Treyton: Shifters of Timber Rock Read online

  At the last minute, Draven and I decided that we needed men who understood the shifters and our current affairs, so we reached out to Eddie. Even though the old guy was forced into retirement for siding with the shifters of Arrow Lake, he still had noteworthy connections where special ops forces were concerned.

  The special force unit he contacted was waiting up the trail not too far away. All I had to do was push a button and say the command and they’d come in with weapons. We normally didn’t resort to weapons, but that was because we resolved our disputes by other means. Don’t get me wrong, our methods were forceful, but never warranted the use of firearm. Naw…we used claws and teeth instead. The humans though…that was a different story.

  The goal here was to get the women to safety and apprehend as many rogue wolves as possible. Killing was a last resort. Draven wanted some of them held for questioning while the special ops group wanted them to be locked away for their crimes. Apparently, there was a new maximum-security shifter prison somewhere on U.S. territory. We all agreed on one thing—we wanted the rogues out of Arrow Lake and put in a place where they could never kidnap or harm another person again. And breeding innocent women without their consent…? Well, that was just disgusting.

  Static came from the speakers of the walkie in my hand. “Treyton…?”

  “I’m here,” I replied.

  “There’s a second vehicle headed that way. I see three men inside. If you haven’t already, take cover,” Malachi stated. He was the lead human from the special forces unit. Although he had a mission of his own, he wasn’t supposed to act on anything until I gave the go-ahead.

  “Treyton?”

  I pushed a button on the walkie. “Yeah. You’ll have to come on foot. You know that, right?” I looked out at the rogues as they lined the women up against the gate.

  “If we come on foot, we’ll need to bring the guns to protect ourselves,” Malachi said.

  There were at least four rogues by the van. With three others on the way in the approaching vehicle that made seven in total. By the end of the evening, I wanted all seven of them apprehended and the women safe.

  “Do you hear that, Treyton? If we can’t come on wheels, we’ll have to bring our weapons.”

  “Then do it. Tranqs only. None of my men, do you hear? The rogues only,” I stated, firmly.

  “Well, for fuck sakes, your men will need to remain in human form or something, or else we can’t tell the difference.”

  “You better try. But you’ll know. The ones that come at your throat will be the ones you need to shoot down.”

  Malachi cursed. “By the way, how’d you find these guys, man? Even before Eddie called, we’d been searching for months for this particular group.”

  I thought back to the buttons and bloody piece of fabric I found while tracking the rogues. Even now, I had Tatia’s scent engrained in my memory. I would have tracked her to the other end of the world if I had to—that’s just how determined my wolf was to find her and bring her and the other woman to safety. But that wasn’t all there was to this story. Malachi didn’t know the history. I couldn’t really explain it now. Not enough time.

  Not wanting to go into the lavish details about my kind, I replied, “I’m a shifter, Malachi. I wasn’t trained to track like your men are, I was born with this instinct. Are you still coming? Now? Later? Never?”

  “There’s no backing out now. Teams are in position. We’re on the way.”

  I stuffed the walkie and my sweater into a drawstring bag while giving instructions to the shifters on the ground. “Get ready. Wait for my command.” By the time I had my boots and jeans off, the others had followed suit. “Eddie’s unit is on the way. They’ll use tranqs if needed. Stay out of their way. The goal is to separate the women from the rogues. That’s our number one priority. The rogues will try to run. Use any force necessary to slow them down. Keep ‘em alive if possible. Once we take them down here, we’ll interrogate the survivors until they lead us to the rest.”

  “David from Crystal Lake just reported back,” Noah said. “He’s waiting by the lake with the rescue caravans. There are two paramedics, a doctor, and one trauma counselor there to assist the victims.”

  I nodded. “Alright. Let’s not mess this up. We’ve got one shot.”

  “We’re here. About fifty feet behind you,” Malachi announced over the walkie.

  “Okay,” I rasped. “We’re going in.”

  “Got your back.”

  I dropped the walkie in the grass and let my wolf take over. The air was thick with pheromones as a half dozen other wolves shifted along with me and spread out to their appointed areas. As I propelled myself from behind the bushes, more than one source of motivation guided me forwarded. But the most prevalent motivator was getting to Tatia.

  I raced so fast that I skidded across the lot to stop myself. All hell broke loose and then chaos ensued. The women were screaming and running in multiple different directions as the rogues fought to defend themselves. Several of them knelt to the ground and let their wolves take over. The shifters on my team weren’t going to give up without a fight though. One of the tranq guns went off and a rogue yelped.

  For only a brief second, my attention waned, and a rogue pinned me to the ground. I snarled and snapped and then threw him off of me. He came again and we rolled about violently, going for each other’s throats. I’d kill if I had to, but this scumbag wasn’t enough strong enough to deliver a bite. My jaws clamped down on his neck. I heard the sweet sound of surrender and then his body went still. By the quickened tempo of his heart, I could tell he was still infuriated, but at the same time, he wasn’t that stupid. He wanted to live, so he didn’t move. He’d live alright, but not as he did before. He’d have to spend the rest of his life paying for his crimes. I let go of his throat and he shifted slowly back into his true form. As he lay huddled into a fetal position begging for his life, I observed the area. Most of the shifters and humans were scattered. They had managed to get a few women lined up along the rescue vans.

  When I shifted back into my human form, I grabbed the scumbag from the ground, dragged his ass across the lot like a rag doll and tossed him into the police van with the rest of the captured rogues. He howled in pain as his knee impacted the hard metal floor. Someone from Malachi’s team stepped up and shot a tranq into his neck at close range.

  I spun around. “Was that necessary?”

  “Just taking precautions.” Malachi came out of nowhere. “We’ve got to haul these things off and a few of them weren’t complying.”

  “How many did you catch?”

  “The rogues? Three. And the big one…their leader. That’s four.” Then he pointed to a rogue who was dead on the forest floor in a puddle of his own blood. “The tranq wouldn’t put him down. He resisted and lunged at us. So, he makes five.”

  “Fuck,” I exclaimed.

  “He was coming for JC’s neck, but we didn’t kill him. That was someone from your side,” Malachi exclaimed.

  Noah emerged from a couple of bushes, buttoning up his pants. “That would be me. I wasn’t going to let him kill anyone.”

  “Of course,” I mumbled. “The counts are off. There should be at least two more.”

  “I saw one of them run off through the gates. We’re not entering that, Treyton.” Noah shook his head. “This area hasn’t been occupied in almost a decade. It’s a wasteland. Nothing but out-of-control vines and old animal traps. Can you imagine trying to get through that at night?”

  I growled. “So, we just let ‘em get away? We weren’t outnumbered, were we? We were supposed to capture them all!” My voice boomed through the night like thunder.

  Some of the shifters shrank back in shame. Malachi’s men held their tranq guns down at their sides.

  Noah closed the distance between us. About three inches separated us. “We’ve got five and that includes their alpha. That’s enough to get us what we need,” he hissed through his canines.

  “Back off,”
I warned. My own canines dropped, only because I was getting impatient. We were all aggravated and on edge. I looked out into the darkness. I had to admit that Noah was right. Even from where I stood, I could see nothing but thick vines and overgrowth.

  “We were never going to capture them all. Only seven of them showed up here. How many more do you think are out there? Outside of Arrow Lake? Outside of our state even? You said the primary mission was to rescue the women.” Noah pointed to the rescue van. “The women are now safe. Now, we can take these bastards somewhere and beat the crap out of them until they give us the information we need. Those were the orders from Draven.”

  At the mention of the women, I marched over to the area where many of them were being consoled and treated for any injuries. They were lined up against the van as a medic checked their vitals.

  “Is this it?” I asked, staring at the women.

  Malachi nodded. “We didn’t count that many when we showed up.”

  I shook my head and began sniffing the women. I probably looked like a weird freak, but I suspected something wasn’t right. Something wasn’t adding up. Plus…I didn’t see Tatia anywhere. I couldn’t even smell her. Was there an imposture? Was someone wearing her bloody blouse this whole time? Frantically, I went from woman to woman, trying to pick up Tatia’s scent.

  “She’s not here,” I grumbled.

  Malachi frowned. “Who? Who’s not here?”

  I turned around swiftly and looked out into the forest beyond the gates. I took a deep breath, but only a hint of a familiar aura lingered. I swirled on my heels and pointed to a brunette girl with curly hair.

  “You? How many were in the van?”

  She shook her head.

  Dr. Greyson removed his glasses and said, “Some of them are afraid to talk, and this one doesn’t speak English.”

  I cursed under my breath.

  “We have a translator,” Malachi offered.

  “There’s no need.” A blonde woman stepped forward. “I speak English. I’ll talk.”

  My heart filled with hope as I came to stand in front of her. “How many of there were you? Were there others?”

  She nodded. “Yes. He took them in the forest.”

  “He?”

  “The one who drove us here. The one who told us that we’d have to run for our lives starting at the gates. When your men began shooting, he grabbed the first two girls and took them in the forest. I saw him do it.”

  “Thank you. Um…your name?””

  “My name’s Katlyn.” She glanced at us shyly. “Thank y’all for coming. I thought I was going to die.”

  “You’ll be fine. You’re safe now,” Dr. Greyson reassured her.

  I turned around, but then Katlyn shouted. “Hey! There’s something else…”

  I spun around again.

  “He took the pregnant girl and the red-head with him. The pregnant girl might need medical care. I don’t know her name. The red head said her name was Tatia.”

  My heart dropped to my stomach and I cursed under my breath. I took three steps toward the gates before Noah was on me again.

  “No, no…” Noah closed the distance between us. “We are not going out there.”

  “That’s right. We aren’t, but I am.”

  “That’s a death wish, buddy. That’s what they want. They want you to come out there in their domain where I’m certain you’ll be outnumbered.”

  “I have to.” I started walking toward the gate. “She’s out there.”

  “Who are you talking about?”

  “The woman I’ve been tracking. I’m certain she was one of them. Alpha’s not here. Now, you will take Beta’s order. That’s me.”

  “Treyton…” He called out behind me. “Draven won’t be pleased when I tell him you won’t be coming home because you weren’t using your brain.”

  “At least there’ll be someone to tell him,” I replied. “If I don’t come out…well, you know the drill.”

  Before he could protest even further, I dropped to my knees and let the adrenaline take over me. My wolf burst forth in no time. I almost wondered who was more determined to find this woman—me or my wolf.

  Beyond the gates, the earth beneath my paws were muddy, making it difficult for me to pick up speed. It was darker, courtesy of the overgrown trees masking the land. I pushed off into a dead run anyway, leaping across fallen trees and logs. My claws sank deep as I urged myself forward with nothing but my instincts to guide me.

  Before long, I caught her scent again. It was sweet and refreshing, despite the pungent stench of the rogues who had taken her. I paused briefly to catch my bearings as a swift wind pushed past me, temporarily masking her smell. When I caught it again, I continued running until I saw their backs.

  Two.

  Two rogues in human form.

  One was leading a woman on foot and other had a redhead propped up on his shoulder.

  It was Tatia. There was no denying her distinct scent.

  The woman on foot wasn’t struggling at all. Tatia, on the other hand, was kicking up a storm. I was close enough now to hear her muffled screams behind a gag. She pounded her fists on the scumbag’s back, but of course, they ignored her.

  I growled and closed the distance between us, making my presence known to all of them.

  Tatia must have heard me. She lifted her head and looked up with those innocent green eyes of hers, instantly taking into account my wolf hot on their trail.

  The rogues halted and spun around.

  It was two against one and I had to take down someone first, so I went straight for the biggest one as he rushed up on me. I leaped up into the air and brought him down to the ground before he could even think about a shift. My fangs sank deep into his neck and my bloodlust surged as the warm essence of life flooded over my tongue. He was strong as he pushed against my chest. He tried to buck me off with his knee and I even felt him vibrating beneath me, calling forth his wolf. Something sharp pierced my side and I realized the fucker had used his free hand to get at his dagger and stab me. With one violent jerk, I snap his neck, ending him instantly. The hand with the knife in it fell limply to the ground.

  One of the women screamed. The one with the brown hair. It was her who’d screamed.

  When I spun around to take on the next scumbag, I watched as the brown-haired girl took off behind the same man who had captured her. What the fuck was this?

  Incidentally, he still had Tatia thrown across his shoulder. She was fighting like a soldier to free herself.

  I growled as blood dripped from my mouth, through my fangs, and onto the ground.

  Realizing that I had caught up to him, the man spun around, snarled viciously, and flung Tatia from his shoulder. She hit the ground and cried out in pain. She grabbed her right knee and rocked on the ground, biting her lips. She was injured. I could smell her blood. I had witnessed her pain. Even with her pain, she dragged herself across the ground. She was trying to run.

  The other woman remained behind the scumbag, wide-eyed and scared.

  The scumbag dropped to the ground and shifted right in front of the women. Bones cracked and limbs morphed. It could have been just me, but he seemed to be taking a long time to shift. Just as his snout elongated, I collided with him.

  We barreled across the forest floor in a frenzy of fur and fury. I wasn’t a killer, but I would kill again and again if I had to. And tonight—to save Tatia—I’d have to do the unthinkable yet again.

  We dodged and circled each other for what seemed like forever. His claws were razor-sharp as they caught me more than once in the abdomen. The pain riddling my body only caused me to fight back more and I used every ounce of anger in me to throw the blows back tenfold.

  I managed to gain the upper hand as my fangs sank into his hind legs. I heard a crack and then the scumbag hollered as I bit down forcefully.

  Something hard—something like a rock—crashed down on my head. I lost my grip on the scumbag’s leg and rolled over as my he
ad pulsed in pain. I saw the brunette standing over me with another big ass rock ready to drop it. I dodged out of the way before she let go.

  That little witch!

  I came to a standing position with my canines lengthened and watched as the brunette helped the scumbag, who was now in human form, come to a standing position.

  I thought to take off after them, but then I heard another commotion in the forest. Another growl from another wolf. It sounded feral and close by.

  It didn’t take long for my wolf to find Tatia huddled against a tree nearby. She was bleeding. I smelled it instantly, and apparently, I wasn’t the only animal that scented her. I had no fucking idea what new threat was about to emerge, but I had to get her the hell out of here.

  She whined and pressed her back against the tree as I approached her in wolf form.

  “Go away,” she screamed.

  Of course, I didn’t listen. Neither did my wolf. Despite the blood leaking from my own side, I limped forward.

  She grabbed up a few rocks, pebbles, and sticks, and threw them at me. A plume of dust clouded my vision.

  I rubbed at my eyes with my paw and I shook my head and sneezed. My vision cleared again. I hopped back when I realized she had a big stick.

  “Go away, you fucking animal!”

  I crouched down, lowering my front legs and bowed down to her, letting her know that I wasn’t going to harm her. She didn’t get it. She didn’t know who I was. She’d never seen me in this form before.

  She swatted at me with the stick and threw a stone. “Go on! Get!” She hurled another stone.

  Then I heard it again. The growl. It sounded blood thirsty. Like a wolf. A natural wolf.

  I turned swiftly, ran a few feet out into the clearing and returned the growl, sending the wolf a warning. The night was silent after that. Well, almost silent…except for the rapid heartbeats of a scared Tatia trying to end me with a big stick.