Unlike the other times I'd led my people into a fight, my heart was racing in my chest as I walked through the trees with my group members beside and behind me. I was used to going into fights with nothing to lose and no qualms about if I was the stronger wolf. This time, I still wasn't one hundred percent sure we were going to win, even with all the preparation and planning I'd done.
I could hear yelling coming from up ahead, and assumed the pack knew we were here. I hoped they didn't know how many of us were here, because the element of surprise was a big part of my plan.
"Assume formation!" I hear being yelled from ahead. Yeah, they were definitely preparing for our attack.
We break through the trees, standing on top of the hill we had first snuck in on to survey the pack. I glare down at the line of wolves and men standing outside the gate that surrounded the Alpha's mansion. I slid down the hill, Nate following close behind and the rest of the group jumping to the ground below instead. We move closer to the line of ready wolves, everyone forming a loose half circle around Nate and I.
"STOP!" I can feel my wolf growling inside my chest at the sight of the man with the blue hair streak who had previously handled Cleo like a prisoner. He was on my shit list. "You will not take our Luna from us!" I growl out loud this time at these words, and I hear Nate cackling from beside me. We stop walking, and I can feel the tense energy radiating off of Levi, who is close to my left, and Willow, who is at my right. They're both crouch, eyes darting everywhere as they take in their surroundings. I wonder what kind of plan they were cooking up.
"This isn't like last time, bud." Nate steps forward past me, grinning at the man who stood directly in front of the gate with a challenge in his eyes. Clearly, this man was also on Nate's shit list, because the orange headed panther was currently staring him down like he was dinner.
Funny, because that had been just how that man had looked at Cleo those many days ago.
"This time, I'm going to personally fuck you up." I roll my eyes a little as Nate rolls up his sleeves.
"Wait-" I reach forward quickly when I see blue streak reaching for a gun his waist band, a gun loaded with a syringe of liquid. That was our biggest enemy today.
"Go ahead, bitch. Shoot me!" Nate has both arms out now, walking towards the line of men with way too much confidence.
I shake my head but let him live out his fantasy. I had my own murder I was planning on dragging out with Charlie, so it was only fair to let him play out his own.
I still flinch when blue streak pulls the trigger, and the syringe spirals through the air right at Nate.
"Nope." He grins, and in the blink of an eye, has grabbed the vial from the air and smashed it in his hand. I can feel unease in the line of shifters in front of us, even though there are three times as many of them as there are of us.
And so far, Nate is the only one making them uncomfortable.
"Do not let them pass!" Blue streak calls to the other shifters. They nod, and close in a little tighter, each pulling guns from their pants.
Nate throws his head back and laughs. Why does he insist on acting like an evil villain? It was so unnerving.
They begin firing, and I think my jaw might drop a little at how fast Nate knocks the vials away or grabs them and throws them to the ground.
"You'll have to try a lot harder than that!" He boasts, grinning at them. "You only got me the first time because my guard was down, you slimy little fuck." He's zeroed in on blue streak now, who is definitely feeling the pressure.
But despite the sweat dripping down his brow, he's not folding.
"Should we do something to help?" I hear Levi muttering from behind me.
"Let's just see what he does." I shrug, crossing my arms and watching the fight before me. My ears prickled, and I think I can pick up on the sounds of yelling from farther away.
The first group has begun their assault.
I can the panic growing in blue streaks eyes. Can he hear the yelling too?
Is he beginning to realize his pack is totally fucked?
"KILL HIM!" He yells and runs headfirst towards Nate. The other's follow, drawing knives and making a half circle around Nate. Me and the rest still make no move. Somehow, I don't feel like he's about to die, despite being totally outmanned.
"I'm saving you for last." Nate points at blue streak before breaking his stance in the middle and slamming his brass knuckle endowed fist into the closest enemy. Blood sprays from his nose, and he crumples into a ball. Nate doesn't hesitate in moving onto the next, knocking the gun the man weld out of his hand and snapping his neck faster than my eyes could catch. If they would stop pussyfooting around and just shoot him, they might have a chance.
"Amazing..." I hear Willow whisper in awe. I smile a little. This awful display of violence would impress the likes of her. But she's kind of right. As Nate grabs a shifted wolf by the throat and slams into body against the ground over and over again until it no longer moves, I can't help me be impressed by his fighting.
He was a monster, but a beautiful one.
"You filthy panther!" Screeches blue streak once Nate has killed all of his pack mates. Nate's chest is heaving, his face is covered in blood, but none of it is his own. His knuckles on his left hand are covered in bruises so badly, it seems even his amazing healing is taking it's time in making them disappear. He lets the bloody brass knuckles fall of his hand as he stands before his final victim. His eyes are narrowed in, and I almost feel sorry for the guy as Nate grabs him by the top of the head and slams his face into his knee.
But then I remember how he treated Cleo, and I find myself grinning ear to ear just like my co-mate always did when he grabbed him by the upper and lower half of his mouth and ripped until his cheeks split and his neck cracked backwards at an awful angel.
I turn and look at Zach, who is throwing up in a bush.
That was definitely overkill.
I'm just glad I wasn't the one fighting Nate right now, to be honest.
"You good?" I ask carefully as I come up slowly behind him. He's dropped the body, and is just staring down at it while collecting his breath.
"I feel much better now." He spits on the body, and looks towards the gate. "We need to get through or over that now." I guess he was fine? I found myself wondering what this guy's body count was with a reaction that small to committing a small massacre.
"Think it's electric?" My ears prickle at the louder sounds of yelling now. I wonder what was happening with my pack. I didn't want to distract them, so I would just have to keep wondering for now.
"Most likely. Here. Let's do this." He looks around for a moment and his eyes finally settle on one of the panthers lingering in the back. It shrinks a little when it realizes he's looking at it. Nate has definitely gained some street cred after that fight. "You, stand a few feet away from the fence. We'll use you as a jumping off point." I shake my head a little and pinch the bride of my nose.
"That's ridiculous."
"You got a better plan?" I look at him. There was a very intense look in his eyes. He was getting impatient. He was so close to his mate, and wasn't letting anything stand in his way. Especially not some measly gate.
"Fuck it." I shrug my shoulders, and look to the panther, who still hasn't moved. It flicks its tail, but eventually does as it's told and stands a good six feet away from the fence.
"Sorry about this." I mutter to the panther before getting in line behind Nate to make the jump.
We all make it fairly easy; Zach catches his leg on the top of the fence a little and we discover it is in fact electric. He brushes it off though, even though there's a decent sized grill mark on his ankle now.
But we don't exactly have time to stop and bandage minor wounds.
We're in the gate now, approaching the front door to Charlie's mansion. Are we really going to be able to just walk in? I could feel Cleo close by, my heart was racing in my chest. I could feel the tension rolling off Nate as I reached out to turn the front door's handle.
"HEY!" I stop, and turn, where I can see Zane, at the top of the hill where we'd come in from. He's waving his hands and pointing towards the sky. "LOOK!" We all back away from the door, and look to the roof, squinting against the sun. We're back at the fence now, all looking up.
Willow gasps first, then I growl, and I feel Nate clapping his hand on my shoulder and squeezing.
Charlie is on the flat roof of his stupid mansion, with Cleo's panther, who he's got collared, and on a fucking leash.
"You god damn bastard." I growl as we make eye contact. He smiles, and waves, then yanks Cleo's panther by her leash and pulls her against his legs.
"Is this what you're looking for?" He yells, grabbing the thick metal collar that was around my mate's neck. How fucking dare he collar her. Let me kill him. I'll do anything.
"I'm going to rip his heart out through his stomach." I glance down at Willow, who is looking at Charlie with a menace I've never seen on her before. I'm shocked when she's the first one to break away from the group and go running towards the building.
"CLIMB!" Levi yells as he runs after her. She listens, wrapping herself around a support beam and shimming up it. I too break, running for the house, Nate close behind me. I can hear yelling and wolves barking and panthers screeching all around us now. The group is converging closer and closer to us.
She's so close.
Two stories away.
I can feel her fear and anxiety and anger. It drives me shoulder first through the front door, where the entry way is packed with turned wolves, all waiting to ambush whoever walks in first.
I curse as the first one, much smaller than me but a clawed wolf nonetheless, leaps into my face, teeth bared and ready to kill. Without thinking, my hand reaches up and grabs the animal by it's throat, crushing its soft windpipe until it's legs no longer claw at me. I don't think, I just throw its body down and deal with the growling wolf clawing at my back currently.
I grab at whatever I can, which ends up being a handful of neck and fur and pull it over my head with a grunt. I slam it as hard as I can into the floor, moving on to the next wolf flying at my face.
I stop when I see Zach crashing into it before we can make contact.
"Ike, go! Cleo is on the roof!" I watch as he wraps his arms around the wolf's neck in a crushing grip. I nod, switching my attention to the staircase.
"Nate!" I call as I run towards it. I can hear heavy footsteps behind me, and know he follows. We race up the stairs, the sound of fighting below us and from outside where the other shifters still raged on. I wonder how many of our people we had lost so far. There was no way we were getting out of this scot free. There were so many of them. The thirty or so that had initially been in front of the fence, and there had to have been at least twenty wolves crammed into that entry way.
So far, they all were willing to die for their Alpha. None had begged for mercy yet. Although, to be fair, they hadn't been given much of a chance.
Cleo was within my grasp.
Now wasn't the time to slow down.