Sparks flash as he draws gun fire. A yelp ahead of me, and a wolf goes down. The rest run faster, reaching the low wall of the mansion and leaping over it. More gunfire blasts but it's too late. Garrett's pack is among the guards, a swarm of deadly shadows.
More gunmen rise up on a parapet, hoisting weapons, but wolves appear behind them before they can fire.
A giant wolf, almost big as a lion, slams into them, casually knocking them to the waiting wolves below. I recognize him as Tank, second in Garrett's pack, and dominant enough to lead a pack himself, if he wanted.
Hugging the wall, I duck into an alcove and wait for the wolves to make short work of the enemy.
I need to focus on finding Nolan.
I shift back to human form. Beside me, Jackson does the same. From the way he's dogging my steps, I know Nash put him on me. My own personal guard wolf.
"Intel says there's a west wing of the house with extra security. If I had to guess, I'd say that's where he is."
I nod.
More gunfire and a howl goes up. A second later I duck my head at an explosion. Bits of debris rain against the wall.
"I thought we said no explosives until we find Nolan!" I cry. "Who brought the grenades?"
Jackson shakes his head.
"Incoming!" someone cries, and the building shakes with another blast. "That's right! Fuck you, muthafuckas," a young woman's voice blasts out on a loudspeaker.
Jackson makes strangled noise. "Kylie." His face is stricken.
It takes me a second to remember that's the name of his mate. "What? She's here?"
"She can't be," he chokes out. He rises, staring through the smoke and ash.
"Go," I told him. "Find her. I'll be fine."
Another explosion and Kylie whoops in victory along with Garrett's wolves. He dashes out and disappears.
"Fuck this," I mutter, and shift back into the lioness. The battle has moved-the explosions growing more distant. Tail weaving, I pad forward, nose to the ground, trying to pick up my son's scent.
The walls shake as I prowl down a marbled hall, stopping only when men shout and booted feet slam through rooms nearby. The rat-tat-tat of machine gunfire is constant. Passing through one room filled with dead gunmen, I find a set of bloody paw prints and follow them toward the scent of acrid gunpowder, and the smell of the sea.
As I near the back of the mansion, the boom of big guns grows louder. I run faster, slinking along the wall below the level of smoke. I skid into a hall, and jerk as someone opens fire on me. My paws slip on the polished stone. I retreat just in time to avoid the bullet spray. Marble shards bite through my fur and I howl in pain. Something lands by me and explodes. I roar at the flash of pain in my eyes. Blinded, I scramble backwards and hit the wall. Shit. If the gunman follows, he'll pin me down, no problem.
Through streaming eyes, I see him stalk forward through the smoke. I roll as the gun blasts and hits a heavy piece of furniture. Gunfire follows me, tearing through wood, sending splinters into my body.
A flash of black and orange, and a cat scream, and the gun goes abruptly silent. I hear a growl, and a shadow whirls on me. The smoke clears, and I realize a tiger just saved me. Layne. She swishes her tail and turns on her prey.
Finding my feet, I lope away.
Nolan. I have to find Nolan. I search but can't catch his scent among the smells of battle.
Then my lioness catches it. Subtle, snaking through the halls. It's everywhere, but stronger the closer to the sea I get.
Not Nolan's scent. Santiago's.
I lope forward, fur prickling as I hear the chop, chop, chop of a helicopter's blades.
A sound rips through the mansion, and I break into a run, racing toward the lion's roar.
I burst onto a giant balcony, surrounded by lush jungle, overlooking a turquoise sea. Paradise.
A helicopter hovers on the edge of the stone parapet. A black flock of gunmen surround a figure climbing in. Santiago.
Guns blast from the roof, pinging the helicopter. A few gunman fall but Santiago has already stepped into the helicopter even as it lifts off. He's getting away.
With all the strength in my body, I rush over the balcony and leap off the edge.
Nash
"HOLD FIRE," I cry as the lioness darts from cover. Whirling, I rip the gun from the wolf's shoulder. "You might hit Denali!"
The air shudders under the helicopter's blades, carrying the sound of the lioness' outraged screams. A second later, two bodies fall from the helicopter to the balcony below.
"Who else is on that copter?" I demand.
"Three men. I don't see any kids," the wolf beside me with a pair of binoculars reports.
"Then shoot it down." I shove the gun back at the wolf and leap from the roof on to the flagstones below. As soon as I land I race to my mate. Santiago sprawls nearby, blood leaking from a cut on his head. I ignore him.
"Denali?"
The lioness lies on her side. She's magnificent, golden from head to paw. As I approach breath ripples through her body and she raises her head.
"Denali." I fall to my knees, unable to stop my hands running down her beautiful flank, checking for wounds.
A warning rumbles in her throat, her eyes widening at something behind me.
I throw myself over her body just before the drumbeat of gunfire. Bullets punch my Kevlar, driving me forward. A few bite into my legs and arms. Denali's body jerks as her legs are hit.
With a roar I turn, pulling power through my body. All day I could feel it gathering in me-a new dimension of strength. My pack. I called on the alpha ability now, and power rushes through me, filling me with heat. The stinging cuts on my body heal in the two strides it takes to reach Santiago. I kick the gun from his hands.