Tangled in Moonlight: Unshifted - Chapter 487

Chapter 487: Lucas: On the Attack
LUCAS

There’s something strange about this place.

There are guards, but they’re too lazy and confident for being in enemy territory. It’s enough to raise the hair on my skin.

Sometimes, the enemy is stupid. But it’s better to assume the enemy is only pretending to be.

Stay sharp. This feels wrong. My warning is calm and steady through the pack link, and a soft chorus of acknowledgement rumbles in the back of my head.

We’re positioned so the night air carries our scent away from the compound, but our caution seems unnecessary.

Two guards stand at the entrance, sharing a cigarette and laughing about something. Beyond them, their little compound sits quiet, protected by eight-foot walls.

My wolves could clear it in their sleep.

The vanguard has eliminated the perimeter guards; these two idiots have no idea they’re now alone.

The vampire’s intel is solid, but it’s hard to trust him when this is going a little too smoothly. The New Order has never shown itself to be complacent or stupid, hiding in wait before ambushing worldwide. But Ava’s convinced he’s on our side.

I hope she isn’t wrong.

Move in.

It happens in seconds. The vanguard appears out of shadows to take the guards, hands over mouths and necks snapped before they can make a sound. They’re rogues, meaning pack links aren’t a complication we have to worry about.

The rest of my people are already scaling the walls, dark figures against darker night.

Before I follow, I check on Ava, who’s still positioned in the rear with Heize, under Clayton’s eye. It’s impossible to see her from here, but a quick touch with my link lets me know her location.

I hate having her here, but if this mission is as easy as it seems to be, she’ll remain safe.

The wall is nothing. I’m over it in a leap, landing in a crouch on the other side. The compound is basic—a main building with two smaller outbuildings, built in a hurry.

There are bodies on the ground, completely still and no longer breathing. We’ve already decided against taking prisoners. The knowledge we may earn isn’t worth the risk to our people; who knows what links or bonds they may have within their organization.

The door to the main building crashes inward under my boot, and a siren wails across the compound. They know we’re here, but it doesn’t matter; we’re inside. They’re too late.

A bullet whizzes past, which is a real surprise. Most shifters aren’t equipped with guns. But two seconds later the gunman’s on the ground, his arm torn from its socket as he bleeds out, and a slender gray wolf vaults off his body to attack another.

Humans have no defense against the strength of a shifted wolf.

Chaos has already erupted. Men in combat gear pour in from side rooms and the stairs, weapons drawn or half-shifted, and the air fills with shouts, screams, and the wet sound of flesh tearing and bones cracking.

Something’s not right.

Aurum.

My wolf’s waiting, straining beneath my skin as we shift, golden fur erupting across my body as he takes over.

This is too easy, he says with disdain, tearing through a soldier who’s too panicked to aim his gun properly.

Blood sprays across the wall, the floors, and all of us. A wolf battle is never pretty, but for us to tear through their defenses like paper…

Where are the vampires? Their allies?

These are all humans and rogues. Mere cannon fodder, assigned to attack Wolf’s Landing?

It has to be a trap.

I rip out another throat, barely breaking stride. Around me, my wolves fight with practiced efficiency. The New Order started this when they tried to take our world, and we’ll finish it, regardless of their intent.

Rear guard, stay alert. There may be reinforcements coming. Warn the Aspen wolves.

Acknowledgements roll in, clear and crisp in my mind.

Aurum snarls as a rogue wolf lunges at us, teeth bared. He’s young and stupid, half our size and thinking he has a chance. We duck under his attack and clamp our jaws around his throat. One shake, and he goes limp.

These rogues are untrained. No discipline. No real fight in them. Rookies at best. These are the forces out to attack my people?

A bullet grazes my flank, and I whirl toward the shooter. The human’s eyes widen in terror as I launch myself at him, claws extended. He doesn’t have time to scream.

Aurum asks, Where are their leaders?

Great question.

We surge up the stairs and more soldiers fall like dominoes, their bullets barely slowing us down. Shifter metabolism means small wounds heal almost instantly. They’d need to hit something vital to stop us.

Status report, I snap toward our rear guard, needing to know Ava’s safe.

All clear.

Something cold settles in my gut. If they’re not flanking us, then what?

The Fae says there’s a likely group of prisoners in the main building, he adds.

Interesting, but it still doesn’t explain the absurd ease of our infiltration and attack.

The second floor’s a bust.

We tear through rooms at lightning speed, leaving no survivors, only bloody prints across the floors and painting the walls in crimson.

Alpha, we’ve cleared the eastern building.

West is also clear.

I growl my frustration, my claws digging into the floor. As far as I can tell, we haven’t lost a single man. I’ve led enough raids to know this is beyond unusual. It’s as if someone handed us victims on a platter.

Alpha, a familiar, younger voice cuts in, we’ve found the prisoners. Basement level. Some kid named Alex, only seventeen, and the only survivor of his family. He’s proven himself in recent training, and his calm demeanor only reinforces those reports.

How many?

About thirty. Some humans, but mostly shifters, unsure on their pack affiliation.

Humans? Not what I expected, and I wonder what humans might be doing as prisoners in a New Order camp.

Then again, vampires need blood. Perhaps they’re living banks, though we’ve yet to find a single vampire among the masses.

We need to finish up quickly and return; if this wasn’t an attempt to pin us between two forces, the real attack may be on its way to Wolf’s Landing.

Keep them secure. I’m on my way.