Nadia stayed transfixed at the scene happening in front of the house. Her Nana had rushed up to alert her just when the Weres were marching to the front of the house and her heart had leapt in panic when she saw Angel carrying someone and marching behind the others. The sights of the naked women, flanked by the guards, made her cover her mouth in horror.
She had immediately recognized one of them as the lady she often saw with her uncle. She wore the same bland look; there was no sign of any form of emotion just as she remembered.
Nadia’s eyes settled on the other one. From where she stood, she saw when the lady jerk her eyes in the direction of the main entrance, and then, a swift blur of actions followed that made her hitch a breath.
The lady emptied the contents of the stomach of three guards, slit the throats of two and jabbed one repeatedly in the chest before killing herself. Nadia’s Nana made a distress-filled cry and tried to pull her away from the glass wall, but she didn't let her.
Her heart was hammering so loudly, that she could hear the rush of the flow of blood in her ears. When she reverted her gaze to Angel and saw him turn away from the sight, her heart shook and tears blurred her vision. She, however, didn't take her eyes away from him. She watched her uncle speak to him and growled in annoyance when the doctor strapped around his neck the same contraption she saw strapped around the necks of the Weres that attacked Angel a few hours before. When he entered the back of the big, black truck and the guards shut the doors, she left the glass wall and walked stiffly to her walk-in closet.
Lowering to sit with legs folded under her on the carpeted floor, she pulled out a small box hidden under her shoe boxes and opened a fancy, pink-coloured, stone embellished case, revealing an embedded custom-made 357 Magnum pistol and a curved blade pocket knife.
"What are you doing?!" She heard her Nana say over her shoulders.
"This place is not safe, Nana," Nadia said, making sure her face did not mirror her terror, she turned around to face the older woman, and meeting her concerned gaze, she added, "I'm sending you back home."
"What?! I can't possibly leave you---" her Nana exclaimed.
"Or I fire you, make your choice," Nadia snapped in a voice she knew would be most effective. The older woman stared back at her in shock.
"You don't mean that…" her Nana said, her eyes mirroring her hurt.
"I'm not losing you too... You are going home," Nadia said and whatever the other woman read on her face and deduced from that statement made tears well in her eyes.
***
The journey to the airport was short but the one from the airport to the United States was the longest. Perhaps it was because Angel was forced to be in Antonio Rufus' company or it was the gnawing thought of the human locked up in the cargo section with the Weres. He hadn't prayed for the longest time. It had seemed pointless since none of his prayers was ever answered but now he found himself doing it – praying to the God or gods of the humans. Hoping that he/she or they make Aaron survive the ordeal albeit for his own advantage.
"Eat … you will need strength. We have quite a day ahead of us…" Rufus urged, gesturing to the arrays of food on the table in between them. Angel looked from him to the table, thinking of the Weres in the cargo section and reverted his gaze. "You are too predictable, do you know that? And it does not bode well for you. You are altruistic, and it's going to get you killed, I keep telling you. But you are a loyal dog. I love loyal dogs. Don't worry, Angel, your friends are also being fed. I need you all strong. I can't fail at this mission. It is too important to me."
"Yes, boss," Angel said and slowly reached for the plate of steaks.
Upon getting to the shore of the frosty island, Angel felt somewhat different; there was a genetic flow of magical power in the air that made him feel whole like he was home with his people: their scent, the power of the earth, the primal magic that made them who they were washed over him, causing his skin to tingle. And when he looked up, the moon was at its fullest.
Angel thought he need not be told; there was no need to scout, his people – his blood kin were here on this land. He could feel them. A profound joy filled him up inside. The instruction Antonio Rufus gave the head of the guards a few minutes before they boarded the boat replayed in his head. The bastard had told his guards he wanted all the Weres dead. Angel had a gut feeling that it would not be that easy.
As they jumped down from the boat that brought them and marched to line up by the water, Angel made sure Aaron was by his side. He was aware Antonio Rufus was watching him in particular and refrained from speaking to the human. Blaze was also close but not by his side.
When Antonio Rufus started to speak to draw the werewolves out, trying to trick them with the two werewolves he had disguised to make them look like the supposed parents of the leader of the free weres, Angel smiled, knowing they were surrounded already and the fool did not know it.
He couldn’t tell how he had even gotten that much information about the leader but he figured if the alpha Were was as smart as Freki said he was, he would definitely see through the bastard.
Antonio Rufus droned on about them being of superior strength and Angel almost chuckled. He could perceive about two Wulfblood in the area, and he knew just one would take all the pups lined up beside him.
A tall, muscular man about six feet four inches strode out of the woods. His eyes were the first thing Angel saw and his heart soar! He swallowed, knowing this was his blood, standing just a few meters away. The power he commanded was quite evident. He looked calm and unbothered. Angel felt pride fill his inside.