"You think they did it?" Roxy growled.

  "Let's just say I'm not in a trusting mood right now!" Sean growled back. "And bring me something to eat, please!"

  Roxy ran back outside and went over to where Daelyn was sitting up on the ground and examining her legs. She'd already cut the legs of her ever-present coveralls open.

  "How bad is it?" Roxy asked sliding to a stop by her.

  "Eh, stings more'n anything else. Jolene stopped the bleedin' pretty quick. I sure coulda' used her that time the boiler blew up on me!" Daelyn said with a snort and looked up at Roxy. "How's Sean?"

  "Weak, hungry, pissed. Come on, I'll take you inside too." And with that, Roxy picked Daelyn up.

  "I can still walk ya know!" Daelyn protested.

  "Sure you can," Roxy said and ran inside carrying Daelyn. Making a brief stop by the kitchen, she told Dania and Rania to grab whatever food was ready and bring it to Sean in the bedroom.

  Depositing Daelyn on the bed next to Sean, Roxy ran into the bathroom, grabbed a first aid kit and a couple of towels, then ran back to the bed.

  "Here, you two. Sean, help bandage her up, food's on the way." Then Roxy ran out of the bedroom to find Oak.

  "Damn," Daelyn swore, "I keep expecting to see a trail of flames on the ground when she runs like that!"

  Sean nodded. "You might as well get out of that bloody coverall and we can take care bandaging you up."

  Daelyn nodded, and couldn't help but notice that Sean seemed unsteady, sitting there on the bed.

  "You okay, Sean?"

  "I will be once I get some food." Sean sighed and checked his mana levels once again, his body was draining it off about as fast as it was coming back; obviously he was still healing, but at least he wasn't going any lower.

  Roxy got back outside and noticed that were Stewart had been, there was now just a bloody spot with a lot of pieces of what had once been his body. That reminded her of something from Sean's own recent past, and she grabbed one of the older women running around.

  "Claire!"

  "Yes, Roxy?"

  "Get two boxes; gather up all of Sean's blood and whatever body parts you can find. Do the same for Stewart."

  Claire made a face. "What do you want me to do with it?"

  "We'll burn it later. Get whatever help you need."

  Claire nodded and ran off. Roxy headed over to Sean's workshop. The front door was gone, along with most of the frame that had once held the door, as well. The fire was now out; someone had taken a couple of garden hoses and taken care of it. That, or Peg had unleashed one hell of a water spell.

  Going inside, the place was a mess. All the tables had been knocked over, and the machine Sean had been spending all his time on had been heavily damaged, as well, the gold plate on the top having been ripped off. Oak was inside, surveying the damage.

  "Sean wants to see you," Roxy said, coming up to him. "He wants to know where Jonas and Dawn are, and where they've been all night."

  Oak nodded. "He asked me to keep an eye on Jonas. Wasn't sure why, but after seeing all this, I think I can guess."

  "Where are they now?"

  Oak shook his head. "Can't say I'm real sure about that. When this blew up, a couple of other explosions went off around the compound as well. Nobody was seriously injured, but I got people searching the grounds for any more booby traps or bombs." Oak tapped on the top of the machine then. "You know, this doesn't look like it was done by that grenade that went off by the door."

  Roxy looked at it. "Well, leave it be for now, Daelyn can take a look at it later tonight."

  Oak nodded. "Nobody saw Jonas do anything last night. I'll go talk to Sean. Minnie's in the command post and should know where Jonas and Dawn are. Silver and Cinnamon are overseeing the teams sweeping the compound."

  Roxy nodded. "Thanks, I'll go talk to Minnie and round them up while you talk to Sean."

  Roxy found Minnie, Oak's mate, in the small command post where he'd said she'd be.

  "Minnie, where are Jonas and Dawn?"

  Minnie frowned. "I was afraid you were going to ask that. They left."

  "What! When?"

  "When the bombs went off. They hightailed it to a car and split."

  "Send someone after them!"

  "We can't," Minnie frowned again, "someone slit the tires on all the cars and vans in the parking lot."

  "Shit," Roxy swore and thought a moment. "Okay, call Claudia; tell her we need a helicopter here as fast as she can get it to us. Do you have a description of the car?"

  "Sure. Brown Subaru Outback, older one, Oregon plates, tan cargo carrier on the top, tinted windows."

  "Great. Have somebody make a list of all the tires we're gonna need, and call Steven on it ASAP. Get the work vans, Sean's van, and Daelyn's car taken care of first."

  Minnie nodded. "I'm on it."

  "What's the word on Stewart?"

  "Jolene and Philo are working on him with our medics. Kid's still holding on, how, I don't know; most lycans would have died from that."

  "Okay, hold down the fort and send a couple of patrols out to sweep the surrounding area, just in case."

  Minnie gave another nod, and Roxy went back to the house to join the others. When she got there, Cali was bandaging Daelyn's wounds, and Sean was listening to Oak as he was eating from a large plate of food.

  "Jonas and Dawn are gone," Roxy said, coming into the room, "they left when the bombs started going off."

  "Could be they thought we were being attacked," Oak said.

  "All the cars had their tires slashed except for theirs."

  "That settles it," Sean growled. "I want them back here."

  "I already told Minnie to call Claudia and have a helicopter sent over," Roxy said.

  "Good. Oak, is Granite's team here or at the bunker?"

  "Here."

  "Send them."

  "I'll go with them," Roxy said.

  "Me too!" Cali added.

  Roxy shook her head. "I need you here, Cali."

  "Awww."

  "And I want them alive," Sean growled.

  "Okay," Cali said with a pout.

  "They may very well be innocent," Oak pointed out. "Jonas didn't do anything last night."

  "Too bad I didn't tell you to keep an eye on Dawn as well." Sean sighed.

  "You thinkin' he knew you had someone on him, and he had Dawn do the dirty work?" Daelyn asked.

  Sean shrugged. "Maybe? I don't know. That's what I want to find out."

  "I told Minnie to send out some patrols, just in case we've got company," Roxy told them.

  "Thanks," Sean said with a nod. "Any word on Stewart?"

  Roxy shook her head. "Not yet. How are you feeling?"

  "Better. I think my body cannibalized itself to replace my foot."

  Roxy nodded. "That's pretty much how it works. Magic replaces half of it; the other half comes from you."

  "And I was low on magic this morning, plus I burned up way too much trying to save Stewart." Sean shuddered. "You have no idea how much that hurt!"

  "Oh, trust me, Hon," Roxy said with a heavy sigh, "I think I do."

  Sean flinched as he remembered when Roxy had gotten shot with a silver bullet and he'd almost lost her.

  "Yeah, sorry, Rox. But I don't think I'll be doing that ever again. It took way more power than I thought it would have to stop things getting worse."

  "I better get Granite and tell him he's got a job to do before the helicopter gets here," Oak said.

  "And I need to get a few things as well," Roxy agreed, and giving Sean, Daelyn, and Cali each a kiss, she followed Oak out of the room. Going to the small armory they had in the house, she got out her BDUs and put them on, then strapped on a sidearm, grabbed her Barrett M82 sniper rifle, along with a small pack with some magazines in it, and headed outside to the helipad on the far side of the compound.

  Granite and the others came running up as a helicopter came in from the east.

  As soon as it landed, they ran over to it, opened the big sliding side door, and climbed in. Grabbing one of the headsets and settling it on her head, Roxy strapped herself in, sat on the floor in the back, and loaded her rifle as they took off.

  "What are we hunting?" George the pilot asked.

  "Subaru Outbacks, brown ones," Roxy told him. "They should be on the road out of here heading north. The got out of here about," Roxy looked at her watch, "forty-five minutes ago."

  "They'll have made it to the highway by now," George warned her.

  "That's my problem; now, let's find them."

  Twenty minutes later they were cruising high above highway three-ninety-five.

  "Damn, how many people in this state drive Subarus?" Hoffen, Granite's second, complained.

  "A lot, apparently," Granite replied, looking through his own binoculars. "But I see one that matches our quarry, and boy, are they moving."

  "Think they saw us?" Roxy asked, shifting into her werecheetah form as she worked the action on her rifle to chamber one of the fifty-caliber BMG rounds.

  "They're not weaving; they're just flying down the road trying to put as much distance as they can behind them." Granite said.

  "Where are they?" George asked.

  "Two o'clock," Granite said, leaning forward in the left front seat, and pointed so George could see. "Over there."

  "Ah! Got it."

  "Great," Roxy said. "Now how about moving over to the east of them and giving me a shot?"

  "Here? Now?"

  "Well if I wait until they're in the middle of the next town, people are going to ask questions! Of course here and now!" Roxy growled.

  George quickly slid the helicopter over to the other side of the road. Looking at the car out the side window, he did his best to hold it steady as he paralleled them.

  "Thanks." Roxy sighed and, locking the butt of the rifle stock into the pocket of her shoulder, she looked through the scope and found the car. The windows were tinted, so she couldn't see who was inside. The windshield was not, however.

  "Move us up, I want a better view into the windshield."

  "You're going to shoot them?"

  "No, but I want to be sure I've got the right car."

  "Oh!" George moved them forward slowly, and Roxy watched the windshield. Sure enough, Dawn was driving. It looked like she and Jonas were having an argument. Jonas did not look happy. Sliding her aimpoint forward, Roxy corrected for the angle.

  "What's the wind like and how fast are we going?"

  "We're doing eight-five in the same direction they are. Winds are under five knots."

  Roxy nodded, she didn't see any other cars nearby out of her left eye, which wasn't glued to the scope, so leading a bit to correct for the wind, she pulled the trigger, rocking only a little bit with the recoil of the rifle.

  "That did it! They're trailing smoke and slowing down!" Hoffen called from where he was watching.

  "Everyone get ready to go," Granite said. "We want them alive!"

  "Let me make it easy for you," Roxy said, quickly working the action and chambering another round. Sighting on the car again, she aimed for the right front tire and, pulling the trigger, she blew the wheel right off the car, causing it to veer suddenly to the right, then go off the road, plowing through the sage brush, throwing dirt and dust up everywhere.

  "Let's go!" Roxy yelled, and George brought them down fast, almost landing on the top of the car as it ground to a halt.

  All six members piled out of the helicopter, and Roxy released her harness and pointed her rifle at the side of the car as the door flew off, and a very large and pissed-looking werewolf glared at her.

  "So, come to kill me, have you?" Jonas snarled.

  "The guilty man flees when no one pursues!" Roxy yelled back at him.

  "I'd hardly say no one was pursuing us!"

  "You're only surprised because you slashed all our tires first!"

  Jonas paused a moment, looking a bit surprised.

  "Now shift back, be a good boy, and I won't blow your head off!" Roxy growled.

  "I'm not going back there so I can be killed just because your boyfriend got attacked."

  "Your god has summoned you. Submit or die! Last chance!" Roxy said and worked the action, chambering another round as she aimed at his head.

  "He's not my god!"

  "Oh hell yes he is. And you can feel it. So shut up, shift back, and submit. If you're innocent, he won't kill you. Because he needs you."

  Jonas growled, but shifted back. From the size of the gun Roxy was pointing at him and the hole in the hood of the car, he knew she wasn't lying. And from the look on her face, he knew she wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger.

  "Hoffen, secure him," Roxy ordered.

  Meanwhile on the other side of the car, Dawn had lit out in full wolf form; she got about twenty yards when her back lit up in pain as a much larger wolf landed on her back, biting her. Dawn hadn't gotten to be an alpha by being weak or easily taken down, so spinning around, she threw the first wolf off, snarling at him, and was immediately slammed into by a second, then a third.

  Rolling back to her feet, she howled in pain as she was shot in the side by one of the men who hadn't shifted who was holding what looked like a combat rifle. Then she got jumped by the first wolf again as the other two shifted back to hybrid form, and picking up a rock from the ground, they both started beating her with the heavy rocks in their hands.

  Someone grabbed her hind legs then, and before she could stop them, her legs were zip-tied together. Bending down, she tried to snap at the bindings on her legs with her jaws, but a rock to the side of the head made her see stars for a moment, then someone slipped a heavy zip-tie over her muzzle, then a second one, then a third, followed by a sack over her head, and it was suddenly all over as they picked up her thrashing body and hauled it off.

  They dumped her in the back of the helicopter next to Jonas, who had his hands tied behind his back and his legs bound together, but nothing else, as long as you didn't count the muzzle of Roxy's gun lightly resting against his side.

  The others piled in and they all quickly took off.

  "How many people do you think saw that?" Roxy asked as they rose up out of the dust cloud the helicopter's down draft had kicked up.

  "With all of that dust?" George said. "Not many. I called base. They'll send a tow truck out, and the other helicopter is already on its way.

  "What are they going to do?"

  George laughed. "Film it. We're making a movie, don'tcha know!"

  Roxy sighed and shook her head. Claudia was apparently ready for anything.

  The flight back was in silence, in that nobody talked about anything; the helicopter, however, was as noisy as ever without Sean or someone else casting silence spells on it. When they landed, Dawn was hoisted bodily out of the back by two members of Granite's team. Roxy followed behind Jonas as Granite lead them to the house.

  Once inside, Oak met them at the back door and led them to the living room, where Sean was sitting in a chair in his hybrid form, and he looked about as pissed as Roxy could ever remember seeing him.

  Jonas started talking the moment he saw Sean.

  "What's the meaning…"

  "Silence!" Sean roared, standing up and pointing at Jonas, who shut up, and then looked both shocked and angry.

  "Pull the hood off the other one," Sean commanded as they set Dawn on the floor.

  Hoffen did as Sean ordered, and a very angry Dawn glared at him in wolf form.

  "Your bonds will be cut. You will shift back to human form, and you will only speak when spoken too." Sean said pointing down at Dawn.

  "Cut her loose," Sean said to Hoffen.

  Dawn found herself unable to do anything other than what Sean had ordered her to do and wondered what kind of magic he was using to compel her so.

  "The same applies to you, Jonas," Sean growled. "Cut him loose."

  'I think I'm going to need your help for this,' Sean said to the First.

  'You're already getting it,' the first replied with a chuckle.

  Sean pointed to Jonas. "Did you have anything to do with the explosions this morning?"

  "No, I had nothing to do with that at all," Jason said, scowling.

  'He's pissed, but he's not lying,' the First said.

  "What about slashing the tires?"

  "No! Of course not!"

  "Did you know about any of it?"

  "What are you trying to imply, Sean?"

  "Yes or no," Sean growled.

  "No!"

  "Then why did you run? Why didn't you stay here and see what was going on first?"

  "It was obvious what was going on! You were being attacked! We have our own problems back home; we don't need to be involved in yours! You're obviously not as secure as you claimed you were!"

  Sean thought about that for a moment.

  'Seems a bit cowardly to me,' he said to the First.

  'Maybe, maybe not. Ask him about the pellet.'

  "Why did you have a silver pellet in you?"

  "What? What are you talking about?"

  "You had a silver pellet in you. When you put on the silver tag, it was converted to something else, because it was inside you. It gives off energy when that happens, of course, and people flinch from the pain and the surprise of it. I've seen it hundreds of times now. So please don't lie to me. I'm not in a very forgiving mood right now."

  "It's none of your business!"

  Sean leaned forward until his face was inches from Jonas' face. "I'm making it my business. Talk!" Sean added a little power to the last word, with the First's help. Jonas was an alpha, after all, so he wasn't going to give up his secrets without an extra push.

  "I was born a slave! Okay!" Jonas growled. "I escaped when I was a young man, I killed my owner before he could finish the spell to pop my pellet, and I ran away. It's why I run a pack far from the cities and the councils!

  "But I know how to avoid those bastards and how to deal with them, so while I might have to keep away from them, I can teach and lead the others, who don't have to worry about dying from a spell a six-year-old can cast!"

  'Truth?' Sean asked.

  'Truth.'

  "Thank you," Sean smiled, "and you no longer have to worry about it. Now," Sean turned to Dawn, who was looking up at him from where she was standing.