Caught in the crossfire

5

It was getting dark now and Kay was preparing to make her escape. She had been carefully observing the border patrol as best she could from the window of her room for the past hour. Thankfully she had been left undisturbed since Nema's visit earlier that evening. She had identified a cellar door not too far from her current position, just under halfway to the tree line, which she hoped was the holding cells she had initially been placed in. With any luck all her packmates would be there and well enough to travel and her plans could go smoothly. Under her breath she said a silent prayer of thanks to the fairies for giving her her gifts as they were about to be put into use tonight. Opening the window she took one final scan of the yard below to be sure no one would see her then jumped for a tree limb a few feet away. There was no need to close the window to try to hide her escape route since her scent could be tracked there easily enough by the right wolf so she had decided not to waste time devising a way to do so when making her plans. Carefully, keeping all her senses alert, she made her way quickly down the tree and crouching low snuck stealthily towards the cellar.

She was in luck, it wasn't locked. Either they were so confident that no one could get out or one of their own was down in there too at the moment. She hoped for the former but the latter wouldn't be a problem. Careful not to make a sound she opened the door and crept inside, her body practically hugging the wall.

Descending the stairs low enough to see down the hall she spotted two guards. As there was nothing for her to hide behind in the hallway she would have to work as quickly and quietly as possible, she didn't want them using their pack-link to alert anyone. Drawing on her wind ability she focused on removing the air from around the two guards. Unable to breath, they were both passed out on the ground in seconds. Rushing over she grabbed the keys from their belts and began to open cell doors, passing one set of keys off to the first packmate she released.

"Hurry, we haven't much time before someone comes by here or realizes those two can't be reached. Get everyone out of their cells and keep as quiet as possible then follow me." She instructed. "And someone lock those two in a cell while we're at it." She added, pointing to the unconscious guards.

"Kay! What are you doing here? How did you get out??" A shifter by the name of Garreth asked in surprise.

"No time to explain just do as I say." She whispered, "And Gare, do you really have to ask? It's me we're talking about. Come on" she added with a smile.

"I guess you're right," he said shaking his head, "glad your alright Wolfless."

"Alright, is that everyone?" Asked Kay as they opened the last cell. "It would be best if you all shifted. You'll be able to go farther faster that way."

"What about you Kay how will you keep up?" asked a pup.

"I'll carry you Kay" offered Garreth.

"Thank you" she nodded. "Ok, now once we're out head due North and don't look back."

"Where's Andreya? I could have sworn I saw them drag her out earlier" piped in another shifter. "We can't leave our future Luna."

"Take a look around. We haven't eaten all day, many of us are still injured either from the fight or the interrogations, we're in no shape to launch a rescue right now. We'll be lucky if we can even get ourselves out of here. And we don't know where she is nor do we have the time to search. We'll have to come back for her later." Argued another causing murmuring to ripple through the group.

"Hey! We don't have time for this!" Said Kay, silencing the group before it could escalate. "Do we know for sure that Andreya is here?...anyone??... if not then we go. We only have a short window of time to pull this escape off and we can't afford to waste our time arguing. Now, shift!"

Somehow they managed to make it to the trees surrounding the Silver Fang Pack's main grounds without being spotted. Luck really must be on our side, thought Kay, if there truly is such a thing. It wouldn't last for long though and in their current condition they wouldn't be able to outrun their captors for long either. They had but a fools chance and they'd have to play it smart if they were to make it work. It wasn't long before a howl sounded behind them. News of their escape was now out. Kay could feel Garreth's muscles tense as he burst forward with renewed vigor, pushing his powerful body to the limit. All of her packmates gaining even more speed with the urgency of their situation. Sparing glances behind her she drew on her second fairy gift. Earth. Tree roots began to rise and brambles begin to grow behind the group as they ran to clutter their path. Kay was thankful her pack were all too focused on the run to look behind and see what was happening and start asking questions.

"Stop!" She called out as they reached the edge of a river. "Alright," She said, sliding off of Garreth's back, "if I'm not mistaken this should be the Misty River. Follow it up stream to hide your trail until you reach the little stone bridge, that should be the old sawmill road. Follow that back north to Jonesville. Go to the truck stop and ask for Terry, his mate Jill is a friend of mine. They may be willing to help or if nothing else at least lend you a phone to call home. I know this route will be slightly longer but the Silver Fangs will be expecting you all to run the most direct path."

"Why are you telling us this Kay, you sound as if you're not coming" asked Garreth skeptically, having shifted back.

"I'm not." She stated. "If Andreya is back there then I can't leave her! But he's right" she said, nodding towards the shifter from earlier, "you lot are in no condition to attempt a rescue. Get yourselves to safety first then send help. I'll try to contact someone when I'm safely out again."

"Are you crazy?! You can't be serious Kay! You're just one little human, you don't stand a chance!"

"It's precisely because I'm just one lone human that I do. They'll underestimate me just as they've been doing this whole time, just as you're doing now, and that will be my greatest advantage. Have you forgotten how many times I got out of things when we were little. There was a reason you all used to call me Houdini, remember? Or how I can hold my own in a fight against many of you? Or successfully hide for days despite your super senses if I want? And who was it that busted you all out of those cells back there? Huh? Trust me. I've got this."

He opened his mouth to argue when another howl sounded, closer this time. "We haven't got time for this Gare. Just go! I'll be ok." She insisted. "Get the others to safety, they need you"

Looking torn, he hesitated a moment before shifting back into his wolf and leading the others upstream as instructed. Kay waited and as soon as they were out of sight she immediately set to work.

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Hello my lovely readers! It's holiday season with Thanksgiving this week then Xmas which will be here before we know it. The holiday rush has been in full swing at work and I've been doing a lot of overtime so my writing has been put on hold just a bit but I'm hoping to be back on during my time off later this week. Definitely looking forward to getting a long weekend off work! (I do love my job(!) but it'll be nice to be able to recharge before the second wave of holiday craziness). Thanks for bearing with me so far and I hope y'all're enjoying my book!