Betrayed (Wolf Gatherings Book 6) (22 page)

Four reserves headed in that direction. It had been less than a minute. Marcus was relieved to not encounter his grandfather in the hall already. He was also somewhat concerned about that.

“I incapacitated two men in the security office. We need to send some reserves to that room to make sure those guys are taken into captivity before they wake up.” Another four reserves headed the direction Marcus indicated.

“In addition, there are about fifty shifters here. The ones in human form have small apartments lined up on the hall I just pointed out. The shifted ones are in another section. They may or may not be in wolf form at the time. But you’ll have to be prepared for their strength.”

Several reserves nodded.

Marcus led the way deeper into the building, pointing at the highlights of the layout before they divided up to dig into the inner working of the facility.

“This is amazing,” one of the reserves whispered to Marcus as he led a group of six into the lab. “I’m Chuck, by the way. I was with the team that rescued Allison Watkins last month. I heard about this place.” He nodded at a refrigerator. “We need to take these samples.”

Marcus nodded. “And we need to keep them viable. Did you get a refrigerated unit?”

“Yes. I’ll have them pull it up to the building.” Chuck grabbed his cell from his pocket and sent a quick text. “Done.” He leaned in to peer through the glass door. “What the hell do all these numbers mean?”

“Beats me. But I’m sure they’re important.”

“Alu47, Alu79… They must refer to chromosomes. Don’t humans have forty-six chromosomes? And wolves have seventy-eight?” Chuck asked.

“I think so.” Marcus cringed as he leaned in. “Wonder what has seventy-nine then, or God forbid, forty-seven.”

Chuck stood. “Those superwolves is my guess.”

“Fuck.” Marcus said a silent prayer, thanking God he hadn’t been injected with anything in the day and a half since his arrival. The last thing he wanted was someone fucking with his DNA. He wondered if the superwolves had been converted voluntarily or against their will. Probably some of both, knowing his grandfather. He didn’t doubt for one minute the man would have altered Marcus without batting an eye given enough time.

“Look at these three on the bottom.” Chuck pointed.

Marcus leaned closer. Alu47/79 was written on them. He stepped back. “Jesus. This is fucked up.”

“You ain’t kidding,” Chuck said. “I feel the urge to step back for fear of contamination from my proximity.” He laughed, but unconvincingly.

Marcus righted himself. “I’m going to head for my grandfather’s room and make sure he was secured.”

Chuck nodded. “We’ve got this. I think we know everything we need. We’ll gather everything we want to take and get it loaded on trucks.”

“Do you know where my mate is?” Marcus asked.

“About a quarter mile to the west. She’s with Alex, though she isn’t happy about it.”

“I’m sure. But thanks for keeping her safe.”

“Of course. Alex has no business in here, either. He isn’t trained in combat.”

As Marcus walked away, he continued. “At six o’clock, men need to be stationed in the hall when the doors to the private rooms click to unlock.”

Marcus headed for his grandfather’s quarters. Four reserves stood inside the room. Melvin wasn’t there. Good. Marcus couldn’t face the man. Not because he felt any level of remorse for orchestrating this sting, but more because he wasn’t sure he could keep from punching him in the face and finally smirking while the asshole got his just reward. “Did you already take him away?”

The men turned toward him. The largest man, a blond, spoke. “He wasn’t here.”

“Shit.” Marcus turned toward the hall and looked in both directions. “How is that possible? He didn’t have enough warning to escape. We were here within a minute of the explosion.”

“Look at this,” one of the reserves said from the back of the room.

Marcus headed deeper into the room to find a trap door in the floor behind the bed. A rug was shoved to the side next to it. “Shit.”

The reserve whipped the door open, aiming his rifle down the hole. There was a small light on, but no evidence of anyone in the vicinity. “Luis, you come with me. Maybe we can catch up.” The first guy lowered himself down the stairs while the other man leaned over the hole.

Marcus spun around, checking the room to see if there was any other information he might need while the two reserves took off down the escape route.

The tall blond opened a door on the side of the room. Marcus approached, realizing it was a connector to the room next door. The blond lifted his gun as he crossed the threshold. “It’s clear.”

Marcus followed him inside. They rummaged around for a few minutes with the other remaining reserves before Marcus picked up a photo of a man with a child. “This is the guy I almost ran into in the hall earlier. He’s the one who made me late to open the door for you.”

“He must be Cunningham’s assistant,” the blond said, taking the photo. “Luis and Conrad will catch up to them. They can’t have made it too far yet.”

A commotion in the hall sent all three of them running for the door. Reserves were screaming as they ran toward the other end of the hall. “Freeze. Hands up.”

“Stay back,” the blond instructed, holding out a hand to keep Marcus from the fray. “Let NAR handle this.”

It wasn’t as though Marcus didn’t have any training. He was far more capable than most people after yearly summers spent at what he now knew were military camps for the supposedly disenfranchised. Nevertheless, he turned toward his grandfather’s room while the other two reserves took off down the hall. After rummaging around in several desk drawers and cabinets in both rooms, he found a semiautomatic in the adjoining room. It would serve him much better than the pistol he’d stuffed in his back pocket after taking out the security guys.

He stepped back into the hall to find several shifters with the Romulus had managed to escape their rooms and were involved in a shootout with the members of NAR. Shit. There must have been an auto-release of some sort in case of invasion. Of course. Melvin wouldn’t leave his entire bunker without the ability to defend itself.

Someone screamed as they went down hard. Marcus watched as one of the Romulus hit the ground so hard his head cracked, reverberating through the hall. A reserve stepped over his dead body and continued to pursue the other individuals as they became trapped at the end of the hall.

A vibration in Marcus’s pocket made him duck back into his grandfather’s room and dig for his phone. He’d only made one call out. If the call coming in were either Heather or Alex, he wanted to know.

Sure enough, the screen indicated the call coming from Alex’s phone. Marcus flipped it open. “Hello?”

No one responded. He heard a scream and then a shot. He gripped the phone tighter and held it closer to his ear. “Alex?” He shouted again, “Alex? Heather? Talk to me.”

Another scream, this one high-pitched.
Heather
.

Marcus turned and ran, giving only a long enough glance down the hall both ways to ensure he wasn’t in any eminent danger. He took off for the main hall and headed for the exit they’d blown in the side of the building.

West
, he told himself as he bounded over the debris and bolted for the tree line. He could see flashes of light. Another gunshot rang out, helping guide him. His heart bounded.
If that bastard kills Heather
… He pulled the pistol from his back pocket as he ran.

When he heard voices, arguing, he slowed to avoid detection. He ducked behind a bush and tried to get a handle on the scene in front of him.

He spotted Heather immediately. His grandfather held her around the neck. She was pleading, her sweet timbre standing out above the men surrounding the clearing. “Please. You don’t have to do this.” Her voice was hoarse. She held on to Melvin’s forearm.

“Listen, bitch, unless you want me to shoot that bastard again, stop squirming and go peacefully.”

Heather stared at the ground, freezing in her spot.

Marcus followed her gaze and found Alex on his back. He was moving, one foot pushing against the ground in an effort to get out of the line of fire.

Heather screamed.

“Shoot him,” Melvin demanded.

That’s when Marcus saw the larger soldier from the hall earlier behind Melvin, his gun aimed at Alex. He didn’t hesitate. His shot rang out loud, piercing the air. Marcus watching in horror as Alex rolled at the last second, barely avoiding the shot.

Marcus lined up his pistol and took aim, deciding to go for his grandfather first. He was the immediate threat to Heather.
Please stay still, baby
.

He paused only long enough to ensure Heather wasn’t going to get shot. His grandfather snarled. “Fucking kill that bastard,” he shouted at the soldier to his left.

The man took aim again.

While Melvin watched, Marcus took his opportunity. He lined up the shot and pulled the trigger.

As though in slow motion, a second shot rang out less than a second after the first. Marcus knew he hadn’t fired the shot. He stared at the scene in front of him as Melvin and then his body guard fell to the ground.

Heather screamed and screamed.

Marcus lurched to his feet, glancing behind him to find a reserve two feet away from him, lowering his weapon.

As Marcus jerked his gaze back to Heather, she collapsed to the ground, landing on her knees, grasping her neck.

For a moment, Marcus was sure she’d been hit. And then she removed her hands, and he realized she’d been massaging the spot where Melvin had held her.

He leaped over the bush and ran toward her. “Heather,” he shouted.

She jerked her face up, tears streaming down her cheeks.

As Marcus approached, she flinched, landing on her butt, and then she recognized him and relaxed her body as he reached her and pulled her into his arms.

She twisted around to face his grandfather before Marcus could stop her. “Oh, God.”

Marcus cupped her cheeks and brought her gaze to his.

“You shot him.”

“Yes. It was either him or you. He was going to take you hostage.”

She wrapped her arms around him and held on tight.

“You two okay?” The deep voice behind Marcus made him twist his neck to see the reserve. He shrugged. “I saw you take off from the facility like a bat out of hell and followed you.”

“Thank you. God, thank you so much.” If it hadn’t been for him, firing the second shot at his grandfather’s guard nearly simultaneously, who knew what might have happened?

Heather released Marcus and pushed to her knees, crawling across the ground before he could stop her. “Alex,” she yelled.

The reserve crouched in front of Alex, taking his pulse.

“I’m okay,” Alex whispered. “Just a flesh wound.” He grinned, clearly for Heather’s sake.

Marcus beat her to Alex’s side. “You’ve been shot.”

“Just in the leg. I’ll live. Thanks to you two.” Alex lifted to sitting. “Are you okay, Heather?”

“Yes.” She grabbed Marcus’s arm and leaned in next to him. “Fine.”

“I’m so sorry.” Alex turned his gaze to Marcus. “They came at us from behind so fast we couldn’t react. One second we were watching the scene unfold through binoculars; the next second I’d been shot in the leg, and Heather was in the grip of that madman. I still can’t believe a guy as frail-looking as Cunningham could hold on to Heather like that.” He pointed at Marcus’s grandfather on the ground. “Did you make sure those bastards were indeed good and dead?”

“I did,” said the reserve. “They were both shot in the head.” He wrapped a piece of his shirt around Alex’s leg as he spoke.

Marcus looked at Alex. “How did you manage to call me?”

“What? I didn’t call you.”

Marcus whipped out his phone. He stared at the incoming call. “You did. That’s when I came running.”

Alex reached for his pocket and found it empty. He glanced at the ground, located his phone near him, and lifted the device. “Holy shit. I must have accidentally hit redial as I fell to the ground.” Alex yanked his gaze to Marcus. “That was your grandfather.”

“In blood only. He was no family of mine.” He pulled Heather closer to his body and buried his hand in her hair. “The only family I need is right here.” He laid his forehead against hers as he spoke. Relief didn’t begin to describe what he felt.

She gripped his shirt and held on tight.

“I need to get back,” Marcus stated.

“I’m going with you.”

He shook his head. “No way. You’re staying with Alex.” He hauled her to standing.

Alex spoke next. “Neither of you needs to be inside that building. Wait until you get the all-clear before you approach.”

The reserve helped Alex to his feet, and Alex braced himself against the guy’s shoulder to hobble behind Marcus and Heather.

They approached the facility slowly while Alex spoke to Jerard on the phone. “I’m fine. Flesh wound… We’re just to the west… Yes… Text me when it’s clear to approach… Okay… Yep… Got it.”

Marcus stared at him.

“We wait here until Jerard says it’s clear.”

Marcus fidgeted while they waited inside the tree line. They could see the building clearly beneath the lights NAR had put up around the outside. Shifters were being led out and brought to transport vehicles to be removed from the scene.

Jerard came out finally and waved them closer. “Flesh wound?” He raised his eyebrows at Alex as the four of them approached.

“I’ll be fine.”

They gathered with Jerard about five yards from where NAR was herding the Romulus into trucks.

Someone screamed. “You bitch!” The man broke free of the escort holding him and stomped toward Marcus’s group, fire in his eyes.

Heather gasped, gripping Marcus’s arm so hard he couldn’t feel the circulation.

“You goddamn whore!” the guy screamed.

“Shit. That’s the guy who kidnapped me.” She stiffened.

Marcus turned toward her as the guy approached. “You said you never saw him.”

“I would never forget his voice.” She trembled.

Two reserves grabbed the man by his arms to haul him back toward the truck. He was lucky they didn’t shoot first and ask questions later. Marcus assumed they’d already ensured everyone was unarmed.