POV: Ivory WellsAs I bent behind the crumbling stone wall and peered out at the heavily guarded facility ahead of us, my heart hammered in my chest. This was the location where my daughter Darcy was being housed the result of years of suffering and unresolved issues.Beside me, Jeremy moved uneasily, his eyes darting from shadow to shadow, always alert for any indication of threat. "Ivory, are you quite certain about this? It reminds me of a fortification.I nodded, my jaw locked in a harsh line. " Jeremy, I'm sure. Every bit of the data suggests that Darcy is being kept here. And I'll be damned if I let anything stand in the way of getting her back."Jeremy's face grew stiffer, and he nodded resolutely. "then let's start this. You know, regardless of everything, I have your back."Looking at the young man next to me, I felt a flood of thankfulness. Jeremy had developed greatly, his unflinching loyalty and bravery a continual source of strength against the difficulties we had faced.
POV: Jeremy WilliamsAs I struck punches with the guards, the smoke burned my eyes. Though years of training had sharpened my reflexes, their fists flew at me in a frenzy. One by one, I wove and targeted precisely with counterattacks." Go! Get Darcy under cover from here! I yelled across her shoulder to Ivory. I had to purchase time to get away.I watched Ivory grabbing the tiny girl's hand and running for the exit through the cloud. A flood of relief came over me, rapidly extinguished by the hard truth of my circumstances. More guards arrived; their rifles drawn and fingers tightly on the triggers.Knowing I was outgunned and outmatched, I broke desperately for the exit, praying the smoke threw off their aim was off. Gunfights broke behind me as I dove through the gate, rolling to cover gasping for breath. Just minutes before, sporadic gunfire tore the area I had been in.I had somehow made it out alive. But what price would it be? And from here where did I go? My whole life, everyt
POV: Jeremy WilliamsI came out of the blazing property and the smoke burned my eyes; my lungs yearned for fresh air. Coughing fiercely, I doubled over as the gunfight tore on behind me.That brief break let my mind turn into a whirlpool of ideas and feelings. One side was my father, Darrel, the man who reared, coached, and shaped me into the fighter I am now. Our relationship ran more strongly than blood. He was the Alpha, the relentless force that had ingrained in me the morals and rules I followed.But counter that was the fresh will for justice and truth Ivory had awakened in me. Her terrifying search to be reunited with her long-lost daughter Darcy had shown the nasty underbelly of the pack one which prized power and custom over morality.I had seen personally the filth Callum and his ilk could produce in their attempt to keep Darcy under control. I would always be scarred by the maimed hand of poor Roger, dead for our cause. The idea of a child being just a pawn in their horribl
POV: Ivory WellsWith the weight of long-buried secrets and lies descending on me from all sides, the musty air of the safe home seemed stifling. Emotions a whirl of wrath, grief, and frustration, I moved the little area like a trapped animal.Darrel drove everything from the middle. My old friend. Onetime Alpha, the guy I had trusted with my life, my love, my everything only to have unimaginable treachery destroy all.I had stayed away from really facing him about that terrible night for years. The evening when a basic misinterpretation turned into violence that sent our daughter to the winds and drove me from the pack. I felt it lancing across my soul, even now, a physical anguish.but no more. Now that Darcy had been recovered and pulled from the grasp of that monster Callum against all odds I would not allow half-truths and meaningless platitudes. Once and for once, I wanted to know exactly how Darrel helped to plan the events that destroyed our family.The others turned away as I
POV: Callum WellsLike a thunderclap, the compound's enormous gates slamming closed reverberated through the hallways. Standing framed in the control room's entrance, I saw my lieutenants and techs frantically rush about trying to decipher our most recent intelligence.Grainy images from our spy drones poured through in quick bursts of pixels as a holographic display flickered and pulsed at the center of the poorly lighted chamber. My eyes closed as among the digital interference the figures of Darrel, that vile Ivory and my disloyal nephew Jeremy surfaced.So they had slunk out of whatever hole they were hiding in at last. Fantastic. This game of cat and mouse had bored me.I watched their little company sprinting into the wilderness, the brat Darcy almost stumbling over her own feet in their hurried escape. I grinned cruelly. Jeremy snatched her up without missing a stride, cradling her with a protective tenderness that made me sick. The smile soured."He's going to pay dearly for t
POV: Darrell WilliamsBlinking the whirl of smoke and burnt flesh from my eyes, my senses assailed. The devastated valley seemed all around like the result of a firestorm: scorched ground covered by impact craters and deep furrows.I staggered to my feet, ribs screaming in protest from the hammering they had suffered during the final onslaught. My hand came away sticky and heated when I touched my hairline, but a quick check revealed the headcut was minor.A little sigh from my right helped me to refocus entirely. Whirling with my weapon poised, ready to unleash destruction on any threat, I discovered Ivory half buried under a mound of trash and wreckage.I just stared for a suspended moment, battling the instincts of conversation. One side of me realized pragmatically that I could not hope for survival without her still great talents. Supporting that was the indisputable reality that Darcy had irreversibly mixed our blood whatever difference had split our family asunder permanently h
POV: Ivory WellsThe dank air of the subterranean corridor brought metallic traces of blood and stale sweat. As we advanced, my muscles tightened and my senses alert in expectation of any ambush; I tried not to choke on the overpowering smells.Beside me, Darrel glided with the ease of a predator; his massive form seemed to consume the shadows and confusing dimness like fuel. Having him at my side once more after so many years of following different paths still seemed rather shocking. An undercurrent of anxiety coursed through my spine, always alert against something. Despite best efforts, I could not find the cause of that ongoing unease.Maybe it was only the residual wounds of our catastrophic falling out not completely healed. I looked sidelong at my erstwhile friend, absorbing the sharp lines of his chiseled face in the uneven play of our low light illuminating sticks. I could see the honorable but relentless Alpha burning behind his eyes even now.Still, did he view me as the re
POV: Darrell WilliamsLittle more than a dark, hollowed-out cave on the mountainside, the safe house lacked conveniences. All that mattered, though, was a safe refuge and a defensible place to gather following our horrific escape from Callum's ambush.Armaments wrapped across my barreled chest, I stood in the shadows just inside the threshold and peered critically at our ragtag company. Few stayed after that terrible involvement. Wounded, tired, spirits withering in the wake of the murder we had just barely avoided.Still, I could feel the small flames of will still flickering behind the surface of tiredness. excellent. That was the vital spark I would have to fan into an all-consuming fire of moral rage. Callum's savagery had driven us to the brink; it was past time for us to react in kind and finish this vendetta."Get them tended to and rested," I hissed to Hardin, my voice a subterranean rumble that broked no debate. He walked among the injured. But be careful about it. The hour c