Chapter 25: Incognito (Pt 1/1)

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After a long week of training and doing pre-mission stuff, we finally reach the day of departure for the mission that I will hopefully not die during. I get everything I need from my house together and say my goodbyes. I told my parents I'm going on an internship trip. I hate lying to them, but this is something I'll have to fill them in on later. I can't have them worrying about me or ending up doing something stupid.

I meet up with Hunt at the pack, where we finish getting ready to go undercover.

"I think that's everything..." Daniel questions to himself, rummaging through a bag.

"Yeah, it is, you've only checked like ten times," I tease him.

He glares at me. "I just want to make sure you two aren't going to die." He zips up the bag.

Hunt and I both have a small backpack filled with a change of clothes, some water, and a few small gadgets that are hidden inside the bag. They are undetectable to anyone but me and Hunt. Which I'm not sure how they pulled that one off. I'm going to have to sit down with the person who designed that. I don't like not understanding something, it bugs me.

By sunset we are at the drop-off location from where we will hike our way to the rogue pack and request to join and hopefully that goes well. The pack is protected with magic, which makes it completely undetectable to humans and anything else really except other werewolves. Before we can head off, Jenson sprays us down with scent killer to get rid of the pack's smell on us and then sprays us with stinky stuff to make us smell like we've been sleeping under a bridge basically. Which I protest because it stinks. We finally head off on our fifteen-mile hike to where the rogue pack should be parked.

"We're going to be fine, right?" Hunt asks me.

"Yeah, we'll be just fine. As long as we follow the plan everything should be great. All we have to do is kill the rogue alpha and hightail our asses out of there, and the pack will take care of the rest."

"Yeah, piece of cake." Hunt rolls his eyes.

"We have a plan, so it's fine."

"Have you ever done something like this before?"

"No, there's a first time for everything," I state.

"How comforting. Hey, did you ever look at the file Eli gave you?" he asks.

"No."

"How come? I looked at the one I got."

"Just not ready, I guess. I didn't know Eli gave you one? Did reading about your parents make you feel better or worse?"

"Eh, I don't know. There really wasn't anything interesting about them. I was put up for adoption by my mom, who I found out is human but died a few years later. My dad—who most likely doesn't know I exist—lives in Canada with some pack I can't remember the name of."

"I almost wish that'd be the case for me. The only thing I've ever known about my parents is that they died and that is why I was put in foster care. I don't remember them at all."

"Did Eli suggest that they were someone of importance?"

I give him a duh look.

"I guess so."

***

I throw my arm in front of Hunt to stop him. I gesture to something in the distance.

"That's the pack?" Hunt whispers.

I nod to him.

As we sneak closer to get a better look at the place, I'm amazed at what it looks like. It looks like a rebel war camp from a TV show or something. The place has a log spike wall surrounding the whole perimeter. A large wood and metal gate is the only entrance. The fortress is huge. I estimate it being able to hold up to a thousand people maybe? It has to according to the way Jenson was talking about it. No wonder they need magic to hide this place.

I spot a total of four watchtowers, stationed evenly around the fort's walls. The whole fortress is surrounded by a large, thick forest with tall trees. I can even see a few trees standing inside the fortress. This place is more like a kingdom than a fort, considering how huge the place is. We move in a little closer. I estimate the walls being thirty feet tall, maybe more. I really wish these guys weren't evil, because this place is cool. I bet the inside is just as cool. We can't see anything inside from out here.

I count six guards watching the door. All of them are armed, carrying knives strapped to their hips. They also have some bigger ones on their backs. I wouldn't call those knives though. Those are machetes.

Suddenly an unpleasant image pops in my head of me being decapitated. I really hope that doesn't happen.

"You ready, Hunt?" I ask.

"If you are."

"Alright, let's rock this place."

We march up to the guards, and they all pull out their knives.

"Wait, wait! We're not here to fight." I try to sound convincing.

"My buddy here is right, we're not here to fight. We heard about this rogue pack and want to be a part of it." Hunt tries to back me up.

They glare at us uneasily. The gate cracks open and a man steps out.

"I couldn't help but overhear that you're wanting to join us. Do you even know what our goals are?" the strange man asks. He has a long scraggly beard and gray eyes that match his hair. I notice a thin chain around his neck and an emblem hanging from it. I recognize it. The emblem has a magic symbol on it that turns its wearer into a puppet that its owner controls by infusing his blood into the symbol. It also gives the power to control others into compliance with their voice.

I'm quite glad that Hunt and I are immune to it. Daniel made sure that we can't be affected by any magic.

"We've heard rumors that you guys are going to try and take down one of the biggest packs in this area," I answer the man.

He grins. "Oh, kid, it's much more than that. After we pluck that pack out of our way, it'll be easy to take down each and every pack, one by one."

"Even better." Hunt grins.

"You two up to that task? We're team players here, though you'll find us nothing like those stuffy, ignorant, legal, rule-following packs." He scrunches his nose in distaste.

"Sounds like our style, how do we get in on some of the action? We have to talk to your leader or something?" I ask.

"Oh, you are far too new to get to see him. I oversee all new recruitments and get them ready to move up in status. I get to decide who comes and who goes. You two seem a little rough around the edges, but what drifters aren't? I think I'll make good fighters out of you. Guards, lower your weapons. These two are coming with me."

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