Moving Forward

Reunions (27)

Each of Max's brothers carried a rifle and a couple handguns strapped to them, but not a single one of them used the guns. Instead, they let the wolves come at them, easily dispatching each attacker with clean, deadly strikes of their hunting knives, which made sense considering they wouldn't have been able to tell the enemy from their allies charging in front of them. Kyle in the lead in wolf form. Blake right next to him, a hulking, black-maned lion.

Max wasted no time. He crushed the skull of the wolf closest, which had been distracted by the entrance of the pack, and then turned to fend off the other wolf, taking nips and scratches like a chew toy. And then, when the wolf faltered in its footing, Max was right in there with a throat crushing bite.

In moments, Max had gone from a prisoner to liberated. The other wolves that kept him trapped were now dead or retreating.

Max wasted no time on greeting and launched himself into a tree, following as the others charged back the River Mansion. Honestly, that wasn't where Max wanted to be. He wanted to go home, to his isolated house on the edge of the town, with Kyle, and hole up there for a week. But that wasn't safe. And once they were half way there, Kyle let out a howl that called back the rest of his pack. Just minutes after the call, there they were, running with them as if they'd been there the whole time. And the steady pace they went meant that the Marines they ran with had no trouble keeping up.

Once they were actually at the River Mansion, chaos broke out. Carter had been waiting there, apparently forbidden by his Alpha to go on the rescue mission with his brother. It was Blake who'd initially been suspicious of Max's disappearance, and Kyle didn't hesitate to back him up. But nobody made a move until they heard from Gillespie. By then, Blake had already made contact with Team Panther - a name that had always made Max cringe - and Max's brothers were just waiting for the word.

It was... incredible.

It was only when they were in the main hall of the mansion that Max felt safe enough to change back, and the second he did, Second Lieutenant Milo Duke with his narrow frame and buzzed hair was there to hand him a pair of army fatigues and a black top.

Max nodded, keeping up the appearance of professionalism, but a moment later, he broke out in a grin to give each of his team a quick hug. Reed Parish, a black man with an ungodly ability to make explosives. Leggy blonde, Sophia Manning who was practically an assassin with her rifle. Thomas Dime, a Chinese-English man with a frame like a bull and the temper of one too. Lola White, a pretty little white girl who could put just about anyone on their ass. Pete White - no relation - another black guy with a flavour for high tech gadgets. And their medic, Darren Bates, a no nonsense white guy who'd almost become an accountant.

They'd been there for him through thick and thin and here they were again.

After he's greeted each of them, he turned to Kyle to introduce them, but then realised that he didn't have to.

But on seeing Kyle's annoyed expression, Max couldn't help but push himself into the man's arms. He rubbed his face and nose under Kyle's chin, into his neck, and nipped at the skin, just enough to draw a trickle of blood that he lapped away. After a long minute, Kyle relented and put his around Max, inciting another round of head-to-neck rubbing.

"You were gone too long," Kyle growled.

Max couldn't help the smile. "I'm sorry."

And he was sorry, even though it hadn't at all been his idea to go in the first place, all Max could think was how hadn't he found a way out before?

Kyle growled again; the rumble of it in his chest was an oddly soothing sensation against Max.

Someone clapped their hands just twice. "Alright boys," Mrs River, "I'm afraid I'll have to cut this reunion short. Max, you need to tell us everything that happened since the day you were taken."

And so Max relayed everything. From going to the lake and relaxing enough to fall asleep, to the PTSD that had swayed him, and the chloroform that had knocked him out. At the mention of his PTSD, he gave Kyle a reassuring pat, and his dad a sheepish smile. Everything that had happened in the days following. Gillespie, killing the wolf, another bout of PTSD, his absolute boredom, and the way the other wolves behaved in regards to one another. As if they didn't care for each. As if Gillespie was their only reason for being there.

Amelia gasped at Max's retelling. "They just watched?" She repeated, incredulous. "They didn't try to stop you?"

Max nodded, completely understanding her reaction.

"That's not pack." Kyle snarled next to him. The amount of emotion he was actually showing was a surprise. "That's... brainwashing."

"Sorry to interrupt," Lola's voice cut in like a warm knife through butter, raising her hand like a school child. "But has anybody been to check in with Lara yet?"

Nobody answered. Nobody had considered it. Lara wasn't a shifter so she automatically wasn't involved in shifter matters. It was an oversight that even Max hadn't thought of. But humans could be involved in these things, like Max's humans were. And so someone was immediately sent off to check on her.

And then a thought occurred to Max. "When I was waiting," he started, "I caught the scent of cherries."

"Cherries?" Duke's voice asked.

"Yeah," Max nodded. "Lara, Kyle and I had been cherry picking last month, and the scent reminded me of it."

Kyle picked up the trail Max had started. "Did you say that Lara mentioned the stress you've had with wolves? Lara doesn't know about werewolves does she?"

Manning - or Manny, as the team usually called her - let her smooth voice ring out as she spoke. "How did she know you have PTSD?"

Dime grunted his agreement with Manny as Whitey asked, "Did you tell her?"

Max shook his head 'no'.

"Paws how much do you actually know about this girl?" Bates.

Again Max shook his head, relaying all the info he had on her. That she was from the next town over. That she worked in the supermarket. That she was close with her mother, but not so much with her dad. And... that was all. Three facts about a girl he'd been hanging out with since he arrived in town. She'd once mentioned that her grandma made a good cherry pie... but they'd never got to try it.

"Is that all you got, Paws?" Lola asked. Whitey shot a glance at her because of her surprised tone of voice, but Duke, Manny and Bates all seemed to agree.

"Yeah." Max murmured.

"You've been letting yourself get soft." Parish chuckled, the only one who could seem to joke at the moment.

Max shot him a glare, effectively shutting the man up, and then leaned into Kyle's constant presence next to him. Now wasn't the time to lose his composure. Now was when he needed to stay calm, find out as much as he could about this Lara, and then tear her limb from limb if he found out she had anything to do with this.