Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
Aisling
Seven hours later, the plane landed on the small private airstrip not far from the estate, and Aisling accompanied the first wave of transfers via helo.
“How long do you think the ketamine will hold the big guy?” one of Trevor’s men asked as he helped Aisling unload another gurney.
“Probably not much longer,” she muttered. “I’m glad Peyton volunteered to take point with him. He scares the feckin’ hell outta me.”
They quickly moved people into rooms. The children had to share rooms, and they doubled up several of the adults who were ambulatory and didn’t appear to be as badly injured.
They had more than enough beds, but once they were all awake and cogent, then they could discuss rearranging the rooming situation with the adults, if necessary.
Peyton stayed with Callum and Bryn at the airfield in case they awakened before they reached the estate.
Finally, Bryn and Callum were brought in last and taken up to the largest suite. Peyton didn’t want them with anyone else because of Callum’s Prime Alpha status.
He also wrote a note in marker on a sheet of paper and taped it to the inside of the door, where they would see it.
My name is Peyton Bleacke, Pack Alpha of the Targhee Pack.
I am Charlie Bleacke’s son and Duncan Lister’s grandson.
Badger Williams is one of my closest men.
You are safe now, in Wales. We rescued you from the lab.
I will wait outside this door until you ask for me to come in so we can talk.
The door is unlocked. You are free to come and go, but please do not harm any of the personnel.
They are from various packs and are here to protect and care for everyone we saved.
We destroyed the lab and killed nearly all the personnel.
Before he stepped out of the room, he turned to Bryn. “You may awaken.” He snapped his fingers three times, which was the code the Primes had given to everyone they’d put to sleep like that.
“Ye think it’ll work?” Aisling asked when he closed the door behind him. “The note, I mean? To keep ’em calm?”
He sighed as he looked at her and Trevor. “I fucking hope so. They’ve been through enough. But let’s clear everyone else back, just in case. We have no idea what his mental state is, and I really don’t want to have to tranq him again. Hopefully, having Bryn with him will keep him calm.”
“Hopefully?” Aisling asked.
“I have two techs on standby with tranquilizer guns,” Trevor said, hooking a thumb over his shoulder. “They’ll remain at the end of the hall and move in if we need them.”
They brought Peyton a chair, and he sat on the other side of the hall, directly in front of the door, while Trevor and Aisling waited further down.
It took several minutes for Bryn to come to. They heard her moan, then gasp.
Peyton sat up and cocked his head, listening.
A moment later, the doorknob slowly turned. Aisling fought the urge to hold her breath as the knob stopped turning, but the door didn’t open at first.
Over a minute later, it finally opened just a crack, a thin shaft of light peeking through.
Peyton slowly held his hands up in front of him. “Bryn?” he softly said. “Hi. I’m Peyton Bleacke.”
She didn’t move. Aisling could barely see a sliver of her face and eye peeking out. After a long moment, she slowly opened the door more, cautiously peeking around.
That’s when she burst into tears, her hands covering her mouth as she tried to muffle her screams.
Hopefully happy screams, but Aisling was no authority on the level of trauma the poor woman had endured.
Peyton didn’t move, keeping his hands up. “You’re in Wales,” he softly said, even though he’d put that in the note. “Feagan is dead. We’re using the house as a rehab center for everyone we rescued.”
The door slowly opened more. There she stood, her hands still clapped over her mouth as she looked down the hall.
Aisling offered a smile and slowly held her hand up in a friendly wave.
Bryn choked back her screams but didn’t drop her hands. “We’re… free?”
Peyton nodded. “You’re free. I’d like to put my hands down, if that’s okay?”
Bryn slowly nodded, walking down to the window at the end of the hall, her hands still covering her mouth.
She stared out the window. “It’s not a dream,” she mumbled.
“No,” Peyton said. “It’s not a dream.”
She finally turned back to Peyton. “What’s wrong with Callum?”
“We dosed him heavily with ketamine. It’s a very strong sedative.
He should wake up soon. We didn’t want to risk him coming to during the flight and harming himself or others because of being disoriented, and we didn’t have time during the rescue to explain what was going on, or that we’re on your side. ”
She nodded and dropped her hands, then seemed to see Trevor and Aisling. “Who are they?”
Peyton kept his hands on his lap. “He’s Trevor Clarke, Pack Alpha of the Staffordshire Pack. We’ve been working together. She’s Aisling Walsh, an Enforcer.”
Bryn finally turned to Peyton and seemed to study him. “You’re both wolves, but she isn’t.”
“She’s an Irish Wolfhound,” Peyton said. “It’s complicated. She’s a trusted pack member and adopted family.”
Aisling wouldn’t deny that second label chuffed her more than a little bit, but she remained silent.
Bryn turned to look into the bedroom where Callum still lay in bed. “He’ll be okay as long as he wakes up and realizes I’m with him,” she said. “May I keep the door open?”
Peyton nodded. “Of course. You are not prisoners. Anything you want or need, please ask. All the personnel are here to help you. But for now, if you wish to go outside, please ask one of the personnel to go with you. At least for the next few days. You’ve been gone a long time, and we need time to get you caught up,” he said. “A lot has changed in the world.”
She nodded. “What happened to the others? From the lab?”
He took a deep breath. “The people we could save, we did. Forty-seven total. Thirty-two adults, including you two, and fifteen children. They were all brought here with you. Some begged for death despite our offering to rescue them and trying to reason with them, and some were unresponsive. So we felt it best to let them go. They were given heavy doses of sedatives, plus we deployed sleeping gas before we destroyed the lab. If they weren’t already gone, they didn’t feel anything. ”
She swallowed hard, tears still rolling down her cheeks. “Thank you.”
“It wasn’t something we wanted to do, but we had prepared for that contingency. Everyone who asked to be rescued, no matter their condition, we brought them with us.”
She nodded. “Some of the earliest captives, they… incapacitated them both for experiments and to subdue them. Most of the ones I think you’re talking about were there far longer than even we were.
Callum helped two of them die not long after we were both taken, and that’s when they discovered how strong he was, and… ” She swallowed hard. “It wasn’t good.”
“That’s the politest way I’ve ever heard torture described,” Peyton snarked.
They both suddenly focused inside the room. Aisling suspected Callum was starting to throw off the effects of the sedative.
Bryn left the door standing wide open and disappeared into the room. In a few minutes, Aisling heard soft, deeper moans and Bryn speaking low and fast. Aisling had to force herself not to hold her breath when everything went quiet after a sharp, deep intake of breath.
She exchanged a concerned look with Trevor, but Peyton remained motionless, looking into the room.
Several minutes later, Peyton slowly stood and walked as far as the doorway, apparently motioned by Bryn. “Hello, Callum. I’m Peyton Bleacke. Badger is a very close family friend of mine, like an adopted uncle. You’ve been rescued and are safe now.”
A loud, low grunt followed, but Peyton didn’t move.
Twenty-five feet. That figure kept rolling through Aisling’s mind, the safety cordon around the strong Prime. She knew she and Trevor were currently safe, hopefully, but she prayed Peyton knew what the feckin’ hell he was doing.
Finally, Peyton slowly stepped into the room, and they heard a soft, hoarse voice say something, too low even for them to understand.
“It’s true,” Bryn said. “I looked—we’re in Wales!”
Silence.
Aisling did hold her breath that time.
“Wales?” the hoarse male voice asked.
“Yes, Cal! We’re free!” She started sobbing. “They found us and rescued us!”
“Are… are you sure? It’s not a trick?”
“Yes, we’re free!” Suddenly, more light flooded through the doorway, and Aisling let out her breath as she realized Bryn had opened the curtains. “Look!” Bryn said.
The bed creaked, and then Aisling heard the window open. “Oh… my… god…”
Peyton motioned to them from the doorway to join him. Aisling let Trevor go first because she didn’t want to be in the immediate line of fire if Callum went batshit.
But Callum stood at the open window with his back to them, shirtless, his hands on the sill, head back, and presumably eyes closed, nose to the air, with Bryn’s arm draped around him.
Horrible scars gnarled across his flesh. Aisling didn’t want to imagine how he received them.
“Free,” he said.
“We have three shifter doctors on-site,” Peyton told him.
“And seven shifter nurses. Not all of them are wolf shifters, but we’re all working together.
And two nurses who aren’t shifters, but are part of packs because of their mates.
That’s in addition to other medical and care personnel.
We haven’t awakened anyone else yet because I wanted to speak to you first.”
Callum didn’t move. “Why?”
“Because I cannot imagine the trauma you have suffered. I’m a Prime, I’m sure you can tell. There were several Primes in the rescue party. We used that to keep everyone else asleep. If something happened—”
“You didn’t want me scaring them,” Callum said.
“Exactly. I’m sorry. No offense.”