Slaves of the Night

Chapter 18 - A Note

Alex's Point of View

  I'm not far from here.

  I thought that commanding a gas station employee to smash open a charity donation container was a sure-fire way to get the cops called on us. The man behind the counter seemed almost relieved at the request though, he probably thought we were going to shoot him. With the container open, I quickly grabbed the labeled paper and pushed the boys out the door. "Thank you so much sir, sorry for the inconvenience!" 

  We hadn't even made it back to the car before the paper had been snatched out of my hands and scoured over. It was only a five word sentence, but immediately we were formulating a plan of attack. 

  Rayne pulled out the map we had been using for reference on our search and spread it across the hood of the jeep. "This is the area that could be considered close in proximity, probably a twenty mile radius--half of that being forest."

  "I think it's safe to assume that they wouldn't want to be drawing attention to themselves, so they're probably in a house in the woods somewhere," I chipped in, and since I wasn't immediately shot down I took it as a good addition to the debate.

  "After last winter's attack, I can guarantee a large group--even if in the woods--would cause a stir, so they're probably scattered across multiple estates that aren't connected. However, they will have a way to easily access the other estates without drawing suspicion," Wes said, pointing at a stretch of forest land along the length of the river. "This is our best bet in terms of anywhere with the square mileage to house all of the remaining pack members." 

  "Then let's go," Tristan growled, making way towards the drivers side of the jeep. Rayne was quick to grab him on the forearm to stop him.

  "We need to call in for backup, there's no telling how many pack members they have in a consolidated area. I'm not sending us in to get slaughtered."

  Tristan yanked his arm out of his brother's grip, "I'm not just going to sit here while we wait on the rest of our fighters to drag their asses out of bed. Sam is out there right now with Ian doing God knows what."

  It was night time, with the full moon rising in the sky but the way Rayne's eyes hardened was unmistakable, "You aren't to do anything without my permission. If we act too soon and without enough man power, we will just end up getting killed and them taking off to another location. No one will ever find her then."

  There was a loud bang as Tristan's fist connected with the metal hood of the jeep, but his glare showed that he wasn't going to outright disobey the order. 

  The next few minutes involved all of us making calls to the houses of the prominent fighters in the pack. Many of them were roused out of their sleep or from time with their families, but with an order coming from their Alpha they obeyed the call without a seconds hesitation. They would come here whether they wanted to or not; whether they personally agreed with the reason behind the recon mission or not. That was the meaning of the pack, if you didn't protect the whole of the pack then there was no purpose of it at all. 

  After the calls went out and we knew the time frame it would take the rest of the fighters to get here, Tristan and Rayne dissolved into a argument. We had moved further away from the gas station as to not attract any attention that could get us in trouble with human police, but I wouldn't have been surprised if people were startled by angry voices in the woods off the highway. 

  Wes leaned against the jeep with me facing away from the brothers to give them some semblance of privacy for the family feud. I couldn't tell if my blood was running hot because I was ready for the thrill of the hunt or if it was because every time one of us took a deep breath our arms brushed against one another. We hadn't spoken since the calls ended and before that hadn't even said anything of substance to one another the whole day.