Skye’s Limits (10 page)

They were just getting ready for their morning run when an alarm sounded off, and a call for team Alpha came out.

“All right, men, that’s us. Everybody suit up and let’s go. That includes you, Skye,” Logan ordered in a loud voice.

Skye’s heart nearly leapt out of his chest. He’d never gone out on a live mission before. He was both excited and nervous as hell at the same time. He followed the others to the armory and got armed up, then went into one of the vans.

He found a seat in between Gage and Ash, then took in a deep breath. Skye was wearing body armor and had a helmet on. For the first time, he felt like a real soldier.

“You ready for this?” Gage asked, his eyes wide with what had to be concern.

“Logan seems to think so. I’ve felt ready from day one. Let me at some Ravens,” Skye said.

His comment was met with hoots of approval from the rest of the soldiers in the van.

“That’s the spirit. Let’s go get them,” Ash said.

Gage rolled his eyes. “Don’t encourage him.”

“Why not? He needs to be gung-ho if he’s going in. Especially if this is going to be his first time,” Ash returned. “You and Branson can’t continue to baby him for the rest of his life.”

At that moment, Skye could have kissed the Hawk shifter. He had said the exact thing Skye had been saying again and again to Branson and Gage, but they had refused to listen to them.

“Don’t butt in,” Gage said.

“Why not? You obviously are being stupid and need some advice. How old are you, twenty-five? Twenty-six? Well, last time I checked, Skye is twenty-five, which makes him around your age, yet you treat him like he’s a teenager or a toddler.”

“That’s because that’s how he’s always acted,” Gage snapped.

“Maybe in the past, but people change. Give Skye a chance to prove that he’s done that.”

Gage clamped his lips together and looked the other way. Skye made eye contact with Ash and mouthed,
thank you.
Ash winked at him and mouthed back,
no problem.

As they pulled up and there were no Ravens in sight, just an old farmhouse, Gage let out a groan, “Shit, it’s old man Hankens again.”

“Who’s Hankens, and why is Gage so pissed?” Skye asked Ash.

Ash let out a sigh of his own. “He calls at least once a week and swears that he sees Ravens and that they’re coming to attack his home. Since we can never be too careful, we always have to send a team to check things out. But it never fails. It’s always just his paranoid imagination.”

The vans parked, and the team got out. Logan went to the front door to talk to the elderly shifter while the soldiers fanned out and began to look for any signs of Raven activity. Even Skye wasn’t surprised when they found nothing out of place. All they found were rows and rows of cornstalks and a tilted scarecrow that looked like it was on its last legs.

They finished their sweep and met Logan back at the van. The elderly shifter was there. He was wearing a pair of baggy brown trousers that were threadbare at the knees and a button-up pinstriped shirt that was untucked. He had more skin than hair at the top of his head, and he wore a few whiskers on his chin.

“I’m telling ya, I really saw them this time. There was a whole murder of them. Ravens, I tell ya,” the man said.

“I’m sure you did see them, Mr. Hankens, but they’re gone now,” Logan assured him in a soothing tone.

Mr. Hankens narrowed his pale blue eyes. “You don’t believe me, do you?”

“Of course I believe you. But the Ravens aren’t here now so there is nothing we can do about it,” Logan said.

“You’re no better than that Shane character. You know what he said to me?”

“No, but I have a feeling it wasn’t good.”

“He said that if he ever finds a Raven on my property, he would mount and stuff it, then replace my sad excuse of a scarecrow. I’ve never met a ruder person in my life.”

Skye had to bite the inside of his cheek to stop himself from laughing. While it might have been a rude comment, it was pretty funny and typical Shane material. Going by some of the coughs and clearing of throats going around him, Skye wasn’t the only one who was having trouble keeping his laughter at bay.

Logan, on the other hand, kept a straight face. “I’ll make sure to have a talk with Shane the next time I see him.”

“Hmph…I’m sure you will. You both probably think I’m just some crazy old man.”

Skye was about to agree with that assessment when he saw the first shadow fly overhead. It was soon followed by another, then by several others. Looking up, he was horrified to see not just one murder but several of them coming in.

“Shit! This isn’t good,” Logan said.

Skye wanted to pin him with the most obvious statement of the year award, but he was too busy staring at all the Ravens who were descending upon them. Skye and the other soldiers lifted their guns in the air, but the Ravens were still too high up to hit.

Logan keyed his mic. “We need help here ASAP. We have several murders of Ravens coming in on us, and we’re outnumbered. Send us in all the help you can muster up.”

Logan then gave Hankens a gentle shove toward the house. “Get inside and lock the doors. Don’t come out unless the place is burning.”

Hankens didn’t need to be told twice. He ran in as fast as his spindly legs could carry him. All the way there, he kept yelling, “I told ya so, but ya all wouldn’t listen to me. Oh, no, ya wouldn’t. Now you’re sorry.”

Gage turned to Skye. “Stay as close to me as you can during this. Things are about to get really hairy.”

“You think?” Skye replied sarcastically.

He then aimed his gun up in the air and took aim. He was the first one to take out a Raven. The bird swirled in the air before it hit the ground, a wound directly in the center of his head.

“Damn, Skye, you are one hell of a shot,” Gage said.

“If you’d stopped judging him long enough, you would have noticed that he was out-shooting us all in the gun range,” Ash said. “Do it again, Skye.”

Skye shot a few more times, taking out more Ravens. But he knew it was already a losing battle. He’d take out as many as he could, but there were too many of them. The soldiers were way outnumbered. If help didn’t arrive soon, they were up shit creek, and there was no damn paddle in sight.

* * * *

After hearing the call for the Cheetah team to scramble, Alden got suited up, then jumped into the back of the van. When he noticed that Logan was missing, he was confused. The Cheetah team members were always there when called upon. They had their second-in-commands take over their teams and joined the other Cheetah team members in the van.

Then Alden realized why Logan wasn’t there, and his heart skipped a beat. It was
his
team that was in trouble. Which meant that Skye could also be in trouble. Logan had told Alden that Skye would be going out on the next live mission.

“What’s going on?” Alden barked.

Andrew gave him an apprehensive look. “Logan’s team is currently under attack by several murders of Ravens. We’re going to help them.”

“What are we waiting for then? Why isn’t the van moving?” Alden asked as his stomach churned with fear.

All he could think about was how Skye could be currently under attack by Ravens and fighting a losing battle, and here they were sitting there twiddling their thumbs. They needed to get moving and help them now.

Vapor put a comforting hand on Alden’s shoulder. “I know you’re upset because your mate is out there, but we need to wait for the other teams to scramble.”

While Alden knew Vapor was right, he still wanted to run to Skye and help him. It was pure torture waiting for the other teams. Finally, they were there, and the vans started to move.

Even though the drivers went at a high speed, it still seemed to take forever. All the way there, he said a silent prayer that Skye was safe. It was only his first mission, and he was still green. He would be so vulnerable. The Ravens were sure to be able to tell that and go for him first. The bastards always liked to go for the weakest and easiest kill.

They finally arrived at the scene, and Alden’s stomach dropped when he saw how many Ravens there were. He had never seen so many in one place or at one time. There was no doubt in his mind that they had set up a trap.

“Those cowards,” Vapor said, showing that he had come to the same conclusion that Alden had.

“They set up a trap. They knew we would only send out one team because of all the false reports Hankens had called in,” Andrew added. “They must have really sent out a Raven this time so he would call it in. Then when Logan and the others showed up, they attacked.”

Alden swallowed hard when he saw that the ground was already littered with the bodies of soldiers from Logan’s team. While it was selfish of Alden, he prayed that none of them were Skye.

Then just as he was about to give up all hope. Alden spotted Skye. He was with Gage and Ash. They had taken cover inside a shed and were peeking out every so often to fire off some shots. Alden couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride when he noted that Skye was hitting his targets more often than the other two.

Alden made to get out of the van and run to them when Vapor put a hand on his shoulder. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“To my mate? Where else would I be going?” Alden replied.

“You can’t just run out there. It’s got to be thirty yards away, and the Ravens will be on your ass before you make it halfway there.”

“I don’t care. I’m still going to him,” Alden said stubbornly.

Vapor let out a sigh. “I thought you were going to say that. At least let me provide you some cover fire.”

They both jumped out of the van and began shooting. As expected, the Ravens were immediately on them. Vapor and Alden were ready for them since they weren’t on the Cheetah team for nothing. They were the best of the best. They easily shot their way through the throng of Ravens and soon were at the shed.

Pushing their way inside, Alden made a beeline for Skye and threw his arms around his mate. “I was so worried about you.”

“I’m okay. We just need to figure a way to get all of us out of here. Plus, Mr. Hankens is inside his house. We need to get him out and to safety.”

Alden let out a sigh of aggravation. It would be easy enough to get Gage, Ash, and Skye to a van and to safety. They were trained soldiers and knew how to fight. Hankens, on the other hand, was a different story. The old man couldn’t even run that fast. Leaving him behind wasn’t an option, either. While he might be annoying, he was still part of the coalition and under their protection.

“Okay, let me relay this all to the others so they know what’s going on,” Vapor said. He then went into the corner and began to talk into his mic.

Alden ran his hands up and down Skye’s body. “Are you sure that you’re okay? You’re not wounded anywhere or anything?”

“I’m fine. This isn’t how I wanted my first mission to go, but other than that, I’m just ducky. I promise,” Skye said. “It does suck that we lost five of our men.”

Alden could understand that. It was always hard to see some of your team members go down in battle. For Skye to have to deal with it on his first mission was a big hurdle for him to overcome. He was going to need some major comfort once the shock of the battle wore off.

“Andrew says he’s going in to get Hankens,” Vapor said once he rejoined them.

“Doesn’t that worry you?” Skye asked.

Vapor gave a wicked grin. “Nah, my mate can get in and out of any situation without any problem. This will be a piece of cake for him. I wouldn’t be surprised if he beats us back to the van.”

Alden wouldn’t have been surprised, either. Andrew had been raised with Shane and was a master at breaking and entering. Before he’d joined the coalition, his old master had forced Andrew to use his skills to make money for him. Now Andrew was using his mastery for the good of the coalition. Andrew had done some things in the past that boggled Alden’s mind.

“Okay, let’s get the hell out of here,” Alden said.

“But what about Mr. Hankens’ house? If we leave, the Ravens are going to burn it to the ground,” Skye said.

Alden let out a deep breath. “I don’t like retreating any more than you do, but we are outnumbered here. If we stay it will be suicide. Mr. Hankens’ house is just going to have to be a causality of the war. I know it sucks, but that’s how it’s going to be.”

“That’s just fucking wrong,” Skye said.

“I know it is. But we don’t have any other choice. We can’t win every battle. This is one that we’re going to have to lose. We’ll get them next time, though. I promise you that.”

Skye nodded, but he didn’t look happy about it. Not that Alden blamed him. He wasn’t happy about it, either. No good soldier liked to lose a fight.

Vapor popped his head out of the shed and said, “Okay, let’s go. I want everybody to have guns blazing. We’re going for the second van on the left.”

They all ran out of the shed. Alden was careful to keep Skye close to his side. They shot and dodged bullets along the way. Ash took one to the leg, but he kept on running. Most likely because the medic was so used to being wounded it didn’t even faze him anymore.

They were soon to the van. They helped Ash into the back. Alden wasn’t the least bit surprised to see Andrew was already there with the elderly shifter. Mr. Hanken
s was looking at his home, which was already in flames, tears running down his wrinkled face.

“I knew they would get me. It was only a matter of time,” the man said.

Alden’s heart went out to the shifter. It must be hard to see one’s whole life literally go up into flames. Alden could relate since he had gone through the same thing when he was just a kid. He’d lost his parents and home during the mass Raven attack so many years ago, yet the pain still felt fresh in his heart at times.

Logan jumped into the back of the van. “Okay, we can go. My entire team has been extracted. We even managed to remove the dead, so the birds couldn’t have fun with them.”

As they pulled away, the flames of the home grew larger. Alden pulled Skye closer to him. While they might have lost this battle, that didn’t mean they were losing the war. It was just a little speed bump. The coalition would recover and be stronger than ever.