Page 32

B right and early the following morning, Isaac, Jon, and Kyle gathered around their new mate.

They were showered, dressed, and ready for their first challenge as a bonded coalition.

Sleeping in a tangle of warm bodies and sizzling energy left all four satisfied and happy.

Now it was time to rescue the human females from the wolves.

The first thing they needed was current information.

They needed to make sure nothing significant had changed.

“The pathway was established last night,” Isaac began.

They stood in the living room, Tara in the middle of the males.

“With our help, you should be able to contact Claire without the vision.”

Tara took a deep breath and nodded. “How do I do that?”

“Focus inward,” Kyle instructed, his voice quiet and warm. The specific skill they were hoping to develop in Tara fell under the tracker category, so Isaac let Kyle lead the exercise. “Picture Claire’s face with as much detail as you can manage.”

The soul bond allowed Isaac to see what Tara was picturing. Claire was an attractive redhead, with wide green eyes and an engaging smile.

“Now put her in the cave,” Kyle directed. “See her as she was last night. Again, detail is important.”

Tara pictured what she’d seen the night before; twenty-one females huddled together along the wall of a cave. She omitted Dawn’s seduction, which was fine. She needed to focus on Claire.

“Very good.” Kyle guided her, but couldn’t take over. He had no emotional connection with Claire. Only Tara knew her well enough to establish the link. “Now ease into her mind. If she senses you, reassure her like you did last night.”

Tara tried to connect with Claire, but the image didn’t change. She was seeing a memory, not a visual representation of the present. The males infused her attempt with energy, but their efforts had no effect on the scene. The image was locked, static.

“Why isn’t it working?” Tara cried. “I can’t get her to respond.”

Kyle stroked the side of her face and Tara opened her eyes. “All of these skills take practice, or we could be out of range. Don’t get discouraged. This was a long shot.”

Tara accepted defeat with a nod, but her disappointment was obvious.

“I’ll let the guardians know we’re ready to head out,” Jon said and stepped out onto the porch.

The day was cold and clear. It had finally stopped snowing. Kyle helped Tara with her coat and gloves. Temperatures in the forest were always colder than in the village. The trees might block the wind, but they also filtered the sun.

Jon returned a short time later with six of Zion’s guardians.

Isaac would have preferred to work with Diego’s coalition, but they were up at the raptor village again.

He wasn’t sure if they were still working out the details of the feline/raptor alliance or if their efforts had returned to building a communication system out of scavenged parts.

Isaac shook away the distraction and focused on the tasks ahead for his coalition. He looked at Tara. “Ready?”

She nodded and produced an uncertain smile. “This is my first mission. I’m an office worker. I never expected to be part of a paramilitary mission.”

“You’re our guide,” Isaac stressed. “You’ll point us in the right direction and then find somewhere safe to wait until the battle is over. You will not be anywhere near the fighting.”

“Works for me,” she assured him, her smile less shaky.

Isaac stepped out into their sunny front yard and looked around.

Jon was talking with the guardians. The small group was clearly anxious to begin.

Elias stood near them. Magnetic cuffs secured his wrists, and a metal collar had been closed around his throat.

Attached to the collar was an alloy leash.

One of the guardians grasped the handle.

It was a fitting outfit for a rabid dog. All he needed now was a muzzle.

More than ready to get underway, Isaac led the small group through the village. Tara estimated that it would take about twenty minutes to reach the rock formation. She walked beside him, but remained quiet and watchful.

Twenty additional soldiers fell into step behind them as they reached the perimeter wall. Tara tensed when she saw them and her gaze flew back to Isaac. “Do we really need so many? There were only four guards in the cave last night. I thought ten of us was overkill.”

“They’re backup,” he assured her. “They’ll be positioned in the forest outside the cave.”

Jon and Kyle walked behind them, keeping the coalition in a tight unit. “They’ll do nothing unless we call for them,” Jon explained. “But we want them nearby.”

“It’s better to have them and not need them than the other way around,” Kyle pointed out.

It only took fifteen minutes to reach the rock formation that Claire indicated the night before.

Isaac hadn’t recognized it during the vision, but seeing it in person made him shake his head.

He’d passed this thing hundreds of times and never dreamed that it was a secret entrance to a network of tunnels and caves.

He fiddled with the foliage for a moment before he found the hidden scanner pad. Motioning Elias forward, Isaac said, “Open it.”

Elias glared at him. “Fuck you.”

Isaac backhanded the wolf hard enough to snap his head to the side. “The scanner will work whether you’re alive or dead. Zion advised us to chop off your hand and save ourselves the aggravation.”

“That wouldn’t have worked.” The wolf smirked. “It will only scan living tissue. It’s in your best interest to keep me alive.”

With the help of two guardians, Isaac wrestled Elias forward and forced his hand onto the scanner.

A low buzzing filled the air and then the surface of the rock formation wavered.

Heart thudding in his chest, Isaac reached out and tried to touch the rocks.

His hand went right through. “Thank you, Claire,” he muttered as he stepped through the hidden entrance.

He found a manual trigger on the inside of the door and motioned one of the guardians over.

“You’re now our doorman. I’m not depending on that dog. ”

“Understood.”

“Take that piece of shit back to the lodge,” Isaac told the guardian who held the end of Elias’ leash. “If he gives you any trouble, shoot him. He has just outlived his usefulness.”

With a gleeful smile the guard nodded and jerked on Elias’ leash. The wolf started walking back toward the feline village. Isaac watched for a moment, hoping Elias was as dejected as he appeared.

Next, Isaac turned to Tara and bent to kiss her mouth. “It’s time for you to go.”

She let out a sigh of frustration, but didn’t argue. “Do I have to go back to our cabin or can I wait here? I’m desperate to see Claire and the others.”

Isaac motioned another guardian forward. “Please escort my mate to the standby troops then return as quickly as possible.”

“Right away, sir.” His smile was friendly but respectful as he led Tara away.

Isaac sent a wave of affection across the soul bond, then minimized the connection. He didn’t shut Tara out completely, but allowing her to distract him would be dangerous.

Kyle and Jon joined him just inside the concealed entrance. The remaining guardians waited on the outside of the opening. “Give us a minute to scan the scene,” Isaac said to their leader. “I don’t like walking in blind.”

Kyle was a scout. His neuro-implants and genetic alterations were designed for seeking out and providing information. Isaac motioned Kyle toward the waiting tunnel. “What do you sense?”

Moving deeper into the passageway, Kyle held out his hands and opened his mind. Isaac could feel the effort and concentration Kyle put into the scan. Something must be off. He didn’t usually take this long.

“What’s wrong?” Jon asked, coming to the same conclusion.

“Their signals should be stronger,” Kyle warned. “We need to get down there.”

Kyle and Jon drew their weapons and hurried down the tunnel.

Isaac motioned for the guardians to join them then followed his teammates.

Their boots echoed on the stone floors, but stealth was no longer necessary.

Either the captives had been evacuated or—Isaac cut off the thought.

He would not even consider the alternative.

They rounded a corner and Isaac smelled blood. Jon and Kyle detected the scent at the same time and started running. The guardians kept pace.

“Should I call for backup?” the lead guardian asked.

“Not yet.” Unfortunately, Isaac didn’t think it would be necessary.

The tunnel widened, becoming a small cavern, then the cavern opened into a massive chamber. Eight wolves were scattered about the room, all severely wounded or dead. The female captives were nowhere in sight.

Using his integrated comm unit, Isaac summoned the medic waiting with the standby troops. “Medical emergency. Eight victims, but most are already dead.”

The medic acknowledged the page with an audible pulse, but didn’t bother speaking.

Isaac rushed over to the nearest wolf and pressed his fingers against the male’s throat.

Not only was there no pulse, but the body was ice cold.

How long ago had the attack happened? Was this wolf-on-wolf violence or had a group of exotics stolen the females?

Everyone knew that several hundred of the most severely mutated victims had been dumped on this planet along with everyone else, but no one had seen or heard from them in the years since their arrival.

Refusing to be derailed by the possibilities, Isaac moved on to the next wolf. He was also dead, the body cold. The third wolf Isaac came to had pulled himself to a sitting position against the wall. He was barely conscious as he pressed his wadded-up shirt against the seeping wound on his neck.

“Who did this?” Isaac asked, crouching down beside him.

“Riverside pack.” He motioned weakly toward one of the other wolves. “Is Juan dead?”