Hunted Wolf: Moonbound Series, Book Eight (5 page)

Without any warning Viper yanked her to the ground. Shots rang out through the night sky just ahead of her. She tried to raise her head and look around, but he mashed it back down with a palm as he crawled past her.

Shouts from his team came from the front of the group.

“Hold your fire.” Duke’s now familiar voice bellowed. “Take cover.”

Viper continued forward until his whole body was between her and the pinging of bullets up ahead.

“What’s happening?” Hannah asked, keeping her face parallel to the ground.

“It looks like the blown power station. Tarzan is ripping the guards a new one. Keep your head down. They’re still shooting randomly toward the group, but he’s moving so fast none of us can get a bead without risking hitting him.”

“His name is Gabriel.” She raised her head just enough to see that Viper had his rifle propped and ready to fire on command. “Don’t shoot them. You heard him say they were his brothers. They are just children. We are here to save them. Give them a second chance.”

“Old Gabe doesn’t appear to share your position on that subject. He’s taken at least one bullet to the shoulder and he still ripp’n.”

Each report of the automatic rifles made Hannah’s heart tense. Again and again. Rifles went off. Then a scream of agony. Followed by another scream.

“Hostiles down. Bravo move out.” Duke’s voice carried through the once again silence of the night. “Clear the station. Gonzales, set charges on that free-standing generator and what left of the tower base. We’re not taking any chances.”

“Yes, sir,” the younger Ranger answered back.

Hannah lifted her body from the ground and followed Viper forward. Two bloody bodies lay on the ground ahead and she covered her mouth.

Their throats were gone. Bite and claw marks covered their faces and shoulders. At least these were grown men…and not boys. But still, if what Gabriel had said was really true. They were his brothers.

Gabriel stood over the two bodies. His shoulders hunched forward and his hair covered his face. He wiped his mouth with his arm, the smell of blood and death filled the air.

Hannah’s stomach convulsed. She leaned over and dry heaved.

Viper’s palm touched her back. “They would’ve killed you. Don’t feel pity for them.”

She sucked in a breath and stood straight. “We didn’t even give them a chance.” Hannah marched past her mate, toward the savage who’d just murdered his own brothers. “We’re here to rescue people. You should’ve given them a chance to surrender. A chance to realize there was a way off the island. That they didn’t have to fight for Rossi any more.”

Gabriel’s blood-stained face turned to meet her gaze. His eyes were still bright gold and he bared his teeth. “They deserved what they got.”

“You can’t know that,” she cried out. “Everyone deserves a second chance. I made sure you got one.”

He raised his eyebrows and looked her up and down then cast his gaze beyond her, over her shoulder. “They didn’t deserve one. It’s most likely they were part of the group who tortured your friends.”

Friends? Tortured? Oh gods.
“Andrea and Vadik! You’ve seen them.”

He grunted a yes.

“Where are they?”

He shook his head. “I left them with Owen. As long as they stay out of the hunter’s sights, they’ll be fine. The collars aren’t working. The hunter won’t kill them unless they shift into wolf form.”

The hunter won’t kill them as long as they don’t shift?
Bile rose in the back of her throat again. She barely heard the barking rangers around her as they cleared the area.

Viper moved closer and closer until his chest touched her back. “We have to go. The charges are set. We’re blowing the generator they hauled out here to try and jury-rig this tower back into operation.”

Gabriel nodded. “We need to head east to get to the barracks. Unless the protocols have changed, they’ll be wiring all the buildings to self-destruct.”

“You’re bleeding,” she said, pointing to his shoulder.

“I’ll be fine.” He turned away from her and jogged across the clearing, following the same winding footpath they’d come through the jungle on the other side.

She turned around and looked up at Viper. “We can’t just shoot them all. We’re here to save them.”

“Shooting is necessary sometimes. Why carry a gun if you don’t agree with that?” He took her by the hand again and led her away from the tower at a fast clip.

Their booted feet pounded against the loamy soil of the footpath.

Niko and Dani were just ahead of her. Duke was at the front of the group, just behind Gabriel and the other Rangers were behind her and Viper setting the charges on the tower and portable generator.

Barely a minute passed before a loud explosion blasted from behind them. Gonzales and the other Rangers fell into stride behind her and Viper moments later.

The race was on.

Hopefully they could get to the barracks and the women before Rossi’s failsafes kicked in. At least Gabriel seemed to know his way around the island.

Small blessings.

Gunfire cracked from the other side of the island.

Hannah jerked her head toward the noise and air rushed from her lungs. How many others were going to die before this night ended?

T
hey could’ve moved faster
if they could shift. Thinking that guns would be more effective than fangs, Rain had ordered them to kit out in their Army gear, and not in their hunting gear. But Viper’s blood was moving so fast in his veins, it almost felt like the moments before the moon forced the shift on him.

Moving through the thick, high grass of the island felt like training. Everyone on the island was a wolf. What kind of torture to grow up around wolves that should be able to be trusted, and they were only taking advantage of everyone.

He wanted to kill every one of the guards who held them, and flay Adrian Rossi alive.
Slowly.

People who took advantage of kids deserved death.

Death.

Shifting would have increased the likelihood of finding Rossi fast. Every step he took on the island, everything he heard, it just increased his desire to kill the man.

They crested a small hill, and Viper could see, about half a mile ahead of them, lights flickering.

Flashlights?

“What’s that?” he yelled, but the other Rangers were still running. Too much noise. It wasn’t worth using the comms.

Duke and Trahan had to see the lights. If there was danger, they’d stop.

“I can’t see,” Hannah answered from his side. He looked down at her, running along next to him, a settled look on her face. The pain in her legs that’d taken him by surprise down on the beach was almost gone. Her feet hurt. He could feel it. But she hadn’t said a single word.

He liked her more and more.

They’d been running for long enough that Viper was starting to feel some burn in his lungs. But they were following Tarzan, and he was running.

Gabriel
,
he had a name.

He rolled his eyes. He had Hannah in his head already.

Both the other civilians were holding their own, although Viper couldn’t feel every part of their body the way he could feel her. It was a little unnerving and a little exciting. Sort of like living in stereo.

“Bravo team, come in.” Rain’s voice came over the comms.

Duke held up a hand to halt them and called up to the islander to stop. They slipped off the path, into the trees, and circled up, panting. He touched the side of his head. “This is Bravo team leader.”

“We have Vadik and Andrea,” Rain said, his voice scratchy. “And other rescues. Sending them down to Colt.”

“Read you, commander.” Duke nodded at the rest of the Rangers. “Everyone hear that?”

“We didn’t,” Hannah said.

Viper’s hand slipped onto her back before he realized he’d done it. He pulled his hand away. “They found your friends.” He offered a tight smile.

“Are they okay?” Her eyes were so hopeful, so unspoiled. Her hope was going to infect him.

He’d learned never to hope.

“It sounds like they are.” Duke glanced between the three civilians. “He would’ve told us if anyone had—”

“Give me your twenty,” Rain interrupted, in every Ranger’s ear. “Warrick and I are on our way to you.”

“We’re just east of the power station.” Duke hit a button on his watch and read out the latitude and longitude. “We found one of Rossi’s children who showed us the evacuation plan. We’re about to advance on the place they’re holding all the women.”

Girls
, Viper corrected in his head. He’d seen those security feeds. Not all of them were women. Some of them were as young as fourteen, it had appeared.
They were girls
.

“Use your NODS,” Rain said. “Scope out the guards and see if you can take it without us. We’re still a good ten minutes out from your location.”

Duke nodded and signed off. He lowered his night vision goggles and all the Rangers followed suit. When Viper got his down, he could see through the foliage in a way his wolf eyes couldn’t.

“It looks like there are four guards on the near building,” Duke said, his voice low. “Anyone see more?”

“Four on the near, and none on the far, that I can see,” Gonzales said, from the front of the group.

“That’s what I see,” Golick added.

“We should come around from the back, then. See if we can get access to the building without alerting the guards.” Duke pointed off to their left. “If we keep a wide perimeter, we can probably stay out of the range of their hearing.”

“Unless one of them is focused on listening for us,” Viper added.

Golick shook his head. “But we can’t plan for that. We don’t have time.”

“What about Gabriel?” Duke said in Spanish, an edge of reluctance in his voice. “What do you think?”

“They’re not listening for us.” The islander grabbed his hair into his hands and wrapped it around, twisting it out of his face and on top of his head. It stuck in a knot on top and Viper was surprised at the calm on his face.

“You don’t feel your father here, do you?” he asked. He knew the difference.

“He’s not here, no.”

“Then what are we doing?” Hannah stepped around Viper and toward the center of the group. “We don’t go in with guns. They’re innocents.”

“They. Have. Guns.” Viper pulled her arm. “There are guards in front of that building who will shoot at us if we don’t shoot at them.”

“They’re kids,” she said, her tone heavy. Viper could feel her chest tighten. He knew that feeling. That was where his anger lived.

“They’re not all kids.” He released her arm. “Just let us do our job.”

“They’re on the move,” Gonzales said from the front. “Those four guards are running to the other building.”

The other Rangers looked toward the buildings, but Viper glared down at Hannah. “We’re not going to kill anyone who isn’t going to kill us.”

She crossed her arms. “We shouldn’t be killing any of them.”

“We’re only going to kill in defense.” Duke put his hand between them and pulled up his NODS with his other hand. “You do need to let us take the lead, ma’am.”

“Fine, but I’m not going to—”

An explosion rocked the air around them, throwing Gonzales backward into Golick and Trahan.

Viper reached for Hannah and pulled her against his body, falling to his back on the ground and holding her tight as he rolled on the explosion.

Duke was yelling something and Viper couldn’t hear anything except the thrumming of his pulse in his ears and the ringing after-affect of the blast.

He moved his hands along Hannah’s body, making sure she hadn’t been hit. He exhaled long and hard when he found no injuries. Viper didn’t want to let her go, and stayed on the ground, covering her body with his.

“The barracks,” Duke yelled, pulling on his shoulder. “They blew up one of the barracks.”

H
annah winced
, her ears ringing from the blast along with the added pressure she could feel in Viper’s ears as well. He’d enveloped her with his arms as they fell backward, cushioning her from the fall. His hands skimmed up and down her body, looking for injuries.

Duke’s shouts echoed in her head.
They’d blown up a barrack? With people inside?
Her stomach turned and the distinct acidic burn of bile rose in the back of her throat.

“I’m okay,” she said, louder than she had to, but everything in her head was still humming.

Viper released her and they both climbed to their feet.

The team leader pointed toward the flame-engulfed building in the dark ahead of them.

Screams echoed through the night and Hannah flinched as their pain lanced through her heart.

I have to help them. They need me.
She leapt forward.

“Hannah!”

She didn’t stop. Not until she reached the first body…if it could be called that. She covered her mouth and looked away from the pieces of a burnt female corpse.

Hannah hurried closer to the fire and stopped at another body. She knelt next to the woman, charred nearly beyond recognition, but her eyes were open and stared up at the empty sky.

She ran her fingers over the young girl’s eyes and choked back a sob. It wasn’t fair.

Why kill them now? It was over. Adrian had to know it was over.

“Hannah!” Viper shouted from across the clearing. He raised his rifle and aimed at her.

What the hell?

Then a pair of rough hands closed around her neck and dragged her from the ground. She flailed in his grasp, but he easily outweighed her, like most men, by over a hundred pounds.

No matter how she struggled against the other wolf, she’d never find leverage with her thin frame.

“You people ruined everything,” the strange male growled into her ear, laying a blade to her throat.

“We came to help. We’re here to save you.”

“We don’t need saving. Everything was just fine until you came.” He pressed the knife-edge deeper and a warm trail of liquid started down the side of her neck along with a sharp pain.

She scanned the darkness for Viper and Duke. He’d been there only a moment ago. He wasn’t hurt. She’d be able to feel it if he was hurt.

“No one’s coming for you, little girl. All your soldier friends are going to die when my brothers blow the other barra—”

His sentence gurgled into nothing and the arm wrapped around her torso stiffened and then loosened.

She stepped away and whirled to see Viper pulling a wicked-looking blade from her assailant’s skull before dropping the man’s body to the ground next to the burned body of what was probably one of his sisters.

Hannah’s breath rushed in and out of her lungs.

Duke emerged from the shadows and Viper waved him off, but Hannah couldn’t take her eyes off the man on the ground.

Her heart raced, knocking against her ribs so hard they should’ve broken under the pressure. What was she doing here? She was a doctor, not a fighter. She didn’t have any combat training. She was no good to anyone here.

Tears welled in her eyes, but she choked them back. She’d held it together this long.

“Was he one of the ones you wanted to have a second chance?” Viper snarled.

Hannah shivered as ice ran through her veins. She shook her head, backing a step away from her angry mate.

His eye glowed gold and, at that very moment she realized she didn’t even know what color his eyes were. It had been dark when they met. Too dark on the boats. Too dark on the island.

She didn’t know anything about this man and she’d linked herself to him forever. Linked him to her…without any thought to his life or what he wanted.

“I’m sorry.”

He stepped over the bodies and grabbed her into his arms. “Don’t you ever do anything so stupid again. No running ahead. No being the heroic doctor. I know you want to help, but I’m…” Squeezing her hard, his lips brushed the top of her head and his voice softened, “Don’t make me waste everybody on this island trying to keep you safe. Because I will.”

In the midst of so much horror and torment, he’d managed to turn the tide of her emotions with a single statement. Taking a deep breath, Hannah tamped down the deluge of tears waiting to fall. That was as close to an
I care about you
as a girl could hope for. After all, they’d only known each other a few hours.

She slipped her arms around his waist.

Gunshots broke their stolen moment and Viper went on high alert again. He shoved her behind his massive body and yanked his rifle up from where it hung at his side. “Stay behind me. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” she answered, letting one last shudder escape her lungs. She took a quick glance at the carnage behind them as they moved around the corner of the burning building.

More shots.

Return gunfire.

More screams.

Then silence.

Rangers moved across the clearing, body to body, illuminated by soft moonlight. Women were running from the barracks. She heard Dani yelling at them to slow down. That the soldiers were here to take them to safety.

“All clear,” one of the Rangers shouted.

She followed Viper to Duke’s side, where the team leader was shouting directions for the refugees to follow Rangers back to the docks. Duke gave Viper a long hard glance. “You good?”

“Yes, sir,” Viper answered.

Duke glanced at Hannah and she swallowed nervously. Viper hadn’t told anyone what she’d done, and both of them were wearing long sleeves. But she got the feeling Duke knew something had happened between them. Still, to his credit, he didn’t speak his suspicions.

Gabriel darted by their group and took off into the tree.

“Where the fuck is he going?” Duke asked.

Dani took off after Gabriel, and Niko ran up to Hannah and Viper. “He says Adrian is at the bunker. He’s not here.”

“What bunker?”

Niko shrugged. “I don’t know, but we’re supposed to bring Rossi in alive and
snarly
out there wants to rip his head off. So Dani’s following him and I’m going after her.”

Duke growled. “Fuck.” The commander turned to another Ranger. “Golick, you’re in charge. You, Trahan and Gonzales get these people back to the beach and into the boats. Viper and I are pursuing the final target.”

“Yes, sir,” Golick shouted back.

“Come on, Vipe,” Duke said, jogging off after Niko.

Viper turned to Hannah, his face hard, his eyes darting between his retreating commander and her. He hissed out a curse. “You stay with Golick. You’re a doctor, you can help here. I…I need to know you’re safe.”