Vance, p.27
Vance, page 27
part #1 of Roar Series
“What are we running from?”
“Two trucks, I think. Slowed when they got close to us, search light out of the driver’s side.”
Findley glanced over her shoulder, then took the lead, pulling Kassidy behind her. They went up the incline, with Findley getting behind Kassidy to shove her up faster than she was going, then away from the road that led up the mountain instead of toward it. Males would think they’d take the path of least resistance. They were going the shortest distance toward home, though the ground was harder to navigate. As they ran, they could hear cursing from men on the highway as they found the side-by-side and realized the women were gone. Then Findley whimpered and started urging Kassidy to try to go faster.
“What’s happening?” Kassidy asked.
“They’re coming after us,” Findley whispered. “Don’t speak. They can hear us. They’re shifters! I think they’re coming after me.”
“You run; I’ll slow them down!” Kassidy said, trying to stop moving forward.
“No! They’ll kill you, or they’ll just take you, too! Move! Move!” Findley urged.
Together they ascended the side of the tree and foliage covered mountain as best they could. And from below them, they heard the males gaining on them. Even calling out arrogantly to them. “You’re pissing us off! Just stop and come down. The more you make us chase you, the worse it’ll be when we catch you.”
Kassidy shook her head furiously as she clasped Findley’s hand, when Findley started to slow.
“They’ll forget about you if I go to them.”
“No!” Kassidy hissed out. “Just keep moving.”
~~~
His motorcycle rumbled beneath him as he pushed it as much as he dared in pursuit of the males, who were in pursuit of the women. As he rounded a bend, he let off the gas when he noticed the trucks pulled off the opposite side of the highway, one behind and one in front of a side-by-side. Surely the women had a vehicle and not a glorified golf cart or hunting cart on the highway in the dark. As he went by, four males standing beside the trucks and looking up at the mountainside glared at him.
He lifted his chin in greeting and kept driving past. As soon as he was out of sight of the males babysitting the trucks, he pulled over and killed the engine on his bike, then ran as quickly as he could up the side of the mountain, angling back toward where he saw the trucks and the side-by-side parked with their lights off.
He moved fast — as fast as he ever had — he knew he might be the only thing between the two females and the assholes pursuing them. He grinned to himself as he pushed his body into overdrive. It had been a long time since he’d felt this alive. He’d missed this feeling, this sense of purpose. The piece of shit males were about to find out it was a bad idea to abuse women. At least when he was around.
~~~
The males on security routinely performed checks up and down the mountainsides during both the day and night rotations. They intentionally took different paths each time, sometimes a little closer to the road, others closer to the settlements strewn about the mountain, to be sure at some point, all areas were checked. They kept in contact via text message on their cell phones to send ‘all clears’ or concerns if they came across anything unusual.
Roan was completing his usual security walk when he heard voices. They were faint, but voices nonetheless. He stopped and listened, waiting for another few words to reach him, but there was nothing. He turned in the direction he thought he’d heard voices and started walking. Better safe than sorry. About five minutes later, he heard another voice. “Stop fucking talking! You’re broadcasting exactly where we are to anybody close enough to hear!”
A male, talking to at least one other, and it wasn’t a voice he was familiar with. Roan took out his cell phone and typed out a message.
“At least two trespassers on the mountain, possibly more.
I’m on the north side, one third up from the highway.
Going to check it out.”
Roan sent the message to Paxton who was running security tonight. He put his phone back in his pocket and backtracked, planning to move back from the encroaching trespassers, and drop down behind them to observe them without them knowing they’d been discovered. Some ten minutes later, he was pleased his plan was working as he reached a place to curve back up the mountain behind the males as they climbed ever higher.
His plan was working until he heard a female scream. Then he dropped all semblance of stealthiness and began running toward the scream.
~~~
Paxton’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He lifted it and swiped the screen to read the message. His brows bunched over his eyes as he read it again. He looked at Tate, who was walking security checks with him. “Roan says trespassers on the mountain. He’s getting in position to tail them.”
“How many?” Tate asked.
“At least two. Maybe more.”
Tate looked around. “Well, they didn’t walk here. Let’s go take a look and see if we can find any vehicles stashed nearby.”
“Good idea. Let me message Rance real quick,” Paxton said as he started walking. His fingers moved swiftly over the screen of his phone as he updated Rance, everyone working security, and even Jack, at the same time, then he slipped the phone in his pocket as he and Tate headed down the mountain, staying close to their private road, but still within the tree line, being careful not to be too easily detected. Familiar with the terrain, and very good at their jobs, they managed to get down the mountain and get eyes on the two trucks blocking in Vance’s side-by-side, and the men who waited there for whoever was already on the mountain. Paxton pointed toward them, then at his phone.
Tate nodded, staying exactly where he was, very well hidden by brush and trees as Paxton walked several feet away and turned his back to the road, hiding his phone with his body so no one would have even a slight chance of seeing the glow from it as he messaged Rance, Jack, and the rest of the security force.
~~~
Rance, Vance, and Niko lay flat on their backs next to Jared’s grave. They’d drunk themselves to the point that they didn’t even want to drink anymore, and now just lay there, looking at the stars, reminiscing of things they’d gotten into together as kids.
Rance’s phone buzzed and he lifted his ass off the ground to reach it. He swiped the screen and read the message. He sat up quickly and blinked, trying to better focus to be sure he was actually reading what he was reading.
“What’s wrong?” Vance asked.
“Trespassers on the mountain,” Rance said, shoving himself up off the ground as he read it again.
“What do you need us to do?” Niko asked as he and Vance stood as well.
“Nothing. Security’s got it, but I need to go make sure Jack is aware.”
“I’ll go tell him, you worry about your security team,” Niko said.
“I’m going to check on Kassidy,” Vance said, pulling himself up as well.
They each got only a few steps away when Rance’s phone went off again. They stopped to see what the message was, waiting for Rance to read it to them. “Two trucks on the road, four males waiting with the trucks. More on the mountain, exact number is not clear.” Rance looked up at Vance. “You sure Kassidy is home?”
“Yes, I checked on her earlier and she was sleeping.”
“Go check again. Your side-by-side is on the highway, blocked in between the two trucks.”
Vance took off at a run, shifting without missing a step.
Niko and Rance ran for Jack’s house.
Jack met them halfway, barefoot with only a pair of jeans on. “What else do you know?”
“You get the messages from Paxton about the two trucks blocking in Vance’s side-by-side on the highway?” Rance asked.
“Yes.”
“That’s all we know.”
Rance’s phone rang and he swiped the screen to accept the call from an ‘unknown caller’ as he lifted it to his ear. “Who’s this?”
“Kassidy’s phone. Kassidy’s not here. Findley’s mother is. Says Kassidy went to the bar to get Findley,” Vance said. “I’m going after her.”
“Be smart about it. She’s being hunted. Out hunt them,” Rance said.
Vance didn’t answer, just ended the call.
“Kassidy took the side-by-side to get Findley from the bar,” Rance said to Jack.
“Did nobody fucking think to stop her as she went down the mountain?” Jack demanded.
“Which one?” Niko snarked.
“Either one!” Jack shouted.
“We’re not working checkpoints and the gates are open since we relaxed the security levels. We’re just walking security checks. We’ll have to rethink it, something for another day. Right now, they’re out there, and apparently somebody’s following them. They abandoned the side-by-side on the shoulder of the road, so either they’re trying to outrun whoever’s chasing them, or they’ve already been caught.”
Jack thought about it for only a split second. “You,” he said, pointing to Rance, “go get what you need. They’re probably here searching for Findley. Take your truck down to just before the highway. Be ready to pull out without being noticed if anyone else does. If we can get you following whoever walks away, they may lead us to Findley’s sister.”
“Somebody’s walking away?” Rance asked.
“If they haven’t hurt Kassidy or Findley, we’ll make sure at least one slips away. If they’ve hurt them, you packed for no reason. Let everybody know if someone slips away alone, it’s intentional, to let him go.”
“On it,” Rance said, taking off at a run.
“You come with me,” Jack said to Niko.
In the distance, they heard a woman’s shriek. “Fuck!” Rance shouted as he continued toward his place to rush a throw together packing session so he could be ready to tail whoever might survive this, as Jack and Niko shifted and started running, along with twenty or so other males who were gradually converging on the North side of the mountain from all directions. Surprise was no longer their objective. Rescue was.
Chapter 27
The lone male had pushed to get ahead of everyone, so when the time was right he could attack from above. He had the two women in his sight where they sheltered in a crevice beneath a small outcropping, and was lying face down in some tall grasses above the outcropping, waiting. He was hoping the males didn’t find the women, then he could just follow the males back down the mountain and kill them all at his leisure, and the women wouldn’t be traumatized. But if they found their hiding spot, all bets were off. They might be traumatized when he was done, but they’d be alive.
He lay perfectly still, the claws on his fingertips extended, his eyes shifting between their natural dark piercing black, to an inhuman yellow-gold. His breathing slowed to almost non-existent, so they wouldn’t hear him breathe, and he waited.
He watched as five males came into view, obviously tracking the women from the trail they’d left. In their effort to rush to safety, the women had been very clumsy about leaving a trail, but most women weren’t trained like he was — to completely disappear into your surroundings while leaving no trace.
“I am so fucking tired of this little bitch!” one of the males complained. “Traipsing all over a fucking mountainside beside a fucking highway in somebody else’s territory! You know we’re just asking for trouble. She’s not fucking worth it! I don’t see why Alpha can’t just pick out another one instead of wasting all this time and money on this little whore. Can’t even fucking shift because if we get caught and we’re in lion form, they’ll think we’re attacking. It’s bullshit.”
“Why don’t you call Alpha and tell him that?” another asked.
“Shhh,” the one leading them all hissed, freezing in place and looking down at the ground for evidence he was on the right trail. He grinned sardonically and pointed toward the very outcropping Kassidy and Findley were hiding beneath. He smirked as he shifted into his lion, leaving his clothes lying on the ground where he’d stood only moments before, his lion stepping out of them as he moved almost silently to the lower part of the outcropping, his plan to rush into the crevice and flush the women out.
His friends spread out, moving closer to the outcropping he’d indicated and waited to intercept Findley and Kassidy as they ran in a desperate break for freedom.
Sure enough, Findley picked up on the lion moving toward them, and shoved Kassidy out of the crevice opposite the end the lion was rushing into. “Run!” she shouted at Kassidy as she shifted into her lioness and turned to face the lion as his paw swiped across her flank, slicing the tawny colored flesh as she almost managed to sidestep him.
Kassidy screamed instinctively when Findley shoved her out of the crevice and she fell the short distance to the rocky ground below. She landed on her hands and knees, and was then yanked up by one of the males waiting for them.
The roars of the attacking lion and Findley herself as she valiantly fought against him were intense. Findley was obviously not going down without a fight. Then the attacking lion let out an earsplitting roar. It was not a standard roar, it was a declaration of shock, of disbelief, of fear — it was a death roar. The four males standing below the outcropping, waiting anxiously for their friend to control Findley and drag her back to them so they could get the hell out of here, were stunned when the lion’s lifeless body was tossed up out of the crevice, and landed on the ground in front of them.
“What the fuck?” the male who’d taken hold of Kassidy shouted, his hand locked around the back of her neck as he jumped back, dragging her backward with him.
“Let her go,” a male demanded, jumping up out of the crevice and landing perfectly in front of them. He was covered in blood, his right hand and claws in particular as he stood before them with blood dripping steadily from them, creating a puddle beside him, the look in his inhuman yellow eyes challenging all of them.
“I’m going to kill you!” the male shouted as he shoved Kassidy to the ground to his left.
The yellow-eyed male grinned at him, and lifted the hand with blood still running from his claws to wave him forward.
The male shifted and attacked.
Two of his remaining friends shifted as well and joined the fight, but the last made a quick getaway into the trees in the direction they’d come.
As the battle between the bloodied, yellow-eyed male and the three lions who’d attacked him continued, the woods around them were suddenly filled with movement — multiple males, some already shifted into their lion form, and others still in human form carrying firearms surrounded them, securing the area. A huge lion, so thick and muscular his build belied the grace of his movements, bounded into the area, roaring his outrage at the trespassers on his property. He was clearly their Alpha. He immediately charged forward, taking on one of the lions, as did several of the others.
One of them shifted immediately to his human form on seeing Kassidy backing out of the way the whole while begging them to help the unknown male. “Kassidy!” he yelled, rushing to her side and quickly checking her for injury as he ran his hands over her.
Kassidy found herself in Vance’s hands, as he checked her for injury. But all she could think was someone was going to harm the man who’d saved her and Findley. “Make them help him!” she screamed.
“Who?” Vance demanded.
“Him! The man! He saved us! He saved us, Vance!” she screamed. “Help him!”
Vance moved her back further out of the way. “Stay here!” he ordered, then shifted and charged back into the chaos. He managed to get only a few slashes at the lion attacking the male Kassidy said saved her before the lion reared up and launched himself at the male. The yellow-eyed male roared his own fury as the lion sent himself airborne, seemingly coming at him in slow motion. Then he lifted his bloodied, muscular arms into the air, taking the lion’s weight onto his own body, and using the momentum the lion had created to his own advantage. His claws pierced the lion’s flesh in both hands and gripped the beast as he went into a roll, forcing the lion to roll with him. When they came to a stop, the yellow-eyed male was on top and without hesitation freed his claws from the flesh of the lion, then plunged his hand into the lion’s throat, tearing out his trachea. He stood over the still twitching lion’s body as it slowly died, his own chest heaving as he sucked in breath after breath from the exertion of battling the lion. He threw the handful of flesh and tendon he still gripped in his right hand at the downed lion and threw his head back roaring into the night once more before advancing on the male who’d just shifted into human form only feet from him.
Vance having shifted back to his human form, stood nude, blood splashed across his body, watching the male still in survival mode, advance on him. Vance emitted a deep, deadly warning growl.
The male stared into his eyes.
“I give you grace because you saved my mate. If you push me, I will kill you.”
“He’s mine!” Kassidy called through her tears. “He’s mine,” she repeated.
The yellow-eyed male looked from Vance to Kassidy.
Kassidy nodded and moved toward them.
The male lowered his head and took a step back, a sign of submission. He’d thankfully chosen to defuse the situation.
“Stay where you are, Kassidy!” Vance ordered, concerned for her safety.
Kassidy stopped in her tracks, and Vance cast only one glance toward the strange male to be sure he was staying away from Kassidy before moving toward her himself and gathering her in his arms as he moved her further away.
Niko, having dispatched one of the other lions, and Jack also covered in blood from his fight, both shifted back to their human forms as Vance moved Kassidy to safety.
