The Bachelorette Ch. 03

"The key to war." A gruff male voice came from behind Leon, and he turned to face the voice and couldn't hold back the small smile that tugged at his lips. "Well, isn't it?"

"It would appear so Blake. It's good to see you old friend." The man nodded his head and looked over Petra.

"You look very familiar. Have we met?"

"Keep your eyes inside your head wolf boy. First thing, if we met," Petra stepped in very close. "You'd remember." Her head tilted to the side and she smiled. "Second, you will make your mate very jealous if you keep this up." She touched the tip of her finger to his nose and laughed. "I'm headed inside. This is going to be so much fun!"

Leon looked over at his flabbergasted friend. "She's something else." he murmured as he slapped Blake on the back. "Who did you bring with you?"

"A few of my Beta's and a Delta or two. I kept most of the unmated back at your compound, but wanted to give a hand during the beat down. I will keep my men away from the women until we are safely back at your pack."

Leon nodded and walked over to Dayna. "Blake is here to help with a few of his Betas. We are headed over to the house in the hill. Keep me updated. You are in charge here, but Petra is around, so if she mentions something... keep me in the loop." Dayna nodded and gave Blake a funny look. "Something wrong Blake?" Blake shook his head and turned to speak to his men.

"When we get the women out of the building, Sam wants us to get them to the cars and warm. This building isn't all that cozy. I'm really glad she took the incentive to change up the medical ward." Leon smiled and nodded.

"The men in the woods will listen to you. They are just precaution and are all mated, assure the women they are just there for their protection. None of the men are to approach them. Clear?" Leon got the affirmative nod and walked over to Blake. "Lets get this show on the road."

Leon and Blake led their men through the dense woods. They came across a clearing that stretched out before the edge of the hillside manor. "Where is everyone?" Blake asked. "I was here once as a child. My father thought is best to meet all the Alphas and their sons to gain knowledge and experience from each of the packs. When I was here many years ago, this place was a thriving little village."

"This pack was like yours in some ways. This was once a little common ground where tradesmen bartered and the townsfolk got their goods. Beyond the clearing was the brook where they would wash clothes and hold their ceremonies. The circle was over to the left beside their sacred stones. Now this place is a barren ghost town. What happened here Leon?"

"What are you mutts doing on our land?" A voice came from just beyond the tee line. Leon looked over and saw three of his Zetas being dragged into the clearing. The male in front of them was the one talking. "Well, mutts? What have you to say for yourselves?" One of the other men stepped forward and brought the butt of his rifle down on the back of one of a Zeta's head.

Leon circled around and came at the group of wolves from down wind. They seemed either particularly young or very untried. Jack took up Leon's right flank and Blake took up the left. The wolves never saw them coming. "Luna, if this is what they have as a patrol party, I can't wait to beat the snot out of the rest of them." Blake looked over at Leon and smiled.

"Anyone else think that this was just way too easy." Leon looked over the young wolves now sprawled across the ground. "These men; they are turned wolves look." Upon closer inspection he could see the tell tale bite marks on the necks of two of the three men. "What in the name of Luna is going on here?"

"When I was sent off into the 'Scout parties', as Edward called them, we didn't have turned male wolves in our midst. Not to my knowledge anyway." Jack shook his head as he looked over the grounds that once were his native lands. "Edward wants something, I'm just not sure what. I don't get any of this, Leon it doesn't make any sense. What is it Edward is after?"

"I don't know Jack, lets go figure it out." Leon looked over to the Zetas that were caught and sent them back into the woods to patrol for any more small outbuildings. "Where would the main building be?" Jack took a deep breath and nodded forward towards the mountain side. "Then thats the way we go."

Sam stepped closer to the outbuilding that was housing the women. "Sam, I want you to lead the group into the basement of the structure." Startled, she turned to see Dayna, one of Leon's Betas. "Yes Sam, you can take Halea and Val with you. I'm going in first and taking some women up to the second floor. Peg, you Lydia and Kelly got the first floor. Start at the back of the level and work your way forward. Let's get them out of there as fast as possible. We are going to get them out here into this clearing. Once out here we can assess their wounds. " Dayna looked over at the small group of women holding medical bags. "After the women are finished with their check up we are going to escort them to the SUVs." Around her the women nodded and slowly approached the building.

The others approached the house first, and Sam was glad to let them have that honor. The scene before her played out like one of those swat teams invading a house on some crime drama. The door was kicked open and three people rushed in. Sam was sure if they had tear gas they would have dropped it in before continuing in. Bodies pressed forward into the house. 'Sam's team' took up the rear and headed into the house with the same caution as those before them. The door to the cellar was easily found, and the smell of fear and blood slid through the crack under the door. Sam took a deep breath and kicked in the door. The lock buckled under the pressure and she wrenched it open.

From below the stairs she could hear whimpers and whining, and knew that she was going to need a medic or two for most of these women. She nodded to her team and headed down the dank stairs. The pungent odor of fear grew with each step downwards. "My name is Samantha Jones. I have come from the Comeaux pack to help you. I know you don't know me, but I am not here to hurt you. I have some medics outside that want to make sure there are no serious physical injuries among you. We are going to be taking you out of this building and back to our pack so you can heal and rest."

More murmurs and whimpers accompanied the words that she spoke. They started in the back most cells according to plan. "This is Melinda, Halea, and Estelene they are going to help me open the doors and get you up the stairs." She kicked open the first cell and could see the three women behind it cower in fear. She stepped into the room and held out her hand to the first woman. "Come on. We really are not here to hurt you. We want to help. We were humans that were kidnapped by those monsters and turned against our will. We were held just like you, and the Comeaux pack rescued us. We are here to help." The small woman in front of her looked her over and tentatively reached out her hand.

"There are going to be many here who do not want to believe you. Things here have gotten bad. The women upstairs are new. They like to break them in for a while. The ones down here, we are used and broken." Her voice was quiet and raspy from disuse.

"You are only as broken as you let them make you." Melinda's soft voice came from the hall

"If it only were as simple as that for some of us child. If only..." another soft voice came from the back of the room where an older woman sat hunched over. " the state that this pack has gotten into since my beloved past.... are Pierre and Juliette still there?"

"Yes ma'am." Sam answered with a smile.

"That's a man who raised his son from day one to be a strong leader. You're with them then I will go with you. Pierre knew what was right and what was wrong. He led a fair and honest pack when I belonged to it under my father. He allowed us to branch out on our own. I trust him."

After getting that woman up off of the cold ground and wrapped up in a blanket, the other women slowly opened up and allowed themselves to be taken upstairs and into the arms of the healers and then into the SUV's . It took some time with a few, but in the end every woman was taken out of the building.

Sam stood with her back against one of the SUV's and sipped on a water bottle as Dayna took charge of all the women. A few of the wolves went back inside to search for any that were left behind. Sam stood as Dayna started to walk back over to her. "It looks like everyone is out. I'm sending the first few SUV's on their way back to the compound. Devlin has a team in place there to escort them to the medical wing without a fuss. I just want you to wait here with this last SUV incase they do find anyone else." Sam nodded and looked over to the first couple of SUV's that were starting their engines.

As the SUV's quietly left Sam looked out over the landscape. If you looked hard enough you could see the traces of a civilization that lived here, but now it was empty. The trees even looked gnarled and old, like something in a picture at a museum. The two search wolves came out and shook their head; there was no one else. Sam nodded to them and looked to the larger almost mountian like structure in the distance and knew that the men were over there. As the wolves jumped into the truck Sam took one last look around and spotted something out of the corner of her eye. She turned to look at it fully and saw a small child limping slowly towards her.

Sam rushed forward to pick the small thing up. "Come on little one, lets get you into the truck." She grabbed one of the blankets that Adam, one of the trackers had handed her. "What's wrong little one, we aren't here to hurt you."

"He's coming after me." Sam heard the soft, yet roughly spoken words and her wolf was instantly on alert. She didn't hear anything but she wanted to be cautious. She cuddled the little boy into the SUV and closed the door. She quickly shed her clothes and shifted. The wolf's senses were much keener and she needed them. Her face lifted to the wind and caught a scent, it was male and probably the one after the boy. She crouched low and waited, she knew that this man was coming for them. The male got closer to the SUV and she could see him now, but he couldn't see her.

The man was almost on top of her and at the car door before he realized that she was there.She lunged at him and he fell backwards startled. This gave her the advantage and she took it, throwing her weight on him and using her claws to tear into his flesh. He screamed in pain and tried to scoot out from under her but it was little use, the wolf had him pinned. He went still and closed his eyes, waiting for death, but it didn't come. He opened his eyes to see the she wolf staring back. 'You surrender? You wish for death? What is it you want with the youngling?' He could hear the voice of the she wolf in his head. His eyes opened wider, this was an Alpha bitch.

"I was supposed to watch the children, and I saw the boy run for it. I was just trying to take him back to the other boys, I wasn't here to hurt him I swear." The wolf didn't look like she liked what he had to say. "There are seven more boys just through the trees to the left, I'm one of the only guards that takes them outside. I really don't want to hurt them. I will bring them to you... or you to them." he added hastily as she growled deeply at him. She snapped her jaws then slowly let him up. "This way." he walked slowly back the way he came and led her to the boys.

' Samantha, what is wrong? I felt your anger. Where are you?' She heard Jack's voice in her head and relief swamped her body at the connection.

' Jacques? Is that really you? I've been trying to reach you for days." She hated the whine in her voice.

"I'm sorry Samantha. Where are you? I can feel your anger and it worries me. I know that you came here with Leon to help the women.' Sam could feel his unease.

'I was waiting for the trackers to finish up in the women's building when I saw a little boy running towards us.' Sam could almost feel Jacques stiffen. She let him see the scene through her eyes and She let him see where she was being led.

'I don't like this Sam. Wait for one of us. I am coming back for you.' Sam heard him, but couldn't help but snort in her wolf form. The woods were becoming thicker and her apprehension grew. The man looked back at her, making sure she was still with him.

"I know you have come to liberate this pack, well, what's left of it. There are so few of the original pack left to help. It's a shame really, this pack was once very strong. The women and children have it the worst." He ducked under some branches and stopped near the base of a large tree. He whistled and seven small wolf pups came out from the roots. "They are not born wolves, they are turned." He said it sadly and sat down with his back against the tree. The pups gathered close to him. One of the larger ones came forward and tentatively sniffed at her paws.

She could feel Jacques getting closer, but she felt no threat from this man. "You can tell your mate that I am not here to hurt you. I just recently turned 21 and it is my job to watch and protect the turned younglings. I will not harm you." He looked up at her. "I was born into this pack as the son of a beta, before the rogues came. My father taught me the way things should be and he was one of the few that stood up to the new laws being enacted."

Three wolves had showed up at the base of the tree off to the left of the scene. The boy paused and acknowledged them before continuing. "He was one of the first to be severely punished for his belief in the traditions of the wolf pack, and he died while being held by Edward and his men. He told me to help protect the children and thats what I have done since I became of age. The few original members left have been trying to get posted inside the women's quarters to help them, but Edward doesn't want us near them. Even the few that have mates have not been able to go near the building, and only his henchmen have mated with the women."

The pups were now wrestling with each other under Sam's front paws. The unease radiating off of the three male wolves hit both her and the pups in waves. She dropped her head down to nuzzle at the pups to comfort them. 'Can you please stop projecting? You're hurting the pups.' She growled back at the men and curled her body around the three pups nearest to her.

The wolf she followed slowly got to his knees and growling from one of the three wolves stopped him. Sam rolled her eyes and looked over to glare at the three men. She recognised one as Leon and another as Jacques, but the other one, the one that was growling she did not recognise. He looked to be as big, if not bigger than Leon. His silver grey fur rippled with his growls, hackles raised high. She chuffed at him and turned to face the younger wolf again.

The young wolf looked back and forth between the female and male wolves. "My name is Ian, and I mean your mate no harm." He raised his arms, palms open in a show of submission and tucked his chin into his chest. "I brought her to the pups just as I said I would."

"You did well Ian." Jacque's voice seemed almost too loud. Sam turned to look at him crouching on the grass. "We know that you mean her no harm. What I want you to do is to take the pups back to the SUV where you chased the other youngling. We will be right behind you." Ian nodded and rounded up the pups hesitating when he had to reach towards Sam and the large grey wolf's growls became more menacing. Sam saved him the trouble by nudging the pups in Ian's direction.

Once the pups were on the move towards the car Sam was right behind them, not caring about the growling male or Leon and Jack. Her first priority was the pups. She sped ahead and shifted at the side of the car, throwing on her clothes and opening the door to allow the pups to filter into the SUV. Jacques arrived behind the young wolf and nodded for him to get into the SUV despite the growls from behind him.

As Sam got into the car she looked over the wolf again and turned to Jack. "What is his problem?" Jack just smiled and shook his head closing the door and motioning for the driver to take off. She watched out the window as the wolf grew smaller and sadder the farther she drove away. 'I wonder who that was?'