'Damon!' Talia screamed into the mind-link, releasing her pent-up anxiousness. Tatiana was getting information through the mind-link, but because Damon and his unit were separate, there was nothing about them. 'I was dying to hear news from you. Are you guys OK? What's going on there? What took you so long? Is it over? Are you coming back?' She was asking questions without giving him a chance to respond.
'We are fine,' Damon said when Talia paused. He had a few scratches here and there, and he desperately needed a shower to wash off blood and gunk; others were in the same situation, but no one was injured seriously, so he didn't want to worry her.
Talia's concern warmed his heart, and for a brief moment, he forgot about the fierce fight and murders, or that he was standing butt naked in the middle of a forest.
'How are things on your end?' Damon asked.
'There is nothing here.'
'Are you sure things are fine?'
'Outside is quiet, and the only news about commotion Tatiana got was from where the shelters are.'
'Can you sense the surroundings to make sure?'
'What's going on, Damon?'
Damon didn't want to raise alarms, but he had to tell her. 'Rogues are not stealthy, but they are not attacking us openly either. Considering their numbers, it would make sense for them to rush to their goal, but this looks like a provocation. Based on what I've seen, it appears that this intrusion into the area with shelters was a diversion. Also, they are concealing their scent. It's similar to the concoction of herbs you gave us, and that's why it was difficult to track them.' Hell, a rogue might be behind the next bush, and Damon wouldn't know unless he made some noise.
Damon could use his aura to suppress the surroundings, but the problem with that approach was that it didn't distinguish between friends and foes, and Damon didn't want to risk injuring an ally.
Talia's worry swelled at the thought that this might be something big, and it would be her fault because if she didn't share that concoction with the Dark Howlers pack, rogues wouldn't have it either.
'Kitten?'
'Yes?'
'Can you sense the area around the packhouse to confirm everything is fine?' Damon asked again.
'Sure. I will need a minute.'
Damon shifted from one leg to another while waiting for Talia to respond. What was taking her so long?
He counted seconds silently. Five, six… ten, eleven… twenty. Shouldn't that be enough?
It felt like forever until Talia responded, 'You are right, Damon. Something is wrong.'
Damon felt his insides tightening in a painful knot. 'What is it?'
'I'm not sure. Give me a minute to check something.'
'Kitten? Kitten!? Talia!' Damon was in full panic now. Why did she shut down the mind-link? Did she really think that he can just stay still while she was doing who-knows-what?
Damon tried mind-linking Lulu, but she was unreachable as well.
Even if Talia shut down her mind-link, Lulu wouldn't dare. Or would she?
Who else was in there? Damon remembered Pierce, but he was inaccessible as well.
Damon told himself not to panic. Maybe Pierce shut down his mind-link because he was enjoying his mate, but that didn't explain Lulu. And why would Talia shut him out?
"FUCK!" Damon shouted and started running toward the packhouse. It took him less than a second to become a massive black wolf and disappear among the bushes. Four wolves were right behind him.
In the packhouse…
"Tanya," Talia called. "You have guards around the packhouse, right? Where are they?"
"In the nearby trees so that humans not to see them. Why?"
Instead of answering Tatiana's question, Talia asked her next one. "How many of them are there?"
Tatiana frowned at Talia. "It should be about a dozen. More probably. What's going on?"
"Can you reach them via mind-link?"
Tatiana's face fell. She couldn't.
"What is going on?" Varya asked.
"I don't sense the guards nearby. There is no one." Talia said.
Tatiana thought for a moment before voicing her thoughts. "Maybe they saw someone and went into pursuit."
"All of them?" It was Lulu who asked. "Even if they are in the middle of a chase, they should respond to the call of their Luna."
Tatiana had to agree that Lulu made a valid point. If Maddox was here, he would be able to force a mind-link connection, but Tatiana didn't know how to do that.
Tatiana remembered another thing. "We have security cameras and motion sensors around the packhouse. The alarm didn't sound."
Kalina shook her head in disapproval. "That's not reliable. What if they hacked into your security? Or bribed someone to shut it down? They could also know about blind spots."
Meg agreed. And there was also one more possibility. "They could be outside of the perimeter covered by cameras and sensors. Just the fact you can't reach your guards should be a reason for alarm."
Tatiana exhaled helplessly. She was stressed and tired of all this. "What do you suggest?"
Talia looked around the room. Tatiana, Meg, Varya, Kalina, Cornelia, Lulu, Ivy, and Lily. And there was Talia. Out of nine females, two were pregnant, and out of other non-pregnant females, one was a witch, and two were Alphas. The lineup was not bad, but they were low in numbers.
"We can either sit here and wait for something to happen, or we can go out and investigate," Talia said. "Tanya, tell Max what's going on here, and ask for some other units to come and replace existing ones. Cornelia, Tatiana, and Meg, the three of you stay here, others…"
Cornelia bolted to her feet. "I'm coming out also."
Talia refused. "No. What can you do without using your abilities? Or do you want people from the second floor to enjoy a light show?"
"What about you?" Cornelia asked.
"I still have my wolf, my Alpha aura, and I trained to fight."
Cornelia frowned at Talia. "You want me to sit here and watch you walk into danger?"
"No," Talia said. "I expect you to sit here and be the final line of defense for two pregnant females who can't shapeshift or use their powers. Meg, mind-link me if anything happens, and I will keep you up to date. Varya, Kalina, Lulu, Ivy, and Lily, come with me."
"We will join you also," a female voice came from the side, and Talia was glad to see four familiar faces. It was two newly mated Wilkow sisters, Daria and Lidia, and their mates, Pierce and Jordan.
Kalina looked at her sisters, both with fresh marks on their necks. It was a breath of fresh air to see four of them grinning, two pairs connected at their hips.
"I thought we won't see you for days," Kalina said.
Lidia smirked. "You wouldn't, but…" She glanced at Tatiana. "With the last food delivery, we received notes explaining that the alarm was because rogues attacked. Wilkows are not the ones who will sit out a commotion. As soon as this shit is over, we will return to our rooms."
Daria spoke to Tatiana, "While we are out, can you send someone to replace the bedsheets? More food in the room would be nice also."
Tatiana shook her head helplessly. Her sister was actually bragging about the carnal pleasures that happened in there. "Alright. I will take care of it."
