Hunter's Heart (Alpha Pack #4)(55)
"Little did we know that more than half of us were about to die. But not at the hands of any enemy we'd ever seen in our worst nightmares . . ."
. . .
6 years earlier . . .
"Jesus Christ, I'm rank," Raven bitched, scratching at his crotch. "When I finally get to change this underwear, it'll probably walk off."
Micah grinned. "With assistance from the crabs you caught from that woman in the last village."
"Shut up, needledick. She did not give me crabs."
A few of the guys chuckled but Ryon wasn't paying much attention. He was thinking about his mom and sister, wondering whether he'd make it out of this godforsaken hellhole to see them again. Forget sex. Sweet baby Jesus, what he wouldn't give for a huge bowl of his mom's peach cobbler smothered in vanilla bean ice cream.
Would he be home by Christmas? As they trudged onward, he dreamed of how great the reunion would be. If he got leave, he'd surprise them. Just show up at the house and watch Mom and Lisa screech with joy when he came through the door. He'd bring lots of presents, champagne, and-
"Hold up," Jax whispered, coming to a halt. Tensing, he studied the mountain forest around them, and frowned. Somewhere hidden in the greenery, a footstep crunched to their left. Another to their right. And one from behind.
Ryon and Micah exchanged a fearful look. This area was supposed to be clear, and they couldn't have reached their target's stronghold already. God, they were surrounded!
Then, the forest went silent. Those few heartbeats that followed the utter stillness, those seconds before their lives changed forever, as he locked gazes one by one with Aric, Raven, and the others would haunt him forever.
Thud, thud, thud.
The ground trembled and the leaves shook. When a deep-throated roar split the air, Aric jumped, pointing the muzzle of his M16 into the trees, hands rock steady, a bead of sweat dripping off his nose.
"Fuck," Micah whispered. "What the f**k is that?"
Ryon stared in horror. The thing that broke through the foliage to their left stood erect on two legs, and was more than seven feet tall. Covered with a thick mat of grayish brown fur, it had a long torso, two arms, muscular shoulders, and a head sporting two upright ears and a long, snarling snout full of sharp teeth.
It looked like a creature that was half man, half wolf. He and his team stared, mouths open, fingers frozen on their triggers.
How things might have been salvaged, disaster averted, they'd never know. Because their buddy Jones started screaming, pumping bullets into the beast's chest. After that, everything went to shit.
The creature staggered backward and then rallied quickly, rushing Jones. With a swipe of a paw the size of a dinner plate, the big bastard ripped out Jones's throat, tossing him aside like a twig. Then it pounced on Raven, biting into the vee of his neck and shoulder as the man screamed.
They opened fire just as several more of the beasts emerged from the forest. It quickly became apparent that while their bullets could wound, it would take something with far more power to kill them. Aric dropped into a crouch and desperately palmed a grenade as his friends fell all around him, waging a battle they couldn't win. The one who'd killed Jones shook Raven like a rag doll, released him, and ran toward Aric, who let a grenade fly. It hit at the target's feet and exploded, sending the damned thing to hell. But it wasn't enough.
Micah went down, his knife in hand, slitting one's throat. But another jumped on him, and his struggle was short-lived, his scream terrible. Jax fell next, then their CO Prescott, Zan, Nix, and so many others. All of them, one by one. Dead or dying.
Unsheathing his own knife, Aric spun to face the beast coming up on his flank. "Come on, bitch," he hissed. "Let's dance."
Ryon lost track of the battle around him as one of the creatures rushed him. Barreled into him like a freight train and took him to the ground. His M16 was knocked into the air, raining a spray of bullets into the trees. The weapon landed several feet away, useless.
Frantic, Ryon called on his gift as a Telepath. It was all he had. Help me, somebody! Oh, God-
Razor-sharp claws tore into Ryon's stomach and his agonized screams joined those of his comrades'. There was no one to help. Nothing to be done. The creature jerked him up and tore into his neck with those massive teeth, blood soaking them both. Dimly, he became aware of Aric shouting his rage at the beasts.
"Take that, cocksucker!"
As the creature dropped Ryon, he saw the impossible-Aric unleashed a blast of fire from his palms. The flames shot out and engulfed one of the beasts, which dropped to the ground, screeching and writhing as it burned. Aric torched three more wolves, then more still, until the fire was depleted. Suddenly the flames died, and one of the remaining beasts advanced, wearing a sinister expression that could pass for a grin. Aric faced it head-on, without flinching.
"Come on, you ugly f**ker. Come to papa."
Whether it understood, Ryon couldn't have said. But it ran at Aric, and his friend braced himself. The beast took him to the ground and his back hit hard as Aric pulled the pin of a grenade.
The wolf brought its nose to Aric's, mouth open, fangs dripping with bloody saliva. Seizing his opening, Aric rammed his fist down the beast's throat, pushing his arm as far as it would go. Immediately, the thing gagged and jerked backward reflexively, clawing at his shoulder and arm to dislodge him. Aric scrambled back as far from the beast as he could.