Chameleon Wolf (12 page)

Also, by aiming for the tires, even if they didn’t hit them, there was still the chance of it ricocheting off the ground and landing in the undercarriage of the SUV. That could also take the SUV out of the chase.

Aiden grabbed Matt and pulled him down as he saw someone in the second SUV lean out the passenger window with a gun. Aiden made sure Zac was riding low as he could while still driving.

Counting off as many shots as he could hear, Aiden waited for the need to reload.

“Now,” Aiden yelled, releasing his hold on Matt and firing back.

“Guys, we have a problem,” Zac shouted.

“No shit,” Aiden screamed back. He slipped out his empty clip and then loaded a new one. He handed Matt a full clip as well.

“Aiden, look up ahead. We’re driving into a trap,” Zac told him.

Aiden turned around to look out the front window. Sure enough, there were two more SUVs and two sedans blocking their way.

“Fuck!” Aiden shouted. “Zac, can your truck plow through that?”

“I guess. I mean, it’s a big truck, but it’s not like I’ve tried before.”

“Zac, hold up,” Aiden yelled, grabbing his phone. “Sebastian? Are you still there?”

“Yeah, I’m here, man.”

“Pull next to us. Let Zac go through the barricade first. We’re going to try to ram through,” Aiden told him.

“You sure that’s wise?”

“I’m open to suggestions here. But hurry, we’re going to be on them in a minute,” Aiden yelled back. Sebastian must have made up his mind. Aiden watched him pull into the left lane and pull back on his speed. “Give us a few seconds warning, Zac.”

He turned back around and opened fired on the SUV as Matt mirrored him. They had just taken out the second SUV when Aiden heard Zac yell. Whipping back around so he was facing front, he checked that Matt did the same.

Seconds later, Zac’s truck plowed through the middle of the barricade.
Shit, these guys knew what they were doing
, Aiden thought to himself as he realized they had stacked the vehicles for the barricade.

Amateurs normally pulled vehicles up parallel to each other to block a road. Hired guns or people who’ve been trained knew better.

By staggering the vehicles, they literally had to hit them one at a time but couldn’t get around them. It did as much damage as possible to the inbound vehicle. As they hit the second car, the truck started to fishtail. Aiden glanced behind him and saw Sebastian’s car get rammed from behind. Thankfully they were able to make it through, but Aiden could tell the truck had sustained major damage.

“We’re not going to get very far!” Zac yelled, pointing to the dashboard. Aiden looked. The oil pressure was dropping fast, and the truck was overheating.

“Get as far as you can, but we need to pull off and get distance away from the highway. Can you find a spot where Sebastian can follow?” Aiden asked, turning around seeing Sebastian in as bad a spot as they were.

“Aiden!” he heard Sebastian yell into the phone.

“Yeah, I’m here, buddy! We need to get off the road. We’re losing oil, and the truck is starting to overheat.”

“Well, great, we’re both fucked then. When they hit me from behind, they punctured my gas tank. I’m losing fuel fast, and I figure I’ve got about two more minutes before I’m out.”

“Fuck me!” Aiden yelled before turning to fill Zac in on what Sebastian said.

Zac pulled off the highway, finding some land that didn’t have a ditch. They bounced around in the truck, maybe getting about three quarters of a mile away from the highway before Sebastian’s car died.

Everyone jumped out of the vehicles lightning fast. Matt grabbed the empty clips and boxes of ammo. Sebastian came running up to the side of the truck.

“Zac, I think we should shift,” he said, catching his breath.

“I agree. You two shift, but work on the outside of our pursuers.

Matt and I will fire up the middle so we don’t hit you,” Aiden said.

“Got it,” Zac said, starting to rip off his clothes. “We work as a team, Sebastian. Have you ever hunted with another Delta?”

“No, but I can figure it out, two consecutive attacks on one prey.

We take out two on one side before switching to the other,” Sebastian answered, stripping his clothes off as well.

“Works for me,” Zac replied. “After you see two go down, hold your fire, guys, because we’ll be racing through the middle.”

“We can handle that,” Matt answered, filling the empty clips with bullets.

“Let’s hightail it back further to get more cover. They’ll expect us to stay by the truck,” Aiden said, reaching for Zac. He gave Zac a deep, loving kiss before he spoke. “Keep your ass alive. Sebastian, keep my mate alive.”

“I’ll do my best,” Sebastian replied before hugging Aiden. “Keep your ass alive as well, my friend.”

“We’ll be fine. You just focus on the enemy,” Aiden replied, waiting until Matt had finished kissing Zac before they took off running. He was surprised how fast Matt was for a little guy and impressed by how well he was handling the whole situation. This wasn’t his loving, timid little mate Aiden was used to. Matt was focused, alert, and quick-thinking.

They ran for maybe a mile before spotting a close group of trees that would be perfect for cover. Grabbing Matt’s arm, Aiden directed him over in that direction, slowing down to a jog. When he found the right spot, he knelt down hiding, gaining control of his breathing.

“Remember, shoot up the middle, Matt. Count your shots so you don’t get caught with your pants down. Keep yourself as close to the tree as you can. I’ll be at the tree next to you, okay?”

“I got it, Aiden,” Matt replied, tears filling up his eyes. “Just stay alive, okay? I’ve gotten really attached to you and Zac. Don’t leave me.”

“I won’t, baby,” Aiden told him, wrapping Matt up in his arms.

He held Matt a few more moments before loosening his grip and kissing Matt with everything he had. Aiden held on until he heard the first scream. Then they separated and moved into position.

He left two guns with Matt and one extra clip. Aiden took one gun, but four extra clips. He wanted Matt to have the second gun just in case, but he also wanted his little mate to hide more, refilling his clips.

Aiden kept his position low, focusing on where their enemy would be coming from, but every so often glanced over at Matt. The man stayed completely hidden by the tree, trusting Aiden to keep the lookout.

As the screams, and now some gunfire, got closer, Aiden spotted six men making their way closer to them. Once they were within range, he nodded to Matt. They stayed close to their respective trees as they opened fire.

Aiden and Matt each took one guy out before they had to change clips. By the middle of the second clip, their pursuers figured out their position and returned fire. Aiden was able to take out two that time, and Matt one, but Aiden saw they had more incoming. He changed clips without even looking as he watched farther back another dozen bad guys on approach.

One by one they seemed to be going down. Focusing on the last guy alive approaching them quickly, Aiden aimed and fired a rapid succession of rounds. When the guy went down, Aiden turned to Matt with a smile and started to refill the empty clips.

“What type of ammo is this?” Matt asked, the confusion showing on his face now that he had a moment to look at the bullets.

“It’s specifically engineered for Beretta semi-automatic guns. You won’t find it at your local gun store,” Aiden replied, hoping he made his point.

The ammo could only be found on the black market. Humans designed it so they could cut through Kevlar. That’s not what Aiden used them for, though. He only used them when he was dealing with werewolves. They healed so quickly, Aiden needed to make sure they did the most damage.

While regular bullets would cut right through flesh, causing the bullet to come out the other side, this ammo was made to splinter off.

That way it stayed inside the target and blew a hole in them, causing as much internal damage as possible. It also helped because werewolves healed quickly once the bullet was out. These took a while to fish out.

Though this type of ammo was used regularly in semi-automatic rifles that the military used, his buddy had a black-market dealer who sold it for handguns. Aiden was very skeptical buying from the man at first. He didn’t want to deal with a man who helped drug dealers and mob bosses kill policemen. His buddy, and then the man himself, assured him that wasn’t his market. He dealt strictly with supernatural clients who might engage with other supernaturals.

Aiden checked on Matt again, making sure he was ready. When Matt nodded at him, Aiden looked out from his hiding spot. Their pursuers were still getting close, though there were only seven of them left. Make that six.

When one went down on the right side, the last one being taken down from the left, Aiden knew he had a window to fire in the middle. He flipped the safety off, aimed, and shot one round after another until the guy in the middle fell. Another guy to the right went down, so Aiden knew the Deltas would be heading to the left.

There were still four left, but grouped closer together. Just to be on the safe side, as he saw someone on the left being attacked, Aiden picked off the guy all the way to the right. When his target went down, Aiden held his fire since the last two men were close together.

The last thing they needed was for one of the invisible Deltas to be hit by friendly fire.

Aiden and Matt watched as the last two men were maimed by invisible forces. He smiled to himself as he thought about human myths of ghosts and wondered if what they saw was a Delta. Or he should say, what they didn’t see. Peeking back around the tree, he saw everyone was down.

“Come on, Matt, let’s head back to the truck,” he said as he stood up. As Matt joined him, he leaned down and claimed his little mate’s lips. “See, told you that you’re stuck with me!”

“I’m glad,” Matt replied with a huge grin. “Let’s go find our other mate and make sure he’s okay.”

They took off back to the truck at a jog. Several minutes later, as they reached the truck, Aiden saw Zac, then Sebastian, change back into human form.

“You guys okay?” Aiden asked, approaching them.

“We’re good,” Zac answered, wrapping his arms around Aiden.

“Nice shooting, Tex.”

“Matt did more than his share, too,” Aiden said, releasing Zac and making his way to Sebastian. “What are your injuries?”

“A couple of bruises from flailing limbs or lucky shots,” Sebastian answered with a shrug. “Nothing that won’t heal soon.”

“I’m glad, brother,” Aiden replied, hugging his best friend. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Zac and Matt were playing tonsil hockey.

“Break it up, guys,” Sebastian said, groaning at Zac and Matt while releasing Aiden. “We’re not out of the woods yet, horndogs.”

“Right, what now?” Aiden asked.

“Well, we’re still about eighty miles from council headquarters, and no working vehicles. I’m open to ideas,” Zac said after releasing Matt from their kiss.

Aiden wanted nothing more than to kiss Zac and Matt like that, but there was no time. When this was all over, though, the three of them were staying in bed for a week, Aiden promised himself.

“I have an idea.” Matt spoke up, waiting until everyone looked at him. “I memorized the map. I know exactly where we need to go. I say we figure out a way to attach a bag to me and Aiden in wolf form, carrying our clothes, keys, wallets, cell phones, and the papers for the council. Zac and Sebastian shift back to Chameleon form and flank us.”

Aiden and the two other men looked at each other, having a nonverbal conversation about Matt’s plan. Personally, Aiden thought it was a good fucking plan!

“I think that’s a great plan, baby,” Zac said, giving him another quick kiss. “My mate is so smart.” Aiden almost laughed at Zac’s face. He looked like a proud parent instead of a mate.

“Agreed,” Sebastian added, “I’ll call for a cleanup crew since we don’t know what the status is on Zac. For all we know, there may be a hit out on you now.” Sebastian turned and walked around the truck where he had left his clothes and things.

The rest of them started looking at the bags they had, debating which would be best to attach to them in wolf form. Once they got the bag issue settled, Aiden and Matt stripped, packing their clothes in the bags, before adding the other things Matt listed. Sebastian walked back to them, handing over his belongings and his copy of the paperwork.

“I called it in and explained we won’t be here,” Sebastian said, trying hard to keep his eyes averted from the other naked men.

“Okay, let’s shift, Matt,” Aiden said before giving Zac and Matt another quick kiss. He shifted quickly, Matt right behind him. Matt was just a tad bigger than a normal wolf, whereas Aiden was much larger than that. He watched as Zac fitted one bag on the back of Matt while Sebastian strapped the other bag on him.

It made sense that the two visible wolves carried the packs, strapping them to the Deltas would just give away their positions.

They couldn’t make other objects blend in with their surroundings, just themselves.

Once the bags were strapped on securely, Aiden moved around a bit in his wolf form to make sure the bag wouldn’t fall off. When he was sure, he licked Sebastian’s hand, signaling he was good to go.

Matt must have done something similar because Aiden watched as Zac and then Sebastian disappeared before his eyes. Aiden was used to it, given he and Sebastian had been his friend for so many years.

Matt, on the other hand, let out a small whimper. Aiden went over to his little mate and licked his face, giving a playful yip before taking off in the direction of the council headquarters.

As Matt led the way, Aiden at his side, they kept a steady but fast pace. He heard nothing from the invisible wolves, so he assumed everything was okay and they were there with them. Aiden could sense and smell them, so he assumed Matt could, too, hopefully giving his mate some reassurance.

He’s really quick for a little guy
, Aiden thought to himself.
It’s
surprising considering his strides are about half of ours.