Enjoy :)

Chapter Quote:
"That silver's not going to be worth much."
~Shay Doran, Wolfsbane
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Chapter 54

Elsa

We all woke up around the same time when our parents roused us for lunch. We all shuffled to the dining hall and ate a massive meal. I had a feeling our meal was so elaborate because it would be the last good thing we had before this battle was over.

At three I took a shower and got dressed. All wolves had been given special clothing for the battle, most of it bullet proof for when we were in human form. Unfortunately, we didn't have protection for us as wolves but we were typically better fighters in our animal form.

At six we had dinner but it was much lighter as to prevent us from fighting on a full stomach because they didn't want us being sick in the middle of a battle. The room was unusually quiet. Hardly any of the kids spoke. The adults had conversations but it was all with their significant others and very hushed.

At seven, preparations began. Anna and I were led to the weapons room where Jason and Kit helped us pick out weapons. They gave us thigh holsters, regular hip holsters, and some sort of contraption that allowed us to hold a bigger weapon on our back. I, of course, went for the grenade launcher. Anna went for some sort of machine gun. She must've seen the look on my face because she explained, "I've never used one in battle but the Hunters had me practice with all sorts of weapons."

Kit and Jason armed themselves too, carrying extra ammo for all of us. Kit had some other gadgets on him but I decided not to ask what they were.

At eight, we all met in the dining hall to go over the plan one final time before we attacked in two hours. It took almost the full two hours for all questions to be answered, most of which came from the Searchers themselves. My family knew their ultimate goal: kill the Hunters. We'd been dealing with them for too long to do anything but because in this battle, there were only two choices: us or them. I wanted to live, thank you very much.

At five minutes before ten, the Weavers began creating portals to our destination. I started fidgeting, anxious to get this started and anxious to get it over with. Those nerves temporarily disappeared when Josilyn came over, giving me a big hug.

"Please make sure you come back," she whispered.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," I whispered back. She proceeded to go hug the other pack members. I scanned the room, looking at all of my family, and the fear that I was never going to see some of them again threatened to overwhelm me.

"Hey, you okay?" Spencer asked softly, suddenly appearing beside me.

"I'm scared for my family," I confessed.

My boyfriend pulled me into a hug and kissed me on the top of the head. "Whatever happens, we'll get through it."

"What if you don't make it?"

"Then I want you to fall in love with someone else, have kids, and have the beautiful life you deserve."

"Do not make me cry right before we go into battle," I admonished, trying to force the knot down in my throat.

"I would never."

I tried to think of something to say to him that conveyed what I felt for him but no words would suffice. Instead I stood on my tiptoes and crashed my lips onto his. I felt everyone staring at us, and even heard a few cheers from some of my pack mates because this was the first time I'd kissed Spencer in front of everyone. We'd given each other quick kisses on the lips and kisses on the head and cheek, but never a full make-out.

"Kiss her like you mean it!" Riley shouted. At that, the two of us couldn't help but laugh and we broke apart.

"Come back, okay?" I breathed.

"As long as you're there for me to come back to," he replied.

"Okay everyone," Babatunde informed. Spencer and I stepped apart. My face was flaming from embarrassment but I still didn't regret what I did. Mom and Dad had small smiles on their faces. Anna nudged me with her elbow, wearing a huge grin. "Everyone ready?"

We all nodded even though I was pretty sure over half of us weren't ready. With our agreement, we all stepped through the portal. The stark contrast between the warmth of the dining hall and the freezing cold of our destination was enough to make my nerves temporarily disappear.

"Striker team, go!" Babatunde ordered. Mom, dad, Caleb, Hunter, Spencer, Dom, Lily, Shiloh, Loren, Sam, Dean, Reyna, Noah, Ember, Dmitri, Rigg, and Erin took off along with dozens of Searchers running beside them.

"Defender team, go!" Babatunde ordered next. Carrie, Nancy, Derek, Thea, Riley, Diana, Gracie, and Jake shot off with more Searchers towards the building where I could already hear the shouts of the Hunters before my family had reached them. By the sound of it, we'd taken them by surprise, but they were quick to get their wits about them.

"Sweeper team, stay here and stay alert. Hunters are going to come out here to find out how we got here and they're going to try and take you and the Weavers out. Tiana, can you see the top of the building?" Babatunde asked.

"Yes sir," she informed, staring through binoculars. "There's two Hunters up there but they appear to be easy targets. Do we have any snipers here with us?"

"Jason, Gina, you're up."

My weapons instructor and another woman who I didn't recognize pulled out sniper rifles from their duffle bags, setting them on the ground and setting their sights.

"You go right, I go left?" Jason inquired.

"Fire in three... two... one... now," Gina said. They fired exactly at the same time. "Direct hit on both. Tiana, you can weave a portal up to that roof top now."

"Elsa, Anna, you're up. Kit, Jason, you two ready?" Babatunde queried.

"Yes, sir," they replied simultaneously.

"Good. When you rescue the hostages, tell them where to find the portal. When they're all out of their cells, go directly to the fight. Hopefully I'll meet you there. Good luck."

Once Tiana had woven the portal, Anna, Kit, Jason and I stepped through, suddenly ending up on the roof of the building. Now the sounds of the battle were much louder, and it was hard to ignore when I heard a Hunter yelling only to have it cut off brutally short either by a bullet or the jaws of one my pack mates.

I forced myself to focus on the mission at hand though as Jason picked the lock on the door leading into the building. He and Kit pulled out their guns, so did my sister. Not wanting to look stupid by being weaponless, I pulled out a gun from my thigh holster. We crept quietly but quickly down the stairs. Upon reaching the bottom, Jason checked around the corners. The coast was clear for us to continue. It didn't take long to reach an obstacle though, and by obstacle I mean a door made of steel that was three feet thick.

"I got this," Kit declared, pulling out one of his gadgets. "Cover me."

Jason, Anna, and I stood protectively in front of him while he worked his magic to get the door open. Annoyed that I wasn't sufficient enough with a gun to be of any use, I shifted into wolf form, going for solid black to look more intimidating than usual.

"Got it!" Kit exclaimed.

"That's a new record, kid," Jason complimented while the door opened. A bullet suddenly whistled past my ear, causing me to roll to the side. I shifted, back into a human and whirled around to find ten Hunters firing their weapons at us from inside the room we'd just unlocked. Kit, Jason, and Anna were firing back but everyone was moving around so much that they weren't hitting any enemies.

"I got this," I said.

"Be careful, that's where the hostages are," Jason warned.

"That's why I'm using the smoke screen instead of my grenade launcher. I'll save that for later."

"Brilliant!" Anna exclaimed quietly. The two of us pulled out our military-grade smoke bombs and tossed them into the room. The effect was almost immediate. While the shooting continued, it completely missed us. We crawled into the room, taking cover behind some desks. Now the Hunters weren't the only ones who were blind but Anna and I had the advantage. Our Guardian hearing and smelling told us exactly where the Hunters were. One of them happened to step right next to us and I took the opportunity to snap down on his leg, yanking him to the ground. He yelled to alert his comrades of our presence but it was cut short by Anna crushing his windpipe.

"They're in the room!" a Hunter shouted.

"Be careful! Some of them might be Guardians!" another warned.

Tag-team them? Anna asked.

Tag-team. Let's go. They still can't see us and won't for a couple more minutes but the smoke will clear soon and the more we get rid of now, the easier it'll be to get rid of the rest when it clears. I said.

The two of us crouched down, slinking against the wall to do a perimeter check to see if any Hunters were nearby. Through the smoke I could smell two distinct scents, very close together which meant two Hunters were paired off next to each other.

You take the first, I'll take the second. I suggested.

On it. Anna said. We approached silently until we could see their silhouettes. They spotted us but it was too late for them to do anything as we'd already leapt up and attacked them, killing them almost instantly.

Three down, seven to go.

Continuing our perimeter check, we came across no more Hunters which meant they were scatted somewhere in the middle of the room or had escaped down the hallway towards the hostages. I mentioned this to Anna who, like me, thought it was most likely the latter because it let them see their surroundings again. We made our way back to entrance to the hallway where we came across two familiar scents.

"Kit, Jason, we're heading down the hallway," I informed.

"It's a really good thing you said my name because I was about to shoot you," Kit admitted.

"Thank you for not doing so," I responded.

"Elsa, now would be a good time to use your grenade launcher," Jason suggested. "Aim for the middle of the room. The rest of us should take cover."

We hid behind some desks. I aimed my weapon at the center of the room and fired, immediately ducking behind the desk as the explosion went off. I was hit with the scent of burning flesh and it made my stomach churn. I'd definitely hit people, if not killed them. I tried not to dwell on the fact that I was killing people who had lives outside of being a Hunter, but if I didn't kill them, they'd kill me, and I wanted to continue living.

"Let's go," Jason urged. The four of us ran down the hallway, weapons out. Anna and I had shifted about halfway down the hallway just because we preferred fighting as wolves. It took about two minutes to get all the way down the hallway where we came across on another door. Kit went to work getting it open, having success barely fifteen seconds later.

"You'd think the Hunters would have harder codes to break," he mused.

"I don't think they every expected us to find the place," Anna remarked.

"Well then they're stupider than they look."

"I told you'd they come!" A feminine voice yelled.

"Excuse me?" Kit stated.

"The Laroches are here," the voice responded haughtily. "I warned you they would."

"Uh, who are you?"

The person scoffed. "Jesus Christ... you have me locked up in here for a couple months and you still don't know my name. It's Calla Doran, assholes, and when the Laroches get me out of here, I'm ripping your throats out."

"I'm in!" A male shouted.

"Calla?" I stated in shock.

"Who's that?" she responded. "I can't see through this door."

I ran over to the steel door her voice was coming from. "It's Elsa Laroche. I'm here to rescue you. I have some friends with me. We're going to get you out of here!"

"I have the keys!" Anna announced excitedly, tossing me the set. There had to be about forty keys on there. This was going to take a while.

"I'll try picking some of the locks," Kit offered, going to a random door and pulling out a bunch of tiny tools that he strategically chose to stick into the keyhole.

"Elsa, what's going on?" Calla asked.

"Well, my pack and the Searchers are leading a surprise offensive against the Hunters. Anna, Kit, Jason and I were the stealth team created to let all the hostages out, although none of us knew you were here. If we had- I got it!" The door swung open revealing a blonde woman covered in bruises and blood. "What on earth have they done to you?"

"They had fun torturing me for the hell of it. They wanted to make me scream," she explained. "Did you say Anna was-"

"Story for another time. We need to get you back to the Academy so you can start healing properly."

"Oh no. I want to rip the Hunters' throats out. Where's the battle?"

"In the main part of the building."

"Let's get the other Guardians out of here and then I'll head down to the battle. Are you going too?"

"Yeah, my mission and Anna's was to rescue all of you, get them safely to the portal, and then head back into the battle."

"Good. The rest of my pack are here too. I don't know the shape they're in though... I haven't seen them since we were taken."

"Got it!" Kit exclaimed. A shaggy brown wolf came charging out of the cell, his eyes resting on Calla. The wolf transformed into a man with shaggy brown hair and although he was tall, he wasn't as tall as my dad, or even half my pack. But I recognized him as Shay Doran.

"Calla!" he exclaimed, pulling her into a hug. "Are you okay?"

"I'm okay," she replied softly.

"We're getting them out now," I said while I worked on unlocking the next cell. Every time I matched a key to its cell, I made sure I separated it from the ones that hadn't unlocked anything. Sooner or later though I figured out a pattern with the keys and was quickly able to free the trapped Guardians. Among them was all of Calla's ten-person pack. But except for them, the rest of the Guardians were panthers and bears. Guardians of different species had never really gotten along but this was an exception as all the Guardians thanked me, Anna, Kit, and Jason profusely for saving them.

"What happens now?" one of them asked.

"We need to get you back to the Academy. We have a Weaver waiting for us to give them the signal that we're ready for them. Once you're all safely through, the four of us are heading back to the battle," Anna informed.

"There's a battle going on?" another one queried. He was leaning heavily against another Guardian who I was pretty sure had to be a bear because his size was just enormous (I'm talking a muscular, bulky, six-foot-eight man).

"My pack, along with the Searchers, have led an offensive against the Hunters," I said. "We were chosen for this mission because we were the stealthiest and we could get in the backway most easily without being intercepted or seen."

"Can we fight?" a girl inquired.

"I'm fighting," Calla declared. "The Hunters did a number on me but I'm fighting."

"If you are, I am," Shay agreed. The rest of Calla's pack chimed in, even the kids.

"Those of you who need immediate medical attention, follow me and Kit to the portal," Jason ordered. "Those of you who want to fight, follow the twins. They'll get you to the battle safely. They're leading this crusade so you do as they say."

"I might be hurt but I want to kill the Hunters for what they did to my family. I'd rather die fighting than heal and miss out on getting revenge. Count me in," a woman growled.

I nodded. "Then follow us."
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Part 1 of the battle- part 2 coming up :)