INFINITE NIGHT

10. Ambush

After the sack was placed on my head I felt a tight metal collar put around my neck. That f*****g stung, so it's silver. I tried to reach for that damn animal resting in me, but with no luck. So Pops was right that our wolves won't respond when we're in contact with silver. Next thing I knew someone was tying up my hands behind my back. Damn it! How did they find us?! And who are they? I didn't catch any scent. What did they mask it with? Even when I was using all those natural methods like mud and mint, something always lingered in the air. But now nothing.

I was shoved brutally on the ground, but aside from that they didn't do anything to me. I was expecting quick execution once our enemies put their hands on me, no matter what species they're from. They probably want to make it public, to show to all what would happen to anyone who dares to oppose their perfect order.

I focused my hearing trying to figure out what was going on around me. Somewhere really close to where I was shoved I heard Abi's sobs.

"Abi are you Ok? Did they harm you?" - I whispered hoping our captors aren't too close, but unfortunately I was mistaken and my concerned question earned me a hard kick on my ribs.

"No talking!" - said another manly voice.

It was not in my nature to obey, but my self-preservation instinct told me it would be best to listen to my abuser.

I focused once again on the sounds around me just in time to catch up the sound of shouting, scuffling and fighting. Oh My God, I hope they won't harm any of my comrades. An unbearable feeling of terror spread throughout my body, chilling the blood in my veins.

"Leave them alone! It's me you wanted!" - I shouted in despair.

"Shut the f**k up!" - the man who kicked my ribs barked back at me.

I felt so helpless at that very moment. Like I once again was a lost young girl with an incapable Mother, and not the strong soldier who I am today. What if they will kill all of my close ones? My family. And all I can do is to lay on the ground and hear it happen.

How could we let that happen? Why haven't we put any of us on guard around the bunker? Instead, we all hid underground like a bunch of rats and now they came to get rid of us.

Pops once told me that in our last moments we see the things we hold dearest to our hearts. I started silently praying for my family to get out of that mess unharmed. For my Mom to have a peaceful life. Now I was actually thankful to Pops and Dennis to send her away. She wouldn't make it through another ambush. I started thinking about Ink. I hope he won't put up a fight. If he would cooperate he might get out of this alive. And that's the most important. He should live.

And my girls. I may not be the closest with Abi, but it doesn't change the fact that she grew up with me, and she is a family too. I'm more than ready to put my life in line to save hers. She never wanted this. She never supported the Flare and any of my missions. She wanted to leave us so many times, but her Mom and all of us didn't let her. She could have been safe in some Pack by now, if only we weren't this selfish.

What if both Abi and Ruby will end up in a brothel?! Oh My God! That's even worse than being killed. I can't let that happen. Abi would break down, and Ruby… she wouldn't let anyone touch her without her consent. This is bad, this is all really, really bad.

I started hearing many feet around me and I finally smelled a familiar scent. They were dragging my people outside. One by one, all of my friends were getting near the place where I and Abi were. So this won't take much longer now. I just hope they all know that I love them, and I never meant for all of this to happen. If only I would have listened to Dennis and settled in no man's land and lived there peacefully. This is all my f*****g fault.

Then I finally sensed them - Ruby and Ink, my two best friends were close.

"Moray!" - I heard Ink shouting my nickname. Even in a situation like this, he didn't let them know about my real identity. I heard his familiar growl, and in the next moment the sound of a gunshot that stopped my heart for a moment.

"INK!" - I yelled from the top of my lungs.

But the others went extremely quiet. Did they kill him? No, no, no! That can't be happening.

"Mo!" - I heard Ruby's scream now and for some reason she ran to me and took the f*****g sack from my head making me once again see everything around me. She knelt beside me and covered me in her arms.

One of the men who ambushed us, probably mister kicker from before, came closer to the two of us and grabbed her forcefully by her red locks and ripped her away from me.

Just when she stepped aside I saw Ink laying on the ground, but breathing. I didn't see any blood or wounds, and his chest was slowly going up and down in a steady rhythm. He was alive! They probably sedated him. Thank God!

I looked around, and indeed all of my comrades were here kneeling on the ground with heavy armed men behind them. I glanced at our captors and there were at least forty of them. They all were fit and muscular. Definitely werewolves.

Then from behind the group came a young looking guy with dirty blond hair and curious blue eyes. He was quite tall and everything about him, his movement, his confidence, his clothes and even his aura screamed that he's an Alpha. He couldn't be much older than we were, maybe even our age.

He glanced over at Ruby who was still held by one of his men and I swear his eyes turned black for a while, but he quickly turned them back into normal.

He went closer to where Ruby and Warrior holding her were standing just a few steps away from me, with an expressionless face, and he stopped right in front of them.

"I told you all that none of the females can be touched. Have you not heard that?" - Alpha asked, sounding casual, but I knew it was just an act.

"I did, but she was about to free that one." - Warrior said, tilting his head to my direction.

"Let. Her. Go. Now." - Alpha hissed through his teeth. Warrior obliged immediately, letting go of Ruby's hair making her fall on her knees.

To my surprise Alpha knelt beside her and examined her face with a soft smile forming on his lips. He then stretched his hand for her to help her stand up. Ruby reluctantly put her small palm in his large and when their skin met and his hand clenched she gasped for no good reason. That Asshole must be hurting her!

But she looked at him strangely. I never saw her looking at anybody like this. It was something between astonishment and admiration. I knew he just stood up for her, but he still is our captor, she shouldn't look at him that way.

"You just disrespected my Luna." - spoke Alpha, still looking at Ruby's face, but he was clearly speaking to his warrior, whose face got immediately pale.

"Lieutenant, I didn't…" - but before he was able to finish Alpha at the speed of the lightning tore his throat open making blood gush all around.

Wait, did the Warrior just called him Lieutenant?! So he's one of my potential Moons. And why did he call my best friend Luna?! That doesn't make any sense. And what's more bizarre Ruby didn't oppose his words.

He returned to shocked Ruby, wiping his blooded hand in a handkerchief. And looking at her in a split second he turned from a cold-blooded murderer into a concerned man.

"Did anyone else touch you?" - he asked Ruby, ignoring the rest of a crowd watching them. My sister came to her senses and I saw a small smirk forming on her lips.

"If I tell you that all of them did, will you kill every one of your men?" - she sneered.

To my surprise the Lieutenant didn't look mad at her words but he started chuckling.

"Smart and beautiful. You were worth the wait." - he told her with unhidden affection. - "But you will have to forgive me for this small lack of faith, My Love." - he added on a more serious note, and before Ruby could react he brought her extremely close to him and sank his already elongated canines in her neck. Oh my God, he was marking her!

When he retracted his teeth Ruby collapsed in his arms like a rag doll losing her consciousness. He quickly took her in his arms and started walking away, and I began to really worry about what he's about to do with her now.

"Pack them all to the trucks." - he ordered one of his men, before disappearing from my sight along with my sister.