Cloe: Two for the Bite of One (9 page)

Cloe shifted from one foot to another waiting for her father to stop talking, so he could tell them what was going on. Her mother took her hand, and gave it a hard squeeze in an attempt to reassure her, it was not working, but it still felt good to connect with her mother.

“Cloe, obviously they called. They said that if we turned you over to them in the next eight hours that they would leave the rest of the town peacefully. If we don"t give you up, they are prepared to burn this town to the ground until they find you.” Bryan said to her directly.

“Fan-fucking-tastic.” She muttered and looked at her mates who were growling.

“Don"t worry dear; we have been in worse situations.” Her mother smirked.

Cloe and her mates looked at her incredulously. Cloe knew about some of her parents past. Her father had trained her of course. No one knew more about hand-to-hand combat than he did, there had to be a reason for it. She just never actually thought about it.

Darien stepped forward and asked if they had heard from the eagle yet. Bryan shook his head and said that they were still waiting. Cloe looked at the map of the city and saw the pins that they had placed indicating where they had placed an Enforcer. Cloe knew they had spread themselves too thin. If the Rogues wanted to, they could punch through their line and enter the town. What the hell were they waiting for?

Frustrated and feeling a bit out of sorts, Cloe walked to the other side of the room and looked out the window. She heard the low rumble of conversation behind her, but ignored it. She did not want people to die for her, and by the looks of it, there were going to be many before this was all over. They were outnumbered and so far had no hope of getting any help.

Cloe"s heart sped up when she heard the eagle"s cry outside before Shane suddenly appeared swopping down from the sky. The man bent over, short of breath and turned to run into the Pack house. Cloe stood in the same place and watched Shane come in before striding quickly to where Shane approached her father and mates.

“You wolves really are a paranoid group.” He said and laughed. “It took me an hour to get them to let me in the building. I had to shift in the lobby. None of them believed that I was an eagle shifter. And then your Alpha"s mate wanted me to fly and get her something she was craving. They were crazy.”

Darien rolled his eyes and said, “What else did they say?”

“Uh, the backup that they sent was already on their way. They are going to wait in the next town for the Alphas and the rest of the Enforcers. We have a few hours before I am supposed to meet them. I hope you have a plan by then. Those women are blood thirsty, they wanted to come in guns a barreling and just shoot their way in.” Shane said.

“Yeah, seems about right.” Darien muttered. “My brother is the New Council Alpha; I think you are going to like the direction that they are taking. Trust me, Quin is an honorable man, he is a great leader, one you will be proud to follow. Besides, half of the Council is pregnant and they are going to bug you until you join so they can have a female doctor. Ole Doc is a good doctor, but still a man. Cami went off the deep end a week ago, when he suggested that she cut down on the cravings.” Cloe frowned and said, “Why, in my studies that I have done, I found that females needed to eat more in the last part of their pregnancy. A shifter baby demands a lot. Do they know that she will probably deliver a month to two months early?”

“Uh, you are asking me?” Darien said and Teagan laughed and slapped him on his back.

“Better get used to it and start brushing up in first aide. Cloe demands everyone around her to know what she is talking about. You are her mate; I went through nurses training just because I was her guard. Thank the Gods I had the foresight to do that. She is a bitch when you have no clue what she is talking about.” Teagan said.

“Okay, well that will have to take the back burner for now. We need a plan.” Bryan said behind them and motioned them to come to the map.

Cloe and her mates studied the map and discussed different ideas. They finally concluded that they were kind of fucked unless they could get more help inside the town. Even if Quin brought Enforcers, they would still be outnumbered, and out in the open. If they were in town, they would stand a better chance of picking the Rogues off one by one, using the building for shelter. The question was how they got them inside the town without the Rogues finding out. It would certainly be a surprise to them, finding Quin and the rest of the Denver Pack here.

Cloe stepped back, looked at the map, and turned her head to one side and then the other. Teagan knew that look; she was seeing things that we were not. Her brain was just trying to process it so she could share with them what she was seeing.

“Teagan, do you remember that abandoned oil well on the east side of town? The one the railroad runs right by. There is a big storage container, and then off to the side, is a big building that stores the city"s heavy equipment. How far inside the city limits would you say it is?” Cloe asked.

Teagan stepped up to the map looking at where Cloe was talking about compared to the positioning of the pins. He finally saw what she was seeing, but he was still a little confused. “Yeah, but how would they get on the train?”

“Simple, there is a train that runs that line that stops every day at 8 am in the next town.

The conductor takes a break. The Pack would have about 15 minutes to get in one of the boxes and hide. On the other hand, just ask the old geezer, he only hauls empty cars back to the train station. He gave me a ride once, when my bike broke down in Fort Morgan.” Cloe said and her father came and stood next to her nodding his head in agreement.

“Do they have time?” Bryan asked and looked at his watch.

“If they hurry. Shane, go to Fort Morgan and give them the plan, come back as soon as they leave so we can create a distraction. They will get here just after the deadline and I am sure whoever is leading this bunch is not going to give us a second more than he said.” Cloe said and looked at her father. "We are going to need some cover out there.

The water tower is close and the building is sturdy, I'd put some wolves up with scopes, they should be able to give enough cover."

Bryan nodded and smiled at his daughter. She was turning into a chip of the ole block.

He knew her passion was medicine, when this was over he hoped she would finally be able to do what she loved instead of being the Beta of his Pack. They had already talked with Blaine about taking over, but for some reason he was being cagey. There were still other choices though, his daughter trained their enforcers well, and quite a few of them could step forward and take the spot of Beta. It was just convincing Cloe it was right.

"I need to get the medical supplies together and have them ready in case someone is injured. Teagan, why don't you set up a triage in the back room? Get the rest of the doctors and nurses, have them on standby, and let's get prepared.” Cloe ordered and smiled when her mate saluted her. Then he leaned over, kissed her softly, and whispered in her ear.

"I love you."

Cloe sat back in surprise, then pulled him to her again, and kissed him deeper before whispering, "I love you too."

"Hey, how did I get left out?” Darien whined cutely.

His mates laughed and pulled him in and each kissed him and repeated the sentiment.

Darien was overwhelmed. He did not think it could happen that quickly, but he did love his mates, they were everything to him and he was going to protect them.

Darien pulled back and smiled, "I love you both.” His mates smiled at him and went to do their job. Teagan quickly got the doctors organized and had the room ready within an hour. They had four doctors and three nurses all ready to see a variety of different patients. Although three of the doctors were human, Cloe had trained them about shifters and their anatomy. Teagan trained to be a triage nurse, at Cloe's insistence. His fellow Enforcers had teased him when he first returned with Cloe from college. That is until he saved one of their lives after being in a motorcycle accident away from any hospital. Now, they teased him but also showed respect.

Cloe returned with carts full of medical supplies that they would need, she wished they would be able to use the offices, but they did not have enough wolves to guard both buildings and fight. This was where she felt torn, she knew she was the best medical person that they had but also she felt the need to fight alongside her pack. She wondered what her mates would do when she said she wanted to fight, she was sure they were going to protest, that conversation was best left for later.

Darien stood with the Alphas, he was listening to the orders they were giving to the humans via the radio. He saw Shane out the window return and waited impatiently for the man to get inside. The urge to fight was getting increasingly worse; he wanted to go out to the Rogue command center, kill them all, and be done with it.

"Alpha, the Denver Pack is boarding the train as we speak. They should be here in the next hour.” Shane said breathlessly. The man had shifted back and forth four times and flown many miles today, he had to be exhausted, but Darien still saw determination in his eyes. He was a credit to his eagle shifters.

Bryan looked at the clock on the wall and grimaced. "They won't get here until after the deadline."

Darien nodded and said, "We need a diversion to draw them away from the railroad and to bide us some time. Let me take a few of the Enforcers, we can try to pick off a few of their guards."

Bryan nodded and looked at the map. "The best place is out by Cloe's place. That is where they are set up. If we can make them, move toward the east, the pack can sneak in in the west and we can then follow you full force. How long do you think you can hold them off?"

"Long enough.” Darien grinned and looked at his mates who were busy setting up the triage.

Adele put a hand on his arm and squeezed, "Just go, I will tell them, if you wait Cloe will go with you. I am staying here to direct people. Bryan will follow with the Denver Pack."

Darien nodded, bent, and kissed her on the cheek. He liked her parents; he only hoped they would all survive.

Darien took one last look at his mates before joining the wolves that waited to follow him without question. He talked to them briefly before leading them out the door.

Cloe was standing in the doorway of the triage center and frowned when she saw Darien leave. Her Mother approached her and said gently, "He is going to create a diversion with the others."

"What?” She yelled. "Who decided that?"

"Your father and him, they needed to get some more time. The deadline is almost over, and the Denver Pack won't be here for a while. He volunteered and your father agreed.” Adele said nonchalantly.

"Bullshit, why didn"t you come and get me? I am the Beta; I should have been involved in the planning.” She said briskly and walked toward the doorway that Darien had just exited.

"Whoa there, young lady," her mother said and grabbed her arm. "Your father and Darien made a plan, he is the Alpha, and you will go and speak to him before you go off half-cocked." He mother growled at her.

Gods Damnit she felt like she was sixteen again, changing her direction, Cloe went and stood stiffly next to her father who was talking on the radio again.

His cell made a noise and Cloe jumped, the service had been cut, someone had turned it back on for a purpose. Her father reached for it and looked at her grimly before passing her the phone.

It was a text message: You have two hours to turn her over or we will come and get her.

Cloe looked at Teagan and motioned him to come over. She knew he would not stay out of the fight anymore than she would.

"What are we doing?” Cloe asked.

"Darien took his Enforcers and is going to create a diversion out at your cabin. We are going to meet Denver Pack and follow. The only way we win is if we take out the command center, the rest will scatter."

Cloe and Teagan nodded and they talked for a few minutes before someone on the radio announced the train was coming. In a flurry of activity Cloe, Teagan, Bryan and the rest of the shifters were running toward the tracks. They rounded the building just in time to see a group of wolves jump off the train.

Holy shit, the two who jumped off the train first were the most buff wolves she had ever seen. He father was large, but not this big. They were handsome wolves too; both gray and white, and they had an army of wolves who followed them. Cloe would have sighed if she could, but she did not have the chance. She knew the time it took them to get here and meet the Denver Pack, and the time it would take to get back. That would be time that her mate was creating a diversion just to help them, putting himself in unnecessary danger.

Bryan shifted quickly and spoke to the wolves. "We have to hurry; Darien took his Enforcers and went to create a diversion for us. They are across town and sorely outnumbered."

The largest wolf growled and nodded, it had to be Quinn, and he was apparently upset about Darien being on the front line. Her father shifted back and led the way as they ran into the tree line.

Chapter 6

Darien and his Enforcers shifted and ran toward Cloe"s cabin. He stopped where they had just this morning, it seemed like a life time ago, but in reality, it had only been a few hours.

He shifted and waved at his men to do the same.

"They are getting tired. It looks like they have all been standing post for a long time.

Look at the group of men standing in the back, by the helper they have set up. I bet they are the leaders. Do any of them look familiar?” He asked.

Darry, one of the Enforcers who had been with his brother since the beginning, stepped forward. "That one, the one with blonde hair, he was one we were tracking when Ruby was attacked, and the one next to him was there too. The others I don't recognize.” He said.

Darien nodded and looked at the men he had pointed out; they were big, but not the biggest. If he were to bet, he would have picked the man with long black hair to be the leader. That was the man he wanted, Darien was going to kill him.