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D o you think Avalore and Michaela are alright? Should it take this long?

I’m sure everything is fine. Chanin’s wolf crouched in the forest, shifted its weight just enough to brush its side against its mate’s. Dolf radioed that because of the new post of the guards, they’d have to take care of the scientist at the laboratory area.

Chanin’s mate was fierce, but she had a caring heart, and that’s what made her the best Alpha female for his Pack.

Right now, he needed her, just like the others in his pack that were hidden in the woods close to the back side of the Wall, far enough to stay concealed until it was too late for the humans to do anything.

They occupied one side while the Vamps worked recon from the other side. His Pack would be the first in once the doors were opened, disable the vehicles, and look for the weapons cache before the humans could send their military to arm up.

Because they all knew for damn sure if the North American continent government had labs and facilities to create super soldiers then their asses had ensured they buried weaponry as well.

Amaros and his Coven could teleport and move virtually undetected through spaces. Their job would be to locate the humans' comm center, infiltrate it, or destroy the enemy's ability to communicate.

Chanin kept watch for any movement of the gate. Once it began to rise, they would be on the move.

He glanced up through the trees but saw nothing but darkness overhead. However, he wasn’t fooled; he knew Aodh and his Thunder hovered up there with their keen gazes locked on the south side of the walled-in area.

He could imagine how Liekki felt right now, having his mate locked inside the fortress of the selfish, conniving government that had exploited Avalore like she was nothing. For now, the blue dragon’s claws were bound until the plan unfolded.

Inhaling, Chanin filled his lungs with his mate's vanilla scent.

He would ensure his Pack upheld their part of this attack, but his main priority was Morlie and ensuring no harm came to her.

This was her first large-scale battle, and he could feel the tension coming off of her—not fear, but eagerness.

Waiting is the hardest part.

I can feel each hair of my fur standing on end. Morlie shifted slightly.

Just stay close to me.

Mate, I think I’ve proven I can handle myself.

And I’ll handle anyone on your six , he growled low.

Then it happened. It had taken forty-five minutes before the wide, heavy metal gate began to rise.

Omega Pack! Chanin ordered as his wolf shot forward.

Morlie on one side and Bleddyn on the other.

Behind him, his Pack was led by Boris, Minsi, Lovel, Raul, and Wolcott with Fang Warriors taking up the rear, Faolan charging with Liekki’s big-ass broadswords to hand off to Avalore.

Paws ate up the distance, racing through the trees at breakneck speed. They reached the entrance before the gate was more than halfway up.

He saw the Drahk mate, Avalore, stooping under the rising gate, her blood-spattered clothing proof that she’d had to fight and kill her way out.

Her muddy shirt was gone, and she stood in only a sports bra, which covered her upper body and proudly displayed her markings.

Her hands were outstretched and steady, ready to receive her swords from Faolan.

“The vehicles are parked to the left,” she directed, twirling her swords, a smile stretching her features as she side-stepped the darkly dressed solider at her feet with his head twisted and cocked in a direction that wasn’t natural; his ghostly eyes staring nowhere, wide and vacant.

When he entered and rounded the corner towards the parking area, Chanin spotted Michaela, who stood at the control for the entrance.

Unlike the spots that peppered Avalore, Michaela was drenched in blood.

It coated her hands, the lower half of her face, and practically the entirety of the front of her pants and top.

Her eyes were crimson, surrounding her dark pupil.

The other soldier lay slumped against the wall beside the female Vampire with the front half of his throat ripped out.

It was evident that both women had exacted their revenge on the evil scientists who held them captive and abused them.

The air unsettled around him, and Chanin’s skin tingled a moment before a swirl of black smoke formed into Amaros, dressed in a dark-green three-piece suit that was almost black. Chanin shook his head at the Princess of Darkness, who didn’t know the meaning of casual dress.

The Vampire encircled his mate’s waist, not thrown off by her drenched apparel.

“None of this blood better be yours, mate,” Amaros growled, cupping her face with one hand and holding her close with the other.

“Not a drop,” she smiled and leaned into him.

“That’s my good little angel.” Amaros fisted her hair then dragged Michaela’s head back, titling it at an angle for the best advantage for him to lick across her mouth, clearing a path of blood before kissing her.

The carnivorous kiss ended as quickly as it started.

“I’m still hungry. I could do with another bite or two.” A wicked smile stretched Michaela’s mouth.

“Because you’re eating for four.” Amaros brushed the back of the knuckles of his free hand over her stomach.

Leaving the mates to their stolen private moment, Chanin’s wolf headed in the direction of the vehicles.

His wolf’s paws skidded to a stop as he came to the large space filled with over fifty fully-armed military vehicles.

Since the world had been altered and impassible other than by air, he knew that the government kept the fleet to reclaim the territories from the preternaturals, or worse, against their own—people experiencing poverty who they’d left with practically nothing.

He had little doubt after the stories Morlie told him about how the Dispatch lived in the district and discovering the scientific abuse of Avalore and Michaela that the human government were the worst kind when they didn’t take care of those less fortunate even when they had been allowed to start over and make things better for all.

However, now there wasn’t an ounce of thought that the government leaders deserved salvation when this was all over.

Alright, everyone, let’s do this. Faolan, I want the Fang Warriors to sniff out any of those mutant beasts still here, starting in the halls of the lab.

We’re on it. “Duko...Warriors, let’s go.” He glanced over at Minsi. “Mate, you're with me.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Instead of being in her black wolf form, Minsi dressed in black pants and a tank top and rushed off beside her mate, ready to battle.

As Alpha, Chanin was happy to see Minsi’s fierceness back as she settled into her place in the Pack along with Faolan.

All the other Lupines filed out, working in pairs.

Chanin headed over to the first vehicle with Morlie beside him. He shifted so that he could manage to unlatch the hood. Once the hood was raised, he ripped out both the battery cable and the alternator cable, then tossed them to the maple-brown wolf beside him.

Morlie held one part of the cables to the ground with her paw while her teeth ripped them to pieces. Like the others, they moved from vehicle to vehicle, disabling them. Just as they were getting to the last few trucks, a loud siren went off, and a flashing, red light appeared on the ceiling.

Start on the weapons, and stay alert. They’ll have activated whatever forces they have. Be ready, Chanin conveyed mentally, just in case the enemy was within earshot.

They’d handled what happened on this end of the providence and trusted the other entities to do their part.

~YH~

“This way. I can lead you to the other side, and hopefully, it will lead to the Comm Center,” Avalore called out to him, interrupting his kiss with his mate.

The Primes raced into the opening just as Avalore started back down the hard path with her swords in hand.

Amaros shook his head. Anyone seeing her coming would believe that she was too short to handle such weaponry, but as a dragon-shifter, even a new one, she had five times the strength of a human female.

He stepped back from his mate, his heart finally able to beat at its normal, leisurely pace now that he’d seen for himself that she was alright.

Her eyes were luminous and red, and her body vibrated with thrill.

Michaela was covered in blood; he could sense at least four different people, including the man dressed in black military fatigues with his throat ripped out at his mate’s feet.

“The Lupine have the door and this end of the facility. Go catch up with Avalore, you two seem to make a great killing team.” He winked at her.

“If I had to be around dragons on occasion, she’s not so bad.” Michaela shrugged.

“Bite your tongue.” He gave her a disgusted look before releasing her to go and follow her old roommate and the Vampire and Prime.

“Your mate did very well, Amaros.” Marceline stepped into the doorway, raised high now, with Kairos at her side, their hands linked together.

Amaros wasn’t sure if she held on to him because they were newly mated, and in the beginning, it was hard to be more than a few steps away without feeling torn in two, or because she wanted to restrain the new Vamp.

Either didn’t matter to him, as long as she turned him loose in the Comm Center for maximum destruction.

The piercing sound of the alarms let them know that their entry had been detected.

“Yes. Exceptional. Now, let’s see what yours can do.”

“Lead the way, Sire.” Kairos’s eyes swirled with the shadowed redness of bloodlust; his beast was still right at the surface and demanding sustenance.

Usually, he’d only be allowed to drink from Marceline at this point, but it served the Coven and the council well for him to leave a trail of carnage in his wake today.

There was the sound of heavy boots, gunfire, and growling from the other side of the parking area.