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

  Silas released the Knights and inhaled. He couldn’t allow more tests on his pack, he could not. Moving into the hall, he headed toward the staff lounge, intent on taking another body to get to the Knights. He bumped into someone and was shoved back so hard he slammed into a wall.

  “Watch where you’re going,” Major Franz growled, sounding like a wolf.

  Silas reached out and noticed there were full-bloods outside. Blood dripped from his nose as he made his way to the bathroom, made sure it was empty and locked the door. Thankfully there were no cameras. He reached out and pulled every full-blood within a mile radius toward the lab. After unlocking the door, he headed back to the pharmacy and waited.

  “Hawke if you have something that can block my transmission I’d like it now, otherwise Lee will be dead and we’ll have to answer questions we’re not ready to answer,” Silas said fighting down his anger over the treatment of his men.

  “Yes, Sir. I’m working on it.”

  Screams from the corridor, a siren and clanging metal meant the wolves had arrived and from the sound of things they were angry. Silas bit back a smile and allowed his host, Keener, to deal with the fallout. The door opened and closed. A thin, white male laid against the door, taking deep breaths.

  “It’s crazy out there.”

  “What happened?” Keener asked sounding scared.

  “Men, big men, some with huge dogs, just broke through security.”

  “What? Are you sure? Why?” His host wondered if it were Franz’s full-bloods.

  “Don’t know, but they’re pissed. Really pissed.” The man shuddered, turned and put his ear against the door. “I think they’ve passed now. If I were you, I’d stay in here behind the glass.” He left the room as quietly as he had entered.

  “What’s going on, Angus?” Silas took a seat at the desk in the back office and turned on the computer.

  “The tests are on hold, there’s some kind of problem.” Angus paused. “I sense a lot of full-bloods. Did you call them?”

  “Wolf to wolf, shouldn’t have registered on Lee’s device,” Silas said.

  “No, you’re right. The device works with something on the Knights. Well, you’ve bought some time, what next?”

  “Hawke’s working on something that should work as a dampener of sorts so I can boost their energies and help them escape. One thing is certain, no tests. Period. We tear the place down first,” Silas said.

  “It may come down to that, so I’ll start working in that direction,” Angus said.

  “Keener?” A soldier entered the pharmacy.

  “Yes?” Silas said confused.

  “General Lee wants to see you.”

  Pleasantly surprised, Silas allowed Keener’s personality to rise and kept a tight rein on his beast. He followed the soldiers down a long corridor, turned right and feigned surprise by the large number of full-bloods growling behind the glass door and spilling into the hall.

  “Step aside,” the soldier in front of him said. “Let us through.”

  The full-bloods didn’t move, both the soldier and Silas brushed against them to reach the door ahead. The soldier knocked and after being told to enter, opened the door. General Lee sat on the corner of a desk and watched as Silas, Keener, shuffled forward.

  “You wanted to see me, Sir?” He looked at the three other men in the room and then at the General.

  “What happened to your face?” General Lee asked.

  Silas’ hand flew to his face. “I hit the wall. Thought I cleaned it.”

  “You did,” Lee said. “Did this man knock you into the wall?” He pointed at a scowling Franz who sat in a chair in the corner.

  “Yes, Sir.” Silas frowned at Franz before looking at Lee. “Is there a problem?”

  “Yes, but we’ll deal with it. I just needed to verify his story. Put a liquid bandage on that.” He pointed toward Keener’s face.

  Heat flowed up Silas’ neck. “Yes, Sir.” He turned and headed toward the door.

  “Have you noticed anything different this morning?” the General asked.

  “Other than people running scared in the hall and those big gorillas outside this door? Nope, not a thing.”

  General Lee smiled and waved him away.

  “I told you I didn’t call them here,” Franz growled. “I doubt anyone could do that.”

  “They say you did. I want to know how,” the General said in a low voice.

  Silas bit back a smile at the exchange as he moved slowly down the hall avoiding the full-bloods. He hadn’t thought of the fall out over summoning the full-bloods and understood their anger over a human exercising that kind of control. He’d remember that.

  “Where are you going?” a full blood with several tattoos sneered as he grabbed Silas’ arm.

  “To work,” Silas said and tried to move forward.

  “Where do you work?” the full-blood peered down, his wolf close to the surface.

  Surprised at the level of public aggression, Silas didn’t immediately respond. Instead he activated the chameleon to gain information.

  “Let him go,” a soldier yelled just as Silas was about to answer. “Let him go now.” The click of guns ricocheted off the walls as the full-blood released him and stepped back.

  Under the watchful eyes of two soldiers sent to escort him back to his office, Silas held back a frustrated sigh of not being able to learn more about the local wolves or search for his Knights.

  “The tests are on hold for now,” Angus said. “Franz did something with the local wolves and is in trouble. According to the doc, they may use local wolves for the test, he’s not sure. They’re waiting for someone from the pack to make a decision.”

  “Hawke should be almost done with the block or cloaking device,” Silas said, more from the intent on rescuing his men than anything Hawke said.

  “How’s he going to get it to you? This place is locked down tight after the full-bloods stunt,” Angus said.

  Silas rubbed his forehead and took a seat in the back office. “I don’t know, but we need to get them out of here and go home.”

  “Understood, but we don’t want to answer any questions on how we blended in so well on this mission, there are cameras everywhere. Once we take the Knights, the Joint Chiefs will watch the feed a million times to understand how it was done. We need to cover our tracks,” Angus warned.

  “Or find scapegoats,” Silas said a few seconds later.

  “The locals?” Angus asked.

  “Seems only fair, they’re already working for the government,” Silas said.

  “Do you know what they’re up to?”

  “They’re expecting Franz to deliver something that will help their beasts be stronger, fight better. Same thing they all want.”

  “And they believe Franz, or the American government will help them?” Silas understood and agreed with Angus’ skepticism.

  “I didn’t have a lot of time to get more, but that was the crux of it.”

  “Have they ever reached out to you? Or one of your Alphas?” Angus asked.

  “No. I’ll have Jacques verify that but nothing I recall.”

  “When did pack start turning to humans for answers? It makes no sense,” Angus huffed. “They’re coming back. Keep me updated on Hawke.” He disconnected.

  Silas stared at the monitor for several minutes. The Knights were somewhere in this building locked away. Security had just been doubled because he pulled several local wolves to the location. His Knights were booby rigged in a way that alerted their enemies whenever he attempted to contact them. At least he’d touched their wolves, eased them somewhat. How would he get them out of here and back home?

  CHAPTER NINE

  “WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED? General Lee asked the two military men he left in charge to watch the Knights.

  Frowning, they looked at him and then at the four men lying on the metal gurneys. “Nothing. They’ve been like this since we arrived, Sir.”

  Lee knew better but wasn’t incl
ined to share any information with these men. Slowly, he approached the first of the four. Magnificent specimen. The ultimate weapons who always finished their tasks. Pity they weren’t completely human and consequently could never be fully trusted.

  If there was a way to break their connection to Silas Knight, change their allegiance to the military, then the United States would swiftly rise as the leading military faction in the world. He released a sigh as he touched the metal collar on their neck. The only thing standing between life and death. Death would be a mercy if Silas Knight had any idea what they’d done to these men or what he planned to do.

  Dressed in military gear, knowing the history of their service and sacrifice, shamed Lee marginally. As Admiral Bents said, these were their soldiers. He needed to start the tests but first he needed assurance La Patron hadn’t attempted to contact them. Uneasy, he looked at the Knights again.

  “Move them below,” he told the soldiers. “Take them all at once, get help, but never leave them alone and secure them down stairs.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  He brushed pass the soldiers and headed to the office set aside for his use. He made the call.

  Minutes later the Admiral contacted him. Lee explained what happened.

  “Is it possible the tablet malfunctioned?” the Admiral asked.

  “No. I don’t believe so. We ran tests before leaving the Pentagon and again at the base. They’re still drugged, still out of it but I’m concerned. The alarm ran for several seconds. Long enough for contact to be made. There’s no way to tell if he’s able to reach them in this condition or not,” Lee said.

  “What do you expect me to do?” the Admiral asked, clearly annoyed.

  “Contact La Patron again, make sure he hasn’t left West Virginia or that he’s not asking questions. It’s not a good idea to start the tests if he’s curious. Right now, we can play off them being lost but once we start testing... we lose that excuse.”

  The Admiral released a long sigh. “No matter what we do, La Patron’s going to be angry. It’s best to get the tests done now because we’ll never have this opportunity again. We may lose the entire program behind this, so let’s make it count. We’ll need something to appease the others.”

  Lee knew the Admiral would throw him under the bus with the loss of the Knights. The Joint Chiefs bragged on the excellence of the team who handled the toughest assignments in the military. There would be hell to pay when La Patron pulled the Knights, especially over illegal tests. Admiral Bents and a couple others deliberately broke faith of a binding agreement with the Wolf Nation by performing any type of tests on pack members. He knew the moment he signed on for this program it would eventually mean the end of his career. If he didn’t genuinely believe they needed some type of weapon for leverage against the Wolf Nation, he never would’ve gotten involved.

  “Yes, Sir,” Lee said.

  “I’ll contact Knight one last time and let you know.”

  “Thank you, Sir.” Lee disconnected and sat on his desk staring at the tablet. A sliver of cold air from the overhead vent wrapped around him sending chill bumps across his arms and chest. Could Silas Knight find his men in another country, thousands of miles away? Had he contacted them and was sending a rescue team? What impact did these collars have on the men? No one knew. What would happen if Silas Knight knew exactly what was going on?

  He shuddered at the possible answer to that question.

  CHAPTER TEN

  THREE HOURS LATER, Silas glanced at the clock and then at the door as it opened. “They’re allowing us to leave for lunch, you going to the usual?” the same thin man from before asked.

  “No. I’ve got a couple errands to run, see you when I get back.” Silas turned his back to cover the diagram Hawke had sent detailing the blocker he’d crafted by reconfiguring a cloaking device he’d stolen on base.

  The man nodded and closed the door.

  “Hawke, I’m leaving for lunch, are you ready?” Eager to connect with the Knights again, Silas grabbed his keys, and locked everything before heading out the door. In the hall, he nodded greetings to associates as he locked the pharmacy with a sign stating they were closed for an hour.

  “Yes. I left Salvador asleep at his place and will bring the device as a delivery to your home. On my way.”

  Silas moved with purpose toward the staff parking lot, slid into the front seat and drove toward Keener’s place. He alerted Angus on his movements and ten minutes later pulled in front of the house, after unlocking the gate he drove into the carport. A neighbor, an elderly Spanish woman, waved as she walked into her gate and locked it behind her. Silas entered the house, checked on Keener who lay asleep in the guest room and waited for Hawke’s delivery.

  He didn’t wait long. Silas wondered where Hawke got the brown van he parked in front of Keener’s house. Seconds after ringing the gate buzzer, Silas strode outside to receive the package.

  “Put it on your key ring, or necklace.”

  “I don’t have a necklace. Keener doesn’t wear them,” Silas said as he signed for the package.

  “Key ring then. The closer to you the better it’ll block. It’s not the best but should work. I’ve got to get back to Salvador, he’s working a double, just came home for dinner. I’ll keep monitoring flights and let you know of anything that’d impact the mission,” Hawke said as he trotted back to the van.

  “Find out all we can about the local pack,” Silas reminded him.

  “On it. They aren’t organized, shouldn’t be hard to use them as smoke screens,” Hawke said as he drove off and Silas returned to the house. Inside he ate leftovers, added the small device to his keyring and sent a prayer for guidance to the Goddess.

  “Silas?”

  “Jasmine? What’s wrong?” He sat at the dining table with his hands clasped together.

  “You tell me. The Joint Chiefs wanted to speak to you again. That’s twice in two days. When Rese spoke with them, they seemed perplexed and relieved. Here’s the thing, they didn’t really want anything. We believe they just wanted to make sure you were here. Did something happen?”

  He updated her on everything and ended with Hawke’s blocker.

  “That explains a lot. They probably wanted to see if you were angry or had questions about the Knights. They think they have time to do those tests because you aren’t asking questions. We planned to start asking about the Knights tomorrow. They’ll put us off, we expect that, so be careful.”

  “I want to contact my Knights to let them know I will get them out of this.” He paused. The anger over what they’d done to those men rose hard and fast. He fought down his beast.

  “They know,” Jasmine said. “There’s not a person who serves you who doesn’t know you’ll do whatever is required to save them.”

  Silas wasn’t so sure. Out of disgust for the Joint Chiefs, Silas had turned over the Knights program to others. After his daughter, Jackie, entered the program he’d been more involved. Had he been too late? Uncertainty robbed him of peace.

  “Thank you, Sweet Bitch. I’m headed back into the lion’s den for another four hours. Hopefully we’ll have a plan to free our men because I cannot allow them to become military experiments.”

  “You’ll think of something, you always do.” She disconnected.

  He wished he had her confidence as he contacted both Hawke and Angus to fill them in on Jasmine’s news.

  “They’re getting antsy, we’re on double shifts tonight. Grenwald’s pissed,” Angus said. “I’m going to take him at break, and leave Puedes sleeping on the lounge sofa so it won’t be so obvious. When he wakes, he won’t remember much of his day. He’s such a pious prick, he’ll make up something, claiming a visitation from a higher power to cover his confusion. Silas, I need you to grab the body I left at his house when you get off.”

  “As the doctor, you’ll have better access to the Knights, right?” That would put eyes and ears where he needed them most.

  “Yes, plus we’ll f
ind out what all of this is about. Grenwald’s deep in these tests,” Angus said sounding excited. “He’s the one we need to use.”

  “Give me Puedes gate code so I can get in and out with the body,” Silas said.

  Angus gave him the information.

  “I just passed through security with the device from Hawke. When’s the best time to use it?” Silas asked Angus as he walked down the corridor to the pharmacy.

  “Wait until I take the doctor’s body and have access to the General to monitor his response. He’s still dealing with Franz and the wolf pack.”

  Silas despised the delay but agreed with Angus’ thinking.

  “Hey,” a large full-blood pointed at Silas. “You work the pharmacy?”

  Silas nodded.

  “Franz wants to see you,” he said waving Silas toward him.

  Allowing Keener to rise, Silas watched the action play out. “I’ve got to open, tell him to come here.” He continued toward the door. The full-blood grabbed his arm.

  “Stop that,” Keener yelled. “Let me go.”

  Security ran toward them. “Release him.”

  “Major Franz wants him,” the full blood said without releasing his arm. Once again, Silas was surprised by the overt level of aggression displayed by the wolves around humans.

  “Release him, I’m not telling you again.” The guard pulled his gun and pointed at the full-blood who vibrated with rage. None of it made sense. No full-blood in his pack would behave in this manner, or be at the verge of losing control of his beast for something this trivial. Just as he thought to activate the chameleon bracelet to gain more information, the full-blood released him.

  “Come or go, it’s between you and the Major,” the full-blood said stepping aside. “But if I were you, I’d go see what he wants.”

  “I have work to do. Have Franz come here.” Silas turned his back on the full-blood and entered the door.

  “You shouldn’t have done that,” the full-blood said in a voice too low for humans to hear, before he strode down the hall.