Full Moon Rising - 02 (6 page)

The pilot came over the speaker and asked that they buckle their seat belts as they prepared to land.  Nadia fumbled with the clasps and realized just how badly her hands were shaking.  She wasn’t sure if it was fear of the unknown, rage that her mate was in trouble from an unseen force or because of the pull of the full moon, but her hands refused to cooperate.  Natashia leaned across and clasped the buckle for her, then held her hands in her own.  “Calm yourself.  We will be there soon enough.”

Moments later they heard the planes wheels screech against the runway and felt a slight shaking, then the pull against their seats as the plane quickly slowed and turned.  The pilot taxied them to a nearby area and stepped from the front of the plane.  He wished them well as he opened the hatch and dropped the steps for them to disembark. 

As promised, a car was waiting for them.  The women grabbed their bags and rushed to the waiting van.  “Tinker Air Base. Quickly!”  The driver simply nodded and pulled away from the arrivals area. 

Natashia studied the pictures from her phone.  She had pulled up a website that had satellite photos of the Air Force Base and the sheer size of it was enough to dampen her spirits.  “I do not know how we will get in, but if we do…how will we find him?  The base is very large.  We do not know where he will be.”

“I can feel him, mother.  I will smell him once we are near.” Nadia said. 

During the drive across the metro, the driver confirmed that without military ID’s, they would not be allowed on base.  They decided to circle the perimeter of the base until they could find a quiet enough area for the women to cross.  The driver, wanting no part of breaking into federal property simply shook his head.  His job was only to deliver them, he didn’t care where.

They approached Midwest City and the driver veered to the south, working his way closer to the border of the base.  Once he was along the outside border, he began following the perimeter until they were nearly across town and to the southern edge of the base’s property line.  The chain link fence was tall that su
rrounded it, and the razor wire along the top would be impossible for a human to cross.  But a Halfling could easily jump it and not lose a hair on its tail end.  They traveled on, slowly approaching another gate.  The driver stopped just outside the south entrance to the base.  The gate was closed and no guards present.  Natashia looked and could see no video cameras or other surveillance near it, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t there.  They tipped the driver and exited the van. 

Nadia walked to the gate crossing and could see that the o
nly way through would be through the guard shack.  They could kick in the door and simply walk through, or shift and jump the fence.  Kicking the door through would be less likely to attract attention, so that’s what they opted for. 

Once inside, they could see a video camera inside the guard shack pointing out to where cars would pull up.  They couldn’t tell if the camera was on or reporting anything to another area, but rather than wait to find out, they quickly unlocked the other door and left.  Once inside the base proper, they were faced with what appeared to be miles and miles of deserted land, paved roads leading in all directions.  Which way to go?  Nadia could feel a pull in a northeastern direction, but she couldn’t tell what it was.  She tried sniffing the air, but her nose wasn’t as sharp in human form.  She could catch whiffs of auto exhaust, foods of different kinds and lots of people, but…she couldn’t discern her mate.  She turned to her mother and pointed in the direction of the pull.  “That way.  I think.”

“It’s better than milling about.”  And they took off at a good jog.

*****

“Colonel, we have another single confirmation.  This one is in northern Mexico.”  A young first lieutenant said, bringing him the report.

“Great.” Matt muttered.  “That makes three singles.  “What’s this one?” he asked.

“Evidence appears to be vamps, sir.” He reported grimly.  “Small coven of baby vamps, going by the intel.”

“Nasty little bastards.  Always messy.”  Matt turned to Laura, “Make sure Spanky is on this one.  I don’t want the Padre anywhere near the one in California just in case it turns out to be an off-shoot from the same group that got his village.”

“Roger that, sir.”  She agreed.  “Do you think there are some still out there?” 

“It’s been years, Laura.  Hank knew what he saw and knew how many there were.  We know how many bodies we ashed.  Too many got away, and they had to go somewhere.  Any place that’s within walking distance for a vamp, to me…it’s off-limits for Hank.”

“He is a professional, sir.” She rebutted.

“True.  But he’s also human.  And the kids that he lost in the orphanage?  That would break a lesser man.” He turned to her.  “I couldn’t stand to see the Padre broken, could you?”

“No more than he already is, no sir.”

“Agreed.  Then let’s see if maybe the zombie sighting in central Mexico pans out.  We can send him there.  If not, I have a feeling this goblin shit will hit the fan in lower Canada.  Little fudge packers really get antsy around a full moon.”

“Roger that, sir.”

Matt gave a heavy sigh and handed her the reports.  “Let’s get ‘em on the reports boards.  Talk to Spanky and make sure he’s onboard with us about Hank.”

“Yes, sir.”  Laura studied him a moment.  “You seem to be feeling a lot better, Matt…”

“Doc whipped me up a werewolf home-brew.  Really takes the edge off.”  He informed her.  “Smells like somebody took a dump in turnip greens, but it works.”  He gave her a sly grin.  “And as long as it works, I don’t care if it’s made of dragon piss.”

Laura laughed.  “Ah, dragon piss!”

They both said, “Better than Viagra!” with an Irish accent, emulating the dastardly leprechaun of Ireland via New York.

“Christ on a cracker, don’t get me started on him again.” Matt chuckled.

“Negative, sir.  I’ll get these posted and talk with Spalding.  Anything else?”

“Just be ready, XO.  Make sure the chopper crews and all support staff are ready to go at a moment’s notice.  Have at least one more qualified officer standing by to run ops with you.  Either Gregory or Jackson, whoever is next in rotation…and if we get hit with three and end up with all three teams out…” his face fell, already wishing he could be there and knowing he couldn’t.  The thing he hated most about the curse was that it pulled him away from his duties when he was needed most.

“Already done, sir.”

“Good man…er…well.”  He smirked.

Laura smiled.  “Understood, sir.” Then turned and left for the leaderboards.  Matt watched her go and wondered about what she had asked him during Jack’s interview.  She thought that killing the wolf that infected you broke the curse.

Matt thought she was dead, too, until she started breathing again.  And he shot her in the heart with his 1911 A1.  A .45 caliber slug right to the heart.  A few hours later, she was breathing again, her chest healed up, the bullet lying between her breasts.  For a while, he feared she couldn’t
be
killed.  It wasn’t until after they had slowed her heart rate with drugs, literally put her on ice, taken all kinds of tissue and blood samples, and then froze her in a solid block of ice that he realized his mistake.  He didn’t use silver.  A silver bullet would have corrected everything, all at once.  He could have gone back to his old life, except, without his wife and daughter, he had no life.  Hunting monsters had become his life now.

Matt punched some keys on his computer and a screen popped up.  He entered his authorization code and a video feed showed the same girl, still frozen in the same block of ice.  Ev
ery now and then, water would mist over the block to replace the ice that evaporated off of it.  But she could still be seen.  The water so pure, she appeared encased behind a slightly foggy piece of glass.

The instruments recorded no respiration, no heartbeat.  Why wasn’t she dead?  He looked at the brainwave readout.  There were lines, but they slowly rose and lowered over so much time you’d have to look over period of hours to notice it.  If this is movement, it’s slow movement.  He watched her again.  In his mind, he could still see her eyes.  Her beautiful eyes.  He could see her shift and those eyes…those enchanting beautiful eyes shifted with her into a wolf.   Perhaps the most beautiful creature he had ever laid eyes on.  But…this…thing, this monster had killed his wife.  She had transformed his life into a living hell.  It had to be put down.  He pulled his sidearm in that darkened alley and he shot it.  Right in the face.  Right between those beautiful, enchanting eyes.

And he felt a pang of regret.  Every time he thought about it, he felt it.  And to this day he didn’t know what disturbed him more…the regret he felt for shooting her or the increase in pain he felt every time he relived it.

So he did what he always did.  He tried to stop thinking about it.  Mitchell clicked off the video feed and closed the lid on the laptop.  There was enough pain in his life.  He didn’t need to be adding more.

5

Damien stepped quickly toward Paul’s chamber.  The guards made no move to stop him this time.  However, rather than barge in, he requested permission to enter.  The smaller guard simply nodded and pushed the door open for him. 
Much simpler.
He thought to himself. 
Perhaps now they realize that I have some pull around here.

He stepped within the inner chamber and lowered his eyes.  Paul was seated at his high back chair, reminding Damien of a king sitting on his throne.  He had a brandy snifter of blood in one hand, and an old book in another, a fire going in his faux fireplace.  “Master, I come bearing news of the Beastia.” 

“Come, spread the good news.” Paul said, rising from his chair. He set the book at a side table and placed the goblet of blood beside it.  “Tell me what you’ve learned.”

He rose quickly and approached him, almost giddy that they finally found
something
that could lead them to them.  “We found a wolf, here in D.C. who used to work security for a family off the coast of Texas.”

Paul waited for Damien to go on, but apparently he didn’t catch on.  “And?” 

“Oh!  And he said that the wolves who work there are actually ‘gifted’ wolves, meaning that they’re…”

“I know what they are.  Please, get to the point.” Foster said, becoming agitated.

“Well, anyway, the gifted wolves, they are all family, but they aren’t enough to provide everything for the Beastia familia, so they hire in
other
wolves from time to time.”  He said.  “It’s supposed to be pretty nice there, too.  Nice weather, beautiful beaches, a forest to run and hunt in, good hours, horses, too…”

“Get to the point, Damien!” Paul exclaimed, losing patience.

“Yes, master.”  He cowered.  “The wolf said that their Beastia Master was a vampire named Thorn.  A Rufus Thorn…”

“Thorn?” Foster asked.  “Are you certain he said Thorn?” 

“Yes, master, Thorn.  Why?  Do you know him?”

Foster paced back and forth a moment, contemplating his next move.  He knew Thorn
quite
well indeed.  It was a name he hadn’t heard in centuries.  In fact, it was a name that had caused him to flee more than one previous country.  He was, in fact, much older than Paul Foster himself.  Not a vampire to be trifled with, even if he was feeding from goats.  Still, he held no desire to go to war.  He was looking to offer an alliance against the other Humanus clans in order to stave off Armageddon.  Surely Rufus would let by-gones be by-gones after all these centuries?

“Perhaps.  I believe I might know this Thorn fellow.” Foster let on.  “Go on.  Finish your tale.”

“The wolf claims that Thorn moved one of his family homes to an island off the coast, into the Gulf.  He believes he is still there.” Damien smiled smugly. 

“Excellent.”  Foster turned to Damien.  “Gather the troops, my boy.  We head to Shit-kickerville at first dark.”

“Master, shouldn’t we send an emissary, first?  Ensure that he’s still there?  If we show up en masse he’s liable to…”

“Liable to what?” Paul asked.  “Sic the dogs on us?”  Foster laughed.

“But we aren’t even sure where this island actually is, master.  Even the wolf said he didn’t know exactly where it was.” Damien explained.

“Where do they make landfall?  Surely that is the closest mainland point to this island, yes?”  Paul explained as he escor
ted Damien to the door.  “We will find a place to hole up if we have to, or, if absolutely necessary, we can stay in the trucks another night or two until this island, or
somebody
who knows where it is located can be found.”

“Yes, master.”  Damien was all but pushed out of Paul’s i
nner sanctum. 

Foster turned to the guards and softly told them something as Damien turned to start barking orders to the enforcers.  The guards nodded and spoke into their radios.  Immediately, all members of Foster’s group began bugging out and packing up to move out.

*****

Nadia and her mother jogged along the roadway following the pavement toward the buildings further north.  Natashia’s sharp ears picked up the sound of sirens in the distance and they made their way to a stand of storage tanks east of their position as quickly as they could.  They huddled behind a storage tank and watched as two marked military police cars drove by rapi
dly, headed in the direction they had just come from. 

After the two cars left, Nadia started to step out but her mother held her back.  “One more.” She said.  An SUV without the lights or siren going drove by quickly.  This one was marked ‘K-9 Unit’ on the side and rear of the vehicle.  They looked at each other, knowing that the dogs would scent them out and fo
llow them wherever they went.  Natashia began stripping out her clothes and pulled a light sundress from her bag.  She stood between the tanks to hide from any passersby and stuffed her pants and blouse into the backpack.  Handing Nadia her bag and sundress, she quickly shifted into her Halfling form.  She barely fit between the standing storage tanks, but her intent was not to stay, only to mask them from the pursuing canines.  She lifted her leg and sprinkled urine along the side of one tank.  She clawed another tank with her long claws and rubbed her rear against another.  She wanted to leave as much of her Halfling’s scent behind as she could to dissuade the dogs.  She also hoped the change in scent would throw them off as well. 

Once Nadia realized what her mother was doing, she stripped as well, changing rapidly and pulled out a light dress to quickly slip on once she was done.  She shoved her jeans and hiking boots into her pack and put the bags off to the side and tossed the two dresses as far from where they were ‘marking’ as she dare toss them.  When Nadia shifted, she again assumed the form of a very large, gray wolf with glowing amber eyes.  N
atashia knew, they must be close to Jack.  Very close, or Nadia would be a Halfling as well.  Nadia sniffed a few areas around the tanks and squatted and marked a few areas.  She tried to claw the tanks as her mother did, but her paws were not equipped to do the damage that her mother’s hands could do. 

Once the two felt reasonably sure that they had marked as much as they could, and their collective bladders were empty, they shifted back and quickly dressed.  Without thought of saf
ety, they slipped on the light sandals they had brought and snuck from behind the tanks, again heading in the direction that Nadia felt herself being pulled.

“We are close, little one.  I am sure of it.” Natashia said.  “You assumed the form of the wolf again.”

“I did?” she questioned, not sure what to make of it.

“Quite sure.” Her mother replied, her eyes misting.  “Pe
rhaps the most beautiful sight a mother could behold.”

Nadia reached for her hand and they ran as quickly as they could to the next largest buildings that could give them cover.  An old aircraft hangar sitting off by itself could give them a place to hide.  They knew, with a helicopter and a few trucks sitting around it, that it most likely had people inside, but were unsure just
who
those people might be.

As they approached the rear of the hangar, they could hear activity inside.  Equipment running, people talking, laughing, unfamiliar noises, electrical devices humming, engines starting and driving away.  Then a familiar smell hit Nadia’s nose and she froze, her eyes widening with joy.  “Jack!” she exclaimed.  “Mother, of all the luck, we’ve found Jack!”

“So soon?  I think not.  I think your desires are playing tricks on you, my dear.”

“No.  I can smell him.  The bond pulled me here, and it’s
him
!” she took off at a dead run, looking for a way in to the building, Natashia hot on her heels.  Nadia ran across the east side of the building.  She could see windows, but they were too high for her to see inside the building.  She called out his name, but her voice could not penetrate the steel walls or be heard over the din of the activity.  As she spun around the corner at the north end of the building, the hangar doors were open, she could see men working all through the building, a guard shack at the other side of the doors and a guard inside, but she sprinted across the pavement and through the open door before he could even leave his little building.

“Jack!” she yelled, desperate to find him.  “Jack!”  Men stopped what they were doing in mid action, heads turned from all over the hangar, tilting like a puppy who couldn’t quite figure out what it was they were seeing.  All of them wearing uniforms, she knew, this was not the place to be wrong or she would be in a lot of trouble, but…now that she was inside, the scent of her mate was overpowering.  The pull of their bond, overbearing.  She sprinted to the back of the hangar, still yelling his name, “Jack!”

A
really
large, dark-skinned man stepped in front of her and she nearly collided with him.  His hand was held out in front of her.  When he spoke, she almost imagined his voice was the voice of thunder itself.  “You’re not authorized to be in here.”  It was truly a statement.  Nadia tried to backpedal and found herself nearly falling.

“Nadia!” Jack called out.  He ran to her and she skirted the large man with the voice of thunder to embrace her mate.  She held him so tightly that he feared she would squeeze the life from him, and she shook as she cried. 

Apollo approached them and Jack tried to explain to him, “Easy there, Apollo.  This is my…um…my wife.”

Apollo was taken aback.  “When did this happen, buddy?  I mean, last I heard, you were…”

“It is true!” Nadia exclaimed.  “We are mated.  Forever!”

Apollo’s eyes reflected the shock he felt, and the other squad members rose a slight hubbub and mutterings that Jack didn’t care to listen for, he was more interested in not only how she found him, but what in the hell she was doing there.  Before he could ask, he heard another uproar from his squad mates and looked up to see Natashia walking up to the group from the open hangar doors, the armed guard behind her.  “This one followed the other one in, too.”  The guard stated, obviously unhappy about the breach.

“It’s okay.  She’s my mother-in-law.”

Apollo did a double take.  “No fuckin’ way, man.” He e
xclaimed.  “Hot-assed sister-in-law, I could buy.  But no way in
hell
she’s your mother-in-law.” 

That bought him a sharp elbow to the ribs from Sanchez.  “Put your tongue back in your mouth before you lose it, cabron.” 

“What?  I’m just saying…” he tried to defend himself.

“Yeah, say it again and you’ll lose more than just your tongue.” She warned.

Jack explained, “Seriously.  Nadia is my wife.  Natashia is her mother.”  He smiled sheepishly.  “What can I say?  Time has been kind to her.”

Jack heard mumblings from around him along the lines of ‘no shit’ and ‘there’s a MILF’ and a few others that he truly hoped Natashia neither heard or didn’t know what they meant.  Apparently she was either used to her effect on men or she didn’t care, or, as he hoped, she didn’t know that what they were saying was as crude as he took it.  Odds were, she knew, and simply chose to ignore it.

“What are you doing here, Nadia?  You aren’t supposed to be here.”

“I had to come, Jack.  I had a premonition that something very bad was coming for you.” She cried.  “I had to be with my mate, so we left.”

“A premonition?  I don’t understand.”  He held her as she clung to him. 

“She has a gift, dear boy. She comes by it quite honestly.”  Natashia explained, indicating herself.

Jack shook his head.  He still had no idea what they were getting at. 

“When two wolves are mated, they share more than their life force.  They share a destiny.  And since you and Nadia are bound together, and she has the gift of ‘sight’, she could tell that you were in imminent danger.”

“Whoah!”  Apollo interjected.  “What the bloody hell do you mean, ‘wolves’?”

Jack paled.  Natashia noticed it.  “You have not told them?” she asked nonchalantly.

Jack’s eyes widened and he shook his head.

“Told us
what
, Jack?”

“Told you that…uh…well…”

“That Nadia and I are in fact, wolves.” Natashia stated, as though she was admitting to being the queen of England. 

Some of the squad members were reaching for their wea
pons when a very authoritative voice yelled out, “Stand down!”  The elite soldiers all turned to see their commanding officer standing with the XO.  Both had just entered topside and nobody knew just how much they might have heard.  Mitchell and Youngblood both approached the group.

Matt took in the scene and repeated his previous order, “Everybody stand down.  There are no threats here.”  He turned to Jack.  “Is this the young lady you told us about?”

“Yes, sir, it is.  Colonel Mitchell, Miss Youngblood, this is my wife, Nadia.”  He pulled Nadia away from him to make the introduction.  “Nadia, this is Matt Mitchell, my Commanding Officer, and Laura Youngblood, the Executive Officer.”  Matt nodded his head to Nadia and Laura took her hand. 

“Skipper, this is my mother-in-law, Natashia.”