Chương 73: DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME

We got into the pack house. We weren't the only ones seeking shelter there tonight. I followed as Flynn led us down to the training hall. Hank had met the Morning Light trucks and got the teen trainees safely here too. The hall was busy and tense. Wolves were still streaming in, but everyone, including the Morning Light goons pitched in to set up the hall. We set up training mats for the different families to settle on. I heard them saying it would be all right. We just needed to wait it out here for a while.

The packhouse kitchen had already sent up bottled water, hot tea and coffee, and sandwiches and biscuits to distribute. Now that the training hall was filling up, it was obvious that most of the wolves were elderly, women, and children. The men who could shift and fight had gone to report to their designated positions to guard the pack house from outside. Mum took Savy around the different mats to help distribute the water and biscuits. Mum talked to the ladies and helped calm the children.

I probably should have gone with them, except that my wolf was way too on edge for me to calm anybody. Stupid Wolfie. What's wrong? We're at the safest place possible. Wolfie didn't seem to care about safety. {Rogues are near.} Maybe it was because this was the first time Wolfie had gotten so close to rogues on our home ground. Or maybe it was because our first brush with them on Sunday at Morning Light's Destitute Home was still fresh. Wolfie growled, remembering the wolfbane. Wolfie did not appreciate it.

But I thought it was something more than that. I felt—I don't know—the inexpressible urge to go out there and tear off wolf parts. It rumbled within me like a power surge. Oh. My bad. I was just having a power surge. A pretty big one. Where previously it had emerged as heavy bubbles of energy, it had grown stronger—more like rushes or waves. Tonight, it was like a tsunami. I felt it hover for just a second and then crash into me so hard my ears started tingling from the soundless internal impact.

Luckily everyone else around me was too busy to notice my internal power self-combust. Hank and Flynn checked and bolted the side doors to the hall. Warrior wolves came in now and then to drop off various supplies and check perimeters or whatever they were sent down to do before going back out. We'd never had rogues come so close to home before. At least not in my memories, but it appeared that the Morning Light goons were more experienced in this.

"Don't worry," Harvey said suddenly from my side. The good Beta from Morning Light had come in with Hank and other Morning Light goons earlier, and like the good Beta he was, all the goons had been assigned to some helpful responsibility around the training hall. Was he taking his break?

"I'm alright," I said.

"But thanks." I smiled to prove it. Harvey nodded, but didn't leave my side.

"Why are you here?" I asked. I supposed there might have been a nicer way to say it.

"Flynn sent me to stick with you," Harvey explained. Ah, so this was guard duty, not break time.

"You should be sticking with my Mum," I pointed out. I know I would be relieved to have the good Beta by my Mum's side.

"Hank is on it," Harvey said. Oh. I get it. Future Luna needed a bodyguard too. Flynn wasn't taking any chances. For the rogues to get into our pack lands was a new achievement, at any rate. I wondered how those rogues managed it. {Rogues are near.} If I thought Maria would make a good early-warning device, it was because my Wolfie hadn't shown her crazy detection skills until now. An early warning was nice if it worked like a doorbell.

But Wolfie worked more like one of those GPS navigation apps that just kept dinging. {Rogues are near.} Right on cue. Why was Wolfie repeating herself like that? She didn't even like talking unless she was asserting her dominance. Wolfie was never personable—but she was practical and smart. Oh. I suddenly got it. Every time the rogues got nearer, Wolfie would ding. And the spacing of the dings informed me—like the beeping of a radar—how quickly they were moving.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. I sighed, looking around the training hall. Our wolves looked highly stressed—from those moving around to help out to those resting on the mats. Even our pups were sitting subdued with their families. We'd been at peace for so long we'd forgotten… well, some of us—like me—had never known what it was like to be attacked by rogues on our own pack land. Yeah. Life had been good to us.

I looked around and suddenly realized none of my gang were here. Probably on home lockdown. Sometimes we had home-lockdown drills in case of attack, but the threat had never been imminent. Everyone would be on home lockdown now until the threat was eliminated. The families here were the ones who lived in the pack house—mostly families of warrior wolves with apartments here, or staff who served our pack administration and housekeeping.

By tradition, elite warriors had the privilege of living in the pack house, each given a free apartment during their time of service. That way, their women and children would never be left alone if they were called to duty. But like I'd said, we'd been at peace almost all my life. Many of our warriors—elite or not—had chosen to live outside on their own land. In times of peace, living closer to schools and supermarkets made more sense.

So many of our life decisions had been made under the assumption that our pack would continue to live in peace. {Rogue approaches.} I startled. That was new. The word approaches gave me a clear sense of the time I had left. The last time Wolfie had said that, I hadn't even had time to reach the front door before the doorbell rang. Harvey lifted a brow.

"Are you all right, Princess?" Seriously? The nickname was spreading like a plague. It was like I had a note stuck to my back—like a kick-me sign—except it read call me Princess. The effect was the same. Honestly, I'd rather be kicked. At least then I could kick back until they learned their lesson. {Rogues above.} Now I was alarmed. What the heck? We were in the basement. Above us was the pack house. What had happened to our guards? Our patrols?

"Harvey," I leaned close to his ear and lowered my voice, "there are rogues in the pack house."

"What?" Even in shock, Harvey kept his voice down. His posture stayed firm and calm, and no one else in the hall was any the wiser. Good Beta.

"Are you sure?" he asked. I nodded. My wolf had never been wrong yet.

"Let's go," I told him.

"We're going hunting." Only one door remained unbolted to allow access to the washrooms. The corridor outside was narrow. Across from it, the hospital hall was being set up, its doors open as supplies were brought down. It was as if the rogues had passed all the medical staff, guards, and patrols without being detected. Wolfie went quiet. Harvey stayed by my side. For some reason, he didn't question my decisions or report them to Flynn—unless he was mind-linking, which would suck.

"Beta Lucas requests that you stay in the hall. He'll send men to check," Harvey told me. I liked the word requests. Beta Lucas had never ordered me to do anything before. It also confirmed Harvey was on the mind link, and that both packs were now operating on the emergency system. Because we were still two separate packs, we couldn't mind-link directly across packs. We had a workaround.

In emergencies, Beta Lucas and Harvey's dad—Beta Gerald—would hole up together as central control, relaying messages to the right parties. I forgot Harvey had shifted long ago and was fully connected to his pack's link. Fine. At least he could be my walkie-talkie.

"No time," I said.

"They're already inside. And my wolf can find them."

"But—" Harvey looked alarmed.

"Your Beta said—""You'd better come with me and report my movements, then," I joked. I slipped past the medical equipment being wheeled down.

"Try to keep up, Beta," I tossed back with a grin. My power surge hummed at the back of my mind. It felt good. I was relying completely on my wolf now. And because I don't know who might be reading my diary, I feel socially responsible to include this warning: Do not try this at home. Harvey followed me in silence.

"Any update?" I asked.

"They're requesting we turn back," he said.

"And you?" I asked.

"What do you want to do?"

"I'll follow you." Good answer, Beta. Full marks. For some reason, I wished Ben was here. Or Jonah. Or the others. But I felt lucky to have Harvey. He wasn't my Beta, but he was a damn good one. {My Beta.} Wolfie informed me. What about Ben? {My Beta.} You can't have two Betas. Wolfie went quiet. I knew better than to take that as submission. She was just waiting for me to understand she was right. The arrogance. I caught the rogues' scent—faint, but unmistakable. Wolfie surged, pointing the way in my head.

That's how I knew.

"The office," I whispered.

"They're in the office. We stall them and request backup." I sighed inwardly. That was all I could do—again. Just stall until real help arrived. I hated how weak I was in human form. A girl—and not even the tough kind. If I had my wolf form, it would be different. My Wolfie would be massive. I didn't know how I knew, but right now, I couldn't imagine it otherwise. Harvey followed without question as I slipped toward the back stairwell. Using the main stairs risked giving us away.

"How many rogues?" he asked.

"At least two," I said. I didn't need Wolfie to speak anymore. I knew exactly what she knew. Two intruders in the office—unsure about lookouts. Harvey stared at me for a moment, then shook his head.

"What?" I asked.

"Your eyes…" He hesitated.

"You haven't shifted yet, right?" I nodded. What had that got to do with my eyes?

"It's probably just the lighting," he said. Lighting? Sure… although we were creeping around with only the moonlight from the windows. All the house lights were off. Except for the office. The door was closed, but light leaked out beneath it. Should we take the corridor? They might hear us. The balconies outside were worse—lookouts in the woods. {Rogues are near.} That settled it. Wolves outside.

"Be completely soundless," I whispered.

"They'll hear anything from inside." The corridor was clear. How to stall them? I didn't want them escaping through the window or signaling others. {Rogues are near.} Tell me something I don't know. {Alpha is near.}"Your dad says to go back," Harvey reported.

"He's taking care of it." {Alpha approaches.} I understood. Dad was moving fast. King Kong mode. I grabbed Harvey's sleeve and pulled him into a supplies closet across the corridor. He followed instantly. We'd get out of the way. I'd hidden here plenty of times over the years—with Savy, with Dean. It was stocked with office supplies and cleaning equipment. Usually comfortable. This time, it felt smaller. Maybe I'd grown. Or maybe my partner in crime was bigger.

Harvey was a full head taller and nearly a warrior now. We heard Dad storm into the office. A fight broke out. I expected it to be over quickly. Then a gunshot. The office window shattered—again. More shots. Wolves snarling. Snipers. The noise was deafening. A round hit the wall I'd been leaning against. I couldn't tell which one. My wolf reeled, disoriented. I had once said a shotgun would be my weapon of choice. I take it back. Way too loud. Harvey pulled me close.

I pushed him away, so he switched places with me, shielding me instead. For the second time this week, the office would need its windows replaced.