Chapter 38

JAMES' POV

2 years later...

"So a guy walks into a bar," Sean begins, sipping at his McDonald's milkshake loudly as we sat in the 100° heat, "And he's got a pet alligator by his side."

"Sean, not this again..." I groaned, slowly feeling the effects of being stuck in a car for six hours with the new transfer officer taking hold.

A transfer officer who should really invest in some deodorant...

"No no, bear with me-- this one's funny." He replied, almost giggling like a school girl as he shifted slightly in his seat, "Guy walks into a bar, he puts the alligator up on the counter and turns to the other people there."

"He says, 'I'll make you a deal. I'll open this here gator's mouth and put my dick inside.'"

I looked at him in slight apprehension.

"Stay with me, stay with me." He defended, continuing to giggle under his breath, "The gator, has to close his mouth for one minute; then he'll open his mouth, and this guy's junk will be out INTACT. He then says that if he does this, everyone there has to buy him a drink."

" So these people agree, the man stands up on the bar, drops his trousers, and puts his dick in the gator's mouth. The gator closes his mouth, and the crowd's like 'HOLY SHIT!' After a minute, the man grabs a beer bottle and hammers the alligator hard on the top its head. The gator opens his mouth, and the man removes his junk, untouched, as promised."

"Then he stands and gives another offer: 'I'll pay anyone $100 who's willing to give it a try'. Everyone's quiet then this little woman at the back goes and puts her hand up saying that she'd try it-- but he'd have to promise not to hit her over the head with a beer bottle first."

By the end, he was chocking on his own spit from laughter.

I sighed loudly, "Really man?"

"Oh come on! You have to admit that's funny." He declared, taking another sip of his drink before placing the plastic cup back in the cup-holder, "So how long is this going to take anyway? We've been here for hours..."

"It's literally been twenty minutes." I replied, starting to question how this middle-aged balding fat man ever made it on the force, "Besides, they said the truck was a good few miles away. So until it arrives, we stay put."

"Yeah yeah..." He muttered, stretching slightly and taking up even more room in the already rather cramped car, "Should've brought some fries with me."

How?

How did he get on the force?

"Sir, we've got a visual on the vehicle; coming to you due West at around 70MPH, please advice, over." A voice crackled through the radio, Sean yawning loudly as I went to answer the message.

"Copy that station, continue on pursuit down route 85 and we'll apprehend when situation allows it; force may be needed, over."

"Copy that, following your lead Jim."

"So what's all this about then? What's the big deal about this so called 'truck'?" Sean asked, his arm leaning against the window as we sat in the blazing heat of Virginia's summer.

"... Do you listen to anything I tell you?"

"Eh, sometimes."

I closed my eyes and counted to ten in my head slowly, finding it within myself not to strangle the guy's fat neck in his seat, "We've got a suspicious truck, driven by wolves, crossing the territory. There's something off about it so we're going to investigate; that got through to you good enough?"

"I'm sorry what? I wasn't listening--"

"Sean--!"

"I'm kidding! I'm kidding!" He laughed, holding his hands up in defence, "Learn to take a joke man, jeeze... what is it, trouble in paradise?"

I sighed loudly, turning back and squeezing the steering wheel in frustration, "None of your business."

"Oh! So there is trouble in paradise! Wow, I've got to say; if I had an ebony babe like your wife to go home to every night I wouldn't complain too much, ya know what I'm saying?"

"... What did you say?"

"Hey, didn't mean to offend you man! Is that not the correct term these days? I mean...What should I call you, you know, colour wise?" He asked, making a weird face when he mentioned the word colour.

I stared at him gobsmacked for a total of five seconds before my frustration got the better of me, "Sean, shut your mouth and turn to face the road before I beat your ass black and blue."

"I'm just saying--"

"Sean!"

"Okay okay!" He cried, settling back into his seat and allowing us a rare moment of silence before he opened his god damned mouth again, "So you say that the truck is driven by wolves?"

Taking a deep breath in order to gather any self-control I had left, I managed a steady, "Yes."

"Then why's this any of our business? Let the council deal with them; that's what they're there for."

"Because, they're crossing our territory without permit or notice; meaning that it's probably something illegal, meaning that we need this scoop to reach our monthly quota, make sense?"

"Sorta."

I sighed loudly, "I should've stayed at home today."

"What was that?"

"Look; here it is." I declared, ignoring him as a tall truck passed by that stank of both wolves and something... putrid. Putting the car into gear, I pulled out of the lay-by we'd parked in and began tailing the large vehicle; keeping the sirens silent for now until something suspicious happened.

"Isn't he going to spot us?" Sean asked, taking another sip from his milkshake resulting in a sound which made me cringe.

"We're in an undercover car, should be alright..." I muttered in return, glancing at the mirror and feeling slight relief when I saw the rest of the convoy trailing not that far behind.

"Yeah..." he said light-heartedly while shrugging, "But I doubt he's going to miss the trail of black SUV's tailing him..."

About to turn and snap at him to shut up, his words sort of came true when bullets suddenly began flying towards the convoy; an arm able to be seen with a semi automatic rifle, "Shit."

"Told you."

Ignoring him, I ducked down in my seat and held tightly on the steering wheel while grabbing the in car radio, any doubts of the drivers having ill intentions being banished from my mind, "All forces! Move in! Take this son-of-a-bitch down!"

"Roger!"

"Right!"

"FUCK YEAH!"

Grabbing my gun from my holster, I waited until the guy stopped shooting to reload before opening fire through the window towards the heavily swaying truck, aiming for the tires as I knew there was no chance of actually hitting the guy from this angle.

Flooring it, I managed to get right up next to him, the convoy following close behind and shooting from the rear. Running out of bullets myself, I cursed in frustration before attempting to get my ammo, ducking just in time as a bullet shattered our windscreen and hit the back of my headrest.

"SHIT!" I yelled, glass flying everywhere as my car swerved to the side before I managed to correct my trajectory. 

"Jesus Christ Jim! Do something! Take action!" Sean cried, his milkshake spilt all over the front of his shirt and his gun on the floor beneath him. Ignoring his frantic and panicked figure, I quickly managed with one hand to refill the ammo, keeping low as the other driver kept shooting through our shattered glass.

The chase continued for a good few miles, the sound of bullets and constant radio chatter filling the car. It took a good few tries, but eventually, the sound of a tire blowing gave me hope for victory at last.

"Hold on!" I declared, throwing my once again empty gun in the back seat before coming to a split second decision and yanking the steering wheel to the left; ramming into the side of the truck.

"WHAT THE F**K JAMES, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"

"Taking action." I grunted out, before pulling away quickly and sharply ramming the truck once more. It had the desired affect; the vehicle not being able to take the burst tires AND sudden force before beginning to teeter on its side. Seeing this, I quickly pulled back and out of its reach, as the truck eventually flipped onto its side. The resounding crash was probably loud enough to be heard from Texas.

The large vehicle skidded to a stop gradually, resting in the middle of the long forest route with smashed glass and wheels still turning. The entire road was cut off, the convoy all halting in their tracks and exiting their vehicles. Following suit, I turned and motioned for a lieutenant to pass me a gun before taking lead; aiming the shotgun ready as I slowly but firmly made my way to the truck bed.

"Driver of truck registration 960-A63, this is Police Chief James McDonald of the Virginia State Police Department, District 8; I advise you to vacate the vehicle and approach the convoy with your hands up. We are armed and are authorised to shoot on sight, do I make myself clear?" I yelled, everyone aiming for the open side window which was the only way out.

"I repeat, vacate your vehicle!"

Nothing

Nobody answered for another good few seconds, so I once again nodded to the lieutenant behind me to bring me a tear gas canister. He passed it over ready, before I motioned for everyone to take a step back and tossed it in after pulling the pin; the gas going off quickly and flushing out whoever was still conscious.

No one came out.

"Alright, someone call the hospital and get some people down here. We've got a Code 7 situation and need it dealt with fast before the humans catch wind of this." I said, pointing at my lieutenant before motioning towards some officers, "set up road blocks a good 300 yards in each direction. Nobody gets in or out, you hear?"

"Yes chief." They replied, turning and going to sort that out.

Twenty minutes later, and the entire scene was busy with paramedics and officers-- the hospital staff working on getting out the bodies of the two wolves in the front seat of the truck. Officers were working with diverting traffic, and a pair of bolt cutters had just arrived so that we could finally get into the pad-locked truck container.

"Harrison, come on. Something must've been worth this amount of trouble." I muttered, coming to a stop behind the bolt-cutters and motioning for my deputy and a few others to follow my lead. Guns at the ready the door was slid open.

And the smell hit you first.

The stench of faeces and God knows what else hit us like a ton of bricks, the entire convoy stepping back slightly and covering their mouths from the disgusting odour. It was so dark I could hardly see a thing, however after a few seconds my eyes adjusted to an ugly sight.

Inside the large truck were dozens of waist high-cages, barely two meters across and a meter high. They looked mainly like steel boxes with barred gates, most tipped over and laying in various different positions. However inside these boxes... inside these boxes were the remains of Hell itself.

People... dozens of people were trapped within these small cages, all of which I could see were women covered in blood and most likely dead from their lack of movement. It looked as if the crash had caused a mass killing due to the cramped area that they were in... But their bodies... they looked like skin and bones.

"Holy shit..." I muttered, as my deputy turned and vomited on the floor next to the truck. All the hairs on my body were at end as a shiver ran through my body at my surroundings, my stomach churning as I swallowed bile in an attempt to stop myself from puking too.

"Oh God..."

"Come on... look for any survivors." I ordered, swallowing my fear and stepping into the angled container while grabbing my flashlight to scan the barbarous surroundings that we had discovered, "Look at this..."

"Not much else to look at..." Harrison choked, his flashlight scanning the surroundings along with mine.

Getting closer, I realised that each woman seemed to be a mainland creature of some sort; all semi-transformed from their human states and all dead. "They've all transformed..."

"Why?" He asked, his voice weak as we stood at the gates of Hell.

"My guess is that whatever these wolves did..." I said, my flashlight falling past the body of a half transformed wood-nymph, "Caused them to fall out of their disguises..."

"...But how?"

"Sir! We've got a survivor!" One of the officers suddenly called, both Harrison and I's head whipping round to find a cage being crow-bar opened and the door being thrown aside. Jackson (the officer) quickly reached in and pulled out a young girl with extremely pale skin and black hair, her body bruised and beaten along with being stick-thin.

"Shit! Get her outside!" I ordered, following them out and flagging down a paramedic before finding an ambulance to put her in. Once exposed to sunlight, we could finally see the small, bony figure of a girl that couldn't be much older than in her late teens being carried bridal style into the medical vehicle, her body placed onto a medi-bed as a paramedic fussed over her.

"We need to get Doctor McDonald down here fast," He muttered, grabbing an IV and beginning to fiddle with the needle.

"I'll call her," I muttered, scanning the girl and her distinctive image, "Care to explain to me how a shadow can be harmed to this degree?"

"Well evidently, they found a way." He replied, frantically beginning to pull out various instruments and turning to me, "Filter the light."

"HEY!"  I heard my deputy suddenly shout from outside, which caused me to hesitantly leave the girl and frantic paramedic to see what was causing such a commotion. Upon exiting the vehicle, I followed the line of sight of practically everyone in the immediate facility to find a beaten and ragged white girl standing and squinting into the sunlight from the back of the truck, her body swaying slightly as she stumbled on her own feet.

"Hey!" I repeated Harrison in worry, darting forward and catching her collapsing body last minute. The girl looked to be in her mid-twenties with short, knotted brown hair. Her skin was dirty and blood ridden, with her leg seeming to be the source of the blood. She was barefoot in nothing but an old stained blood, dirt and God knows what else T-shirt with baggy pants, her toes seemingly missing a few nails and the soles of her feet cracked and stained in dirt. "Shit... hey, hey stay with me... Get me a paramedic!"

"Here!" One cried, falling to his knees in front of us and scanning the girl as a few others came up behind him with a stretcher," We need to get her into an ambulance."

The girl was quickly transferred onto the make-shift bed and sprinted to a vacant ambulance before bringing her inside, the other medical staff leaving as I managed to shove my way through them.

"Who is she? Is she human?" I asked once next to them, noticing her lack of transformation unlike the others.

"Looks like it, there is no way to be sure until we get some tests done..." He said, as my attention was brought to the inside of her wrist and the evident slightly faded marking that lay there.

"Look at this..." I muttered more to myself, analysing the marking but not recognising its origins.

I felt the paramedic peer over my shoulder, "A pack crest?"

"Looks like it..." I muttered, turning her thin wrist around in my fingers and trying my best to recognise the brand, "Can't say I know which one though... any ideas?"

"No... Sorry." He mumbled, before getting out an IV and prepping her for the needle. I began to fully take her in, noting that in full health she would've been a pretty girl. Her hair looked choppy, as if someone had cut it with a blunt knife. Her clothes were loose and in rags around her, however it looked as if at one point they fit her.

She was human, but the crest didn't make any sense.

Leaning forwards slightly, I motioned towards her face, "May I?"

"Go ahead." He replied; too busy insuring that he got the right vein.

Moving forwards, I gently pulled open an eyelid to find a dark orb staring back at me; following suit with the other only to find a light one doing the exact same. I was taken back slightly by the stark contrast, but continued on to examine her teeth.

Wolves had considerably sharper canines compared to other creatures, so once I gently pulled her upper lip out of the way I was even more confused to find their trademark canines in a line of perfectly straight teeth minus one chipped tooth.

What was this girl? Was she a hybrid?

Deciding to investigate further, I had an idea and exited the vehicle to flag down Kale, a young officer who recently left high school, "Kale!"

"Yes sir?" He replied, staggering to a stop in front of me when realising my calling.

"You did Pack Studies at school, right?"

He nodded confused, "Yeah, two years mandatory; why?"

"Come with me." I said, nodding behind me to the ambulance before turning back to the vehicle with the nineteen year old in tow, "Recognise this?"

His eyes narrowed, leaning in order to see the wrist I was holding up better before shrugging after a couple of seconds, "Yeah... but I don't know how it's going to help."

"What? Why do you say that?"

"Well, it's the Orgate Pack." He replied, stepping back outside with me following.

"Kale, you do realise that you've literally just given me the answer I was asking for?"

"The Lost Orgate Pack." He repeated, putting emphasis on the word lost and looking at me as if I had mental problems, "You have heard of them, right?"

I gave him a dead-panned look, "Boy, if I'd heard of them do you really think I'd be asking you about it?"

"Fair enough," He muttered, before sighing loudly, "But the reason that it won't help is because that mark must be a fake, the Orgate pack was lost years ago in the mainland-- No, you know what; you must know who they are! They're like, iconic."

"Well obviously not." I muttered, looking back over to the ambulance with furrowed eyebrows. Why would she have a fake mark?

"Oh come on, you must've at least heard of them?! It was Christopher Childes pack, you know, the Big Bad Wolf?"

Now him I've heard of...

"But that's impossible..." I muttered, continuing to stare at the fragile girl on the medi-bed.

"Exactly, that's why it won't be much help... I'm going to go join the others; get started on sorting through the bodies if that's alright with you, chief?"

"...Yeah, yeah..." I muttered, paying little attention as my mind began running through the possible explanations for the girl in ambulance. If it was fake mark; why? Heck, how? Something like that would be damn near impossible to reproduce, let alone replicate to the exact amount of detail that that exact mark would have. You'd have to have an original specimen to copy off at the very least.

"Unless..." I mumbled to myself, as a new idea began forming in my mind.

What if it was real?

"Why hello there husband of mine, how can I help you on this fine day?" Shauna grinned, her Jamaican accent strong as she jumped down and slammed the door of her red four-wheel drive jeep.  I rudely ignored her playful greeting, practically storming over to grab her wrist and dragging her over to the mystery girl's ambulance, "Hey!"

"There's no time." I muttered in reply, shoving through various officers before turning the corner of the vehicle and jumping in the back with my wife in tow. She protested in confusion, attempting to slap my hand away but I kept a firm grip as I shooed the paramedics out of the van. They left begrudgingly, Shauna still protesting with vigour before I brought her forward to face the girl. "She's dying, and we don't know why. It's something to do with that mark and I don't want the only link to a possibly extinct pack dying in my care. So please, fix her."

"My God," She breathed, stepping forward and examining the patient, "What happened?"

"Fix her."

"Jim, you can't be serious--"

"Use your Voodoo-Poodoo shit."

She turned to me with a slightly disgusted look, "My what?"

"You know! Please, just do something." I asked, pleading with her as she eventually sighed and held the bridge of her nose in what looked like defeat.

"Jim, just calm down; what the Hell is going on?" She asked, looking at me as if I'd just grown a second head.

"Hell. Hell is going on Shauna. We took down a rogue truck today and... Oh God..." I began, slumping down on one of the ambulance ledges and burying my face in my hands as the thoughts began catching up with me, "I-I don't..."

"Jim..." She mumbled, crouching in front of me and grabbing hold of my hands as best she could, "What's happened?"

Thoughts of her ending up like one of those women began running through my mind, the image of her bloody and bruised form being trapped in one of those cages sending shivers down my spine and making my head pound. The war was causing so much shit to spiral out of control, and by the amount of women in that truck... I didn't know that the conflict had gone that far...

"Just, please..." I began, looking up and letting go of her hands to cup her worried face, "Don't leave the colony without me, okay?"

She shook her head slightly, "You know I can't do that... what's going on, Jim?"

"We ugh," I began, swallowing loudly and shaking my head slightly, "We took down the truck... and inside... there were dozens of women, just like her. But dead. They were all in cages and the crash must've..."

"But she survived Shauna, and if that Crest on her wrist is what I think it is... we need to make sure that she stays that. Survived."

She pursed her lips, taking even breaths and staring at me with calculating eyes before eventually nodding slowly, "Alright... I'll figure something out."

A smile stretched across my face as I stroked my thump across her cheek bone, "I knew there was a reason I married you."

"I can't guarantee it'll work, remember that." She muttered, before standing and making her way back towards the girl's side.

Following suit, I ran a hand across my face, "Anything for now would be great."

She gently grabbed the girl's wrist, her eyes closing in concentration as she began chanting beneath her breath. My wife and I were a part of the Witch Doctor Clans in Southern North America, Shauna being the resident Shaman of our particular group and my being the Chief. Well, Chief in waiting-- My father was 127 years old and still running the place like a maniac, his body not much older than a 60 year old.

God damn N'anga medicine.

I was suddenly brought away from my thoughts as Shauna pulled away from the girl with a gasp, her face covered in a light sheen of sweat and her body nearly collapsing had I not grabbed her at the last second. I helped her up in worry, never having seen her this way before after a connection, "Hey hey, you okay?"

"James," She gasped, taking in deep-breaths as she panted in my arms, "We've got to get to Ohio."

"What?"

She staggered out of my arms, practically falling on top of the medi-bed before beginning to yank the different machines off the girl, "I found Orgate, and we need to get her to them now. She's not safe here."

"Shauna..."

"We've got to go." She kept muttering to herself, continuing to rip out a ton of medical instruments out of the girl.

"Shauna." I repeated, grabbing her shoulders and turning her to face me with wide eyes, "Breathe."

She continued to stare at me with slightly apprehensive eyes before slowly nodding, copying me as I motioned to inhale deeply through my nose and exhale through my mouth, "Now, think about what you're doing. I know that I said to do anything, but this--"

"This isn't about us anymore, Jim." She began, moving her hand to rest on my cheek, "We need to get her to Ohio within the next 24 hours or she dies. That's why her body is shutting down, she's Childes' mate-- and unless we get her to him soon? She's going to die, no matter what we do..."

Childes' mate?

"But--"

"No, it's not safe here. There are no planes going out soon enough so we're going to have to drive. Grab Harrison, heck--grab anyone we can trust! And help me get her to the car. She'll need an IV line and a couple of stabilizers for her leg. The people who took her in the first place are coming and they've got contacts everywhere; in the hospital, in the police-- Heck Jim, I don't know where it stops. They're coming, and it's very, very important that this girl is not here when that happens." She finished, seemingly calmer than earlier but still sounding like a complete and utter lunatic.

"Alright, I get that. But hear what you're saying woman! You're suggesting that we kidnap a dying girl, put her in your rusty ass car and drive her 2 states over to Ohio, why in the name of all that is Holy, would you want to go to Ohio?"

"Because James! You asked me to do the Voodoo-Poodo crap, I did it, and now we're going to Ohio. Okay?" She yelled in return, turning back to the girl and starting to look through cabinets, "Now make sure no one sees us."

"WHY?!"

"Jim, trust me on this. If we get this girl back to Childes; the war, will be over before the year is out." She pleaded, my mind torn at the absolute ridiculousness of what we were about to do.

Contemplating making a run for it after a few seconds of thought, I sighed and eventually nodded, running a hand over my short haired head, "Okay... Okay... just, stay here for a minute."

After paying off a butt load of people, we eventually managed to sneak her into the car with minimal people seeing, strapping her in while making sure that the paramedics didn't catch on to what we were doing. Half way through buckling her in, her eyes groggily opened, no noise coming out of her mouth but she definitely seemed conscious with her half drooped eyes, "Everything's going to be okay, sweetheart. We're taking you to Childes'."

"Alright, you drive-- I'll stay in the back with her. Now hurry." Shauna muttered, opening the backdoor and sliding in next to the human. Following her lead, I quickly made my way to the driver's seat and started the engine; clicking my seatbelt in place before driving off the scene and past the officers at the traffic diversion.

Awkwardly waving at the guys with as much sincerity as I could muster, we quickly accelerated past and down the highway before switching on the built in GPS, "You got an address?"

"Just keep driving, I'll tell you which way." Shauna replied, as I glanced up in the rear view mirror to see her place a onetime ice pack onto the girl's burning forehead as her head lolled to the side and stared through the window.

"This is going to be a long drive." I muttered to myself, shifting in my seat before opening the window and resting my elbow on it. Let's just hope not too long...

Eight hours, three pit stops and one McDonald's later, and we had finally entered Ohio by a good few miles, Shauna continuing her guidance like some real-life Siri. We'd been driving a good three hours into the state before Shauna visibly tensed, the action causing my eyes to meet hers in the mirror, "Everything okay?"

"We've got wolves." She muttered, turning to the girl to adjust her seating as I cursed beneath our breath.

Without a permit/ notice, we were screwed; big time.

"What do we do?" I asked, taking more to myself than anyone but I received a comment either way.

"We've got to get her to him no matter what. She hasn't got long left..." I heard her reply, as I began glancing around the surroundings to try and spot the wolves, "Take a right here."

I obliged, "Got an ETA on her survival?"

"...Twenty minutes until permanent damage."

"Shit. And I doubt these wolves are going too civilised if they catch us." I muttered, catching a glimpse of a few moving figures in the tree line to the left. "F**k, they're flanking us."

"Take the next right then left, reach the drive and you're going to have to plough your way through the gate. The Jeep should take it."

"And if she doesn't?"

"She has to." Shauna mumbled, before reaching under the back seat and pulling out what I'd least expect to see in this situation.

"You brought Neville?" I asked, as she struggled to free the four-foot staff from its dust bag.

"Where else was I going to keep him?" She replied, a wicked glint in her eye as she nodded back to the road, "Eyes up front. I'll deal with the wolves."

"I hope you know what you're doing..." I muttered, as she managed to slide open the sunroof-- climbing through the middle of the front seats and pulling up her upper body with her back to the windscreen. A series of growls follow her sudden appearance, my knuckles whitening against the steering wheel as I squeezed tightly.

We're gonna f***ing die...

Turning right, I went to grab Shauna's thigh so that she wouldn't fly out of the car, the growls turning to howls as we made our way closer to the pack grounds. Glancing in the mirror, I found four larger than life wolves tailing us in the middle of the road in pure daylight; obviously too desperate to stop us from reaching the complex than to hide within the forest.

"Twelve o'clock!" I yelled, steadying the car as I felt her tense next to me.

"I see em'." I heard her mutter as they gained speed on our four-wheeler. The telltale glow of Neville began emanating from above; my wife's chanting being heard over the sounds of warning growls and howls.

"Don't kill them!" I ordered, thinking ahead in the situation.

"No promises." She muttered in reply, breaking her chant and crying aloud as she threw out a wave of energy towards the wolves. Once reached, all four flew back into the road, the force causing them to roll and land a good hundred yards from where they were in a heap.

Flooring the gas, I glanced around to find the next immediate threat; doubting that they'd only send out four wolves to protect the entire pack, "Three O'clock!"

"Got it!" Shauna yelled in reply, swinging out once more and sending another, less concentrated wave towards the tree-line. A few yelps could be heard, but it was obvious that not all had been taken out this time.

"Shit!" I exclaimed, as two jumped out about fifty feet in front of us. Not having the option of breaking, I merely swerved slightly before adjusting my hold and throwing out my hand to grab her waist and yank her down, "Get down!"

She yelped in surprise as I aimed straight on for the wolves, ducking last minute just as one was hit by the bumper of my car. It rolled over the top of the vehicle, slamming into the ground behind us and gradually rolling to a stop.

"Nice going, husband." She praised, before heaving herself back up the window and preparing for a further chase. Four wolves began running alongside the jeep, all with teeth bared and the incentive to kill. I merely concentrated on going as fast as I possibly could, leaving the fighting off to Shauna who was currently up top throwing out more waves of energy which took out two of the four quickly.

The car was suddenly slammed into, one of the wolves having thrown themselves against the side to both dislodge my wife and probably tip the car over. I cursed beneath my breath, grabbing onto Shauna's thigh once more in order to steady her figure.

The car continued to be jostled, as three more wolves joined in the chase a few hundred yards behind us. Spotting the turning close by, Shauna managed to whack the wolf who was thumping the car once it got close enough; using Neville as a sort of baseball bat as she hammered it around his head.

"Hold on!" I declared, yanking the wheel to the side and finally making it to the long drive-way of the complex, the long stretch which was slightly up hill giving Shauna the advantage however only just. The closer we were to the complex, the more wolves there were going to be.

She continued to send out wave after wave, my heart hammering in my head as adrenaline began hitting me full force. I could practically sense the wolves in the area, the hair on the back of my neck standing on end as I pumped the gas as hard as I could.

We had to make it!

Once reaching the gate, my eyes nearly bulged out of my sockets as a line of a good twenty wolves stood outside the walled in community, all with teeth bared and stances ready to pounce. I swallowed loudly in worry, my heart pounding a mile a minute as I realised that there was no way we were making our way through there by merely 'ploughing'.

"SHAUNA!" I yelled, directing her attention to the group of wolves which were quickly approaching at top speeds. The woman in questioned turned her upper body to look before I felt her tense, shifting around so that she was facing the group.

"I got it." She reassured, sounding eerily calm as she began chanting loudly and twirling Neville in the fingers (An impressive venture considering her was a four-foot long staff). The air began to become alive with electricity, the light blue glow of the once again glowing Neville matching that which now illuminated her eyes.

The chanting grew louder and louder, until the electricity in the atmosphere grew to the point of bursting.  Suddenly, with a final cry, Shauna released the largest wave yet, the line of energy able to be seen by the naked eye itself.

The entire group flew back in all directions, the gate itself being blown to pieces as I continued to floor it through the mass of now fallen and temporarily disgruntled wolves. Once into the complex, Shauna climbed back in to the car and scrambled into the back seat, her face dripping in sweat and her body racked with shivers.

"Turn left, we have to get to the Beta's house. That's where Childes is!" She muttered, turning over and beginning to tend to the girl quickly as I nodded and yanked the car through the streets, messily going over pavements as we ascended a further small hill and up a drive-way to a rather large house.

Throwing the car to the side once we reached property, I switched off the engine and scrambled for my gun in my holster, obtaining the semi-automatic and throwing the door open as I heard the growls grow louder and louder.

Sliding over the hood of the car, I ran to the back door to protect our only bargaining chip as Shauna climbed out of the sunroof and jumped down next to me; readying Neville to swing as I brought my gun up just in time to find a group of good forty wolves staring at our out of breathe forms with bared teeth and equally panting breath.

We both glared at the group, willing anyone to come closer for the penalty of having their head blown off. I didn't care about the consequences; if they touched my wife I'd kill each and every last one of them.

After keeping eye contact for several more seconds, I decided that now was the best time if ever to complete what we came here to do, tilting my head slightly towards the house without breaking eye contact and beginning our explanation.

"Childes! I know you can hear me! And unless you want your mate to die in the next ten minutes, I'd come down here if I were you!"

The series of growls that followed was almost deafening.

That got their attention...

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WHAT JUST HAPPENED Y'ALL???

LEl, I know.

Love,

Iggy