Feeling pain
Maybe he was smart enough to have his underlings do the dirty work for him. If I could record all of their faces, then maybe I could get a look at his pack members and compare them...
Footsteps behind me interrupted my thoughts.
"Found you," a man snarled out in a monstrous voice.
"Fuck me," I hissed as I whipped around from where I was lying on my stomach. One man had snuck up soundlessly behind me when I'd been looking in the boat's direction. Damn, those wolves being so fast and stealthy.
Before I could think too long about what to do next, I pulled up my rifle and shot and the man's direction. The silencer only hid the sounds of the rounds I fired off so much. I knew the other wolves down below would hear this.
But my bullets weren't silver, and that wasn't even my first mistake of the night.
One bullet had grazed the wolf's cheek, and another had lodged itself in his shoulder, now staining his suit in the darkness with the blood pouring from his wounds. The third shot had missed completely.
The shock of the gun going off was enough to make him stumble in his approach, but not enough to take him down. I only had moments to get myself out of there.
Okay, it was absolutely a bad idea to come back. Especially since Apollo wasn't even here to implicate himself further as the leader of this operation.
I'd have to berate myself later. For now, I had to get away from the wolves, who were now aware of my position. I rolled up to my feet and sprang into a run along the roof. It wasn't long before I heard the man shifting into the beast that was waiting under his skin. The sound of flesh tearing and bones cracking was sickening.
If I hadn't been so used to death already, it might have made me nauseous.
I aimed blindly behind my back where the wolf was shifting and fired the rifle three more rounds to buy myself a bit more time as I ran. His snarl was loud enough to alert the others if my gun hadn't already. As I suspected, more snarls and barks reached me from the dock below.
This building was shorter than the warehouse I had been watching from last time I was here. It was far easier to jump onto the top of a dumpster and roll onto the pavement from the squat building. Once my feet hit the ground, I ran to where I had hidden my bike this time.
I didn't make it. Two wolves appeared in front of me and I heard the brown wolf leap from the building and land to my right side. With a huff of agitation, I sent a few shots from the rifle in their direction, knowing all it could do was buy me more time to run.
I turned and sprinted in the opposite direction. This was going to take me to the lot with the other wolves and cargo truck. I internally groaned at myself as I fumbled to plan an escape route.
The brown wolf was snarling as he got closer, his paws thundering on the concrete behind my back, urging me to run faster. When I saw the black SUV between me and the men unloading the boat, a light went on in my head.
I'm going to steal that car.
When I got close enough, I flung myself over the head of the black vehicle and looked back long enough to aim at the brown wolf on my tail. I only shot off two rounds to slow him down when the men loading the truck heard me.
"Hey what the fuck!" Several of them headed in my direction and I bolted to the driver's door and wretched it open. The sound of breaking glass assaulted me as someone else shot at the back widows of the SUV.
"Shit!" I hissed, ducking my head and covering it with my arms.
Luckily for me, I could see the bald man had left the keys in the ignition. Thank the gods for idiots. I cranked the keys with my head still down and almost sighed with relief when it purred to life.
Something rammed into the passenger side of the car and I turned in time to see one wolf preparing to throw himself at the side of the SUV again. That's when I pushed my foot down onto the gas. I pulled the steering wheel sharply to the side and through the shattered window; I pointed my gun and shot at the cargo truck.
I don't know what exactly I hit, but the truck went up in flames. The explosion boomed over the parking lot and the smell of fumes assaulted my nose as I kept my foot on the gas.
When the SUV pulled onto the street, I thought I was in the clear, but one wolf was still following me. I could see in the rearview mirror that a grey wolf was chasing after the vehicle.
"This was stupid." I wanted to slap myself for getting into this mess. I had just told myself that I didn't need something like this happening. Too much attention could cause them to leave town or move.
But here we were.
I heard a quick vroom and looked to see the wolf had found my hidden bike and was now joining me on the street. Oh, this just kept getting better and better. I had really liked that bike.
Only fair, I did kind of steal their car.
This street we were pulling onto raised and there was a busy highway coming to life below us. Even this late, there was still so much activity this close to the city.
"This is probably even more stupid, but fuck it!" I jerked the steering wheel to the left, and the SUV rammed into the railing on the side of the road. Suddenly, I was flying over the street below. Time seemed to slow down as I saw each car on the highway under me attempting to stop or speed up to get out of the way of the large black vehicle looming over them.
When the car crashed onto the street, my head slammed against the wheel and I felt the sharp breaking of my nose and blood splatter from my mouth.
My ears were ringing, and a splitting headache was taking over and fog up my brain. Instead of succumbing to the pain, I shook my head and attempted to push on the gas pedal again. But the vehicle was dead after that crash landing.
I pushed open the door and was assaulted by the sound of cars honking and people screaming out of their windows as they sped around the crumpled heap of black metal.
The man was on the bike behind me, looking over the scene I had created with a nasty snarl on his face. I was thankful for the mask covering my face as I turned away from him and leapt onto the back of a speeding semi-truck.
It took me an hour to get back to headquarters and when I did; I was glad it was so late.
If Donovan had been awake, I'm sure he would have been told I had arrived and in what state. I didn't need him worrying over me more than he already did.
It wasn't love that caused his concern, only the idea of losing one of his best agents. Can't have an agent dying in the middle of such an important mission, after all.
I climbed into the large tub in my bathroom, looking out the window at the city lights twinkling against the night sky. The icy water of the ice bath shocked me, and a gasp left my lips as I slid under the surface of the water.
I'd placed an order for healing medicine to be delivered to my room and the ding from the door alerting me to their arrival had me sighing with relief. After my soak in the tub and a high dose of pain meds, I collapsed into my bed.
It was important that my nose didn't appear broken. I had a fancy party to go to, after all. So, I let sleep take over and pushed the thought to the back of my mind.