FULL NOVELXO Alpha’s Challenge: Chapter 16
Foxfire
I raise the binoculars and sweep the perimeter of the compound again. I’m up a tree, trying to spy on the compound from the distance. We’re on a hill, a little ways away. Not perfect, but the best vantage point I could find without getting close enough to get caught.
“No movement,” I mutter. So far, the place has proved pretty boring. There are a few cars in there, but they have been there all day, and other than a few guards who patrol every other hour, I haven’t seen any sign of a person.
No vans going in and out today, like my father made note of in his journal. I guess that’s something to be glad of. No vans means no deliveries. No kidnapped shifters.
I climb down and make note in my dad’s journal, picking up where he left off. The last entry was so long ago. I try not to imagine what that might mean.
Sunny sits cross-legged in front of Daisy. I expect her to be meditating, but instead she’s watching me, brow furrowed.
“I haven’t seen anything yet. I’m going to go hike around, see if I can get closer.” I need more information if I’m going to break in tonight.
“Do you think that’s wise?”
“Do you have a better plan?”
She presses her lips together.
“No,” I veto it before I know what she’s going to say.
“Honey, really, we need to talk about Tank.”
“There’s nothing to talk about. He left.”
“I can tell you’re hurting. He meant something to you.”
“We met a few days ago.” I can’t believe it’s only since Saturday. I’ve lived through several lifetimes. “I barely knew him.”
“He’s worried about you. He cares about you, too.”
If he cared, why did he leave? Oh yeah, because I told him to. Because he doesn’t belong with me. “We don’t fit, Mom. That’s all there is to it.”
“All right, dear. I’m sure you know best.”
“Yep. I never want to see him again.”
Sunny sucks in a breath like she’s gonna say something.
“What, Mom?”
“The thing is… I may have told him where we are.”
I cuss and check my phone. My signal’s not great, so I climb the tree again. Sure enough, I have a bunch of missed calls, some from Amber. Plus a text from Tank.
“Stay where you are. I’m coming. I have a plan to break in tonight. Do not go in alone.”
~.~
Tank
At twilight, I reach the compound. I slow my bike and look for a road. Sure enough, there’s one cutting through the trees, right where the coordinates indicate the hidden area.
I pass it and circle back, running off the road and hiding my bike in the trees.
I check my phone for a text from Foxfire. Nothing. I told her I have a plan but that was a bit of a bluff. My plan isn’t much better than hers—sneak up to the compound, break in, and snoop around. The only difference is that I’d rather be the one in danger than her.
I dial Jackson and Kylie next.
“Tank?” Kylie answers.
“I’m here,” I say quietly. “I’m about a quarter mile from the compound in the woods.”
“Good. Sit tight. Sam is coming to help. He should be arriving at your coordinates now.”
I glance around the dark woods. “How do you know my coordinates?”
“I hacked your phone,” she says impatiently. “He should be there any minute. He can help you break in and get the data I need.”
“What—” I start, and whirl at a minute noise several hundred feet to my right. I smell him before I see him.
“He’s here,” I tell Kylie.
“He’ll explain everything. Don’t call me again unless you’re on a burner phone.” She hangs up.
“Sam.”
Sam’s a young wolf who bartends at Club Eclipse but isn’t a full member of Garrett’s pack because he’s bound to Jackson, who’s a lone wolf.
“Tank.” He nods, not quite meeting my eye. I’m more dominant than he is. If I remember the story right, Jackson took him in as a teen runaway. He’d found him on a mountain in wolf form—running wild. He’s been that way for months. If Jackson hadn’t hunted him down and forced him to shift, Sam would’ve lost his humanity forever. As it is, he’s still a loner. Smart, but keeps to himself, even in a crowd. I’m surprised Kylie would send him. Usually more dominant wolves are better in combat.
“Kylie says you know the plan?”
He nods. “Garrett and Jackson worked it out.”
“Garrett?”
“He called after you did. They came up with everything, and sent me.”
Sam must’ve been closer to this place than I was, if he got here so quickly. I don’t waste time asking.
“What are we going to do?”
“There’s a main building. We’re going to wait until 21:00 and sneak in through a hole in the fence. I have bolt cutters. You look around for any captive shifters while I hack their intranet and set up a mole program so Kylie can get into their systems.”
“You know how to do that?”
“I live with Jackson King.”
“All right.” I hold out my hand. “I need your burner phone.”
~.~
Foxfire
After sunset, the temperature drops quickly. I wish I had thought to pick up some food, more than just granola bars.
Something vibrates, and I startle. My phone is off to save the battery from draining in the low service area. My mom holds out hers.
“It’s Tank.”
I sigh but accept it. The fact that she can even get cell service up here is a minor miracle.
“What do you want?”
“Where are you?”
“My mom already told you that, didn’t she? You have a good nose. You figure it out. On second thought,” I add hastily, “don’t try. I don’t want to see you.”
“Are you still planning to break in?”
“My dad might be in there. Or, I don’t know, he might not be. He might be dead. I’m not naive. I just want answers.”
“I’m going to get them for you. In an hour, I’m breaking into the compound.”
I clutch the phone. “You are?”
“Yeah, we have a plan. I’m with another shifter, a hacker. He knows how to get into their files. I’m going in and standing guard while he hacks their system. I’ll look for your dad.”
“If he’s there, you’ll break him out?”
“Of course.”
“Why?”
“Because he’s your dad. I called the pack, and told them—”
“You called the pack?” My heart thuds harder.
“Yeah.”
I can’t believe it. He called the pack for me.
“I need you to take your mom and get away from this place. Foxfire, I mean it. I need you somewhere safe.”
“I am safe.”
“You’re in a VW bus painted bright purple with yellow flowers.”
“Actually it’s bright yellow with purple flowers.”
“Foxfire—”
“All right, all right. I promise I’ll be safe.”
“Promise you won’t try to storm the compound.”
“I won’t. I’ll stay far away. Just… Tank?”
“Yeah, baby?”
“Be safe. Okay?”
“Baby,” he says softly, before he hangs up.