Running with Wolves Ch. 03

'It must have flooded recently and they tried to clean up. What were they doing way out here? There's a generator and bins of stuff back here.' June pushed some of the items in the back of the van around with her nose, trying to get a better look.

'It doesn't matter, we can figure it out after. Dagwood, check on Flint-'

Just then, a girl who looked about 18 came out of an opened side door.

Kate was about ten feet from her when she looked up and spotted them surrounding the van. For a brief moment everything froze. The girl's eyes grew slowly wide, and her mouth began to open.

'Oh please don't-'

She let out a high pitched scream.

Kate flinched as her sensitive ears were assaulted by the noise. Orion quickly contained her pain to just her so that it wouldn't affect the others. The girl spun and almost fell flat on her face as she ran back to the door, slamming it shut. They heard the lock slide shut.

'Well that could have gone better.' Cole sniped. He was annoyed at Kate and her unit for not noticing the girl approach. Now they lost the element of surprise. Kate huffed and went to continue sniffing around the front of the building focusing on the voices inside the warehouse.

"... it Samantha? Hey- hey look at me. Just focus on me. That's it, ok, take a deep breath with me. All right, in," Dominic was helping the young girl steady her breathing. "Out- in- out." She gained back her breathing. He was good. "Tell us what happened. Was it Flint? Did he do something?"

"No, not Flint, it, it was-"

"Wolves."

Kate looked up to see a handsome face in the window of the door. He was lightly tanned, with slightly dirty blond hair and grey eyes. He looked her in the eye and she could see his shock, amazement, and fear. He was pushed away from the door and Dominic's face replaced his. Kate hadn't actually seen Dominic's eyes before, but they were an amazing dark blue. The two men stared at Kate and the rest of the wolves from the safety of the warehouse, taking in the scene in front of them. Dagwood had continued on to the passenger door, where Flint now sat up awake, woken up by girl's scream. Dagwood scratched at his door, whining. He was worried about Flint, and feeling more than a little guilty. After all, he had been the one to leave Flint defenseless and vulnerable to being taken.

Flint opened his door and slid heavily out of the van. The big wolf began bumping his nose all over Flint to check him for injury.

"It's ok Dagwood, I'm fine. Really you don't need to-" Dagwood just began sniffing him harder. "OK, OK, fine. Really though I'm OK you can relax."

Behind her, Clay had shifted to his hybrid form and was walking around on two legs. 'Show off.' He grumbled a laugh at her thought. They really needed to drop the Pack Mind.

"Holy shit he was telling the truth." Dominic made direct eye contact with Kate. She shivered a bit at the intensity of his eyes.

"What?" The blond was just out of sight of the window now.

"Who told you the truth?"

"Flint. Flint told me on the ride here that his family were werewolves. I didn't believe him but-"

There was another male voice in the background. "He's full of shit, no way are werewolves re-" The man behind the voice came to look out the window. This man was all angles, with a strong jaw and thin mouth. Something about him told Kate he was the roughest of the bunch. "Holy shit."

Just then all the cars in the procession pulled off the road and lined up in front of the building, signaled by Clay after their cover was blown, their headlights coming on to illuminate the area further. The Alphas got out quickly, followed by the Glen Pine pack's units. Most everyone was battle ready if it came to it, having changed into on hand emergency clothing on the ride over. All except Misty. She refused to even entertain the idea of shifting because, Kate was sure, her wolf would follow its instincts and go to retrieve Dominic.

Now that the Alphas were physically present with the rest of the wolves and close enough that the Pack Mind wasn't a burden to Orion, Clay backed down to allow them to take charge.

Kate stood by along with the others, awaiting orders as Sol took in the situation with her own eyes. "I want a way inside that building as quickly as possible. Our new pack member is a sly one and he is not keen on staying with us. We will deal with whomever else he has sought out for help after."

Sol entered the Pack Mind using her mating bond with Orion.

'Cole, shift and come around to debrief your brother. We need to know who else is here.'

As they awaited his arrival, Kate heard movement. The rough one she had spotted shouted something about retrieving someone named 'Becky' and ordered the others to lock the doors. She alerted to the shift in the behavior of the ones inside and the others froze to concentrate on the trapped humans.

Dominic stayed at the window, continuing to stare at the wolves, mostly Misty, while everyone else began running around behind him. Kate counted four pairs of footsteps running around to different sections of the building. That's when Kate heard it. A tiny cry echoing within the building.

'They have a baby in there!'

Everyone at once became warier, backing off from the building. Everything they were planning to do changed with that tiny cry. None of them would willingly put an infant, human or otherwise, in danger.

Kate was flabbergasted. 'Why do these people have a baby with them?! Is it Dominic's? None of this is making any sense.' The others were thinking along the same lines as her. None could figure out the relation these people had to each other or this place.

Kate could feel the Alphas immediately knew that they needed to approach this completely different. Orion thought a moment, processing much like Clay had done, all of their options. They couldn't attack full force like they had planned, which included rushing the building and taking down anyone in their way, and they couldn't sneak in because they had barricaded all the ground floor doors. Sol didn't like talking. It left too many things to chance, but it seemed that was now their only option.

Orion sent out the order. 'I will make contact with Dominic, and attempt to talk him into backing down. Clay and Augustine, climb the building and see if you can find an open door in case the situation changes and I need reinforcements. Be quick. The longer this takes the more agitated the situation becomes.'

Kate watched Augustine shift into her hybrid from, and then stood by as a spotter as the two half-human half-wolf creatures climbed old gutter pipes to the top of the building. 'Cole, we need answers from your brother.'

Cole acknowledged his father's command by shifting into his human skin and going to his brother. He was naked, but uncaring of his nudity. It was normal among a pack of wolves to be unclothed around each other.

Flint had sat down once again in the van's passenger seat, too weak to stand for long. "Are you all right Flint?" Cole put a hand on his brother's shoulder to get his attention. Flint opened his eyes, nodding his head, but his eyelids were drooping. "I know you are tired, but can you answer some questions for me?" In the background they all could hear the humans inside panicking over the footsteps on the roof. Cole stayed focused on his task. "Just tell us what you know. Do you know why the Destined brought you here?"

Flint sighed and adjusted in his seat, trying to stay awake. "It is his home. Dominic, and his group of friends, they all live here together in a kind of pack, all their own. He didn't know I was in the van when he took it and he was going to leave me behind to find my way back, but when I had an episode on the way here, he brought me with him. I don't know why they live here though; they wouldn't tell me anything. They were packing to leave, I think I heard them say east, I'm not sure I fell asleep."

Without warning, the rough looking one shouted "I FUCKING DARE YOU TO COME IN HERE YOU HAIRY MYTH BASTARDS!" and a gunshot rang out, followed by a yelp from Augustine. Through the link, Kate was able to tell that she had only been startled by the shot. Clay had pulled her out of the way in time.

Sol had had enough, Kate could feel her frustration and worry leaking into the Pack Mind. The humans were far too desperate and scared. It was only a matter of time before something serious happened.

Orion had had enough as well. 'This has gone far enough. We have them cornered and they are becoming far too desperate.'

Sol agreed with her mate. 'Breach the back door, but do not attack.'

Kate took the initiative, ordering one in her own unit to start breaking down the back door. It was sturdy, and there was something blocking it on the inside, but it wouldn't hold up for long.

"Father!" Flint, hearing the crashes, moved to get out of the van. Inside, Dominic was giving orders for his friends to hide upstairs. Smart on their part. Kate moved to head for the back door, which was about to give. She and Clay would be the first ones to enter.

She could still see Flint through her link with her Alpha.

Orion approached his son. "What is it Flint?"

"You can't hurt them! Any of them!" Flint was panicked over the idea that one of the humans would be hurt.

"Why is that? What do you know?" Orion steadied his son, who was swaying on his feet.

"They are Dominic's family. If you kill any of them he will never forgive us." It would seem Flint had already formed a sort of bond with Dominic. He would not allow anything to happen that would hurt Dominic, a pack member. Kate felt a bit of pride come from both Orion and Sol. He may not have shifted into a wolf by now, but he still had wolf blood coursing through his veins. He was a good pack member.

"Do not worry, son. None of them will be harmed." Kate could feel the order in Orion's promise.

Kate reached the back door just as it was broken down. She rushed in, followed by Clay, ready for whatever Dominic and his group had planned for them. She weaved through a crowded back room and entered the main section of the warehouse.

She spotted him first, standing at the base of a flight of stairs on the right side of the warehouse, with a knife in hand. She could hear the others up at the top in what looked to be an office designed to oversee what was happening on the ground floor. Clay spotted faces in the window, the girl and the blond. The others were pushing things to barricade the door.

Dominic held his ground as Kate, Clay, and their wolves surrounded him. He had a cold, determined look in his eye. He was willing to fight them, creatures that to him, until a few hours ago had for him only existed in movies and the imagination of teenage girls. He was willing to die protecting what he deemed precious. Kate had the sudden overwhelming urge to back down from him, a mere human with a knife. He truly was something else.