Out of Darkness Ch. 07

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Silvano sat slumped in his chair. Since realizing Drago didn't have the phone anymore, he knew the only chance was if his son contacted him through their bond. That meant he would bring his mate to America. He had hoped to have them brought here with the pack's plane, like they had been, safely. But now that wouldn't happen. He tried to block out the discussions around him. Something about spies in every town along the highways that led here.

{Papà, mi senti? }

Silvano almost fell off the chair. His son!

{Drago, figlio mio, sei sicuro?} He sat quietly. He wasn't going to say anything until he knew Drago was alright.

{Sì, papà, siamo al sicuro, per ora. Siamo a circa due ore da Elko.}

Silvano smiled for the first time since he had heard his son was running for his life. He felt Carla's elation through their bond. Their son was safe, for the moment.

"Alistair, Drago is a few hours from here. They are coming."

Alistair spun around to find Carr. "What do you think, Carr? This is your territory. Where is the safest place to meet?"

"Battle Mountain, seventy miles west of here. We can be there in an hour. Tell them to meet us there." Carr spread the word to his Betas, they were leaving in five minutes, and every able body was going. They'd leave Guillame and his Betas here to watch the compound. Xylon would be the only Council Member to accompany them, along with Silvano.

Cole and Brett quickly assessed the best route to take. Erobos still had his spies out front watching the main entrance. The Baxter Betas had been slowly amassing information about the other operatives in the surrounding areas. They hoped they had them all accounted for.

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Drago had been watching the car following them for the last ten miles. His wolf circled, he knew he would have to protect his mate. But how would he do it without her knowing what he was?

"Kelly, we're being followed. We're a half hour from help, and I don't think we're going to make it there. No matter what happens, I love you, Kelly." His knuckles turned white as he gripped the steering wheel. He looked up and saw the second car fall into line. This was it. They were going to make a move soon. He had to make one first.

"Drago, how did they find us?" She turned around and saw the cars gaining on them. "They're catching up to us!"

Drago heard the panic in her voice. He scanned the horizon, looking for something that could give him an advantage. He put his foot on the gas and hoped this car could keep it up long enough. "When the time comes, do exactly what I tell you, exactly!" He turned for just a moment to look at her, so she could see he was serious. "Exactly, Kelly, no questions."

Kelly was ready to throw up. She was light-headed and things around her seemed to be moving so slowly. This wasn't real. Everything had gone so well up until now. She nodded her head, trying to fathom what was going to happen. They were in the middle of nowhere. They hadn't even seen a car coming the opposite direction in at least an hour. They were alone!

Drago saw two cars ahead of them, coming towards them in their lane. "Hold on!" He yelled and turned the wheel sharply, sending them into the rocks and dirt. He floored it and hoped the car could hold up to the 4-wheeling long enough for them to get away.

Kelly gripped the door handle, praying they would be able to get away from their assailants and stay in one piece.

The car pulled hard to the right when the tire blew out. Drago managed to skid to a halt. He looked behind and didn't see them yet. He'd gotten a little bit of a lead on them. He still had the cologne with him and pulled it out of his pocket. He grabbed Kelly's hand and pushed the bottle into her palm, closing her fingers around it. "Douse yourself with this. Now!"

"What? Are you crazy? We're going to die and you want me to smell good?" He'd lost it completely.

"Kelly, no questions, remember? Put it on. Someday I hope you'll understand. Just do it!" He watched as she shook her head, mumbling to herself, and started dabbing the cologne behind her ears and at her wrists. "I said douse yourself!"

She pursed her lips and opened the lid all the way, poured it into her hands, rubbing it into her hands and face and neck. "There! Happy?"

"Yes!" He grabbed her hand and pulled hard towards the hillside. There was an abandoned mine here. Now how could he use that to his advantage? He sniffed the air and didn't smell her usual scent. Good. He couldn't smell human scent at all. Even better. Now, to find a place for her to hide. He scanned the surrounding area, noting every rock and tree. They rounded the base of the hill, and there he saw a cluster of buildings, left over from the days the mine was open.

He looked at each building and picked the one he thought they had used to store the mined silver ore. He dragged Kelly along with him and found what he'd been looking for. He turned around and pulled Kelly close to him, looking down into her terrified face. They were both breathing hard. His wolf was agitated. The cologne masked her scent, and he didn't like that. {There are more important things right now, like keeping her alive!}

His hand stroked her face as he listened for the cars that were still far enough away. There was so much he wanted to say to her, but he couldn't find the words. He bent down and held her face gently as his lips met hers. He closed his eyes and felt his heart pounding in his chest, and heard hers, just as loud as his. And again, he felt that jolt of electricity between them. He could hear the cars getting closer and forced himself to back away from her. He held her by the shoulders and stared into her eyes.

"This is it, Kelly. You're going to wait in this room. No matter what you hear, don't come out! Only if I come to get you, or my father. Do you understand? Don't trust anyone else, okay?" Kelly just nodded, not able to say a word. He left her with her suitcase, the iPad, some bottles of water, and set her down to wait. "When I leave, lock the door. No one will be able to break this down. Hopefully, they won't have a chance to look for you, but if they do, don't make a sound! And remember, I love you!" He pulled her close and kissed her again, harder this time. "No matter what you hear, Kelly."

All she could manage was a nod. She was numb. What was going to happen? There were at least four of them and only one Drago. What was he going to do? She watched him, unable to move as he left the room and shut the door.

"Lock it!"

She heard his voice and jumped, rushing to slide the bolt. She held her hand up and placed her palm on the door. She almost felt like she could feel his presence through the door. She was losing it. What would she do if he didn't come back? She stood for a moment, frozen, her palm stuck to the thick door. She could hear the engines of the approaching cars. She backed into a corner, leaned against the suitcase, and picked up the iPad. She started to go through the Internet history. He'd been researching this whole area, every route on the way to Elko. He'd known this was here!

The engines outside had shut off, and now there wasn't a sound except her own breathing and her heart pounding. How would she wait here? How could she?

Drago breathed deeply, trying to pull himself together. This was it. He had to protect his mate. He was her only hope until his father arrived with help, and they were close to an hour away. He had to hope he could hold them off that long. He stripped and piled his clothes into a corner. He sat on the ground and closed his eyes, seeing his wolf face to face. (It's all up to you now. You can't fail.} His wolf snorted at him. Like that would happen.

The black wolf watched from behind one of the buildings while the cars drove up and Erobos' betas piled out. There were eight of them, and they looked as fit as Drago. He watched as they scented the air. He knew they'd smell him, but hoped they would bypass that cologne smell. He could tell when they'd caught his scent and watched as they shifted, the eight wolves of varying sizes and colors making their way around the buildings towards his position.

Drago began the climb up the mountain. He hoped the research he'd done would pay off. He assumed that they weren't familiar with the area at all. And he had some tricks up his sleeve. They spotted him when he reached the top of the first rise. He looked down and howled his challenge. The pack took off running full speed. One of the wolves, in the middle of the pack, didn't watch where he was going and fell through the covered hole of a mine shaft. The other seven were startled by his frightened howl before he hit the bottom and was silent.

{One down.}

Drago cut back and moved slowly behind them as they followed his trail. There was a straggler who had lost ground and was falling farther and farther behind. Drago shocked the lone wolf when he dropped on him from above. Before the wolf could make a sound, Drago had savagely ripped out his throat. He left his body where it fell and loped off in the opposite direction of the rest of the pack. Let them find him later.

{Number two.}

The pack circled and regrouped at the bottom of the hill. That's when they found their fallen cohort. The six wolves howled loudly. They would find this cub and rip him limb from limb. But now they wouldn't split up. They would move as a unit. If he thought he was going to take them out one by one, he was mistaken.

Kelly was spooked by the howling of the wolves outside. There was a pack out there. {Oh please be okay, Drago.} She rocked back and forth, beginning to cry. Drago was out there alone against those goons and now there was also a pack of wolves. How could he ever last until his father got here? She closed her eyes and prayed for the first time since she was a child. {Please keep him safe.}

Drago thought he had them running in circles, but was himself surprised when they doubled back and cornered him against the mountain. The lone wolf tried to calm himself and think clearly as his sides heaved, pulling in as much air as possible. He bared his teeth against his six foes. This would be a fight to a death, and he couldn't lose. He watched as the leader of the pack shifted in front of him.

The tall, muscular male stood in front of his companions. He stared into the eyes of the black wolf. "C'mon, Drago. You know you can't win." He smirked when he heard the growls coming from the wolf. "Do you really think you can take all six of us? At once? The Boss told us we could play with the female after we killed you. We just aren't allowed to turn her or kill her. That leaves us with a lot of options." He loved pissing off this stupid cub. Who did he think he was?

Drago was infuriated. But he knew what his adversary was doing, trying to make him so mad that he'd make mistakes. Well, he didn't intend to make any. He believed he would succeed and get Kelly to the Baxter Pack where she'd be safe. He stood his ground and snarled, the saliva dripping from his mouth.

"I'll make you a deal, Drago. If you show us where the female is, I won't show her your bloody corpse before we fuck her." He laughed when the wolf barked at him, and then growled even more menacingly. "Fair enough then. Just know that before we take her, we're going to show her what we did to you, every bloody piece of you that's left. And she'll know you could have saved her from that." He turned towards his pack and stopped, frozen in place.

The male scented the air and turned to face Drago as a smile spread across his face. "Oh, tricky. You masked her scent didn't you? Well now we know, follow the cologne." He had a wicked gleam in his eyes. "I have an idea, why don't we let you live long enough for you to watch us fucking your precious mate? Bet she'll like wolf cock!" He shifted, and the pack turned and ran towards the buildings.

{No!} Drago ran after them as they made a bee-line for Kelly.

{Papa, hurry!}

Drago entered the building behind them and saw the wolves hurtling themselves at the solid door that protected Kelly. It didn't budge. Drago had never felt so much rage in his life. This was his mate he was protecting! They heard his furious snarls and turned to face him. No more talking now. This was it.

Kelly flattened herself into a corner of the room when she heard the snarling outside the door and something hitting the door, over and over. She trembled as she prayed for Drago to come back and save her. {I love you, Drago! Please come back to me.} She jumped when she heard the sounds of the wolves fighting outside the door. How long would they stay out there? Would Drago be able to get back in?

Drago waited for the first to make their move. If he jumped into the pack they'd tear him apart. He'd be better off to wait for them to attack. There wasn't much room here so it'd be hard for all of them to come after him at once. That was to his advantage.

A sable wolf saw what he thought was Drago's weakness and came in low to pull his legs out, but the black wolf saw him coming and grabbed him over the top of the neck. The sable screamed in pain and pulled away, feeling the muscles ripped apart. His head fell, unable to hold up without excruciating pain. He backed off into a corner.

Two brown wolves came at Drago from either side, one managing to take hold of his shoulder. Drago yelped and turned his head and got a grip on the offending animal's ear and grabbed hold, biting it through and ripping it from the wolf's head. The wolf screamed, releasing Drago long enough for him to strike at the other attacker, making contact with its head, his mouth closing over it, one tooth puncturing the wolf's eye. The brown wolf made a horrifying sound as it shrieked in pain.

But Drago was distracted and the lead wolf made his move, clamping his jaws around Drago's back. Drago howled, letting go of his victim and turned to dislodge the latest offender. Drago felt another set of teeth closing around his front leg as he tore at the wolf still holding his back. He could hear the sickening crack as the bones broke.

Kelly held her hands over her ears, trying to drown out the sounds of the wolves, the howls of pain. {No, no, no! He's out there somewhere, I know it! He's coming back to me!} She couldn't stand hearing the ongoing battle outside the door. It seemed to last forever. She curled herself up into a ball, her eyes scrunched closed. She hummed to herself to help drown out the dreadful sounds coming from the other side of the door.

After what seemed like forever, it was quiet. She laid there for several minutes waiting for some sound, but there was nothing. She took her hands away from her ears and still didn't hear a thing. Her eyes slowly opened, and she saw a pool of blood seeping under the door. Her heart pounded in her chest. She heard her breathing like it was a roar in her head. There wasn't a sound from the other side of the door. She approached it slowly, walking carefully around the spreading blood running across the floor. She put her ear to the door but heard nothing. For a moment, just a moment though, she thought she heard some movement.

Her voice shook. "Drago, Drago, are you there?" She waited for what seemed like an eternity but knew it was only a few seconds. "Drago, please, please come back." She hit the door with her fist in frustration and turned her back to it, sliding down slowly to the floor. What was she going to do? She couldn't stay in here forever. How long should she wait? Maybe Drago needed help! What if he was hurt? What if he needed her? No, he'd said to wait for him or his father. She had to trust him, had to do what he'd told her. She'd promised!