Page 71 of Alpha Bond

“No! It’s a trick. They hit when we left. Smoke!” I point upward when I run out of air to keep speaking. “I saw smoke over Steel Lakes. We’ve been hit. I know it.”

“Jesus!” Casey taps her comms unit and speaks into the small receiver near her chin. “Callum, come in. Over…” She waits. “Callum, do you read me? Over.” Her voice grows more strident. “Callum?” She looks up at me. “I’m getting static.”

“Fuck!”

There’s murmuring among the others who’ve gathered around us, large muscular troops built to fight. The kind that Steel Lakes needs right now.

“He’s right; we have to head back.” A grizzled male steps forward.

I acknowledge him with a nod. “Let’s go,” I say. “Can you radio the other teams while we’re on the move, Barrett?” The male gives an affirmative jerk of his head. I look at Casey. “You keep trying to reach Callum.”

“We’ll move faster if we shift,” she says.

I exhale. “You’re right. Two of you take up the rear and call the other teams back to base. The rest of us will go on ahead and deal with what we find.”

“Call off the attack on Leadmills?” Casey’s frown darkens.

“Yes. There’s no point in that now. They knew we’d head to the mills. Knew we’d be weaker at home.”

Beat us at our own game. I’m such a goddamned fool! It’s not the first time I’ve thought it. Maybe this role is too much for me. Then again, Rack’s going into a fortress that’s still heavily armed. He’s reckless. He’ll make mistakes.

Casey’s talking again, “Jagger…Gage is still inside.”

I freeze.

Fuck.

My mind works at breakneck speed as I go over my options. I must make a hard call. “We’ll send a team in for him as soon as we’re done. Now, we go back.”

“But he—”

“Stone. That’s an order.” I swear to myself that this isn’t about Sierra. I know it isn’t. Gage is a good male. I respect him. And he’s strong enough to take care of himself until we send help. “Get in touch with him. Let him know.”

Casey doesn’t look happy, but she does as she’s told. I gather the others, barking instructions as they all begin to shift.

“He’s good,” she tells me. “He says he’ll lie low.”

I exhale, not saying anything. Guilt is already growing, but there’s nothing I can do.

The weight of my decision lightens a little as we reach a hill overlooking Steel Lakes. The entrance door has a huge hole blown through it. There are wolves in all directions. Men, too. Some are our own. Others…not. As one, we surge down the hill, closing the distance to the battle. I smash into a mess of slavering jaws and flailing limbs as men fight wolves, wolves fight each other. It’s a bloodbath.

How did it get to this so quickly?

I don’t have time to think about that now, but I’m pretty sure that Rack has been planning this for a while. And we were oblivious. Going about our business as if nothing could touch us.

But now, we’re surrounded by a bloodthirsty enemy, fighting for our lives.

I quickly take down the wolf that’s leaping through the air at me, feeling a surge of satisfaction as I hear its body crunch as it hits the ground. But there are more coming at me from all sides, and I know I can’t let my guard down for even a second.

I move swiftly, dodging claws and teeth as I pick off one enemy after another. My packmates fight alongside me, their snarls and growls mixing with the sounds of battle all around us.

My mind is focused on one thing: finding Rack. He’s the mastermind behind this attack, and he needs to be dealt with. But it’s hard to pinpoint his location in the chaos of the battle.

Another wolf emerges from the mass, aiming straight for me. Without hesitation, I lunge forward, meeting it in midair and bringing it down to the ground. As we roll in the dirt, teeth snapping, something lands heavily on me, jaws clamping down on my shoulder.

Instinct takes over, and I use all my strength to bear the burden of the wolf on my back while I sink my fangs into the throat of the one beneath me. It yelps in pain and struggles as I keep my death grip until it grows still. The other is still mauling my shoulder, but it stops abruptly, and then it’s flung away. I clamber to my feet as Casey’s red pelt flashes by. She’s big for a female and meaner than any male I know. My attacker bears the brunt of it as she tears into him with a ferocity that soon leaves him limp in the dirt, lifeblood seeping from him. I turn away, seeing a gap to get through the door ahead. Shaking off the pain in my shoulder, I turn my attention back to finding Rack. He has to be here somewhere.

I find more of our own within the walls of the garrison. Holding back the marauding raiders has brought out the deepest of their protective instincts, and the few who make it in are dealt with viciously.