Page 94 of Mated By the Pack
The first peace officer readies their rifle and fires at Gideon. His golden fur wisps as something buzzes by him, imbeds inthe pavement, and crackles with electricity. Gideon leaps at the peace officer who fired. He rips through the peace officer’s armor and throat with one bite, landing on four paws with blood streaming down his muzzle.
More shots. More flashes of fur. None of the peace officers seem concerned about me. They’re too worried about the wolves. It’s eerie hearing them die without any screams. No cries of pain. Just death gasps and growls as the wolves tear into them.
But there’s too many. Only five wolves and dozens of armed men. I get cut off from my mates and see a shot get fired at Vance’s back. He doesn’t see it.
“Vance, look out!” I yell, flinging my hand forward. “Please work! Please work!”
Tendrils erupt from my bracelet and snatch the electrical device out of the air. It skids across the pavement, and I smile. I can help. I can help a lot.
“Don’t worry about holding back,” I say. “I’ll take all the help you can offer, even if I glow green, start floating, and pass out for days after it’s over.”
The bracelet vibrates and the green glow begins to engulf me. I feel my feet lifting off the ground. I fling vines at the peace officers, strip weapons, wrapping tendrils around their throats, and hurling them out of the way. I clear a path to my mates.
“Shoot the girl! Shoot Nurse Calla!” Dr. Thomas screams.
My mates surround me and keep the peace officers at bay while I attack. But there’s still too many. I can’t stop the devices they’re shooting fast enough, especially now that most of them are coming at me. I snatch several out of the air before Caleb nearlyknocks me away leaping in front of one. The tendril misses and it imbeds in his side, blood gushing from the wound as electricity ripples across his onyx fur.
“Caleb, no!” I yell, slinging tendrils at the peace officer who fired at him. My anger rages and the tendrils rip him apart like they did with the treants.
“Shoot the girl!” Dr. Thomas orders again. “Focus on the girl!”
The green glow around me flickers. I start sinking to the ground. Weakness engulfs me.
“No, no! Not yet!” I beg, shaking my arm. “More, please! I need you!”
The green glow fades and I collapse. Gideon shifts and grabs me before I hit the pavement. His golden stare anchors me for a moment before a shot rings out and electricity dances across his flesh.
“Gideon!” I squeal, catching myself on my feet as he goes down.
“Please, help,” I beg, tears starting to well up as I realize we’re losing. There are simply too many peace officers and too many rounds being fired. My bracelet is no longer glowing. There are no tendrils. It’s just a vine on my wrist. “You can’t abandon me now. You said…”
A loud whimper pulls my attention, and I see Vance go down. I rush to his side and sling my hand forward, hoping the bracelet will respond. It doesn’t. Jace and Knox put themselves between the approaching peace officers and their fallen brother, but it’s me they’re protecting.
“I think my bracelet is out of juice,” I whimper, realizing how hopeless the situation is becoming. “Or The Aether gave up on me.”
Jace and Knox put up a fight. They keep the peace officers at bay, nipping at their weapons, dodging the rounds that hit the pavement below us and building behind us. I shake my arm until I lose feeling in it, begging The Aether for just a little more help. Instead, I hear a whimpering howl as Knox finally goes down.
“The girl is no longer a concern! Take out the last wolf!” Dr. Thomas yells.
Jace backs up to me, growling and threatening the peace officers that approach. I see one ready their weapon, and I jump in front of it out of instinct when they aim at Jace. The object being fired hits my shoulder, slices almost to the bone, and ricochets off with a burst of electricity that nearly knocks me down. Jace shoulders me out of the way with a roar, and the next one hits him in the chest.
“Grab her!” Dr. Thomas says. “Bring her to me!”
I spin in every direction, but I’m trapped. My shoulder is gushing blood. I can still feel the currents of static zapping my bones. One peace officer grabs my left arm. Another takes my right. They drag me toward Dr. Thomas, who pulls a knife.
“Let me go! Let go!” I yell angrily, fighting against the peace officers with everything I have, but they’re far too strong.
“I’ll have to study this,” Dr. Thomas says, grabbing the bracelet and cutting it off my wrist.
The pulse that has been beating in rhythm with my heart dissipates as the bracelet is pulled away. I panic and thrash,but I’m powerless against the peace officers. Dr. Thomas pulls a metal case out of his pocket, opens it, and readies a syringe.
“Dr. Thomas! Don’t do this! They’re your sons!” I plead, looking at my fallen mates.
“Yes, I can’t wait to find out what makes the kind of changes they’ve undergone since the last time I tried to breed them,” Dr. Thomas says, smiling as he holds up the syringe. “But you’re clearly a lot more special than I realized, so I think I’ll have a look inside you, too.”
I turn my head, lift my shoulders, and do everything I can to keep the syringe away from my neck, but it’s no use. Dr. Thomas jabs the metal into my skin and presses down. The sedative works quickly. My eyelids flutter, everything goes numb, and the darkness closes in.
I put my mates in danger, and it’s going to cost us everything.
