Page 54 of Wolf Revealed

Lark wondered why Wayne would betray them, but the answer to that could wait. Right now, she was interested in more important things.

“If Sentinel was at the paint factory, that must mean Roman and his supernaturals are the ones who are here,” she said.

“I was thinking the same thing,” Hale agreed before relaying that information to everyone else over the radio.

“You and your pack have gone up against these supernaturals twice now,” Lark said when he was done. “Do you think my pack can hold off a dozen of them?”

“We’d better hope so,” Hale muttered. “Because Mike and the others won’t be getting here for ten or fifteen minutes. Until then, we’re on our own.”

As they made their way through the woods, worry gnawed at Lark like a living thing as she thought of the danger all of them were in right now, her imagination coming up with dozens of horrible things that could happen, each one worse than the last.

A little way through the trees, Lark caught sight of where the largest of the outbuildings stood. She remembered Mike mentioning it was where the maintenance equipment for the property was stored. Painted red to look like a barn, with a slate roof, the building had to be the fanciest, most expensive-looking storage shed she’d ever seen. But when your house costs at least five million dollars, she supposed you couldn’t cheap out on the rest of the place.

She and Hale had just reached the door when gunfire erupted from deeper in the woods to the south, making her jump, and she snapped her head around to look in that direction.

“Some of your pack has engaged with half a dozen supernaturals about a quarter mile from here,” Hale murmured, holding one hand up to the bud in his ear. “They’re trying to slow them down until we get Kal back to the house.”

The door to the building opened, making Lark jump all over again. Fortunately, she was aware enough to keep her handgun pointed in a safe direction.

Jasper stepped back as Hale urged her inside, then followed.

Lark looked around the huge building, her heart starting to beat again when she caught sight of Kal and Everett on the far side of the room next to a big mower with huge wheels on the back. She ran across the room to her son, putting her free arm around him.

“If Roman’s supernaturals are on the property, then he’s probably here, too, which means he’s coming for Kal, Lark, or both. Oh, and that intel Wayne gave us on Roman’s hideout was bogus. It was a setup to lure Mike and the others into a fight with Chapman and Sentinel, so if you see Wayne around, act accordingly.”

“We need to get Kal back to the house,” Lark said.

“Agreed,” Hale said.

“And once we get there, we’ll grab Mom, Dad, and Violet and get out of here,” Everett said.

Lark was all in on getting as far away from Roman as possible, but couldn’t deny the unsettling sensation it left in her stomach. “What about you guys and the rest of our pack? Won’t you be heavily outnumbered?”

“We just need to hold out until Mike and my pack mates get here,” Hale said.

Hale looked like he was bracing for an argument, and normally, he’d have to. But when it came to getting Kal to safety, Lark would do whatever she had to do.

“We need to get moving,” Everett said firmly, his head cocked to the side as he clearly heard something that concerned him. “Before we get trapped in here.”

Everett and Jasper pulled their handguns and moved out of the building first, Lark and Kal next, Hale bringing up the rear with his assault rifle. She heard boots crunching through the dead pine needles somewhere nearby. At least the breeze was in the right direction to keep their scents from reaching the bad guys. Assuming they had to worry about any of them possessing an enhanced sense of smell.

“Lark, if anything goes sideways between here and the house, the three of us will hang back and provide cover while you get Kal out of here,” Hale said.

“I want to stay back and help!” Kal practically shouted.

Lark quickly shushed him with a finger to her lips. “Indoor voice. And no, you aren’t.”

Jasper crouched down in front of Kal. “I know you don’t like this, kid, but right now, all that matters is that we get you to safety. You need to help us do that, okay?”

From the stubborn look on his face, Kal clearly didn’t like it, but he nodded anyway. “Okay. But you guys have to promise to be careful.”

“We’ll be careful. Promise,” Jasper said, giving Kal’s shoulder a squeeze before falling into step beside Everett as they moved through the woods back toward the house.

The wind carried a variety of chemical odors in their direction as they made their way through the trees, swirling around and making it hard to figure out exactly where the smells were coming from. All she could say for sure was that they were close.

Lark heard the rapid thud of boots even before she caught the shift in scent. She snapped her head around to see three men in dark clothing and carrying short machine guns running straight at them.

She spun around and lifted her gun, not sure she’d be able to hit anything with how fast the supernaturals were moving, when the thud of footsteps from the left made her whirl around that way. Two more supernaturals were coming from that direction, running so fast they were kicking up dirt and pine needles.