Wildling

Chapter 46

She stared at the bounty line. Waiting, the exhilaration of a hunt warming her bones. Trent had been more forthcoming with information, being petrified of her. She smirked inwardly. Must be due to having to pee through a tube. Aoralia chuckled in her mind, thrilled they made him suffer for his crimes.

She was lying in wait at the edge of Dimitri's territory, waiting for the next shipment of lives to trudge through. According to the traitor wolf, people are bought and then walked in chains through the pack to the southern border. From there a large van meets them to deliver them to their buyers. Her throat constricted, thinking of all the people who have already been sold. She might have been one of them. Off to god knows where to be forced into lewd acts against her will.

She wanted nothing more than to march up to the pack house and raise hell on Demetri. But she knew she wasn't ready yet. He was strong, and she had yet to learn all her powers.

Soon. Aoralia purred into her mind.

For now, she would have to be content to ruin his business. She stayed outside the border, far enough not to be detected but close enough to watch. She and her mate as well as the alpha pair talked about how to free everyone. Mark and the warriors stayed farther away, hidden in the trees waiting for signal from Ember. They would be back up. Trent couldn't say who comes to pick up the slaves or how heavily armed they were. He was adamant that he had no knowledge of who else worked with Dimitri on shipments. Ember didn't believe him, and sensed he was setting them up somehow. So, she and Edward had devised a plan of attack on how to keep their own numbers hidden until they were needed.

The warriors were decked out with state-of-the-art weapons. Ember had been teaching them new techniques with different weapons and she was proud of how quickly they mastered them. Ember herself had her trusty bow in hand as well as her knives. She was ready for anything. Well, almost anything.

Her eyes darted around, watching for the slightest movements. She was on edge being so close to Dimitri. He had been watching her somehow over five years, is he watching now? What if things went wrong and she was captured? She wasn't sure she could live through more torture, even if now she had something to live for. Jaxson, in tune with his mate, could feel her thought process. Her mind running rampant on what if's. He took her hand in his, giving it a squeeze of reoccurrence. She smiled briefly at his care. He would always be there for her.

His green eyes blazed with an intensity that always made her breathless. God how she wished they were locked in their room right now, worshipping each other's body. A small smirk graced his luscious lips, knowing where her mind just went. He wished for that too. He couldn't get enough of her. After this was over, he would spend every day of the rest of his life loving on her.

She breathed in deeply, letting his soothing scent relax her as his thumb rubbed the back of her hand.

Their eyes snapped up at the sound of chains clanging and footsteps dragging through the dirt. Woman and children's sniffles and sobs could be heard. Ember glanced at her friends and nodded. They were ready.

Slowly emerging through the trees, a large group of slaves came in to view. At least five women, and 6 children were bound in a long line and one male teenager brought up the rear.

A large military van pulled up. 6 armed guards flanked it on all sides, machine guns poised and ready. Another, burly looking man stepped out of the passenger side door and began shouting orders to the guards and slaves.

Ember's fists clenched as she watched the guard yank the first woman by her chains so violently that she lost her balance and fell to the ground in a heap.

"Get up you fucking mutt! I don't have all day!" He screamed at her, slapping her across the face. She sobbed into the ground as she slowly rose to a kneeling position. The other woman and children huddled, quietly sobbing in terror.