Page 3 of Out of Peril

As I entered headquarters, I nodded to Archie, a mole shifter that headed up our intelligence unit and oversaw the day-to-day operations for our location.

“Check out the new board on your way through. I'm very excited about it.” The usual stoic and often frazzled man told me as he pointed to a large electronic board now displayed.

I snorted. As if I could miss it. It was huge and appeared to contain a top ten list of our biggest threats overall. At the top of that list read “Collectors”. A bit further down the list a specific Collector by the name of Xavier Fortin was listed. He wasn't an average Collector but posed as one to acquire witches in order to kill them. It was disgusting, and any one of us would gladly end his life.

I turned and walked down the hall towards the gym where I started each day. It was well into the evening now, but I needed to grab something from my locker before going home. I retrieved it quickly and started back out when I noticed the light was on in Michael's office. I peeked my head inside to find him working there.

“Hey boss. What are you doing in today? We're supposed to have the day off, remember?”

He looked up from his desk and smiled.

“Well, you might as well know now, but your mission has been approved. You'll need to report to Silas in the morning. You're officially on loan to Bravo for the foreseeable future.”

“On loan?” I questioned. “I thought we were working with them on this.”

“We are, but Delta will be working from here. We won't be going on the mission with you. I trust Bravo to have your back.”

“I know they will,” I assured him. “But what changed?”

He sighed, looking stressed. “We heard from Ravenden. There's been recent threats and a few disappearances there. The Collectors are getting more brazen if they are going after a full raven Congress like that.”

“That's nothing new. The ravens have been targets for a while now.”

“It is when they're attacking Ravenden now. After their first attempt ended poorly, we thought they'd leave them alone for a while, but it doesn't appear so. They have to be idiots to keep doing what they are doing there.”

We knew this was coming eventually. The Collectors were powerful and rich. It wasn't in them to back down from an ultimate score. That put all witches at risk, but especially mass assemblies of them like the ravens.

As for the mission, the details had been in the works for over a month. So much was riding on this one job. All units had been brought in for it. I didn't know what it would mean that Delta was stepping back.

“Is that the only reason?”

The look on Michael's face told me there was more.

“Kyle got word from the Grand Council today. They're coming to town, and we don’t know why or what it is about. They've been unusually quiet for years. So why now? Hopefully it's nothing serious, but I can't in good conscious leave the Pack without proper security right now.”

“I understand,” he said. “I'll be fine.”

I had no doubt that Silas and Michael had already gone over every possible detail.

Lindsey

Chapter 2

“Lindsey!” Maya screamed, startling me awake.

I could smell the man before I even opened my eyes and growled menacingly.

“Shit! She's waking up. Grab the kid and get the hell out of there,” someone yelled.

I instantly jumped up, half shifting in the process. Maya grabbed hold of one of my legs while Dante held tightly to the other. They weren't scared of me for some reason, but these men had every reason to fear me.

“Get out of there. It's not worth it,” the man yelled.

I roared and swatted the large man away as if he were little more than an irritating bug. If my claws hadn't killed him in the process, the sickening crunch of his bones slamming against the thick metal bars certainly did.

His partner was rushing to close the door to my cage, but not before I picked up the remains and tossed them away. The kids already saw far too much. They didn't need to sleep next to that sort of trash.

“What is going on in here?” a new voice boomed.