage were supposed to be.
I’m pleasantly surprised to find them down on their knees, hands on their heads, and weaponless. The three Alpha’s had taken control just as fast as I had, thank the Goddess! At least my awful idea worked out. Otherwise I’d be on the receiving end of a bullet wound. Sure, I was wearing one of the Kevlar vests, but it didn’t protect my face, arms or legs. And these assholes knew it too. I was the one who stupidly pointed it out during our rushed training session just a short time ago.
“So what the fuck do we do now?” Finn snarls at no one in particular.
“I’m not the brains of this operation. Micah, call Amber, see what she thinks.” I tell them.
The other guards pick up their discarded guns, and take over the job of keeping the traitors in check. By the amount of pissed off growls that were ringing out, they’d be lucky to make it through this night themselves.
With the tables turned, one of the Snowmoon packs males lets out a derisive snort. “Must be nice to be so high and mighty. Notice how these assholes still have their phones?” The others who tried to overthrow us are quick to agree.
“That’s because trust is at an all time low currently.” I snarl at them. “Even at our pack, we discovered a traitor who was of high standing. Our goal was to prevent Malcomb from learning when we were coming in, but thanks to you stupid fuckers, our well thought out plan has turned to shit. Again.”
“You don’t need to explain yourself to them,” One of my own pack members announces. “Only those who are up to no good have a problem with our phones being taken in the first place.”
The banter goes back and forth for a few minutes, all while Alpha Kreed just shakes his head. Not that I wanted to stare too long at his face, all things considered, but that’s exactly what I end up doing. I needed to see if there was any telltale sign that he knew what was going to happen. Just because he was part of the group that got overthrown, doesn’t mean he wasn’t in on it all along. Even I’m smart enough to realize that my own thoughts make no sense. If he was in on it, then why did he help us regain control? Might have something to do with his stupid face after all.
I spare a glance in Micah’s direction to see how his conversation with Amber was going. He took cover in the privacy of his truck to make the call, and judging by the look on his face, it wasn’t going well. If Amber can’t figure out what we should do, then we were good and truly fucked! The Goddess put her in our path for a reason, and that reason was so we didn’t make stupid decisions.
Jace! What in the fuck is going on? Azariah’s voice thunders into my skull.
“Well darling, it would appear that Kreed brought along more imbeciles than what was needed. And now we're trying to figure out what to do.”
We need to do this tonight for fuck sakes.
“I’m aware of that. Micah is currently talking to Amber, but I’m not sure even her brains can figure out what the hell to do. Either way, you guys need to get the hell out of there.”
We’ve backed up a good distance, but I’m not ready to head back to the car just yet. There’s gotta be something we can still do.
“Alright, just hang tight. Let me talk it over with everyone.” I tell her.
“Hey Jace,” Finn yells over to me, “Someone should contact Azariah’s team before they go in.”
I grin at him, and waggle my eyebrows. “Already did.” I’d like to think that nobody from Snowmoon pack knew about my unique gift, but after that ass kicking I gave Zane on his front lawn, and how many spectators were there to witness it, I’d say that wolf was already out of the bag.
“Just checking,” He shakes his head in annoyance at me.
Before we can pretend to argue any further, cause lets face it, Azariah has been my top priority for the last sixteen years so there was no way in hell I’d forget to contact her, and he knew it, Micah gets out of the truck and comes stomping my way.
“Soooo,” He slowly says, “My extremely smart mate says we should fight. And that we should gather more warriors and surround them. Shoot everything that exits the old boot camp.” He scrubs a hand down his face, “And then when it’s all done, we burn the place to the ground.”
“With our fucking pups still in there?” Calvin shrieks. I thought he was still in la la land, but I guess not. He tries to get up, but my boot on his chest prevents it.
“What other choice have you given us?” I ask while looking down at his panic filled face. “My mate had a good shot at getting them out, but you ruined that.”
“You people don’t get it,” Another male screams at us. He too tries to get up, but thankfully Finn was paying close attention. He uses my move, and shoves him back down with nothing more than a good kick to the chest.
“We don’t get it?” Finn starts to yell, “Our Doctor and three nurses are currently up there. All we have left is one pack member who teaches our medical course, and a bunch of students who can barely sew a stitch. So don’t fucking act like your the only ones losing someone.”
Micah walks over me and stands shoulder to shoulder. “Amber is contacting Talon to send a team up to us and gather these assholes.” He then leans in to whisper in my ear, “She suggested we drug them so they cant cause any more shit.”
“We have more than enough tranquilizer with us,” This is what I mean by listening to Amber. Personally, I would have just tied them up and left them here. Her idea is much better. Again.
“Time for a nap,” Micah looks down at Calvin, pulls out his dart gun, and fires one into his leg. He then looks up at Finn and Kreed, “ All of them.”
Finn and two of Moonwalker pack members quickly put the other five to sleep, while Kreed stands there looking shocked. “Why?” He asks in confusion.
“Because we have a team coming to collect them. They’ll just be put in a holding cell until we return, and then you can take them home.” Micah says. The authority in his voice makes more sense now than it did earlier today. Kreed nods his head in understanding, dropping his gaze from Micah’s face ever so slightly. I’m not sure if there’s a special tone in which he used, or if it’s because he was technically king of all wolves. Either way, not one wolf here dares to argue with him. “They will not be harmed Alpha Kreed, you have my word.”
“Thank you. And I’m sorry for what has taken place here today. They begged me to come. They wanted to feel useful by helping rescue their pups. It was a mistake to bring them, I see that now” The sincerity in Kreed’s voice reaches even my untrained ears. They say only Alpha’s and Beta’s can detect a lie, but somehow the truth in his words calls out to me.
Stepping away from the group, I pace around the parking lot trying to collect my thoughts. It’s times like this I almost wished I smoked. Ask any smoker, and they’ll tell you it helps calm their nerves. Doctors of course will tell you it does the opposite. It’s not like wolves are prone to lung cancer or copd, but there’s still very few that I know of that do partake in this. Between the cost, and the smell, it’s a big deterrent for anyone. Still, I wonder what euphoric high they get when lighting one and taking a nice long drag.
“There’s candy in the glove box,” Micah yells over to me. I whip around lightning fast, to see him staring at me. “You're agitated. I keep candy on hand for when Azariah is moody, but I figured it might help you at the moment as well.” He laughs at me when I stomp my way over to his truck and open the passenger side door.
Sure enough, like he said, the glove box has candy. Not just a little either. The thing was completely loaded with it. Chocolate bars, gummy bears, sour worms, Swedish berries, you name it, he probably had it. While most people would likely laugh at the sheer volume he had, I’m impressed by how prepared he was. If my beautiful, but hostile mate was in a mood, this might last just one car ride. Two if she ate within an hour of discovering this stash.
Pulling out a bag of gummy bears, I chuckle as I close the door. “Hey, you're gonna need a bigger glove box.”
“I think this one holds plenty.” He reaches over and stuffs his fat sausage like fingers in the bag and takes some of my candy.
“Well, with Amber being pregnant, and your best friend being a sugar addict, I was just making an assumption.” I twist my body to prevent him from stealing any more gummy bears from me. Yes I’m aware that technically they’re his, but once I opened them they became mine fair and square.
“I suppose I could just anchor a cooler in the back cab. Should fit about four glove boxes worth of candy in one of those, eh?” His grin is somewhat contagious as I find myself grinning too.
Finn and Kreed join us, and the four of us make small talk until Talon shows up. He brought two trucks, both with four of our pack members in each. It was eight more bodies than we could spare given the circumstances, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
We secure the sleeping males' hands behind their backs before loading three in the cab of each truck. Talon looks around nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. “Something feels weird.”
Without being able to help myself, I blurt out, “And it don’t look good?”
He reluctantly nods his head yes while Micah snorts a laugh. “Oh man, Azariah would be dying.”
“What?” Talon looks between us in confusion.
I start the song, “When there’s something weird,”
“And it don’t look good,” Micah chimes in.
“Who ya gonna call?”
“Are you serious right now?” He asks me while trying not to laugh.
“Ghostbusters!” Finn sings from the other side of the truck we were standing near.
Talon shakes his head, then jumps in the truck. He fires it up and backs out before rolling his window down. “I think you two have officially lost your damn minds.”
“Azariah made us watch every eighties movie ever made.” Micah defends us.
“More than once.” I confirm.
“More than a hundred times,” Micah adds.
As he pulls away I can’t help but to keep the song going, “If you're seeing things.”
“Running through your head,” Micah bellows out. The truck tires squeal as he takes off as fast as wolfily possible.
Deep down, I know Talon is probably right. We’ve lost our damn minds! Now was not a time for laughing, or singing. At least it beats screaming and throwing a huge hissy fit. Because that’s what I feel like doing. Screaming my frustration to the sky.
“Azariah? You still there?” I ask through the mind link.
Where the hell else would I be?
“It’s time for us to decide what to do. Amber thinks we should stay and fight. But she also said we needed to bring in more muscle, which I’m reluctant to do.” I tell her.
If we’re staying to fight, I could use a few more out back here to help us.
“Alright guys, let's decide what to do. Azariah is all for staying and ending this, but they could use more firing power out back.” I tell the others.
“I don’t think we have the time to send in more help. It’s a ten minute drive back tracking, then another ten in the right direction, then twenty on foot. I think we need to move now. We’ve already lost the element of surprise.” Micah solemnly says. I know he doesn’t want to leave Azari with next to no help, but what else could we actually do?
Since she could hear what was being said through myself, she listens in silently. “They don’t have enough guns or help to defend the back. We either figure out how to send in more help, or we pull them out.” I state firmly.
“What if we go straight at them, but have two teams of four circle the camp around each side to try and reach them.” Finn suggests.
I’ll take whatever I can get.
“If they don’t reach you, you run. Got it?” I tell her.
Only if we have to.
“Azariah!” I snarl.
How about once we’re out of ammunition we run?
“I can live with that.” I agree.
“Okay, let’s gear up and get moving.” Micah instructs us once I relay the plan to him for Azariah’s team.
Out of the thirty five of us left, we select eight to try and reach my mate’s team. What was left didn’t feel like enough to fight this battle, but postponing it wasn't an option. Kratos’ words whisper in my brain as I triple check my kevlar vest. If I go, I could very well die. Looking around at the other males, I could say the same for each and every one of us.
We were outnumbered. They were expecting us. And who the hell knows what else Malcomb has up his sleeve. Not that I necessarily wanted to find out, but in order to protect my pack, I had no other choice.
Since we were down on numbers, only ten of us shift. At least the seventeen that were left all had guns in their hands. We fan out in a straight line, with Micah and myself in the dead center. With each step, I try to find my calm place. The one where my heart wasn’t trying to jump out of my chest. I wish Balor could bring in his men and fight this battle by my side. Hell knows those boys were next to impossible to beat. Even with all the training I’ve had over the last few days with them, I still don’t feel prepared for what’s to come.
Jace?
“Yes darling.”
There’s something that I need to tell you.
That has to be the single worst way in history to start a conversation with your better half. The person on the receiving end already knows it’s gonna be bad news, but has no choice but to listen. “Can it not wait?” I ask her.
If I was certain that there was gonna be a later on, I would.
My heart sinks at her words. If my demi-god mate thinks we're doomed, then we quite possibly were. “Okay, let’s have it.”
I don’t know how else to say this, but….I hate wonderbars.
Her declaration is so far out in left field that I have a hard time understanding what she said. “Umm, what?”
I hate them. The only reason I took them was because I knew they were your favorite.
“Wait a second. You stole my damn wonderbars from my halloween candy bag, and you don’t even like them?” I can actually see the smug look on her face when we were younger and she would rifle through my bag when she thought I wasn’t looking. Not once did I ever try to stop her. “What the hell did you do with them then?”
Oh, I ate them. But I didn’t enjoy it.
I burst out laughing to the point that I have to stop walking. Micah immediately stops as well, and looks over at me like I’ve grown a second head. It only takes a few more seconds for everyone else to halt in their tracks as well.
Her words however, do the trick. My heart was no longer pounding like I ran a marathon. After shaking my head slowly, I start walking again without telling Micah what was going on. “Later,” Was the only word I say to him.
“Since we’re making confessions, I also have one.”
I’m listening.
“Your dvd copy of the Breakfast Club didn’t mysteriously go missing. I hid it so you couldn’t make me watch that awful movie again.”
Son of a bitch!
“It was also me who ate your chocolate chip cookie in grade four when you weren’t looking.”
Jace! I blamed Micah for doing that.
“I know,” I start laughing again, but do my best to keep it down. If the other males didn’t think I was crazy before, they certainly do now.
“Jace, I’m a little worried over here,” Micah calmly says. I know he’s using his professional Alpha voice with me, but it just makes me laugh even harder.
“Sorry. Azariah and I are confessing our secrets in case we don’t see each other again.”
“Okay then. That’s morbid.” He keeps walking, trying to get a few steps ahead of me so I can’t see the corners of his mouth turn upwards. Goddess forbid anyone see him acting unprofessional.
“We are almost there.” Finn informs us. “Let's slow down and observe our surroundings.”
We do as suggested, taking cover behind tree’s. While wolves' hearing was second to none, mine was better than those around me. Closing my eyes, I focus on every little creek and croak the forest offers up. The soft thudding of feet walking our way catches my attention at once. The confusing part is that as far as I can tell, there were only six sets of feet heading for us.
“Only six approach us. Something is definitely wrong.” I quickly fill them in.
“Guns up everyone, stay alert.” Micah calls out.
I’m certain some of our warriors' hands were shaking, but thankfully my own were steady. I wasn’t foolish enough to believe that Malcomb himself would come out here to face us head on. Whomever he’s sent though, would pay for their leader's sins. Leaving any of them alive would be foolish. And I am certainly no fool.
The first sob to reach my ears confuses me. Why was someone crying? “Hello? Is anyone here?” A female’s voice calls out to us.
“What the fuck is going on?” Micah growls. His gaze meets my own, confusion shining in his eyes like mine. Slowly, we both stand from our crouched positions and take tentative steps forward. “Stay back,” He orders the others.
The footsteps approaching us pick up the pace. Twigs and leaves crunching under their hurried feet. “Just keep running. Don’t look back” A male’s voice whispers in the wind.
“Who goes there?” I call out when I can no longer handle the suspense.
“We’ve been set free,” A female tells us. “Please help us” She says while sobbing harder than before.
“It’s a trap,” I whisper.
“Do you hear any footsteps following them? Smell anyone else in the wind?” Micah asks me.
“No. But I feel it in my heart Micah. Something is wrong.” I barely get the words out before the six wolves in human form meet up with us.
Sure enough, they were all hostages. The two who were taken from Moonwalker pack on the road blockade were among them.
One of Kreed’s males rushes forward, grabbing two males and pulling them into his arms. He announces who’s pups they are and rejoices that they’ve been set free. Within seconds, Finn confirms that the other two were from his pack. The female is one of his nurses, and the other was a young male who attended the party last Saturday.
Micah and I keep our distance from everyone, guns still aimed forward and ready. “Why would he set you free?” I snarl loud enough to be heard by all.
“He wants us to give you a message,” One of our pack members addresses me. “They surrender. They’ve released us in good faith, and will release the others tomorrow. At noon, they are going to leave. They want the road block by Bloodmoon removed as this is the road they wish to use. Once they get down to Red Dawn, they will let the rest go and you’ll never see them again.” He informs us.
“Bullshit!” I snarl. “Call Amber,” I turn to Micah at the same time my claws extend. Something about this entire thing has a cold chill running up my spine. It was wrong. There was no way Malcomb was going to give up this easily.
“He has given us a gift, Jace, we need to get moving before he changes his mind.” Kreed tries reasoning with me.
“Then go,” My gravely voice tells him. “All of you, get moving.”
The group turns to Micah, waiting to see what he had to say. He pulls up Amber’s number, then looks at everyone. “Did he stutter?”
The show of support would be heartwarming, if the situation was different. Nobody needed to be told twice, as they all take off running towards our waiting cars. Only Micah, Finn and myself remain where we were.
Amber’s voice says a rushed hello, followed by, are we okay. Micah quickly gives her the run down on what’s happened and asks her for advice.
“Did you check to see if they’d been injected? Or were carrying weapons, or a bomb?” She starts prattling a mile a minute. When Micah admits that we did not check them over, she gets angry. Words like idiots, and dense get thrown our way.
I’ll give her that, because yes, we should have done a strip search. Too bad Adler wasn’t here.
When she calms down, I can hear everything she’s saying. “They could have joined him. For all you know they are working with him, and might even be carrying syringes with them. Imagine what would happen if one of them inject Jace. He could single handedly take you all out.”
Our feet start moving in the direction they took off without having to be told to. Micah promises her we’ll do a search before bringing them home.
“They smelled of fear” I point out while Amber goes over what we need to look for.
“Pardon?” Micah says.
“They all smelled like fear. That’s not a scent someone can fake. They were all scared for their lives. While I agree Malcomb’s up to something, I don’t believe they’re in on it.”
Micah hands his phone to me with a wide eyed look.
“Hello Amber,” I greet her.
“Are you willing to bet your life on it?” Her words echo in my ears as if they were pinging off the trees and hitting me over and over again. “Stay away from them. Do a check from a distance. But do not, I repeat, do NOT get within striking distance.”
“Yes Luna, I understand.”
“Don’t start that Luna shit with me. I’m worried, okay?”
“I know. We’ll check them out asap.” Once I hang up, I mind link Azariah to inform her what’s happened. She agrees to meet me back at the house where we’ll decide what to do next.
We pick up our pace to a jog before any of the hostages can leave. While everyone else was rejoicing in their return, we had to do the unthinkable and treat them like traitors.
Kratos and Amber’s words stick with me however. Was I willing to bet my life on it?
I suppose if Kratos was right, I had already done that.