RIKKART
“Do you think he’s going to come with us?” Koit asked me as we slipped on the sweatpants we carried with us.
Time wasn’t on our side, and we knew running as wolves would get us there faster than a car. “I don’t know, but Viv said to do what we have to, so Tim and his family stay alive.”
Not wanting to freak out everyone in the shop, we entered through the back like Viv had when she first came here.
Thankfully, we found Tim standing in the back room, working on packaging some orders.
He didn’t see us right away. It didn’t take him long though, and soon the bag of beef jerky in his hands fell as he froze.
“You need to get your family and come with us, now,” I ordered, putting my alpha energy behind it. “Don’t ask questions, take what you can’t live without, and get in your car.”
Much to our shock, Tim nodded his head and left the back room.
Koit cocked his head, listening a moment before he looked at me. “Yeah, why do I feel like that was too easy?”
Growling with irritation, I stormed out of the back only to find a group of four men surrounding Tim.
His wife came down the stairs and screamed, seeing her husband in danger, then ran back upstairs.
One of the men tried to follow her, but I cut in front of him, snarling as I punched him in the face.
The man wheeled backward, not expecting my attack, but it didn’t hold him off for long.
Shifting into his wolf, he lunged at me, but he was no match for me as I swatted him out of the air with a clawed hand before I shifted.
That was when the room exploded. The wolves surrounding Tim shifted at the same time as he did.
Koit jumped in to help him, his black body disappearing into the mass of wolves, only to emerge with Tim in his jaws.
The wolf who I’d tossed off charged at me once again and this time, I met him halfway, slamming into his body and snapping his neck in my powerful jaws.
Tossing him aside, I went to help Koit with the others.
It didn’t take us long to dispose of the rest of them, leaving the shop a mess with broken display cases and jerky scattered everywhere on the floor.
Tim stood there, a slim tawny wolf, his mouth open, tongue lolling as he panted.
How had this guy been a guard at the facility? You would think they would pick strong, intimidating wolves to do the job, not this lanky pup who was winded after a small skirmish.
We all turned as a woman gasped, finding Tim’s daughter with her son clutched in her arms. “What the hell?”
We’d been warned that Tim’s family didn’t know about him since they didn’t carry the wolf gene. That didn’t surprise me, seeing how weak of a wolf he was. Moving over to the sales counter that was still standing, I shifted back, making sure that I wasn’t going to flash her my goods as I stood up.
“Wait, I recognize you. You were here earlier today,” she accused.
“You’re correct, but I’m here now because your family needs to leave. These wolves were sent after your father to kill him and the rest of you,” I explained. “You have no reason to trust me, but we are here to keep you safe. Please, grab what you need and hurry.”
“This is crazy. What do you mean wolves are after us? If you don’t leave right now, I’m going to call the police,” she snapped, her eyes wide with terror. “Leave right now and I won’t even press charges for the damages you’ve done to the shop. Please, just leave us be.”
I glared down at Tim, who was sitting next to me, looking dejected. “She needs to hear it from you. We offered you our help and we’ll give it to you, but this isn’t our place to explain.”
Tim nodded his head and trotted off to the back room and, a few moments later, returned with pants on.
“Nicole, you need to do as the alpha says. Take Brady, pack a bag of what he’s going to need for the next few days and also one for yourself.
I promise to explain all of this, but we need to get somewhere safe first.”
“Dad…” Nicole begged. “None of this makes sense.”
“I know, sweetie. Believe me, I never wanted you to find out about this, especially not this way.” Tim sighed as he turned to me. “Give us five minutes and we’ll be ready. I’ve been preparing for something like this to happen one day.”
I gave him a nod, watching as he put his arm around his daughter’s shoulders and led her upstairs.
Seeing that made me think of Hope, my baby girl, who didn’t have any of her fathers to protect her at the moment.
The righteous anger that bubbled up inside of me at that thought had me crushing the wood under my hands.
Koit shifted back and came to stand beside me. “We should do something with the bodies and the mess, so people don’t see it through the window and call the police. We also might want to cover our asses. Two naked men will also draw some attention,” Koit said, wagging his eyebrows at me.
I had to fight back a smile as we headed into the back room to see what we could use.
It turns out, there was a stash of clothes in Tim’s office.
The pants fit Koit, but I was larger than my brother.
The sweatpants fit me so tightly it didn’t matter if I wore them or not.
Nothing was hidden. Returning to the front of the shop, I flipped the sign to closed and locked the door.
It was evening and the street was quiet except for a few cars passing through town, but I wasn’t willing to take any chances.
Next, we dragged the bodies into the back room and started to sweep up the mess, just as Tim and the others came down.
“Diane, head out to the car and I’ll be right there.
I just need to grab a few things out of the office,” Tim instructed, kissing his wife on the cheek.
We waited in silence for them to leave before Tim turned to us.
“I have this place rigged to blow so that it will destroy everything we left behind. Can I trust you to set it in motion once we leave? I don’t want my family to see it happen. ”
Something in my gut told me that this man was more important than he was letting on. “Answer me one thing and we’ll do it, because I won’t risk my life just for a guard who can give us the location. Tell me why you’re worth it?”
“I’m one of the scientists that had been working with Faulk. I can tell you almost everything they have been working on for the twenty years I worked there before I fled,” Tim answered, holding my gaze without wavering.
I didn’t have Tristan’s gift to tell if he was lying or not, but I trusted my instincts. “Meet us just outside of town and we will lead you to the meeting point.”
“All you need to do is turn on the stove upstairs without lighting it and then flip the middle switch in the back room that’s covered in tape.
It will short out the electrical and create a spark to start the fire, making it seem like a perfect accident.
It will take a minute or two to get enough gas in the air, but you won’t miss it when it happens,” Tim instructed before reaching out to shake my hand.
“Thank you for keeping your word, Alpha.”
We both listened for them to leave before starting on this plan of his. “Should we move the bodies upstairs, so we make sure they get burned?”
“No, they’ll stay wolves. People will just think they had pets trying to get out of the fire by the back door,” I countered.
“See, this is why you’re the alpha,” Koit teased, running up the stairs. “Let’s agree not to tell Viv about this part of the grab-and-go mission.”
“Now who’s the smart one?” I hollered back. Quick as a flash, he was back down, and the acrid scent of gas was in the air. “Didn’t he say it would take time for the gas to collect enough to ignite?”
Koit just grinned at me. “That’s if you turn one burner on.”
“Fuck, I’m not trying to get blown up tonight,” I snarled as I ripped the tape off the switch. “Go open the door so we can run like hell out of here.”
With Koit’s brilliant plan to speed things up, we were able to just make it out the door and shut it behind us before the whole thing went off like a bomb.
Shifting, we dodged shrapnel and other items that burst from the house.
Koit let out a howl of excitement as we darted into the woods to meet up with Tim.
“Idiot, now the whole town is going to be awake,” I barked at my brother.
He gave me a toothy grin in reply. “You say that like it’s a bad thing. Now no one is going to pay any attention to us all leaving town and heading to the airport.”
It irked me that what he said made sense, so I kept my thoughts to myself as we spotted Tim’s SUV. Running out into the road, we barked until he flashed his brights at us, then we hightailed it out of there back to the house.