Chapter 7

Smoke was rising from the right side of the gate near the wall. Many different members of each pack were running here and there confused. Just outside the gate, there were several Rogue Hunters fighting with the guards, the gate had been shut, and Bastian lay on the ground a few feet away from the fighting with blood on his head. “What the hell?” Jaxson yelled and rushed into the fight; Derrick was not far behind them. Garrett stayed back like he promised, trying to stay calm. He mind-linked with his father, “Dad, this looks bad out here.”

“Report, what is going on?”

“Well, we heard several small explosions when we were 10 out from the gate, Jax said we needed to hurry because he lost his link with Bastian.”

“Do you know what caused the loss?”

“Yeah, when we got here it was complete chaos. Smoke was rising up from the right side of the gate and everyone was running around confused. There are about half a dozen Rogue Hunters fighting with the guards, Jax, and Derrick went to help, Bastian is laying on the ground with blood coming out of a head wound, I can’t see how severe it is.”

“Ok, we are on our way to help with back-up. Keep me posted.”

“I’m gonna try and get closer to look at Bastian’s head wound.”

“No, just wait there for us, we will be there soon.”

“What if he has lost too much blood already? I need to try and stop the bleeding.”

Alright, I can do this, Garrett thought to himself. Just avoid the fighting and the people running scared. You got this Garrett! Blend in with the smoke and get to Bastion to check his head. Garrett weaved in and out of people making his way to Bastian, all the while keeping a lookout for any Rogue Hunters and avoiding those fighting. Okay, so far, so good, you are almost there Garrett.

All of a sudden, a wolf jumped on Garrett’s back from behind, it’s jaws opened wide ready to bite down on the neck and go for the kill. Garrett rolled to the left, knocking the wolf’s mouth away just before it snapped closed. He kicked the wolf and it hit its head on a large rock, dazing it for a moment, leaving an opening for a counterattack. Garrett prepared to attack. As the wolf went flying through the air, he noticed the black crescent mark on its hind quarter, recognizing it as the marking of a Rogue Hunter. The wolf gained its footing again, and both it and Garrett began circling each other, looking for an opening of attack.

Just then another explosion happened, distracting Garrett as he looked towards it, taking his eyes off the Rogue Hunter for a split second. That was all it took for the Rogue Hunter to take advantage of the opening and use it to bite down on Garrett’s paw. 

As Garrett howled in pain, he saw a large solid black wolf jump in and go for the jugular of the Rogue, ripping it out, and killing it instantly. Garrett recognized that black wolf, it was Ryker. What the hell is he doing here? He limped over to Bastian and changed back into human form, Ryker walked up in human form holding his shirt out for Garrett, he placed it on Bastian’s head wound, and applied pressure. “What are you doing here Ryker? I thought you were apologizing to Caly?”

“I did, and when I came downstairs your father stopped me and sent me after you, knowing how hot-headed you were, he wanted me to make sure you didn’t do anything stupid, to put yourself at risk. I was only a few minutes behind y’all.” 

“You know I had that wolf, I was already preparing to counterattack.” 

“Yeah, I know.” 

“Thanks though, Ryker.”

A few minutes later, Jaxson, Derrik and the guards were able to get the Rogue Hunters under control. Their hands were tied behind their backs with a silver chain, and they all were standing in a line waiting to be taken for questioning. Bastian finally woke up and sat holding Ryker’s shirt to his head.   Garrett walked over to the gate tower and grabbed the first aid kit to help the rest of the injured. Feeling guilty and upset, Ryker walked back to the wolf that he had just killed. 

Gavin and several other guards from the northern and western walls appeared shortly after. “Well, it looks like you guys have this under control. What happened here Bastian?”

“When I arrived, Jeb, Victor, and Iliana were stopped outside the gate for an inspection. 

“They had a horse trailer and said that they were bringing a new horse as a birthday gift for Caly. While the guards were inspecting the trailer, someone set bloody fireworks off near the gate and smoke bombs. The next thing I know, six Rogue Hunters were coming out of the front half of the trailer, saying they don’t want any trouble. They must’ve thought the fireworks were gunshots or something. They started arguing with the guards and as soon as the smoke bombs were set off, they attacked.”

“So, you think it was a coordinated attack? The Blackthorns bringing in the Rogues, setting off the fireworks to cause confusion, and then smoke bombs for an attack?”

“That’s what it looks like, sir.”

“Where are Jeb, Victor and Iliana now?”

“Jeb and Victor ran off in the chaos, two guards followed, but reported back saying that they lost them. I saw Iliana head towards the woods, out that way," pointing towards the woods.

“We need to do a full search for all three of them and check the perimeters for any other activity. I hate to say it, or even think it, but since Ryker has a connection to all three, do you think he was involved?” Garrett overheard this last part and rushed over to his dad.

“There is no way Ryker was involved, he has been with me all day, besides he attacked one of the Rogue Hunters over there and killed them.”

“You know we don’t kill our own, that is what the Rogues do.”

“Well, it was either him or me, and I am glad Ryker chose me. So, don’t even think that he was involved in this, because he wasn’t,” Garrett said angrily to his dad, then walked over to Ryker who was near the wolf he killed. 

“Thanks, for saving me back--” Garrett stopped mid-sentence seeing the look on Ryker’s face as he looked at the body of the wolf he had just killed. His face had lost all color, and he looked as if he was about to be sick. Then tears began to fall down his face, and he fell to his knees, “No, no, no, this can’t be, I can’t believe--” he began sobbing loudly. Garrett looked at the dead wolf as it began to change back into its human form. The body began to take on a female shape and he said, “Oh, shit!” 

“What?” said Gavin as he walked up to see what was going on.

“It’s Iliana,” Garrett whispered.