Moving Forward

The First Wave (31)

Everything had come to a standstill. While it was smart to keep Lara prisoner, she wasn't giving anything away. She was better at keeping secrets than Max had ever thought she'd be. As it was, they weren't getting anything out of her and torture wasn't exactly an option. Not because they didn't have anyone qualified for it - to the contrary, both Manny and Lola were highly trained for it - but because it crossed a line that nobody who wasn't military wanted to look at. And just because Manny and Lola were good at it didn't mean they wanted to.

While going back to where Gillespie had been holding Max was an option, the quick recon mission the Alphas sent found the area abandoned with barely a trace of wolf scent. It was strange.

Max grumped, flopping over Kyle in frustration. "There were at least twenty..." he said, voice muffled by Kyle's jeans.

Kyle chuckled. "How does a group that big not leave a scent?"

"Especially since they'd been there for about as long as you were gone at the very least." Duke added, sitting on the floor.

Blake, taking up a whole sofa in his laziness - hence why Duke was on the floor - yawned wide. "Doesn't make sense. Even Max's scent was wiped."

"Should we go talk to Lara again?" Duke said.

"Nah," Kyle said. "There's no point if she's not going to say anything useful."

Max shifted again, his usual laziness giving way to frustrated fidgeting. With a huff, Max sat up and started pulling his gun apart, cleaning each individual piece as if he hadn't already done it a million times.

"Paws?" Duke asked.

Grunting in answer, Max glanced at Duke and then returned to the gun.

"Leave him to it, Duke," Blake said, recrossing his legs. "Boy's just frustrated."

They heard it then, falling silent as the growling got louder. Max's grip tightened on the piece of his gun, and with a speed he rarely practiced, he put it back together. On seeing his urgency, the rest of the room readied themselves. Something was happening and not a single one of them needed to say the words.

"We're under attack."

The doors burst open, breaking the spell of tension that blanketed the room, Max narrowly avoiding firing his gun. For good reason, too. Andy stood there, shocked still at the sight of four guns pointed at her.

"Sorry," Duke said, lowering his gun with Max, Lola and Manny all doing the same. "What's going on?"

Andy blinked, visibly putting herself back together before speaking. "Attack. Move to the backyard, we're keeping guard there."

The group moved with a fluidity that seemed almost rehearsed. Blake and Duke positioned themselves at point, leading their little team whilst Lola and Andy were on the flanks. Manny, following Max's lead, made sure Kyle was in the middle. He didn't seem to notice, for which Max was grateful. Anything to make keeping Kyle safe easier.

They came across only three enemy wolves before reaching the backyard, and only one attempted an attack from their rear. All of them were put down by gunshot, or had their throats shorn from their neck if the bullets didn't stop them.