A Dying Legacy

Chapter 3

The only thing that was left to start this mission was for me to get my gear, and then we hit the road.

I dumped the outfit I 'borrowed' from Betsy and detangled my hair from the scrunchie, throwing it into a high ponytail to keep it out of my way. Unlike the women you see in those vampire/wolf movies, I kept my attire practical for a purpose: A black halter top with a built-in bra made out of a spandex type of material and fastened with a break away clasp. It reaches to just below my ribs and designed to easily break off instead of tear off if I must shift to my wolf form suddenly. That, along with knee length black yoga shorts that break away with 3 clasps linging each side. A strip of matching velcro material overlaps to hide the clasps and cover my exposed skin. And yes, I said yoga pants. Yoga pants and running sneakers. Cause who in the hell is running and fighting in leather pants and knee high boots? I mean, sure Kate Beckinsale looks drop dead gorgeous on camera in it, but don't expect me to outrun my enemy or throw a high enough kick-so screw trying to look gorgeous. The only true leather I wore were my black gloves; to hide my fingerprints and hold the silver daggers I kept hidden in the hem of my halter.

Nico and Tania drove lead from North Carolina to Alabama in his twin cab truck. The pair of us have hit the road cross country in an instant enough times that we nearly knew every strip we could get away with murder on. I almost lost him on the highway, his lead foot proving worse than mine as the setting sun behind us threatened we might be too late. His tracker took us to an abandoned slaughterhouse, barely recognizable by the overgrown weeds splitting and crumbling its concrete facade. We continued passed, driving another mile down the road as we scoped out the entrances and exits. They did good choosing this location with the jungle of the forest surrounding it making it difficult for anyone to sneak through a backway. With only one notable entrance to come and go, we double backed and parked off road under the cover of trees about a mile off the entrance.

Nico cut the engine and hopped out of his truck, motioning his head for me to follow suit. Being careful to stay hidden under the shadow of duck and the trees, we made quick work to hide our vehicles. Gathering fallen branches, we scattered them across our hood and bumper to lessen the glint of the metal from oncoming headlights.

"I'm going to scout up there and try to get eyes on the vehicles coming and going-" Nico mind-linked me, staying absolutely silent now that we were this close. He nodded to the hill inclining towards the building. "I will link you if I can get a visual on the she-wolves." That's why Cora and I were to follow first, to give him time to get back to Tania.

"And if I don't return-" we both mind-linked in unison, as we did every time we parted on a mission, "-carry on. I'll come back home to you."

It was our ritual mantra. We trusted in each other that if one was caught during the mission, we'd make it back to the base on our own. Never weaken the safe have or take away the chance of helping another she-wolf because we're too busy on a rescue mission. We trained with each other as children to adults and we knew each other's strength.

Nico didn't wait, disappearing into the thick of the trees as he climbed upward. I settled back in my SUV, pulling the door closed gently behind me to quieten the clink of the metal clasping shut. Right on time as the last ray of light was snuffed beyond the horizon, vehicle after vehicle came barrelling down the road. Spying the combination of blacked out SUV's and cargo vans, I nodded to Cora. She popped the glove box and with a chuckle, tossed me my selection of fanny pack stashed inside. "Don't you knock it till you've tried it." I stuck my tongue out at her, then zipped and rezipped each pack. Once I found the set of tools I would need for this operation, I tossed the rest back to her.

"I'll try it once you stop calling them 'jelly bellys'." she teased me.

I rolled my eyes at her as I propped my ankle onto the car seat. Just in case I had to shift, I loosely wrapped it around my ankle. There was no way it wouldn't tear apart around my waist. It wasn't a big and bulky pack, just the perfect size to hold my trusty lock picking set. "You loaded the speakers?" I double checked for the umpteenth time, now gaining an eye roll from her. She unzipped the front pocket of her slim black cargo vest, revealing what looked like a handful of stick-on polka dots no more than an inch thick each.