"Stand down," Hank yelled. "We know her."
Angela was a bloody mess as she tore forward away from the Council Wolves and ran as if her life depended on it. They gave a halfhearted chase, but she was near death and they didn't seem to care. What was wrong with my people?
"Angela," I cried out as she fell in a heap at my feet.
I was so relieved to see her, but some of the others were not. It was fast and I was so concerned with Angela I was almost unaware it was happening. Almost.
I shifted to my Wolf on instinct as the female feral Wolf my Granny had refused to fight dove forward and went for Angela's neck. I used my body to block her and rolled with her into a now destroyed flowerbed. I wasn't sure if Dwayne's shriek was because I was in danger of biting it or because we'd just wiped out several thousand dollars worth of Knockout Roses.
She bared her teeth and snapped at me as she struggled to get back to Angela. She was strong and large and she wanted Angela—bad. Why in the hell did everyone want to kill my boss? She was a pain in the ass, but being one was not an offense that merited death. I felt the Vampyre blood in my system burst free and flow through my body. My need to fight the female wolf was intense. She was not going to kill what was mine. Only I could kill what was mine…
Wait. Where did that come from?
She hissed and growled. Hank shifted and had my back. The male feral Wolf, who I also recognized, had hers. The Vamps floated above ready to dive in at my first sign of distress. I needed no help whatsoever. I blocked her every move to get back to Angela and her frustration was evident. However, she refused to engage me. What was her problem? Did she fear me? Why in the hell would she fear me? I was smaller and clearly not as old or as skilled as she was.
She made the mistake of looking away and I pounced. I held her pinned under me and she whimpered only once before she offered her neck to me in submission. Why? Why was she doing this?
"Kill her," Angela hissed. "Kill the bitch. She wants me dead. Kill her. Now."
Angela was both frightened and furious. She had to be in shock from repeated beatings, but what she wanted from me was wrong.
It would be so easy to follow orders, but I had stopped taking orders from Angela several days ago. I wasn't going to start now and kill a Wolf that had offered its throat to me. To do so would be cold-blooded murder. I would kill—it was part of my job, but only when necessary or provoked. Period.
I backed off of the female Wolf and gave Angela a withering look as I shifted back to human.
"Bring her in the house," I told Pat and Harley, referring to my boss. "She's in no shape to fight."
"I told you to kill her," Angela rasped out as blood poured from a cut over her eye and from her nose.
Holy hell, they'd worked her over good.
"You'll be happy later that I followed protocol and didn't kill a defenseless being. You'll be safe inside."
"When I tell you to do something, you do it," she screamed as she let Pat and Harley lead her inside. "No one is listening anymore."
I noticed the Aramini and Gades chuckling at the scene. The Dragons appeared bored and the feral Wolves pinned me with stares.
"What?" I snapped at the ferals. "What do you want? And where are the rest of you? There are supposed to be thirty of you… well, I guess twenty-three because of the other day, but…"
"Thirty," Hank said in shock. "There were thirty."
"Ferals?" Dwayne asked confused.
I felt cold and hot at the same time. My head was light and I felt a little like I was floating above myself. It was all in front of us the entire time…
"Agents. Thirty missing agents presumed dead with no proof of death," I said as my body started to shake uncontrollably. "Oh my god," I shouted at the entire hillside. "Is this what you're hiding? Wouldn't the rest of the Werewolf nation be interested to learn that service to your government means you end up as an experiment with half of a fucking life? Is this why you want me? So I can be part of your game along with my parents?"
I wanted to peel my skin off and I wanted to throw up. I was fairly certain at this point I had almost just killed my mother. I had also dropped the f-bomb which was something Granny would wash my mouth out with soap for, but it felt right and Granny was inside.
Of course… now it all made sense. Granny had recognized her daughter and her son-in-law. She had been sure which was what had killed her. It's why those two Wolves stayed and protected her body… and it's why they were still here.
"This ends now," I ground out through clenched teeth. "All of the Wolves and Dragons on the hill die today. Are we all on the same page?"
"Yes, we are," Vlad said as he rubbed his hands together with glee.
"Cows, inside the house," Hank directed as the Wolves on the hill began to shift and howl.
"We will fight," Harley said as she and Pat came back out of the house.
"Absolutely not," I said. "Your blood will not be on my hands. Inside. NOW."
The howling of the Wolves and the unfortunate shifts of the dozen or so Dragons did not bode well for us winning. However, I was not going down without putting up a fight and I planned to take a few Council members with me.
I sincerely hoped I survived the day and I prayed I made it through with all of my limbs intact. I wanted to get married with all of my original parts. But I also hoped the two feral Wolves made it. I was pretty sure I knew who they were now, but I was too frightened to hope it was true.