Call of the Wild (25 page)

He was very proud of what troopers all of the children had been so far.

“You’re right, Ben. I’d like you to take a look at the map. Pick out the kids you think could go along with us to act as possible decoy. If it becomes necessary we’ll need them to run fast, leaving a false trail. Choose a rendevous spot; you’re in charge of getting them back here safely,” said Aaron.

Ben nodded acceptance of his role as he took the map. Aaron was already answering a question from one of the others.

“What if they have dogs?” asked Max.

“You don’t need to worry. The children will be safe, and we’ll take care of the rest. We’re going to be crossing the river—the water will help confuse the dogs. Does everyone know what to do?” Aaron asked after listening and answering concerns from a few others.

Everyone nodded their understanding.

Within ten minutes, they were headed out. Joan Hendricks would stay behind and make sure the children were safe. She and the other adults from the town would be able to hold off any attackers until they got back.

Since they had already been discovered, Aaron contacted David and gave him a fast coded message. Just because there was trouble ahead, was no reason to make it easier for the hunters by giving away their exact location with a long transmission.

It didn’t take much time at all for them to find the first of the hunters. When possible, they knocked them out and left them tied to trees with zip ties. If there wasn’t an option, they didn’t sweat it; they were under a time crunch. Since they had been spotted, and Aaron didn’t know the number of enemies in front of him, he didn’t take chances. Aaron only wished he had a good count on the number of targets. He wanted to make sure there weren’t any farther off north or south of his party.

One thing became readily apparent to Aaron as they went along. These weren’t ordinary hunters.

“Aaron,” Marsha whispered. “These guys aren’t all Society thugs. Some of these men are Shayatin. We have to be careful how we bind them.”

“Now you tell me. Are any of the ones we’ve bound so far going to get away?” he asked.

“No, the rest of us could easily scent them and took care of it. I just thought you should know,” she answered.

He pulled her close and gave her a hard kiss. Even now, his cock stirred at her nearness. He was really looking forward to some alone time with his mate. When this shit was over, he was going to hole up in his apartment with her for a week—or longer. That should at least take the edge off the soul deep need he had for her.

There were train tracks and a road running somewhat parallel to the river. It was becoming difficult to keep under cover. Up ahead, he could see a clearing. He hadn’t come across any other hunters in a while. Either they got them all, or they’d veered from this path.

Very slowly, Aaron approached the clearing. He was just inside the tree line, when a voice called out to him.

“I know you’re there, shifter. I’ve laid a spell; it reaches out for a half mile in all directions. You won’t be able to move unless I allow it. I command you now to step into the clearing,” said the voice.

For a moment, just a very brief moment in time, Aaron felt his limbs were out of his control. Marsha was right; the spell was geared toward shifters. That meant his team was frozen; they would all begin walking forward, following the command of the spell. He must have felt that slight tug because of his changeling heritage. He started forward, walking somewhat jerkily. Basically, he was doing his best zombie impression. Who knew torturing his younger brothers would come in handy some day? He stumbled into the clearing. He kept walking toward the righteous prick, who was smirking at him across the way.

He was about halfway across the clearing, as his team was just emerging from the woods, when the wizard shouted for them to stop. Aaron caught a brief glimpse of Benji behind the wizard and his seven remaining minions, as they stood near the guy. They all had weapons; this was not a good situation.

“Now, hold still like good little shifters, as we suck your magic from you. You’ll be dead and then all those children will come to me. Just like the pied piper, I’ll take them away. Let The Society blunder in with their big feet. The Shayatin always acts with more finesse. We will prevail over all!” the voice shouted.

As the asshole talked—they all liked to talk about how great they were—Benji told Aaron using hand signals which targets he’d take.

The bird on his shoulder was a new touch. Aaron knew his brother had a story to tell. In the next moment, he brought up his arm and fired, taking out the talking head. He quickly took out the men to his right. He didn’t even look at the others; he knew Benji had his back.

Benji walked out of the woods. He looked down at the dead wizard as the other team members approached. “I’m not sorry you interrupted his rant. It was a total snoozer. Are there any more?” he asked.

“There might be. We need to get back to the children. It’s still a couple of miles to Parcoal,” said Aaron.

“Why don’t we call and have the buses come to us? They can be here in fifteen minutes. I’d only need one man per bus to ride shotgun. The rest of you can track down any remaining tangos,” Benji said.

“Damn, Benji…I guess you Navy jerk wads occasionally do come up with a good idea. Take Ben with you; he’s got a smaller group of kids with him now. Also, take Max with you. With that bullet wound, the local cops are going to have a whole bunch of questions. Max can pull rank if necessary.”

Aaron then told Benji who Max was and where he could find him. Max would take him to Ben and the children.

“Good thing you had me covering your ass, Army. SEALs always get the job done,” said Benji as he came down from his adrenaline jag.

After a few more sloppy brotherly sentiments in a similar vein, the two of them parted company. After his brother was out of sight, Aaron once again gathered his team. He made a mental note to ask about the owl later. He’d learned a thing or two about owls from Marsha.
Both
of them looked as if they had been injured. With Benji going on the bus, he’d get the medical attention he needed sooner.

They were heading back to question the prisoners. They needed to find out how many men they had to look for. At the first prisoner, the last one they’d incapacitated, Aaron found David and a couple of his guys.

The two of them caught up on what each team had been doing. David’s team had swept in from the west so they only needed to check east and north. Since the children would be evacuating north, most of them would go that way. Also there still might be brush piles out there. So a thorough search of the forest was still required. The last thing they needed was for some hiker to set off one of the fuel piles.

David kept rubbing his shoulder as if it ached.

“I see you and Benji still have that freaky twin thing going on. He had a bandage on his shoulder right about there,” Aaron said with a nod toward David’s left shoulder.

“Yeah, and there was something about a bird?” David asked.

Aaron didn’t even pretend to understand the almost psychic bond David and Benji had. It was one of the reasons they were so successful in the field. They could practically read each other’s minds. When they were kids, they were always finishing each other’s sentences.

“He had an owl perched on his shoulder. I’m sure he’ll introduce us later,” said Aaron.

David just raised an eyebrow.

“Guys, what’s the plan?” Marsha asked, interrupting their conversation.

The other agent stepped forward. “We can’t put a wizard’s magical attack in our report. From the evidence at the clearing, it looks as if you just murdered those men. Only two of them got shots off; the other weapons hadn’t been fired. We need to work on a story that fits the evidence. The boss wants to send a message. He wants to put these guys away for life.”

“What kinds of charges are we talking about—attempted kidnapping? How long would their sentences be, if they’re actually convicted?” Marsha asked angrily.

She was livid. It was men like these who had murdered her family.

“Taking out the hunters when we’re in an active firefight is one thing. If we killed them now, it would be construed as murder in the first degree. We can’t afford to sink to their level. As much as I believe they should all be executed, we have to give justice a chance. It may not help us now. However, at some point in the future, perhaps not for another hundred years or so, shifters are going to have to reveal themselves. If we document the persecution we’ve endured and the fair, balanced response we’ve answered with, it will go a long way toward protecting us. It would also give our descendants the protection they’ll need under the law,” the agent answered.

“I don’t like it when you’re being so reasonable when I’m feeling so angry,” said Marsha with a frown.

Aaron couldn’t help himself; he pulled her into his arms and started kissing her. It was sinking in that they were safe. No one on his team was dead. All the children were safe. Later on, they would find out what happened with the fire and the towns.

David cleared his throat. He finally got Aaron’s attention when he pulled back.

His ego was happy that Marsha leaned forward a little, as if to follow his mouth when he pulled away. He left his arm around her; she seemed to be swaying just a little.

“Bro, no making out in front of the evil dudes,” said David. “Save it, will ya? We’ve still got work to do.”

David and Aaron were both grinning at each other. They knew that from here on out, it was strictly a mop-up. Still, the sooner they were done, the sooner Aaron could be alone with his mate.

He started shouting out orders.

Marsha and Aaron lay panting on the floor. Aaron looked around and saw that they had only made it about ten feet from the front door to his apartment. At least he’d gotten the door all the way closed, though it was a near thing.

Various things had kept them apart since they left West Virginia to head home. Marsha helped with getting the children situated until they knew what the fallout was from everything, while Aaron helped with the mop-up. His teams also tracked down members of The Society who had fled. It was important for them that they send a message—you come after us, and we’ll come back twice as hard!

So here they were, eight days later, after being nearly seven days apart. As soon as Aaron got his breath back, he was going to pick up Marsha, carry her to the bedroom, and start all over again. He was already getting hard just thinking about sinking into her tight, wet, heat. At least, that was the plan.

He was gathering his strength to stand, when the doorbell rang, followed by a knock. Next, he knew whichever of his brothers it was, would try the door. He’d only shut it, but he hadn’t locked it. Shit! Marsha was already scrambling when he rolled on top of her just as the door opened. It was obvious what they’d been doing. Aaron was just glad all of Marsha’s important bits were covered.

“Hey, anyone home?” Evan called as he opened the door. “Oh! My eyes! I feel dirty now. We’re turning around now so you can scamper off.”

“Unless you need a critique, in that case, we’d be happy to help,” added Steven.

Marsha, looking over his shoulder at their turned heads, let Aaron know it was alright to get up. Aaron stood and then helped Marsha to her feet. After giving her a kiss, he pushed her toward the bedroom before reaching down to grab his jeans from the floor.

“You wanna explain why you’re interrupting my honeymoon?” Aaron grumbled as he pulled on his jeans.

“Dude, put that thing away—I don’t need to see your junk. Besides, I already know mine’s better,” ragged Steven as he, Evan, and Josh moved past him.

His brothers had caused him to lose his
enthusiasm
. Still, he was going commando so he carefully tucked and zipped.

“Is that why all your old girlfriends would take one look at me and then dump your sorry ass?” Aaron sneered at Steven.

Josh was about to make a comment of his own, when Marsha came back in. She had thrown on one of Aaron’s shirts over a pair of leggings. She had taken the time to pull her tousled hair up into a sloppy ponytail.

“You know, if you’re this interested in the outcome, I can always go get my measuring tape. Then you’d know for sure,” she said as she came in.

Evan burst into laughter. “Remember, Josh, you told me that story about Steven and Aaron?”

Josh laughed as Aaron and Steven both turned red.

“Share, share,” said Marsha.

Anything that made her mate turn
that
red was worth hearing.

The six of them moved into the kitchen because the guys had brought over bags of groceries. As they went along, Josh and Evan told the story about how, when Aaron and Steven had been about twelve, they’d overheard some older boys making crude comments. They’d immediately gone home and pulled out their rulers.

“You were a baby, then; how do you even know this story?” Aaron asked as he grabbed one of the beers from the six-pack Steven was unloading into the fridge.

“David,” said Josh at the same time Evan said, “Benji.”

“Where are David and Benji? Not that I want them here. Three of you are three too many right now. And you never answered my earlier question. Why are you all barging in on my alone time with Marsha?” asked Aaron.