Chapter 28 #2
I started the system check: camera feeds, every quadrant. Gate 1—clear. Gate 2—clear. South fence, nothing. West approach, a tumbleweed drifted in the wind, but otherwise empty. I pinged each team leader by radio and got a quick status report in return.
Arsenal, up on the ridge: “Locked and loaded.”
Gunner, covering the main gate: “Nothing but whiteout, boss.”
Tyler, on the western perimeter: “Just the coyotes howling. Kinda pretty.”
Each voice in my ear made the world a little more real, a little less like the nightmare of the past week.
Pearl, eyes never leaving the security monitors, said, “I heard Lucia’s vamps had a run-in on the county road. Everything okay?”
“Yep. They shredded two Greenbriar scouts at the gas station just past the airport. Lucia says they’re running clean now.”
“Good,” Pearl said. “Nothing ruins a plan like unexpected company.”
Maddie yawned, then asked, “You nervous?”
I was, but I shook my head. “I’m good. I’ve seen what they’re sending. It’s nothing compared to what’s in this room.”
Maddie flashed a wolfy smile. “God, I love you, Parker.”
“Save it for when we win,” I said with a small smile.
I tapped the earbud, ran diagnostics, synced it to the primary channel. I tested the backup and then the private line that only reached Wrecker. He was already out in the sub-basement, prepping the remote explosives that were our last line of defense.
I checked the time: 5:00 a.m.
I ran the final systems check, hands flying over the keys. The muscle memory was perfect. I didn’t have to think about it anymore; my body was wired for this.
Pearl watched me, eyes creased at the corners. “You’re good at this, you know.”
I shrugged. “I have to be. There’s no one else.”
She nodded, satisfied. “You ever think about what you’ll do after?”
I blinked. The thought had never really occurred to me. “I don’t know,” I admitted. “Maybe get a real job. Maybe write a book about all of this.”
Maddie snorted. “Better change the names.”
Pearl smiled, then turned back to the monitor. “I’m glad you’re with us, Parker.”
I was too. But I couldn’t say it out loud.
There was a beep: incoming alert. I snapped to it, eyes on the monitor, waiting for the first sign of motion.
Wrecker came back just then, his boots caked with mud and snow. He put a hand on my shoulder, and in that moment I felt the mate bond kick, a pulse of heat through the cold. He didn’t say anything, just squeezed once, then let go.
“I’m ready,” he said, voice so low only I could hear. “You?”
“Always,” I said.
He nodded, then left again, heading to his assigned station outside the bunker.
The war room monitors glowed with promise or threat; every radio hummed with half a dozen voices. I could feel the tension in the air, electric and wild.
We were as ready as we’d ever be.
I sipped my coffee, let the caffeine burn a hole through the fear. My fingers hovered over the keys, waiting for the first sign of trouble.
And when it came, I’d be ready.
At 6:03 a.m., the first truck appeared on the southern feed.
A U-Haul, the kind you’d rent to move your grandmother’s couch, only this one had all the markings stripped, its windows painted over in flat-black.
Two more trucks followed, then an old school bus with the roof cut low, its interior dark as a mausoleum.
The lead vehicle crawled down the approach, twin beams panning the frozen road ahead. Nobody tried to be subtle.
I watched it all from the command seat, three screens aglow in a field of gray.
My hands moved on autopilot: a finger flicked the drone cam to thermal, another dialed in the compound’s perimeter grid, a third toggled the directional mics embedded along the main road.
Pearl hovered behind me, a mug of tea cupped in both hands, her gaze soft but steady.
Maddie chewed the end of a pencil, updating the call-in sheet as each contact hit the outer line.
“South quadrant,” I said into the headset. “Three vehicles, two dozen bodies minimum. Arsenal, you got eyes?”
A second of static. Then Arsenal’s voice: “Copy. Confirm three. Maybe more in the bus, but hard to see through the tints.”
Gunner, a lazy drawl: “We’re on the roof. Can take the tires anytime.”
I shook my head, even though he couldn’t see. “Hold for now. Let them stack up. I want a full house.”
Pearl reached over, squeezed my wrist. “You’re doing fine,” she whispered.
I wished I believed her.
On the monitors, the lead truck braked hard, skidded in the frost, then rolled to a stop outside the front gate.
The bus angled itself sideways, blocking the only clear exit.
Five, six, ten wolves piled out of the U-Haul, each wearing the same dollar-store body armor and carrying a mix of handguns and rifles.
I recognized Dagger first—his hair, his height, the way he barked orders and shoved the smaller men ahead.
Rook followed, all muscle and dead-eyed focus, a wolf tank.
Vex emerged last, her white-blond hair buzzed tight, face painted with black camo stripes.
The rest were unknowns, but their posture was the same: tense, adrenalized, hungry.
Behind them, the bus doors hissed open. Out stepped the vampires, six in all, dressed in matching suits and gloves, hair slicked and faces sharp as knives. Their eyes scanned the terrain, slow and reptilian. I felt my skin crawl.
The last to arrive was the demon crew. I knew instantly.
Even on the cameras, their silhouettes were wrong.
Too tall, too thin, shadows pooling around their feet like oil.
They stood apart from the others, unmoving.
The biggest one—the leader, I guessed—wore a long coat and a smile that never reached his eyes.
They started up the road, slow and deliberate. I keyed the directional mic and listened in.
Dagger, loud and cocky: “Told you it’d be empty. They all bailed.”
Vex: “Or they’re waiting. Don’t get cocky, D.”
Dagger: “You calling me dumb?”
Vex: “No, I’m calling you dead if you don’t pay attention.”
They bickered, voices pitched low but mean. I let it play out, the background noise to the main event. Every so often, I’d catch Rook say “Quiet,” and the rest would shut up for a beat. They were scared. Good.
As they reached the outer gate, I switched to the security cam at the entrance. The wolves fanned out, checking every angle. Dagger strutted up to the gate, rattled the chain, then grinned at the camera.
“Hey, Iron Valor! You in there?” he shouted, voice echoing.
I muted the audio. Maddie snickered. “What an asshole.”
Pearl just shook her head. “They’re almost cute, aren’t they?”
I could have laughed, but my stomach was in knots. I punched up the map overlay, watching as dots representing the enemy moved into our kill zone. I called the next phase:
“Arsenal, Gunner: stand by for breach. Once they’re all inside, we go hot.”
Arsenal: “Roger that.”
Gunner: “Waiting for your word, boss.”
The vampires hung back, eyeing the demon crew and occasionally glancing up at the camera. One of them—tall, black hair, pretty in a way that was almost offensive—tilted his head and looked straight down the lens. I felt a little chill.
The demons never moved, not even when the wind picked up and started to peel the loose paint off the sign above the gate. They just watched.
Now the main pack of wolves, thirty or more, flooded out of the bus and formed up, all in loose clusters. Most were young. None looked like they wanted to be there.
And then I saw him. Axel. My twin, my blood, my first friend and last enemy. He wore a jacket two sizes too big, face gaunt and pale. His eyes, even at this distance, looked haunted.
He moved with the other wolves, slow and hesitant. He was near the back, head down. For a second, I thought he’d break ranks and run, but Rook barked something and Axel fell in line. My hands shook. I fought to keep my voice steady.
“Main force is thirty, maybe forty. Demons in the rear. Vampires at the tree line,” I said into the mic.
Pearl put her hand on my shoulder. “You okay, Parker?”
I nodded. I wasn’t, but I had to be.
The gate stood between them and the heart of Iron Valor. It was heavy steel, welded shut and wrapped in a logging chain. Dagger pulled out a bolt cutter, snapped the links like thread, and gestured the others through.
Now the trap was set. I keyed in the command: “On my mark, collapse the kill zone. Arsenal, Gunner, take high points. Juliet, you’re up when they clear the second checkpoint.”
Juliet’s voice came back, calm and even: “Copy, standing by.”
The tension was a living thing, crawling under my skin. On the feeds, the enemy poured into the open, spreading themselves thin, moving faster now, the anticipation bleeding into panic.
I watched Dagger and Vex argue at the edge of the compound. She pointed to the south tower, making a slicing motion across her throat. Dagger shook his head, then shoved her aside. Typical. The demon leader sauntered behind them, hands in his pockets, looking utterly unconcerned.
I scanned the faces, looking for a sign—any sign—that they knew what was about to happen. They didn’t. Not a clue.
“Arsenal, Gunner: go,” I said.
There was a flurry of motion on the roof cam, then the sharp pop of suppressed gunfire. The lead truck’s tires exploded, the U-Haul sagging to the left. The wolves dove for cover. Vex rolled behind a boulder, cursing. Dagger hit the dirt, then started screaming at his men to return fire.
But there was nothing to shoot at. The compound was silent as a crypt.
I checked the drone: vampires and demons, still holding position, not even flinching. On the far end of the field, a lone figure moved through the shadows—Wrecker, running the side approach, setting charges at the fallback point.
I keyed the private channel. “You good?” I asked him.
“Perfect,” he replied, voice a low rumble. “Just tell me when to blow it.”
I glanced at the monitors. The kill zone was full. Every enemy was in the open, pinned down, with nowhere to run but forward or back.
I grinned. “Now.”
Wrecker’s voice: “With pleasure.”
The charges lit the morning like lightning, a ripple of controlled fire running the length of the east wall.
The ground trembled. Shards of rebar and debris ripped through the first rank of wolves.
They scattered, howling, and the survivors fell straight into the crossfire from Arsenal and Gunner above.
It was chaos on the screen: bodies moving, some falling, some charging. Dagger and Vex regrouped, huddled with Rook behind the burning hulk of the U-Haul. I scanned the field for Axel, but he was gone, vanished into the mass of panic and blood.
In the war room, Pearl let out a sigh of relief. “Beautiful work, Parker.”
Maddie high-fived me, her palm sweaty and shaking.
I took a breath, felt the mate bond hum in my chest. Wrecker’s pulse, alive and sharp.
I watched the monitors as the enemy forces tried to pull back, only to find the way blocked. The vampires started moving in now, fangs bared and faces twisted in something like joy.
Dagger screamed at his men to hold, but the line broke almost immediately. The young wolves dropped their weapons and ran. Vex shot one of them in the back for cowardice.
I clicked over to the next phase. “Bronc, Juliet, you’re up.”
On the screen, Bronc, Juliet and their squad burst from the north wing, flanking the stragglers. Gunfire echoed. I felt every shot in my bones.
The demons? They didn’t react. They just watched, smiling. I realized then that they weren’t here to win. They were here to watch us suffer. It made my skin crawl.
In the chaos, I finally saw Axel running with three others, bleeding from the leg. He ducked behind the bus, eyes wild. For a moment, he looked right at the camera—at me. I didn’t know what to feel. Rage, pity, love, grief. All of it.
I hit the general comm. “This is it, boys and girls. Bring it home.”
The wolves of Iron Valor emerged from the hidden bunkers, weapons drawn, fangs bared. The fighting was close now, brutal and fast. Every second, Greenbriar’s numbers thinned. My stomach twisted, but I kept calling the plays, kept the voices calm.
“North wing, you’re clear. Juliet, take your group around to the south. Wrecker, close the east loop. Gunner, Arsenal, cover the stragglers.”
The plan worked. It was merciless and efficient, and over in little more than an hour.
When it was done, the feed showed only bodies and broken vehicles, the ground slick with blood and burning rubber. The demons melted into the woods, gone. The vampires, all but one, lay dead or dying. Lucia and her men were relentless.
I slumped in the chair, every muscle shaking.
Pearl hugged me from behind, her arms warm and strong. “You did it,” she said. “You did it, girl.”
I watched the cameras, scanning for Axel. He was gone.
Wrecker called in, voice breathless: “You okay?”
“Yeah,” I said. “You?”
Just then I saw movement from behind a barrier. Axel.
“Wrecker, behind you! Axel.”
He turned in time to see my brother. I could hear Wrecker's voice crackle through my headset.
"Axel, if you want to live, put your gun down. It doesn't have to end like this."
Axel's head swung left and right as though he thought maybe there was someone coming to save him.
"How else is it supposed to end, man? We all gonna live happily ever after? My own fucking sister set us up, again."
Wrecker just shook his head. "You came here to help slaughter the pack who did everything for you and your sister when you lost your parents. That says way more about you than her."
Axel sneered. "Yeah, well, things worked out just great for me didn't they? If my life is shit, I think hers should be too. Here you go, Parker, cuz I know you're watching somewhere." He raised his gun to Wrecker's head.
At that moment, the world slowed to just the two of them.
A shot rang out as a massive black wolf tackled Axel to the ground, ripping out his throat.
My brother lay in a pool of blood, dead.
Wrecker had been tackled to the ground. When he came back into camera view, he was standing with Menace by his side, and a very naked Bronc had joined them.
“WRECKER?”
I closed my eyes and waited for his voice.
“I’m here, Wren. I’m sorry.” His voice was barely above a whisper.
“Don't be. I'm so glad Bronc and Menace were there."
It was over.
The world outside was silent, the sun rising over the smoldering remains of the last enemy who ever thought they could break us.
And I was still here.
Alive.