In the concrete building, the candles flicker, the dark hooded figure groans as she releases, a new clarity brought by the practiced touch of the man behind her.
She doesn't want to see his face, she doesn't want to breathe that putrid werewolf scent, she doesn’t want to speak to the animal, she doesn’t want to listen to the animal, she just wants to feel the things that only a wolf can make her feel and she hates the fact, if she had no intersection with the beasts, it would be best.
As soon as he has done his job, she wants him nowhere near her, but at this moment, he's still useful.
If he wasn’t, he would already be dead.
She breathes deeply as she stands back up lowering her cloak as he sits back down in his chair with a satisfied smirk on his face, somehow the scar looking even more menacing when coupled with a smile.
Copper-coloured eyes brighten as three words slip from her thin yet perfectly shaped lips.
"They are coming"
The man jumps out of his seat, his brown eyes wide in shock. He thought they were safe. He thought they were sitting pretty here. If the guardians did end up finding them, they would only find them after weeks of searching, after they had long disappeared. How is it not even a couple of hours has lapsed and somehow they're on their track? How could they possibly find them so easily?
"Are you sure?"
Copper eyes focus on the man, her gaze is so threatening and violent with deep hatred brimming in those mesmerizing eyes.
"Do you think I'm as stupid as you? Do your f*cking job, we have at maximum of fifteen minutes and they're going to be on us"
The man runs to the heavy, thick, dark closed door, he looks back at the hooded figure as if waiting for instructions and she takes the cue and continues.
"Take what you can, leave nothing important, leave the personnel that will kill themselves, any loose lips you will be held personally accountable for, you will take that punishment"
She has nothing to worry about, as the minions have no idea of her plan anyway, but the guardians are already doing better than she anticipated, therefore she doesn't want them to be a single step ahead. She is surprised that they have been found so quickly.
This was not within her plans.
The man exits the door, ordering the group of lackeys to load everything that they can into the vehicles. He takes a quick look around before extending his claws, tearing the throats out of a select three. The others all stand staring wide-eyed at the man who was meant to lead them, not a flicker of surprise in their dull lifeless eyes.
"Hold them off as long as you can, but make sure you die in the process"
A resolute nod runs through the remaining few, they know their purpose, they know their life will be given to the cause at some stage, so whether it is now or in the future does not matter to them.
The black-cloaked figure slips through the crowd unseen and unheard. She pauses momentarily, staring at a cage, she flicks her fingers, her copper eyes lighting up with joy and a sinister smirk playing on her lips, she scrawls on a piece of paper, leaving it pinned to the cage. Her fingers brush the paper and her smile only increases.
A shrill scream erupts from the cage as the black hooded figure disappears from the building unseen. It is like even the air around her doesn’t ripple, like her presence doesn’t affect anything. She slips into the passenger seat of a waiting vehicle the leather of the seat doesn’t even move as she sits.
Ten pairs of dull lifeless eyes look at the cage but there is nothing to see, just a lifeless pile shrouded in darkness. The scar face man looks at the cage with indifferent eyes, death surrounds him, the amount and the body count is the only thing that grows now. The pile of corpses just increases, the death in their wake. He doesn’t care, he leaves the building and sits in the driver's seat, starting the car and taking off with as much stuff loaded as they could, as quickly as they could.
They don't bother with a single other soul, life is so dispensable anything towards the cause. These minions are nothing, their lives are less than nothing, they should be happy to die in such a way.
Slender white fingers move up and touch the material of the black hood as she slides it back gently over her head, revealing blood-red thick luxurious hair, her copper eyes move from the front windshield to look at the man beside her.
"None of them will talk?"
"No, they will all die before they talk"
A smirk curls up on her thin lips, is there any loyalty in these mutts?
After they have got a few kilometers between them and the building, sinister words flow out of her mouth, in a sickly sweet yet vicious voice.
"None of them will talk"
The man looks at her, not understanding why she says the same words again. She doesn’t elaborate and he does not ask the question, just looking straight ahead and driving, a shudder running down his spine. She scares him more than anything he has ever encountered in his life.
Four wolves stand in front of the concrete building. All four have increased heart rates. All of them can scent that there are still people inside. All four can scent the blood.
The others have nearly caught up, so they just stay stationery. Staring at the building, keeping their eyes, ears and their noses open.
Axle’s black wolf runs beside Jade's. He knows he has zero chance of getting her to sit this one out and at this point, is there actually a safe location to leave her? If they leave her, then someone's got to stay with her. If someone stays with her, that means the team is two people down.
Eight guardians, there is a reason for eight marks and they all feel that they have to work together. Jade's green eyes catch Axle’s blue gaze.
'Don't you dare say the words'
'You know why I want to say them, yet you don’t allow me too'
'Of course I know why, but saying them does not change the fact that we have to do this as one group, I can't sit at the sidelines cheering you all on, I need to be in it. I want to protect my pups as much as anyone else here'
'I know you do baby, but I just want to keep you safe'
Jade understands Axel's point of view but it doesn't mean she is willing to obey it. He has his reasoning and she has her own.
'I know you do, but I'm not sitting this one out'
Jade’s tone is full of conviction and Axel knows he has zero chance to change her mind. Axel just stops trying to convince her. He knows if he keeps pressing the issue, both of them will just end up being irritated. He didn't expect a different outcome, so he is not annoyed. He is not anything, just his firm determination to keep her safe at all costs.
Soon eight wolves sit in a line and stare at the concrete building. It is thick and just bare materials, just concrete, no glazing, no paint, no material of any other kind.
Eight majestic soft coats blow slightly in the breeze as the stationary wolves stare straight ahead. It looks tranquil, but if one was to pay close attention, under the soft fur, muscles are tensed and coiled like a spring ready to burst forth at the slightest movement.
It is exhilarating to be so close to something, yet frightening to be in the presence of the unknown.
All this could end here? Could this be the end point? Could this be the finale?
Phoenix's large wolf sits in the middle of the group. He led them here. As they move, he naturally takes the lead. Jade falls slightly to the back with Axel alongside her. All of them making a protective formation around Jade, but she's still in the midst of it all.
They all know what is at stake here, they all know the main purpose of all of this, of the guardians, of their training, their marks, the group, everything is to keep her safe, keep what she is carrying safe. If she is gone, it means the pups are gone. There is no need for any of this.
If that happened, not a single member of this group could live with themselves.
They move forward at a slightly cautious but powerful speed. Alexis and Lucas fan left and Hunter and Ava fan right, circling the building once before arriving back at the only entry and exit of the building. Their movements are swift and silent.
No one jokes, they all understand how serious this is, they don't even dare breathe too loud.
They rush the building as one.
One rock solid unshakable team.