I saw a large black van pulling out in front of us, and another similar van pulled into a pit manuvering position from behind, two cop cars further on beyond that. I smiled to myself. I knew a rescue convoy when I saw one. I kept my reflexes tamped down, knowing that they would give the convoy’s probable plan away if I were to act on them. Sure enough, the two cop cars turned on their sirens, one pulling in front, the other maintaining distance from our rear fender. The black van in front of us slammed on the brakes, and the one on the rear hit us from the right rear quadrant behind the tire, spinning us out. The Texan grabbed me by the hair and hauled me out of the vehicle, a .45 caliber Sig Sauer pressed to my temple. No way in hell was I about to let him use me as a hostage. I watched as the first two vans, filled to the brim with what could only be SEALs, unloaded and aimed their weapons. I knew that I needed to arrange a better shot for them, so I stomped my foot on his. While he hopped around on one foot swearing, I got free, turned, kicked him in the face, and got his weapon away from him. That accomplished, I used my left foot to hook his right knee behind the joint and force him to the ground. The SEALS swarmed him, and the cops focused in on the driver to the extent that they were willing to ignore the fact that the SEALs were currently in the process of beating the living shit out of the texan. Eventually, one of the guys jimmied the locks on my cuffs and slid me into the van. I rubbed my wrists for a while as one of the guys checked my “injuries”. In the end, it was determined that I only had minor cuts and bruises. I mean, no shit sherlock, I seriously could have told them that one myself. They swadled me in blankets like a baby. At their insistance, we stopped for lunch at Cosi’s. They gave me an official welcome to the town of Coronado, California. I hesitantly reached out for Damon after being settled into my room at the base. The boys had gotten clean clothes in my size and stocked the room with toiletries. It was really very kind of them, but it wasn’t home, and it probably never would be. ‘Damon, I know you’re there, so stop hiding. I know it was you and James that set the seals after me, and i’m grateful, but there are things I need to take care of tonight.’ “What would those be, Carmen? Scaring the hell out of me? cause last time I checked you’ve already accomplished that.” I gasped and turned towards the door, watching in wonder as Damon walked into my room. “Damon! thank god you guys are okay!” I flung my arms around him, bringing my lips to meet his in a soul-searing kiss. One of his hands stroked my hair, and the other was wrapped possesively around my waist. “Carmen, I swear to god, if you ever pull a stunt like that again, I’ll tie you up, ward you into my house and never let you leave again.” “Damon, that was the only time I did anything so spontaneous, and only because if I didn’t, everyone I had left to care about would have been killed. Damon, I was worried sick about you guys, but what I did was for your safety.” “Doesn’t excuse it.” He silenced my protest with another kiss. Then James walked in the door, the rest of my team and my family coming in behind him.
James was furious, not that I could exactly blame him. I mean, in retrospect, I had jumped out of a moving helicoptor without warning him while trying to catch an RPG, then went silent for two days afterward. Yeah, I would have been pissed too. “Carmen, don’t ever put me through that kind of hell again, you hearing me?” He snarled, using his Alpha tone. “Yes, oh great and Almighty Alpha.” I used a mocking tone, trying to help the poor boy realize that I could take care of myself.
I may have just given him the scare of a lifetime, but that didn’t give him the right to turn into a possesive jerk. “Don’t sass me. You seriously frightened me half to death. I had the entire pack out searching you, and Meaghan was seriously injured trying to free you. Damon called in three entire companies of the boys in coronado, not to mentchion my platoon of Delta Force and your SEAL platoon. The president called today to see if we found you yet, because no one was going to leave until you were found.” “You have no idea what I went through to keep you safe, James. I couldn’t stay in that helicoptor because, if I DID, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN SHOT DOWN, YOU MORON! If it had been shot down, YOU ALL WOULD HAVE DIED! WHERE WOULD THAT LEAVE US THEN, HUH?!” By the end of the tirade, I was shouting. James looked humbled. “Carmen, I don’t want you to go sacrificing yourself trying to keep everyone else safe. I care too much about you.” Damon walked into the room. “James, I need to be alone right now. I wouldn’t advise trying to lecture me or telling me what to do again, ever. I think that the Alpha ceremony needs to be moved to tonight, then we are catching the next flight to Romania, got it?” He nodded, and the rest of my free time was spent resting and getting prepped for the Alpha ceremony. I was luck enough to have Amber doing my make-up, Mina doing hair, and Angel zipping me into a dress.
An hour later, I was in the car on the way to the house. Somehow, James and Damon had gotten it fixed up, cleaned, decorated, and had set up some pre-ordered food. I felt my nerves setting off in the pit of my stomache. What if my nightmare wasn’t just a nightmare? What if it all came true? I paced around the interior of the house, asking myself; what I would do with all of the power being handed to me? how would I handle the responsibility? I realized that I needed to quit my job as a SEAL, and that was a damn shame, but it had to be done now. It needed to be a “clean break”, as it is so often called. I contacted Damon with my on the spot decision, then I put in a much needed phone call to headquarters, then the boys. Of course, I did get some bitching from their end about it, but I told them to suck it up.
Mina came in to warn me that I had ten minutes to pull my act together, so I told myself to stuff the emotions into a box. I had to embody confidence when I was leading. No confidence, no respect. No respect means nothing would get done, which would make my life hell. Not that it wasn’t already.
ten minutes later, James and I were standing on a podium, him leading me through the Alpha vows. I vowed never to abandon the pack, to be willing to serve them as they served me, and above all else that I would protect them with my life if necessary. And I meant it. With all my heart.
