“Wish we could do a test run,” Rafe said. “But I’m afraid they’ll hear us.”
“I think I’ve got it,” I assured him.
He nodded. “Now, let’s just hope you won’t need the lesson after all.”
We set off then, and because we knew the terrain well and were in great shape, both naturally and from all the hiking we do—unlike Mason’s group, many of whom probably spent all their time sitting on stools, looking through microscopes—we were able to easily catch up with the group—even though Rafe was pushing the motorbike just in case, unable to shift, I needed to make a hasty escape. I also suspected that Kayla, Lucas, and Connor had done everything they could to slow the group down.
Rafe and I worked to stay upwind of them so their dogs wouldn’t pick up our scent. While the group walked in a valley, we took the high ground instead, using rocks, boulders, trees, and brush to serve as cover as we kept them in our sights. When they stopped for lunch, so did we. Compared to the mercenaries, Mason appeared to be a hundred-pound weakling. I also noticed two of the lab techs—Ethan and Tyler—whom we’d met earlier in the summer.
“And to think I drank beer with that guy,” Rafe said, pointing toward Ethan.
“They had us all fooled.”
“Nah, I don’t think Lucas ever trusted them—not completely.”
“Are you sure we shouldn’t try to rescue them tonight? Before they’re someplace where we can’t get to them easily?”
“Once darkness comes, I’ll shift and prowl around. Maybe I can get close enough to Lucas to discuss tactics. I don’t have any clear plans, and this is such a mess. I should have left you back at the lair.”
“I wouldn’t have stayed.”
He gave me a wry grin. “Yeah, that’s true.”
He looked back toward Mason’s group. They were on the move again.
And so were we.
We waited until nearly midnight to approach the camp, Rafe in wolf form and me—well, I was in the only form I could be at the moment. If we were spotted, Rafe would at least have the chance to get away. I probably wouldn’t be as lucky. I knew Connor would be royally pissed if I was captured, but I wasn’t going to hang back in the shadows as though I were useless.
More of the moon was visible tonight, and we were able to use its light to guide our way. Because my hair is such a pale shade of blond, I’d clipped it back and covered it with a dark bandanna so it wouldn’t be visible. I’d even pulled a commando, smearing mud on my face so I would blend in better with the night and the forest. In truth, not yet being a full-fledged Shifter gave me an advantage: Because our fur tended to resemble the shade of our hair, I would be much harder to hide as a white wolf.
When we arrived at the edge of the camp, I felt an ache in my chest at the sight of my friends, sitting with their backs to a tree and their hands and feet bound. I thought if I could just get close enough, I could cut their bonds with the hunting knife I’d brought.
Rafe emitted a low, warning growl: Don’t even think about it. I’d promised not to deviate from our plan, which was simply to observe.
I watched as Mason strolled toward our friends. He was good-looking, true, but in a Hollywood bad guy kind of way. Why hadn’t I seen it before?
Mason knelt in front of Kayla and gripped her chin, forcing her to look at him. It also gave her a direct shot for spitting on him, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if she had taken advantage of it.
“Look, I know Lucas is a werewolf,” Mason said. “The wolf we caught had the same shade of fur as his hair—the exact same eyes. Human eyes. I know you broke him out of the cage.”
“Do you realize how mental that sounds, Mason? That you believe people can really transform into animals? I admit to letting the wolf go, because they’re a protected species in this park and you were abusing him. You didn’t feed him or give him any water. You were killing him.”
“We were weakening him so he’d be forced to shift. What about Connor? Is he one, too?”
“Mason, you’re psychotic.”
The crack of Mason’s palm hitting her check echoed around us and was quickly followed by Lucas’s low growl.
“Sure sounds like a wolf to me,” Mason said.
I dug my fingers into my palms to remain focused, so I wouldn’t do anything foolish. I wanted to yell at him to leave them alone, to let them go. I felt the animal inside of me tensing up, preparing to pounce. I was so angry that I thought I could take Mason down with nothing more than my human fists, fingernails, and teeth.
“How did you even know where to find us?” Kayla asked.
“Dallas. Misguided fool. He quit! No one quits Bio-Chrome. Our research is too important, and so is its secrecy. Took us a while to track him down in Tarrant. I figured there was only one reason he went there—to warn the werewolves. We’d been keeping a watch on the hotel, waiting for Dallas to return for his stuff. We were nearby listening when he arrived with that Rafe guy. We knew Lucas is a werewolf, so I assumed the other guys from our little hiking expedition are, too. The two of them talked about heading out on the motorcycle the next morning, so we put a tracking device on it. We figured Dallas was going to lead Rafe to the lab—it was our chance to catch one of the werewolves alone, and to stop Dallas’s attempt at divulging the lab’s location.”
“So you murdered Dallas?”
“It wasn’t intentional. When Dallas went into his room, we didn’t expect him to come back out so soon. He caught a glimpse of Micah with his dog. He panicked and tried to run, but the dog attacked.”
“His handler couldn’t stop him?” I heard the anger in Kayla’s voice. I didn’t blame her. These guys thought anything was justified if it brought them closer to their goal of getting to us.
“Maybe we didn’t do everything we could to stop it. So sue us,” Mason said cruelly. “But in the end, Dallas was the enemy. He was willing to betray us. Good riddance, if you ask me.”
He got up and walked away. I disliked his confident swagger, his whole attitude that because we were Shifters, we were less than human. It was driving me nuts; I had to do something.
I searched the ground until I found a small rock. Picking it up, I aimed carefully and threw it toward Connor to get his attention. His head came up and I could see him searching the forest. I crept out just a little from my hiding place behind a bush. His eyes widened and I read his lips when he mouthed a word he’d never use in front of his mother.