Knight Rescue (Rise of the Wolf Nation Book 1) Read online

  Silas thought about it. If they couldn’t communicate mind to mind they’d need another way.

  “Radios,” Hawke said when Silas questioned him about it. “Crude, on a human level, but that’s all they have right now until the Goddess restores their abilities to mind link.”

  Silas stepped inside the arena and scanned the area. He stepped outside the bubble as people arrived. Angus took the challengers to a corner where chairs had been set aside while Silas and Hawke scanned each person before allowing them to enter.

  Hawke and Silas both looked up at the same time. Hawke leapt forward, Silas covered him with a frontal shield, just as gunfire erupted. The bullets bounced off the shield and flew in various directions. People dove to the ground covering their heads. Hawke landed on the driver of a moving jeep, ripped one weapon from the full blood in the passenger seat, swung it and knocked the other pup in the back holding an automatic out of the car.

  The jeep slammed into a tree, throwing Hawke forward a few feet. He grabbed the full-blood who had fallen out the jeep and broke his neck. Returned to the dazed gang members in the jeep and broke their necks as well. In less than three minutes the four-armed gang members were dead. Hawk searched them for weapons and destroyed each one so they couldn’t be used again.

  He left the car and the bodies behind as he returned to his post.

  “That says don’t mess with pack,” Hawke told Silas.

  “Yes, I believe it does.” Silas greeted the Alphas from Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala who arrived with several members from their pack. He explained their people could only enter if there was space available after the locals were inside since it was more important for them to see their potential Alphas in battle.

  “Of course,” the Guatemalan Alpha said and spoke to the group who seemed disappointed but stepped aside. “They will wait and accompany me home later.”

  Silas nodded and continued scanning and allowing pack members to enter.

  Jorge ran to Silas with a look of horror pointing in the direction of the dead gang members. “Is it true? Did you kill those pups?”

  Silas’ brow rose. “What’s true is they fired semi-automatic weapons at pack members attending an Alpha challenge officiated by me. Hawke jumped in front of bullets that would’ve hurt innocent pack. For that, they forfeited their lives. No one and I mean no one messes with pack. Learn and understand that clearly right now, Jorge. If the gangs want war, war I’ll give them. Believe me when I say I won’t lose.”

  “But... they’re just —”

  “Murderers, thieves, criminals with no regard to pack life. Pack comes first, Jorge.” Silas’ voice rose. Winds of heated energy swirled around him as his anger rose. “Do not defend anyone who fires bullets into a crowd of pack members, don’t do it.”

  Jorge realized a crowd had surrounded him and bowed. “I apologize, Sir and make no excuses for their behavior. But if we respond in the same manner as they behave, how are we different?”

  Silas lifted Jorge by his neck and held him in the air. Their gazes met. Silas’ eyes itched, no doubt blazing blue. “You think defending pack is the same as what those cowards who fire weapons as they run away from the consequences of their actions, did?”

  The crowd murmured no and called the gang members names.

  Silas read Jorge’s mind and knew he genuinely hated the loss of any life. But there would be bloodshed, change often required it.

  “No. It’s not the same... I just wish.” He hung his head as Silas brought his feet back to the ground.

  “You wish they’d just do the right thing, but they’ve had decades to make changes and haven’t. They’re not going to just accept a new Alpha, that’s why the Goddess must choose Her champion and empower him or her to bring order.”

  Jorge looked at Hawke, and shook his head. “This is...I’m sorry you were shot.”

  “I protect the pack at all costs,” Hawke said causing people to look at him and the blood on his shirt. “No one messes with pack, no one. Until everyone believes that with every fiber of their being, your pack will be fragmented.” He waved the next person forward, scanned and allowed them entry.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  THE END OF THE FIRST rounds of eliminations surprised Silas. Hector had been eliminated by Solo which sent shock waves and then wild applauds through the crowd. As a farmer, Hector hadn’t been a skilled fighter and the Alpha position had been bestowed upon him because of his ability to provide for his pack. He shook a surprised Solo’s hand and returned to his seat.

  Solo nodded to Silas and Angus as he took his seat in the area reserved for those proceeding to the next level of eliminations. Tonio and Jose won their matches and were slated to fight a Guatemalan and Nicaraguan Alpha, respectively. Silas sensed tension between the men but didn’t mention it.

  Ricardo and Pedro won their first rounds and were slated to fight Alphas from El Salvador. Silas had been impressed with Pedro’s brawling style in the ring, it reminded him of a Berserker. Pedro completely changed when on the attack, he decimated his challenger in record time. The crowd loved it. Ricardo was skilled and fought well. He lacked Pedro’s ferocity, still he did a good job in dealing his opponent a loss and winning support from the crowd.

  The next round would pit the four Alphas and Solo against foreign Alphas. Silas stood in the middle of the rings, waved the noise down to announce the next rounds and what it all meant when sustained gunfire erupted outside. Screams from outside penetrated the bubble. Hawke and Angus ran out while Silas demanded order inside. He released the Alphas to go out and assist.

  Anger bubbled beneath the surface at the idea of pack, full-bloods, attacking full-bloods. It made no sense and showed the need of an Alpha. He calmed everyone inside, spoke of the need to come together as pack, to live among humans while being proud of their dual natures. He spoke of midnight runs in the mountains, the pleasure of worshiping the Goddess, Her love for them and what She expected, while listening through mental links to reports of those injured outside. Hawke and Angus worked with the Alphas and doctors to treat anyone who needed it. Most importantly, Hawk had caught the scent of the perpetrators.

  Silas announced the time for the next round of challenges and dismissed everyone. Outside, pack members supported each other and left hopeful of change. Hawke and Angus assured the Alphas that the matter of the shooting would be handled and wished them the best for the final rounds.

  Hawke looked at Silas. “I can track them.”

  Silas nodded and they took off jogging. Initially Silas thought they’d be heading into Tegucigalpa, the capital, but they turned off before reaching the city and ran up and behind it toward more sparse housing.

  They’d run a little over 15 miles before Hawke stopped. “It’s that house there. I’m not sure how many heartbeats...” He looked at Silas. “Twenty? More?”

  Silas inhaled and listened intently. The punks were celebrating, bragging over the fact they’d shot people, shut down the Alpha talk. “This is them, makes no difference how many there are, none of them will be leaving.” He threw a power shield over the house and walked slowly toward it. They would see the three of them approach and not be able to do anything about it. If they fired a weapon, it wouldn’t penetrate the shield and would, in all likelihood, hit one of them. They couldn’t leave, couldn’t hit and run like they did before. They were trapped like the cowards they were. After a few attempts to leave, and failed shots, the stench of fear and desperation leaked from the shield.

  Silas stood in front of the house. “These punks have no idea what an Alpha is, I’m thinking to teach them a lesson.” He looked at Hawke who shook his head slowly and morphed to his largest size.

  “They shot pack, meant to hurt them. They don’t deserve a lesson, Alpha. They broke the rule and deserve to die.”

  Fear ratcheted at Hawke’s words and display.

  Angus morphed to his two-footed beast and swung his fist. “Death for hurting pack.”

  Silas
looked at Angus and then Hawke. “What if we only destroy the ones who fired their weapons into the pack? Can we extend that mercy?”

  For several seconds, neither responded. “Not all of them are bad, if we can save a few to serve the Goddess, wouldn’t that be worthwhile?” Silas asked knowing the gang members were listening.

  Hawke flowed to his two-footed beast. “Yes, Alpha.”

  Angus pawed the ground as the scent of fear grew stronger. “Death for hurting pack.”

  Silas took a deep breath. “No one hurts pack. You’re right, I’ll send out the ones who pulled the triggers.” Silas walked through the shield and faced the full-bloods. Most of them were older, and not young teens as he had originally thought. A few lay bleeding, others watched him with curious expressions and others sneered. Silas dealt with the three sneering ones first by grabbing their beasts, forcing the change and pushing them outside to Angus and Hawke. It happened so fast the others in the room had no time to act.

  They stared at him and backed up as he inhaled. One by one he identified the shooters and pulled their wolves. No one spoke as seven wolves were pushed out the energy field to be handled by Hawke and Angus.

  “Come here.” Silas looked at the remaining 11. They moved closer with their eyes on the ground. He activated his bracelet and touched each one. Three were hardened criminals who would never serve an Alpha. Even now two were wondering how to take him down. Rather than leave them for the incoming Alpha, Silas snapped their necks. The others backed away and didn’t want him to touch them.

  Silas compelled their wolves forward and continued searching all eight of the remaining gang members. He doubted any would follow the new Alpha but was reluctant to terminate them. They feared him and it was possible they might fear whoever the Goddess chose to lead.

  “No one hurts or hunts pack,” Silas said in a hard tone. “You’re alive because you weren’t with the others when they shot at pack members at the challenge. Most didn’t know that’s what they were going to do, yet you participated in the celebration.” He paused and stroked each of their wolves. These were new recruits without much experience. Several handled domestic details for the gang, finding food and keeping the place safe. Lost pups with no real guidance.

  “Do you know about the Goddess? Your history as full-bloods?”

  “No.”

  “Si.”

  “Some.”

  Ignorance was a killer. He gave them a brief history lesson on how they came into being, the Goddess’ role in their lives, Alphas and the need for them. One being to teach pups and remind everyone of the rules of the Goddess while maintaining pride in who they were.

  He sensed his words fell on deaf ears for a couple and they probably wouldn’t live through the end of the week. But the majority listened and seemed surprised by most of what he shared.

  “If you want to live, you will change. I will leave the destruction, the rest of the destruction of your gang to the new Alpha. He’ll be able to do this as well.” He pulled all of their wolves, leaving them in wolf form. “If any of you harm or try to harm a pack member again, I’ll personally terminate your life, is that clear?”

  He removed the energy shield and dragged them outside. Hawke and Angus stepped close, surrounding the shaking wolves. Silas shifted to his beast and walked amongst them until they stopped shaking. He wanted them to experience being in the presence of an Alpha and hoped it would helped them change their way of thinking. After a few moments, Angus shifted to his beast and started playing with a couple pups.

  Hawke morphed to human and watched over them. A few pups crawled to Silas and laid their muzzles on him.

  “How much time before the next challenge?” Silas asked Hawke.

  “Hour and a half, I’m hungry.”

  “Okay, pity we can’t go for a run,” Silas said looking at the green forest as he stood and shifted. The wolves surrounded him, yapping and looking happy. “We have to eat and then Alpha challenges.”

  Angus shifted. Smiling he rubbed the belly of the pup he’d been playing with. “Good I’m starving.”

  The wolves shifted. None of their earlier angst appeared on their faces. Instead they held expressions of wonder and gratitude as they gathered closer to Silas.

  “We have a place where you can eat, it belongs to pack. You’ll enjoy it,” the pup Carlos said. Tall, thin and the youngest of the group, he had taken a liking to Angus and hung near his side.

  “How far?” Angus asked him.

  “A couple miles down the mountain, before town.”

  Silas nodded.

  “Who’s got the keys?” Carlos asked looking at the others.

  “We’ll walk,” Silas said and took off jogging. Angus and Hawke caught up. The others followed them. When they reached a dirt road, Carlos veered to the right. Silas and the others followed him. They passed several homes in sad states of disrepair, something the future Alpha would need to handle. A large, one story wood house stood at the end of the road. Several full-bloods sat at tables outside and stared at them as they arrived.

  Eager to announce their arrival, Carlos yelled. “La Patron, Angus and Hawke are here to eat.” The full-bloods outside looked surprised as Silas nodded, spoke greetings and walked inside. A tall dark woman leaned over a counter to stare at them.

  “La Patron? Here?” she sounded confused.

  “Si,” Silas said and smiled at her. “We heard the food was good here and we’re very hungry. What are you serving?” He looked around for a table and menus.

  “Please have a seat.” She waved to the table which Carlos rushed to clean and wiped the chairs.

  “Something smells good,” Hawke said looking at her. “I want some of whatever that is. Lots of it.”

  Silas and Angus laughed. “Just so you know, we’ll probably eat whatever you have left in your kitchen while you cook more.”

  Her white teeth flashed from a wide smile that lit up her face as she realized they were serious. “Let me get you started with chicken baleadas.” She clucked her teeth and went in the back. Moments later, Carlos and several of the eight placed platters of folded tortillas filled with chicken, cheese, refried beans, sour cream with slices of avocado on the side. A plate of plantains and bottles of cold water were placed on the table.

  “Appetizers,” Carlos said. “She’s cooking for you.” He rubbed his stomach and walked off.

  Silas checked the food to ensure it was safe and then took a bite. It was good. He’d remember to tell Jasmine about this later today.

  They had just finished their meal and pushed back from the table when a full-blood who’d been outside when they arrived approached them.

  “La Patron, may I ask what happened to the others?”

  “What others?” Silas asked as he placed three times the amount owed for the meal on the table. It had been worth it.

  “The ones with Carlos, the ones who terrorized our community, where are they?” He looked over his shoulder and then at Silas. “Are they coming back? No one knows.”

  Silas placed his hand on the man’s shoulder and activated his bracelet. “They won’t be back. Soon there will be an Alpha who’ll protect and make sure the pack is provided for. It won’t happen overnight but with the Goddess’ help life will become better for all pack members. You won’t be on your own. Pack helps pack, remember that.”

  The full-blood’s eyes watered as he nodded slowly. “Thank you, it’s been... life has been hard. Real hard”

  Silas nodded and walked toward the door with a heavy heart. One of the older gang members who Silas personally terminated had been this full-blood’s son. The gang member beat his sire and mam regularly, took their money and shot up their home. They lived in fear of him and the others and were helpless.

  “We were told not to come, not to be involved with your meetings, so we stayed away. It’s good you came today. It’s good to see an Alpha and know the Goddess hasn’t forgotten us.” He opened the door for Silas and stepped aside. Outside, there were
three times the amount of people watching him as it had been when he arrived.

  Silas was unsure what they wanted, so he smiled and waved as he walked through the crowd.

  “La Patron. La Patron. La Patron.” The cheer started with the older full-blood he’d just spoken to and spread quickly. By the time Silas and the others reached the road, the chant had gained momentum and he felt compelled to change the direction. He held up his hands.

  They quieted.

  “Thank you for the best food I’ve eaten since coming to your beautiful country.”

  They cheered.

  “The Goddess’ concern over you and your wellbeing is why I’m here. In Her infinite wisdom, She has decided you need an Alpha, similar to the one in the States.” He bowed.

  They clapped and cheered.

  “There are Alpha challenges in progress but being able to win a physical battle is only a part of the job. The Goddess will search the heart of each candidate. Only someone who cares or has the capacity to care about you, your life, your problems and heartaches will be your Alpha. Trust the Goddess, pray to Her for the best Alpha and once he’s chosen, pledge your loyalty. Never forget, pack takes care of pack. That’s why I’m here, in the end, we’re all members of the Goddess’ pack, Si?”

  “Si,” they yelled.

  Silas waved, turned and walked down the road before breaking into a run toward the park.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  SILAS WATCHED ANGUS and Hawke scan the entrants into what he hoped would be the final rounds of competition. They’d done a lot in two days. They might leave the country before the seventh day. What they’d once thought impossible was coming together fast. The pack wanted change and was ready to embrace the Goddess and a new Alpha.

  Tonio and Jose nodded as they took seats in the challenger’s section. The Alphas from the other Central American countries arrived and took their seats. Solo and Hector entered, talking, and laughing like old friends.